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Meeting Day Two

Advocating for Change: The Legislative Process

Contents

Select the link to jump to that section in the Meeting Day Two Activity plan.

Know Your Government Shield

The Legislative Process

Objectives of Meeting 2

Meeting two is estimated to take 3 hours and cover these objectives:

  • Community Building
  • Knowledge of legislative district and who represents them in Olympia
  • Begin brainstorming local issues to solve and bring to the conference in February
  • Observe the legislative process by following a bill
  • Learn the roles involved in the Legislative process

Materials Needed

  • Internet access
  • Computer(s) for videos and research (encourage delegates to bring their own if they have them)
  • Internet access
  • Computer(s) for videos and research (encourage delegates to bring their own if they have them)
  • How a Bill Becomes Law 2009 Powerpoint (receive via email from Clinton Gauthier)
  • Copies of handouts
  • Small slips of paper or index cards
  • Pipe cleaners
  • Art supplies and materials to make a board game
  • Pens or pencils

Welcome: Greet members as they arrive.

Activity 8: Pass the Bill, Share the Skill (15 minutes)

Introduction: This activity is to build belonging.

Materials:

  • “Bill” Cards (1-2 per participant): Small slips of paper or index cards.
  • Pens/Markers.
  • Open Space with room for movement.
  • Optional: Fun, upbeat background music.
  • Optional: A “gavel” or bell for the facilitator.

Instructions:

Phase 1: Brainstorming & “Bill” Creation (5 minutes)

  1. Welcome & Intro: “Welcome everyone! Today we’re going to get to know each other, and quickly see how ideas become ‘laws’ in a fun, active way!”
  2. Distribute “Bill” Cards & Pens: “Everyone gets [1-2] ‘Bill’ cards. On each card, I want you to write down one unique skill, hobby, or interest you have. Something you’re passionate about, good at, or love to do. For example, ‘I can juggle,’ ‘I love to bake,’ ‘I’m great at video games,’ ‘I play guitar,’ ‘I speak Spanish,’ ‘I enjoy hiking.'”
    • Encourage specific, positive shares.
  3. Quick Share: “Once you’ve written your skill/interest, take about a minute to quickly find someone new, learn their name, share your skill with them, and hear theirs.” (This is the first “get to know you” touchpoint).

Phase 2: “Committee Review” – Active Sharing (5 minutes)

  1. Form “Committees”: “Okay, now everyone has a ‘bill’ (your skill!) and you’ve shared it once. We’re going to form ‘committees’ to review these bills. When the music starts, mingle! When it stops, freeze and find 2-3 other people nearby to form a small committee.”
    • Play music briefly, then stop.
    • Facilitator: “In your committees, each person quickly shares their skill again. Listen for skills that are similar or that you find super interesting!”
  2. Committee Discussion: “Go!”
    • Youth share their skills within their small groups.
    • Facilitator circulates, encouraging. “Any amazing skills in this committee? Any ideas for combining skills?”

Phase 3: “Pass to the Floor!” & Quick Vote (5 minutes)

  1. “Bringing Bills to the Floor”: “Alright, committees, gather back into one big group! Now we’re bringing our ‘bills’ (your unique skills!) to the ‘floor’ for everyone to hear. Let’s hear a few!”
    • Facilitator quickly asks 2-3 volunteers to loudly share the skill from one of their “bill” cards.
    • Facilitator: “That’s awesome! Now, in a real legislative process, a bill would be debated, amended, and then voted on to become law. We don’t have time for all that today, but we can do a quick show of support!”
  2. “Show of Support”: “Okay, when I read a skill, if you think that’s an amazing skill or something you’d love to learn/see more of in our club, give a thumbs up or a cheer!”
    • Facilitator quickly reads a few more skills from the “bill” cards (either volunteers or randomly collects and reads).
    • Youth respond with thumbs up/cheers.
  3. Wrap-up: “Fantastic! That was a super quick trip through ‘passing a bill’ with your amazing skills. We’ve learned a little about each other and how a group can show support for ideas. Great job, everyone!”

Group Agreement Revisited

Purpose: To reinforce positive group behavior and remind participants of the agreement they created together.

Materials: The group agreement created in the previous activity.

