When a person or group of people wish to make a change in law at the local, state or national level, they need to draft a bill. In Youth and Government, we call a draft of legislation a “Bill.” Bills are submitted to legislators for consideration and, if passed, become laws.
When writing a Bill, it is important to select an issue that has a national need. This is necessary to generate support for the bill. You can find issues by reading national newspapers and watching national news broadcasts to see what the public is concerned about. When choosing an issue, you should also be sure to select a topic that you are passionate about, as this will carry through in your research and your drafting of the bill.
A Bill should also include provisions for funding the bill. This is done by including an appropriations section in the bill. This is typically a statement that the bill would require Congress to appropriate funds to implement the bill for up to ten years, or some other time period. This is done in order to avoid having to amend the bill repeatedly over time.
Another section in a Bill that is often overlooked is the definitions. While it is important to have a definition section, it is usually only needed for words that are technical, unfamiliar or ambiguous. As you complete the other sections in the bill (provisions, penalties and effective date), remember that only those words that need a definition should be defined, and each provision should be designated with a Roman numeral.