The Hopper: First in Line

By Stacey Skotzko

The 112th Congress brings a new House majority, new faces and … new bill numbers.


Though it would be easy to assume that there would be a rush to nab a coveted bill number — HR 1 or S 1 — the process isn’t that simple.

And, at this point, no specific texts of bills hold these first slots, despite the fact that 225 pieces of legislation were introduced on Congress’s first day.

Via the rules resolution adopted by the House, the majority and minority parties reserved certain bill numbers.

In this Congress, the first 10 numbers (HR 1 through HR 10) are reserved for use by the Republicans, and the second 10 (HR 11 through HR 20) are for use by the Democrats.

Parties traditionally use the top bill numbers for a specific emphasis — for example, in the 111th Congress, HR 1 was used for the economic stimulus legislation.

In the 112th Congress, the bill titled the “Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act” is probably the hottest piece of legislation — it nabbed HR 2 as its number.

At this time, there are no other bills designated with the first 20 bill numbers in the House.

HR 21, which would repeal the mandate that individuals purchase health insurance, is the next bill in line. (In total, 210 bills and resolutions were introduced on Wednesday in the House.)

The Senate has a similar process, in that the first 10 bill assignments are, via an informal agreement, reserved for the majority party, and the next 10 for the minority.

The 112th Congress, though, has one variation — according to an unanimous consent agreement from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the first day for bills and joint resolutions in the chamber will be Tuesday, Jan. 25. But resolutions were introduced and agreed to during Wednesday’s session.

Looking beyond bills, here are the resolutions that nabbed number one seats:

S Con Res 1 is a concurrent resolution providing for a conditional recess or adjournment of the chambers. It was swiftly introduced and then agreed to in both chambers on Wednesday.

H Res 1 and S Res 1 are routine resolutions. H Res 1 would elect officers to the House, whereas S Res 1 would inform the president that a quorum of each chamber was assembled. Both were agreed to on Wednesday.

H J Res 1 and H J Res 2 hold more interest — both are joint resolutions from Rep. Robert W. Goodlattte (R-Va.) that would propose a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, which is a noteworthy topic for Republicans in the 112th.

Stacey Skotzko covers legislation for Congress.org.