Climbing the Ladder From Law to Implementation: How a Law Gets to Work

Most U.S. history courses cover how a bill becomes a law. The bill itself may receive press with both sides of the Congressional aisle debating the details. If the bill is passed (by Congress) and approved (by the president), it becomes a law. This law is formally published. 

But then what happens? 

A law is not a program. Rather, a law is the official starting point, or a directive to create a program or service. Like a ladder, many steps are required to take a law to a functioning, fully implemented program.

Setting up the ladder: Congress

If you want to climb a roof, you need a ladder. In this analogy, the ladder is a law. Congress, with the president’s approval, places the ladder and assigns an administrative agency to do the climbing. 

Example: In 2006, Congress passed the Carl D. Perkins Fund Trade Act to encourage development of trade education. 

The first rung: agency interprets law 

To take the first step up, an agency must study and interpret the law. Some laws advance from Congress to an agency well-written and with specifics, while others require interpretation.

When an agency interprets laws, they might compare the law with previous laws or with regulations in other countries or states. The assigned agency is trusted with this interpretation, because their administrative personnel typically possess the experience and expertise to deliver the program or service to the population(s) they serve. The agency knows its stakeholders and how the programs could affect each of them.

Interpreting the law might include defining terms of the language within the law and applying them to terms used within the agency. If the agency does not have prior experience with what is requested in a new law, they may order research and design surveys or studies to help them make decisions about implementing the new law. 

Example: The Department of Education was designated the agency responsible for administering programs under the Perkins Act. This enactment laid the foundation for trade schools and their training programs.

The next step: appropriating funding

Existing agencies turn in budget requests yearly to the Office of Budget Management, which writes proposed budgets for the president to consider and Congress to reappropriate. Ongoing programs often know what to expect and can remain on the ladder, continuing to administer their services.

Congress spends money in three ways: mandated, discretionary, and supplemental. 

Mandated funding goes to ongoing programs, including Social Security, Medicaid/Medicare, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and others.

Discretionary funding makes up 26% of the annual budget and goes to non-mandated programs. Defense receives 14% of that, with 12% funding other programs including but not limited to transportation, education, housing, and law enforcement. 

Funding can be appropriated and mandated but stalled. For example, the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 clarified that a president cannot impound (withhold, stall, or reallocate) funding Congress has previously appropriated, but some continue to try. In that case, an agency might remain on the first rung of the ladder or be sent back to the first step. While the funding pauses are litigated in courts, agencies may be ordered to pause their efforts, lay off workers in some cases, and deny services to Americans, effectively climbing down off the ladder altogether.

Supplemental funding is applied to urgent issues where implementation needs to happen before the regular disbursement of funds. This type of funds was made available during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Example: Funding for education falls under the discretionary category. The Carl D. Perkins Act (and subsequent supporting acts) shares a portion of the 50% of discretionary money not allocated for defense spending with other educational, transportation, and science programs. In this case example, Perkins funding went directly to the state of Utah to oversee the distribution of funds.

The next few steps: funding distribution

Once discretionary funding is set, the agency takes several steps to design a program. Federal agencies receive the money from Congress then set up a process for grant applications. A grant is a portion of the allocated funds that is distributed to a winning bidder(s) to carry out services the government designed. 

Designing a program via a federal grant is a three-step process: 

Pre-award: Private and governmental organizations, state governments, and individuals apply for federal grants under discretionary allocations. Sometimes states receive the federal funding and manage applications in order to distribute the funds to agencies, non-governmental organizations, and others. At this stage, applicants complete detailed and often extensive applications about their organization’s goals and resources and their fit for the project.

Award: The federal agency notifies and provides next steps to grant recipients.

Post-award: As grant recipients implement the programs or services, the federal government provides oversight while recipients report status, data, and progress reports. Compliance with policies and guidelines is a critical condition of ongoing and future funding.

