Capstone Project

BILL WRITING PROJECT

For this project, you are going to write your own bill as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

This should be a bill that you would want to become a law.

Follow the steps below to guide you through this process:

Use the knowledge you have gained in the past 3 Modules to help you understand the purpose of government, election politics, political parties and finally the Legislative Branch.

MAKE SURE THAT YOU WORK WITH THE SPECIALIST TEACHER AS YOU NEED. This capstone will require a lot of time and effort. You should plan to spend time with your specialist while completing this capstone.

1. THE IDEA

Your first step is to decide what to try and write a bill about. Every bill begins with an idea. Is there a problem that you would like to see addressed by the government? Or perhaps there is an issue you feel the government should not be involved in that they currently are. Whatever you choose, remember that your bill must be constitutional. This means that...

1. Your bill must fall within, or relate to the POWERS OF CONGRESS.
2. Your bill must not violate any LIMITS ON GOVERNMENT POWER, including the Bill of Rights.

2. WRITING THE BILL

Once you've found an interesting and relevant topic on which to write your bill and have done the necessary research, the next step is actually getting your bill ready for discussion in committee. A bill should have three parts:

• Preamble: This section should provide your reasons for the necessity of your bill. Why is your topic something that should be addressed by the government? This section's clauses should always begin with a "Whereas..."
• Body: This section should be separated into sections and subsections. Each proposed idea for the implementation of the bill should be a section. Subsections should be used to provide further detail and clarification (definitions, etc.) for their appropriate bill sections.
• Enactment Clause: This is the final section of the bill (and can be labeled as a section as normal). EACH BILL MUST HAVE AN ENACTMENT CLAUSE!! The enactment clause tells your fellow congressmen when your bill will take effect if passed. It may specify a future date (September 30, 2005) or a certain number of days following the passage of the bill (60 days after passage). Enactment dates within 30 days of passage are used for EMERGENCY legislation only. Enactment dates more than 90 days after passage is used for most legislation and is the enactment period for normal legislation.

Refer to the EXAMPLE BILL that is attached as a reference.

Build a Bill:

In this section you will work on the template called build a bill. This will help you get your IDEAS, DETAILS, and research the needed information. Go to the document on entitled Build a Bill. You will need to complete this and turn it into Slate, that way your teacher can help and advise you as need. There my be some revision that needs to take place.

WRITE THE BILL:

You need to go make a copy of the bill after to have permission from your instructor and start writing your bill.

Stuck? Here are some suggested bill topics...

• A bill that authorizes or prohibits drilling for oil on public lands (national parks, wildlife reserves, etc.) and/or off the shores of the United States, including in deep water.
• A bill establishing an interstate high-speed rail transport system. Suggestion – paid for by an increase in the national gas tax.
• A bill enabling undocumented/illegal immigrants to pursue legal citizenship through a set process.
• A bill closing loopholes for individuals with extremely high incomes, requiring them to pay a minimum percentage of their wealth in taxes.
• A bill creating a flat (everyone pays the same %) or “fair” (national % sales tax, with exceptions for basic necessities) tax to replace the progressive income tax (where people pay more the higher their income is).
• A bill requiring a drug test for individuals seeking federal government benefits (welfare, Medicaid, “food stamps,” etc.), denying benefits to those testing positive for illegal substances. (If chosen, how would you deal with those who were denied?
• A bill requiring (or prohibiting) mandatory conscription (the “draft”) for all Americans of a certain age range. (Countries like Switzerland and Israel already require military service for all young adults.)
• A bill authorizing funds for the research and development of a space-based defense network to defeat intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).

3. COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENT

Once you have written the bill itself, you will want to determine which House of Representatives committee your bill should be redirected to. Below is a brief list, while a link is provided for a more detailed list of committees and sub-committees.

• Agriculture
• Appropriations (Decides where tax dollars go)
• Armed Services
• Budget (Oversees the distribution of tax dollars)
• Education and the Workforce
• Energy and Commerce
• Ethics (Oversees lobbying behavior, campaign finance, etc.)
• Financial Services (Banking, Finance, Loans, etc.)
• Homeland Security
• House Administration (Oversees federal elections, etc.)
• Judiciary (Oversees federal courts, impeachments, etc.)
• Natural Resources
• Oversight and Government Reform
• Rules (Determines how the House functions, debates, etc.)
• Science, Space, and Technology
• Small Business
• Transportation and Infrastructure
• Veterans’ Affairs
• Ways and Means (House-only, writes and oversees taxes)
• Intelligence

For a more complete list - including sub-committees under the broad committees listed above, click HERE.

4. FINISHING AND SUBMITTING

When you are finished with the template, having typed up your bill, given it a title, made sure your name is listed, etc., then attach that file to SLATE for revision and submission.