Once you decide you want to be in the Legislative program, you must write a bill to be presented. Despite the daunting idea, writing a bill is actually a very straight forward process. The steps identified below should help you get you on your way.
1. Pick a topic
The most important thing about a topic is that you be interested in it. The first thing to remember is that we are a model of the State, not the national government. That means you need to write a bill that is within the jurisdiction of state government. The national government takes care of defense, international relations and interstate commerce. Almost everything else is (or can be) handled by the state.
Major state issues include: education, welfare, social services, health care, transportation (streets, roads, highways) and mass transit (busses), crime, economic development, state taxes, and elections.
Good places to begin...are the newspaper, talking to peers, teachers, parents, or surfing the web. Go to the web page of your state legislator and see what bills he or she is talking about.
2. Keep in mind the following questions
- Will I be able to find information about this topic?
- What are the present laws about this topic?
- How debatable is this topic? In Youth & Government, a great idea that is a no-brainer isn't nearly as much fun as a bill that really sparks conversation and debate.
- Is this topic a state issue?
3. Research your topic
Once you know what you want to write about you begin the research phase. First, you want to make sure this isn't already a law. You can do that by checking with your local legislators office. Just call the phone number in the phone book and tell the person who answers the phone you have a question about existing state law. They should get you pointed in the right direction.
Once you are sure, begin looking for information on the topic. Good sources include the web, newspapers, library and interest groups (groups whose purpose is to organize to lobby on behalf of certain efforts). Gather information on both sides of the issue, you'll need this to do your speech and be best prepared to debate others and refute questions.
During your research make sure you know the following:
- Am I getting information from both sides?
- Is this still a debatable idea?
- Is this permitted under the Federal and State constitutions?
4. Write the bill
Listed below are the parts of a bill. Each one must be completed. The bill must be typed on the correct form. Remember, if your bill is sloppy or has typos, people won't take you very seriously either! Have your advisor proofread your bill for you. The Enacting Clause states the purpose of the bill. For example: "This bill will repeal the death penalty." The body of the bill indicates what the bill does specifically. In this section, we are encouraging you to find the specific sections of the law that deal with your bill topic (next year it will be mandatory to include the code section.). To continue our example, if you are repealing the death penalty, find the specific statute numbers and include them in your bill.
The body of the bill might look like this:
IC 35-50-2-3
Sec. 3. (a) A person who commits murder shall be imprisoned for a fixed term of fifty-five (55) years, with not more than ten (10) years added for aggravating circumstances or not more than ten (10) years subtracted for mitigating circumstances; in addition, the person may be fined not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000).
(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), a person who was at least sixteen (16) years of age at the time the murder was committed may be sentenced to:
(1) death; or
(2) only life imprisonment without parole;
under section 9 of this chapter unless a court determines under IC 35-36-9 that the person is a mentally retarded individual.
Sections you are adding to existing law are underlined, while sections you are deleting have a "strikethrough" line across them.
Code sections are available in a law library, from your State Representative, or you can find many of them by starting at the Internet site www.indiana.gov and following the links to the legislature, law, and Indiana Code. It is not required that you include the code sections but we're moving that direction. If you can get them, it will make your bill look more professional. The primary purpose here is to make sure that the statute you are writing really affects current law.
5. Continue to collect information
Get as much information as you can so you have current information. You will need to write your proponent (author) speech (3 minutes) and be prepared to answer questions. The more information you have, the happier you will be. It is better to have information you don't use then wish you had spent more time on the effort!