Introduction (what you say): Show the group the agreement they created. Let’s take a moment to look at the group agreement we made. Think about the last meeting—what part of this agreement do you appreciate the group doing well? Go around the circle and have each person share their answer.

Activity 9: Legislative District Mapping and Email your Legislators (30 minutes)

Introduction: Delegates will learn their legislative district, research key issues and email legislators. Materials: Pipe cleaners.

Setup: Provide access to the Washington State Legislature website Washington State Legislature District Finder

Instructions:

  1. Students identify their legislative districts using online tools.
  2. Research their district’s demographics, major industries, and key issues.
  3. Pipe cleaners activity: “Grab a pipe cleaner! Your challenge is to make something that represents an important issue in your district—something you found in your research. Think about the demographics and what people in the district would care about. What’s a law they might want to see passed or a concern they’d want addressed?”
  4. Share findings and pipe cleaner creation with a partner from a different district if your delegates live in different districts.
  5. Discuss similarities and differences between districts.
  6. Begin identifying issues the group may want to address from their local level and bring forward to the conference.
  7. Students identify their legislative representatives and senator using online tools.
  8. Ask for volunteers to send emails to your three legislators (2 representatives and 1 senator for each legislative district), letting them know you will be traveling to Olympia and you want to set up appointments to meet with them. You may also want to ask them what they think are the top issues facing the area.

Activity 10: Overview of the Legislative Process (60 minutes)

To prepare, you can use TVW’s Civics 101 in 120 seconds-ish. There are a series of videos related to the Legislature and the Legislative Process.

Step 1: Use the PowerPoint presentation ‘How a Bill Becomes Law’ 2009 that was emailed to you to provide an overview of the legislative process. You can find speaking points for many of the slides by looking at the “Notes” under the view of the slide. You can also print a version of the power-point by clicking the ‘Notes Pages’ under the print settings. Print out this version and use these notes while you present the slideshow. If you want more detailed information on the Legislative Process, read Steps in the Lawmaking Process at the following link: Overview of Washington Legislature Process

As you go through the presentation, the slides will refer to specific legislative documents and when to hand those out so delegates can see examples:

Step 2: After the presentation, have students complete Course of a Bill Activity and then have them draw a flow chart of the major steps in the process using this handout.

If your county is able to hold this meeting before the second Monday in January, you may consider inviting one of your legislators to this meeting to talk about the process of writing and passing a bill or if it is during session, consider scheduling a zoom call with one of your legislators.

General Starting Questions:

Split up the group into 3 groups. Give each group a different question and have them discuss. If time, get group back together and quick report out.

  • What are the advantages and disadvantages to this process?
  • Why is it important for a citizen to know the legislative process?
  • Why is it important for a bill to go through both the House and Senate, and then be signed by the Governor?

Activity 11: Roles in the Legislative Process (50 minutes)

Step 1: Watch TVW videos of hearings for the LYAC bill, SSB 5229.

  1. Public Hearing SSB 5229 Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee. This hearing begins with committee staff introducing the bill. After Susan Mielke is done talking about the bill, go to 01:20:40 to hear testimony. You do not need to listen to the entire hearing, but this hearing has many students testifying, especially about the Dropout Reengagement System.
  2. Executive session for 5229 in the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee: This hearing contains the Executive session for 5229. Go to 01:34:25 to hear Susan Mielke talk about the amendment and Chair McAuliffe (who is also the prime sponsor of the bill) speak for the amended bill.
  3. Floor debate for Senate Bill 5229: Go to 00:11:10 to watch floor debate on the LYAC bill. Only Senator McAuliffe speaks to the bill. You do not need to listen to the roll call vote.

Step 2: Based on the video in the first meeting, the PowerPoint, and videos of committee hearings; have the delegates name the different roles involved in the legislative process. They should name at least the following: representatives, senators, lobbyists, concerned citizens, legislative staff, Speaker of the House, President of the Senate.

