REPRESENTATIVES & SENATORS

For most bills to be considered by the whole House of Representatives or Senate, they need to pass through a legislative committee first. 

• Bills typically go through committee review before reaching the floor of the whole house or senate.

• Committees are crucial decision-making bodies where the fate of a bill is often determined.

• Committees allow for bills to be prepared and studied at a deeper level before being presented on the House or Senate floor. 

All Florida 4-H Legislature bills will be considered within committees before they are debated on the floors of the House of Representatives or Senate. There are six Florida 4-H Legislative Committees, detailed below.

Each of these committees will meet three times during Florida 4-H Legislature. These will occur in between the first and second legislative sessions. For a full layout of the legislative sessions, go to the Legislative Sessions section of the "Know How to Engage" page on this resource site.

Committee Responsibilities During Florida 4-H Legislature

• Identify the sponsor or co-sponsors for each bill

• Allow Bill Sponsors to present a bill and allow 4-H Legislators to debate the bills 

• The bill sponsor and/or co-sponsor present the bill in committee meetings. If the bill reaches the Senate or House floor, the sponsor presents the bill on the floor.

• Various lobby groups and others are also provided the opportunity to speak formally before the committee in order to gain support or oppose a bill. 

• After the lobbyists have spoken and legislators have had a chance to question them, the Committee will vote whether the bills should be sent to the House/Senate for further debate of the proposed bills. 

• Legisla­tors make their final decision as to whether they will vote for or against the various bills under consideration. The legislators/committee members will also vote to rank the bills in the order that they would want them brought to the floor.

• Amendments may be made to bills in committee and will be voted upon by the committee members 

Committee Structure

• There will be a chairperson for each of six committees who is also a member of the 4-H Legislature Committee and is experienced in 4-H Legislature. The chair presides at Committee Meetings.  

• The chairperson appoints a secretary. The secretary keeps minutes and writes in the amendments to bills as directed by the committee.

To have the best experience at Florida 4-H Legislature, we recommend that you do the following in the weeks leading up to the event to prepare for your role:

• Discover which committee you have been assigned to by checking your assignment email, sent to either you or your parents email address.

• Find the "Bill Titles by Committee" page in Manual II. This can be found in the "Please Print to Have at Legislature" section on the Home page of this resource site.

• Read through each of the bills that are assigned to your committee.

• Decide which ones will have a major impact on the people of your area.

• Determine the consequences of each bill if it became the law.

• Gather facts and statistics to support your point of view. 

  1. Be aware of your own personal perspective and work to build your arguments off your research rather than your opinions.

  2. Make a list of all the pros of your bill, which can help convince fellow legislators to vote for your bill.

  3. Make a list of possible cons against your bills, which can help defend your bill against those arguments against.

  4. Organize your researched facts and develop a persuasive speech to present during committee debate.

• Study the Key Documents for Committee Meetings (below) and Parliamentary Procedure Resources so that you will know what to do during each phase of the legislative process.

  1. First Committee Meeting - Agenda & Proper Language

  2. Second Committee Meeting - Agenda & Proper Language

  3. Third Committee Meeting - Agenda & Proper Language

  4. Committee Meetings Check List

  5. Committee Meetings Forms

• Decide which bills from your committee that you would be willing to sponsor.

  1. All bills will need a sponsor within committee.

  2. Bill sponsors have a specific role within the committee meeting and legislative session scripts. 

  3. You will need to prepare to present the bill during committee meetings and legislative sessions, answer non-debatable technical questions, and speak pro on the bill during debates.

• Be ready to answer impromptu questions from the legislators in relation to the bills your speaking on. 

  1. It is okay not to know the answer to every single question that could ever possibly exist. 

  2. An answer of "I am not sure on that, but I can get back with you" is always acceptable.

  3. It's preferable to making up an answer with no facts to back it up.

Legislators should become thoroughly familiar with every bill assigned to their committee and should be prepared to discuss and debate the bills in committee meetings. 

For any bills that pass in committee and move on to the House or Senate floors, legislators should be prepared to lead in the debate of the bills. The debate on the floor risks being boring and uneventful if committee members are not prepared to lead.

For an extra challenge:

• Find and research any other bills that interest you that are assigned to other committees.

• Follow the same process as outlined above for your committee bills.

• When you arrive at LEG, find legislators that are on the committees that your bills of interest are assigned to and lobby for your perspective on the bill.

• This can help influence whether the bill is passed or failed at the committee level.

Your responsibilities during the week of LEG include:

• • • Engaging in discussion with fellow 4-H Legislators trying to persuade them to your position. You can start as soon as you arrive in Tallahassee.

    • Polishing your bill sponsor presentations to give during your committee meetings. Working with your committee members to make sure any bills worth discussing have a bill sponsor and preparing any necessary last minute presentations.

    • Participate in committee meetings to work with members of your committee to present a strong ranking of bills to be considered on the floors of the House and Senate.

    • Participate in legislative sessions to work with your fellow legislators to pass bills that your constituents are in favor of and fail those that they are against. 

    • Engage with lobbyists to learn about the perspectives of their lobby groups that will help you develop your arguments.

    • Engage with legislators in the opposite legislative body to ensure that bills you are fighting for get passed in both chambers. Only those past in both chambers will get sent to the Governor's for their decision.