Objective: Students need to pass at least one detailed bill that will improve this class. All proposed bills should address the following two questions:
- How does this bill make the class more fun/engaging?
- How does this bill ensure that students will learn and receive a good grade in this class?
Here are the steps for completing this task:
1. Students have been divided into two houses of Congress: The House of Representatives and the Senate. Each house of Congress is responsible for “creating and debating” a bill of their choice. Students should work to create a bill that answers the essential questions outlined above, while considering that the President (Mr. Dumont) has veto power (the power to reject laws) and the Supreme Court (Administration) has the power of judicial review (the power to strike down laws as unconstitutional)
2. Each house will need to choose a leader (“Speaker” in the House of Representatives and a “Majority Leader” in the Senate). These leaders will be responsible for the following:
a. Working with their house members to improve their bills;
b. Setting the agenda for bringing bills to the floor for debate;
c. Allocating time for debate on each bill; and
d. Bringing bills up for a vote and tallying vote totals
3. Once a bill has a simple majority of “yes” votes in the first house, it will be sent to the 2nd house. The 2nd house will then debate and vote on the bill as is, or make revisions to the bill before debate and voting. If the bill passes both houses, it will then move to the President’s desk for review. NOTE: If the 2nd house revised the bill in any way, a small committee of representatives from each house will need to “reconcile” the differences (this process is called reconciliation, which basically means that the two houses need to agree on one version of the bill).
4. Once the bill gets to the President for review, he will either sign it into law or veto it. If the bill is signed into law, it will be adopted as official class policy. If it is vetoed, it will be sent back (with feedback) to the house where it originated and the process will begin again. Given the time constraints of our class period, if a bill is vetoed, it will likely die by way of the bell, before it is able to get back to the President’s desk. That said, students should take the time to write a detailed bill that addresses the essential questions above and attempts to consider all possible issues that may come into play when executing the legislation.
Bill Template:
Bill Name: (Example) The Monday Review Game Act
Bill Summary: Provide a 1-2 sentence summary that outlines the basic idea behind this bill.
How should this bill be executed?: Provided as detailed a description possible for how this bill should be carried out. The more details, the better! Try to think of any questions that might come up when executing this bill. Here is where you want to answer the who, what, when, where, why and how questions. For instance, if your bill costs money, where will that money come from, or if it’s specific to a particular day of the week, what will happen if we have off that day off that week. Does the President have any freedom when executing this bill, or is there an exact way that he should execute it. The devil is in the details. Here is where the majority of your bill writing time should be spent.
How does this bill address the essential questions?: Provide a one paragraph explanation of how this bill addresses the following questions:
- How does this bill make the class more fun/engaging?
- How does this bill ensure that students will learn and receive a good grade in this class?
Who are the sponsors/cosponsors of this bill?: Sign your names at the bottom of this bill (also print your names, so Mr. Dumont can give credit to the appropriate students. You can also get other members of your house to cosponsor your bill (and sign their name by yours) before the bill is brought to the floor. Cosponsors help provide clout for your bill (it looks good when your bill is brought to the floor, and you already have other members of your house who have committed to supporting it.
- How does this bill make the class more fun/engaging?
- How does this bill ensure that students will learn and receive a good grade in this class?
Here are the steps for completing this task:
1. Students have been divided into two houses of Congress: The House of Representatives and the Senate. Each house of Congress is responsible for “creating and debating” a bill of their choice. Students should work to create a bill that answers the essential questions outlined above, while considering that the President (Mr. Dumont) has veto power (the power to reject laws) and the Supreme Court (Administration) has the power of judicial review (the power to strike down laws as unconstitutional)
2. Each house will need to choose a leader (“Speaker” in the House of Representatives and a “Majority Leader” in the Senate). These leaders will be responsible for the following:
a. Working with their house members to improve their bills;
b. Setting the agenda for bringing bills to the floor for debate;
c. Allocating time for debate on each bill; and
d. Bringing bills up for a vote and tallying vote totals
3. Once a bill has a simple majority of “yes” votes in the first house, it will be sent to the 2nd house. The 2nd house will then debate and vote on the bill as is, or make revisions to the bill before debate and voting. If the bill passes both houses, it will then move to the President’s desk for review. NOTE: If the 2nd house revised the bill in any way, a small committee of representatives from each house will need to “reconcile” the differences (this process is called reconciliation, which basically means that the two houses need to agree on one version of the bill).
4. Once the bill gets to the President for review, he will either sign it into law or veto it. If the bill is signed into law, it will be adopted as official class policy. If it is vetoed, it will be sent back (with feedback) to the house where it originated and the process will begin again. Given the time constraints of our class period, if a bill is vetoed, it will likely die by way of the bell, before it is able to get back to the President’s desk. That said, students should take the time to write a detailed bill that addresses the essential questions above and attempts to consider all possible issues that may come into play when executing the legislation.
Bill Template:
Bill Name: (Example) The Monday Review Game Act
Bill Summary: Provide a 1-2 sentence summary that outlines the basic idea behind this bill.
How should this bill be executed?: Provided as detailed a description possible for how this bill should be carried out. The more details, the better! Try to think of any questions that might come up when executing this bill. Here is where you want to answer the who, what, when, where, why and how questions. For instance, if your bill costs money, where will that money come from, or if it’s specific to a particular day of the week, what will happen if we have off that day off that week. Does the President have any freedom when executing this bill, or is there an exact way that he should execute it. The devil is in the details. Here is where the majority of your bill writing time should be spent.
How does this bill address the essential questions?: Provide a one paragraph explanation of how this bill addresses the following questions:
- How does this bill make the class more fun/engaging?
- How does this bill ensure that students will learn and receive a good grade in this class?
Who are the sponsors/cosponsors of this bill?: Sign your names at the bottom of this bill (also print your names, so Mr. Dumont can give credit to the appropriate students. You can also get other members of your house to cosponsor your bill (and sign their name by yours) before the bill is brought to the floor. Cosponsors help provide clout for your bill (it looks good when your bill is brought to the floor, and you already have other members of your house who have committed to supporting it.