DIVING INTO BILL WRITING

YMCA Ohio Youth and Government

WORKSHOP OUTLINE

1. BILL DRAFTING
• Bill Process
• Outline of a Bill
• Activity Ideas

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• USING RESOURCES
• Searching Current Laws
• Bill Drafting Guides

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• EDITING & SUBMITTING YOUR BILL

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• QUESTIONS?

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What is the Legislature?

At the State Assembly, students act as Senators and Representatives in a model state legislature.

• The Legislative Branch is the one that makes and enacts laws.
• Students alternate between committee and chamber (House or Senate) session.
• The goal is to try to get your bill passed through committee, House or Senate, and signed by the Youth Governor.

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To prepare:

• Students write a bill on a state issue they are interested in before the conference (alone or in a team of 2).
• Students write a 2 minute opening statement to share why they wrote their bill and why it is important.
• They should also learn and practice Parliamentary Procedure, which they will use during committee and chamber.

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The Bill Process

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Brainstorm ideas

Develop idea

Submit Bill

Present to House or Senate

Present to committee

Draft Bill

Review/Edit Bill

Youth Governor signs or vetoes bill

Bill is presented to Youth Governor

I’m Just A Bill…

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Outline of a Bill

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Outline of a Bill Discussion

• What are some examples of who/what agency might enforce a bill?
• What are some examples of positive or negative incentives to encourage people to follow the law you are proposing?
• Why should you research drawbacks of your bill in addition to benefits?
• What questions do you still have about parts of a bill?

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BILL IDEA ACTIVITIES

How to get the process going…

• Set aside regular delegation meeting time for discussion/sharing
• News quiz/what’s happening in the world this week
• Topic-based discussions (education, environment, etc.)
• Use past bills as examples
• Have returning delegates share their previous ideas
• Read old bill books (Early 2025 Bills, Late 2025 Bills)
• Talk about where to get ideas
• Friends/Parents/Teachers
• What do delegates already know a lot about
• Activities
• Brainstorm
• Choosing your topic

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BRAINSTORM ACTIVITY

Take 2 minutes with a partner to brainstorm policy areas you are interested in.

• What issues are you passionate about? Or if you can’t think of any, what are some problems you see in your state? What is something you would change in your state to improve it?
• Share your ideas with the whole group.

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Narrow Down Your Topic

Use a mind map our upside down pyramid to get more specific ideas from your general topic!

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BRAINSTORM ACTIVITY

Take 5 minutes with a partner to brainstorm a few more specific bill ideas you have.

• Remember: What issues are you passionate about? Or if you can’t think of any, what are some problems you see in your state? What is something you would change in your state to improve it?
• Share your ideas with the whole group.

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Summary

• Looking for ideas that hit the mark
• Debatable
• Researchable
• Important
• Inspiring
• Consider your brainstormed ideas
• Identify 3 that you would consider moving forward with
• If you have new ideas now too, that’s okay
• Use the mind map activity to get a bit more specific with your topic. Ex: Education -> Classes -> Required personal finance class.
• Think about the resources/info you have today
• Don’t set yourself up with too difficult a topic or one where you can’t access information.
• Choose a topic you are passionate about!
• Choose a topic you understand and know about.

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Research

To see if a law already exists on your topic, they’ll need to know how to find them!

• Ohio Legislation Database – https://codes.ohio.gov/
• Revised Code Search
• Consider what term to use for search
• Results can give you an idea of titles/chapters to look at
• Revised Code Browse
• When you click a topic, you see more topics in that section.
• When you click on a more specific topic, you will see more subcategories.
• Keep going until you find the topic you are looking for! Ask for help if you need it!
• Let’s look at some!
• Education -> School Facilities -> Water Bottle Filling Stations

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Research

• Decide on Resources
• Meet with a school librarian to learn some tips and tricks surrounding research and which resources are good to use.
• Some of our recommended resources are: State Library of Ohio, Allsides, and this Common Sense list of several helpful research sites. Remember, Wikipedia is not a reliable source!
• Gather and Organize Information
• Gather information from resources and save in one location.
• Decide what information is important to you.
• Organize your resources and notes so that they are easy to access.
• Draft Your Bill!
• Create your bill draft in Google Docs, or a similar application.
• Use the YG Bill Template.
• If it is tough to start at the beginning, instead start with a section you are confident in, then go back to the harder parts.
• Don’t forget to use your research.

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Drafting & Editing Your Bill

• Draft your bill in Google Docs or a shared document system. Share with your advisor to receive feedback and edits. You can make a copy of this template and use it to type out your bill.
• Do a peer editing activity with another group to get constructive feedback.
• Edit your bill using the feedback you received.

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Submitting Your Bill

• Go to ohioymcayg.org
• State Assembly -> Bill Submission
• Copy your edited content and paste into the bill submission form. Make sure you are pasting your content into the right section!
• Review and click submit! Your advisor can check their bill link to make sure your bill is submitted and appears on their bill roster.

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What’s Next?

1. Write an up to 2 minute opening statement explaining your bill idea and why you wrote it. Everyone loves a story!
2. Practice parliamentary procedure with your delegation by doing a mock committee session and debating each other’s bills!

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Activity - Bill Brainstorming

• With your table or a partner, take one of the ideas you identified earlier and start thinking about:
• How the idea might be funded
• Who might oversee the idea if it becomes a law
• What the negative or positive consequences should be to encourage people to follow the law.
• What the pros and cons are of the idea

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QUESTIONS?