Example: Trade and technology schools across the country assessed employer demand in their states and counties, and economists made projections on the need for trained individuals to work with composites, an increasingly common material in a variety of industries. The state of Utah added composites demand and proposed training programs to their annual Perkins grant application. These additions were awarded to Utah where large numbers of aerospace parts are manufactured.

Another few rungs: creating policy

Once funding is awarded, agencies can climb the next few rungs on the ladder and create policy. Federal agencies follow a standard process for rulemaking and refer to policies as rules and regulations. State and local agencies abide by federal statutes and build policies to administer federal programs or utilize federal grant money in conjunction with state funds. Federal agencies focus on broader needs of the country, while state agencies tailor federal programs to specific needs of their state.

Policy-writing is a process. Federal policies are written by federal agency committees of leaders and subject matter experts. Writers are informed by statutes in other countries or state policies and often by research studies reported in the original bill and previous or similar agency regulations. Federal rulemakers must post notice on the federal registry of new policy before it becomes effective. The public then has the opportunity to comment on the new policies and make suggestions that the federal agency must take into consideration through a process called notice and consent. 

When creating policies, federal and state committees debate everything from how to simplify policy to the usage of a particular word to how many sources to provide. They refer back to the law for direction. When a committee finishes its initial work, the draft goes through an extensive editing process, including agency leadership, copy and content editors, attorneys, community partners, and more. With a finalized version, the work of administering the program begins.

Example: Trade and technology schools in Utah, including Ogden Weber Technology College (OTECH), wrote compliance and delivery policy for a composite training program in coordination with the needs of individual students and the school’s compliance with PELL grant standards and additional funding for individuals from the Department of Workforce Services. 

The last rung: administration

The top rung of the ladder represents administration of the law. A law may be brand new or meant to modify already existing systems, so a law passed by Congress requires the agility of federal, state, and local agencies or partners. 

Even though a law may remain an active law, without the required facilities, personnel, and equipment, it can become stuck on the funding rung of the ladder far from the delivery of services at the top. Consider that PEPFAR (President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) relies on many entities to manage the funding and services it provides. An executive order froze PEPFAR funding in January 2025, but that decision was overruled by the Supreme Court with the funds ordered unfrozen. Though funding was made available, offices and clinics had already closed, and there was no staff to administer the services. PEPFAR was not reauthorized by the March 25, 2025, deadline, and its future remains uncertain.

Example: The composite program approval at OTECH offers an example of a federal law, the Carl D. Perkins Act(s), providing discretionary funding by way of annual state grants. When the state of Utah was awarded the funds and oversaw the grant administration process, OTECH applied to receive that funding for a composites program at their school.

The roof: implementation

Once the funding, policy, personnel, and equipment are in place, the final step to implementation of the law occurs, and the proverbial project on the roof can begin. Implementation consists of two main categories: managing the ongoing program and complying with regulations of the law and/or stipulations of the grant. Managing the program includes managing processes, workflow, personnel, facilities, and working with other agencies, organizations, or the environment, for example. Complying with the regulations or grant requirements means recording and reporting data and progress to the stakeholders.

Example: OTECH continues to offer a composites program today, feeding aerospace industry employers like Boeing and Northrop Grumman. The training program demonstrates compliance by reporting to states on data relevant to the grant, like number of graduates and job placements. Each step on the ladder occurred in succession, and the number of state trade and technology colleges that offer a composite training program grows.

View from the roof

The ladder-to-roof analogy may be simple — and climbing a ladder is straightforward — but the process of receiving and administering funding in order to provide a service requires climbing many steps. Coordination and efforts of many contribute to positive national and global impacts for more. Any time a step isn’t completed, from setting up the ladder to reaching the rooftop, the program may end up on hold — or have to start over again. As a result, advocacy cannot stop or be limited to getting a law passed, it must continue through each step of implementation.

This article was written by Sherilyn Stevenson, lead researcher and writer for Mormon Women for Ethical Government.