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Page < of 3 o ZOOM + I'M JUST A BILL "A government of laws, and not of men

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Page < of 3 o ZOOM + I'M JUST A BILL "A government of laws, and not of men.” So said John Adams, one of our Founding Fathers. Whether you know it or not, you are, for better or worse, impacted by the written law of both federal and state governments each and every day of your lives. As a representative democracy, we choose those who craft the laws by which we live. And while we don't create the law, we are responsible for electing those who do. But what if you could? What if it was YOUR responsibility to write the laws that impact the lives of your fellow Americans? What issues would you address? Why? Well, now's your chance. Writing legislation is easier than you might think. If you are even remotely politically aware and follow current events you probably already have some good ideas for legislation. And herein lies your Research Project: Students are required to author an original bill. Do not just make up your cost numbers, etc. Instead, be reasonable and researched in your presentation. I do not expect students to use "legalese" in their writing or to address every part of a policy in their bill. Try to be comprehensive, though, and write using layman's terms. Your bills will more than likely be 1-3 pages (single-spaced) for the actual bill, plus additional pages (2-5) of justification and research ("rationale and justifications”) included under a separate heading. Your bill will be divided into sections, as demonstrated below: Section 1: SHORT TITLE This section will be the title of your bill. Section 2: PURPOSE This section of a bill explains the problem your bill is addressing. Here you will use data and facts as evidence to support the need of the bill. This section does not need to contain all of the material gathered about the issue but should contain the most important and substantial information. Section 3: DEFINITIONS This section defines any words or abbreviations that are used in a bill that other delegates may not be aware of. Examples of possible definitions may include types of taxes, current laws or acts, or terms that are not used regularly. Section 4: MAIN PROVISIONS This section is the main area of the bill and is where the author(s) outline every guideline and procedure that will go into effect if the bill is passed. Because this is the section where you are creating, changing, or removing a law, it should be the most thought-out and thorough section of your bill. Section 5: APPROPRIATIONS This section specifically covers the issue of money. The Appropriations section discusses how much money will be needed, where it will come from, and what possible revenue will be put towards if it is needed to support the main provisions Page < 2. of 3 o ZOOM + of the bill. When citing the funding requirements of the legislation, don't just make estimates off the top of your head. You can get an idea of the cost of programs at the web site of the Office of Management and Budget in the White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/ Section 6: PENALTY CLAUSE This section will specify the repercussions of individuals, businesses, or companies if the guidelines of the main provisions are not followed. Section 7: EFFECTIVE DATE This section identifies when the bill will go into effect if it passes First Committee, Senate, House, and the Governor signs it into law. This can be a specific date or certain amount of days after its passage. The bill will automatically go into effect 90 days after passage if the date is not indicated in the bill. I encourage you to use the definitions and template as your guide. I will provide a template for you to construct your bill under a separate heading in Canvas within the Modules section. Below are simple guidelines to follow for writing a bill. 1. Select an area of interest. The first step in writing your bill is to select a topic. Write a bill on an area of national politics that you know a little bit about. Like the U.S. Congress, the convention will deal with a broad spectrum of issues: foreign affairs, health and human services, finance, the environment, military affairs, business and commerce. You are required to obtain approval of your topic from me BEFORE beginning the assignment! Research. Once you decide an area of interest, read newspaper and magazine articles to get a sense of the current issues being discussed. I encourage you to utilize this resource to assist you in completing your research project. This site provides solid, in-depth insight to how bills are structured and written. https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/ Additionally, the Library Resources tab on your Canvas page contains extensive information on how to research and compose your bill. 2. Select a specific subject/ problem. The next step is to pick one problem or issue from your general area of interest on which to focus. For example, if you are interested in immigration you may wish to write legislation on border security. Or, if you are interested in foreign affairs, you could write legislation to restrict U.S. intervention abroad. 3. Determining the type of Legislation. There are three types of legislation: A Bill, which establishes a new law; A Congressional Resolution, which expresses the sentiment of Congress; A Constitutional Amendment, which changes or adds to the U.S. Constitution. 4. Draft your bill. To begin drafting your bill, you must first concisely, in 5 to 15 words, state the purpose of your legislation. For example, legislation on gun might be “to provide for increased background checks of all individuals otherwise legally entitled to purchase a firearm." Legislation on arm sales might be "to restrict military arms sales to politically Page < of 3 o ZOOM + unstable countries." This concise statement of purpose will be part of the title of your legislation. You are strongly encouraged to begin work on this project sooner rather than later. Be sure to leave yourself ample time for researching your bill as well as writing your bill. I am always available to answer questions or address concerns either in person or via email. Do not be shy about asking for assistance! Students are prohibited from copying current or prior bills and introducing them as their own, although they may certainly draft bills on the same topic. Similarly, students are not allowed to write bills that are based on laws already in place (e.g., states must set drinking age to 21 if they want federal transportation funding). Bills proposing to change those laws are acceptable of course. Your research project is due on or before May 9th at 11:59 p.m. and must be submitted via Canvas ONLY! E-mailed and/or late submissions will not be accepted.