Step 3: Using the flow chart drawn in Activity 10, Step 2, have the delegates write in where the named people are involved in the process and what they do at that step (testify, vote, provide input, etc.). FYI-The people listed above can be involved in every step of the process. Answer: B K O F G A L E I C N H D M J

Step 4: Explain that the delegates will serve in the role of lobbyist/concerned citizen. A lobbyist is defined as “a person who tries to get legislators to introduce or vote for measures favorable and against measures unfavorable to an interest that he or she represents.” (Glossary of Legislative Terms)

As a lobbyist/concerned citizen, the delegates will be expected to meet with KYG Conference Legislators (AR volunteers) to explain their bill by identifying the problem, how the bill is the solution, and the advantages to the bill. They will be testifying in committee hearings on their bill & other bills.

General Starting Questions:

  • What is the function of ‘committees’ in the process of passing of a bill?
  • Based on the public testimony given to the Senate committee, which presentation skills do you feel were the most effective?
  • Which public testimony did you find the most helpful? Why?
  • What can happen if the presentation is awful and unprepared?

Reflect and Apply:

  • How does participating with testimony at a committee hearing reflect responsible citizenship?
  • What skills do you think you will need in order to feel better prepared to testify for and against bills at KYG? Where and when can you practice these skills?

Activity 12: The Legislative Process Game (15 minutes)

Divide delegates into groups of four and have them create a game that shows the legislative process.

Finished product: The game must have all the steps of the bill making process from drafting to becoming a law.

  • The game must show at least 3 paths of a bill. (1) Bill being success in one chamber and not the other. (2) A bill failing in committee. (3) A bill involving governor’s action. Overall, students should show all ways that a bill can become a law.
  • Game must include typed rules and instructions.
  • Game board must include the following terms: drafting, sponsorship, committee, rules committee, 1st reading, 2nd reading, 3rd readings, amendments, hearings, Code Revisers Office, fiscal note, floor discussion, House of Representatives, Senate, Governor, lobbying, veto, law

Options for game design: Trivial Pursuit, Life, Chutes and Ladders, video game, Scene It, Candy Land, etc. Game design must be pre-approved by your County KYG Coordinator.

If you have multiple groups creating games, decide on the best concept and create the game to bring to the conference. Conference Facilitators will judge the games based on the following criteria: Game design (5), Instructions, rules and playable (5), Key terms (10), Incorporated three or more accurate pathways of legislation (20).

Your delegation may need to finish the game between meetings or during Meeting 4 while others are working on the Shark Tank presentation.

Activity 13: Compliments and Closing (20 minutes)

“Now we’re going to share compliments and appreciation. First, let’s talk about what makes a good compliment or appreciation. A good one is specific—it tells the person what they did that made a difference.”

“Next, think about our group agreement. What part of it do you think the group did really well today? You’ll use this sentence to share: ‘I appreciate the group doing…  (part of the agreement) well’.”

Reflection and Application

Purpose: To build a community and encourage reflection. If time is short, this can be done in small groups and pairs.

Materials: Handouts (one per group) or post questions on the wall.

Introduction (What you say): Today we focused on learning about good decision-making and how it’s used when crafting legislation. Also, let’s discuss what we learned about districts. Let’s take a few minutes and answer the questions.

Questions:

  1. What goes into making good decisions?
  2. What did you learn today about why good decision-making is important for teams?
  3. Where do you think you can use good decision-making when we go to the conference?

Questions:

  1. What did you discover about your legislative district and its key issues during this activity?
  2. So why is it important to understand your district and communicate with your legislators?
  3. Now how will you use what you learned today when you meet with legislators at the conference?

Handouts

Course of a Bill Activity

Arrange the following statements in the order that the events occur in the course of a bill through the Senate.

  • A: Read second time, section by section.
  • B: Referred to a standing committee.
  • C: After third reading and passage in the House, the bill is certified and returned to the Senate
  • D: Transmitted to the Governor.
  • E: Third reading and final passage.
  • F: Read first time by title in the Senate.
  • G: Place on Senate calendar for second reading.
  • H: Transmitted to House to be signed in open session.
  • I: Sent to House to repeat the process.
  • J: Given chapter numbers in session laws and permanently filed by Secretary of State.
  • K: Considered by a standing committee.
  • L: Placed on calendar for third reading.
  • M: Signed by Governor.
  • N: Signed in open session by the President of the Senate.
  • O: Reading and record of committee report.

Word Version of the Course of a Bill Activity for Printing

Activity 13 Questions

Word Version of the Activity 13 Questions for Printing