PART ONE (ORGANIZATION and BILL WRITING):

ASSIGNMENT: We have been discussing the "Bill to Law" Process in class and how bills can be amended in committee.  To see this in action, students will simulating the "Bill to Law" process in class by writing a number of "Bills" that pertain to the operations of Highland High School, presenting them to committee and attempting to have them passed through the Bill to Law Process and be signed into "law" by Mr. Yaussi.

THE BILLS: Here is a list of the class COMMITTEES that will be responsible for writing bills to be considered in class:

PROCESS: Each student will be in charge of CREATING a single bill pertaining to the operation of Highland High School. Students will use the following

HIGHLAND BILL TEMPLATE

to create their bill. Please make sure that your bill looks very similar to:

MR. BURKHARD'S HIGHLAND BILL

AREAS OF CONCERN FOR ALL HIGHLAND BILLS, to be addressed in the Highland Bill Template:

1. What is the PROBLEM or ISSUE OF CONCERN that is being addressed by your bill? Each bill should have a particular issue or problem that it is addressing. Frivolous bills, such as "Everybody should get cookies every day" do not address a current problem or issue and will not be considered. Bills should be attempting to make a POSITIVE DIFFERENCE with the contents of their bill. A bill that merely complains about issues, but does not propose a POSITIVE solution will not be accepted.
2. What is the PURPOSE (Positive Outcome) of your bill? What are you hoping to achieve with the passing of this bill?
3. What is the SHORT NAME of your bill? Think of the bill titles that we have seen in our studies of actual congressional bills so far.
4. For this project, you MUST research some FINDINGS for your bill. In other words, what evidence, data and statistics do you have to offer to support the need for your bill? Who will it help? What are the benefits? This information should be RESEARCHED and DOCUMENTED, complete a survey, interview an expert, look up online data, ask administrators, etc.! Please be thorough in this area, a bill with no FINDINGS will not be accepted into committee and will receive a FAILING GRADE. (SPECIAL TIP: Make sure that ANY counter-arguments to your bill is addressed in your FINDINGS, this will give your opponents less ammunition to vote your bill down.)
5. What are the DEFINITIONS pertaining to your bill? Explain any terms or words that would not be clearly understood by the average PERSON ON THE STREET.
6. What is the FINANCIAL IMPACT of your bill? Explain in detail any added costs or sources of income for the school that will come from your bill.

POLITICAL PARTIES: Classes will be divided into Liberals and Conservatives. To even up the parties in this simulation, party ideology will be selected at random. For this simulation, please do your best to properly play your party role, even if it is one that is not your usual inclination. For now, please assume that:

• LIBERALS:
  • Are interested in equality and fairness in education, all students should have equal access to the resources needed to become successful in life. Stronge emphasis on equality for teachers, students and athletes.
  • Believes that increased funding will enhance educational opportunities for students.
  • Interested in education addressing social issues and opportunities.
• CONSERVATIVES:
  • Are interested in success in education based upon merit, students who work hard in school will be successful in life, regardless of access to resources. Strong emphasis on accountability for both teachers, students and athletes.
  • Believes that more efficient funding and resource allocation will enhance educational resources for students.
  • More interested in education that strongly prepares students for success in future careers or higher education pursuits.

INDIVIDUAL AGENDAS: Partway into the BILL TO LAW PROCESS, all students will be given a SECRET AGENDA. This secret agenda will give the student BONUS POINTS if certain events happen in our simulation. These may be related to party, to certain committees or to certain bills in particular.

PART TWO: COMMITTEE AND FLOOR ACTIONS

SIMULATION DETAILS:

1. Class Assignments:
• The class is divided into committees, as seen above. Each committee member will be responsible for creating a bill in their committees area of concern.
• The class will elect a Leader, who will function in a fashion similar to that of the Speaker of the House for purposes of guiding bills and bill floor discussion.
• Student(s) will present their sponsored bills with a very brief summary to their committees and to the floor (if necessary).
2. Committees:
   • ALL STUDENTS MUST BE RESPECTFUL OF THE INPUT AND IDEAS OF OTHERS AT ALL TIMES!
   • All students need to keep their "Political Party" in mind when constructing, analyzing or voting on bills. Students are allowed to consider their "Constituents" (other students at the school) and act as a TRUSTEE, as appropriate.
   • Committees will receive hard copies of all written bills under consideration to analyze and amend, as needed. Each committee will have exactly 30 minutes to review the bills they have received.
   • Committees should use any resources at their disposal to analyze these bills, including the bill itself, etc. ALL COMMITTEES should be actively working to improve bills under consideration. If committees are not using their time appropriately, Mr. B. will call an "illegal procedure" and all possible bill benefits will be lost.
   • Committees MUST ATTEMPT TO MAKE at least ONE ADDITION or SUBTRACTION from all bills being considered to be able to pass it out of committee. These ADDITIONS and SUBTRACTIONS can be anything that fits with the category of the bill and can be major or minor changes. All additions, subtractions and recommendations MUST approved by A MAJORITY of the committee members.
   • Please note your PROPOSED CHANGES on a separate piece of paper by indicating sections that you will ADD or sections that you will TAKE OUT in writing. DO NOT WRITE ON THE ORIGINAL BILL! Please note that each line on each page of a bill is number. Please use this system when making changes to your bills.
   • In this simulation, classes are rewarded for attempting to have the two political parties working TOGETHER to come up with areas of agreement that will allow bills to pass through committee and through another class. PLEASE MAKE SURE that while in committee, you are putting effort into bills that you feel might be able to pass committees with bipartisan support, if possible. If a bill is TOO partisan or too complicated to amend properly, let it go.
   • If NO AGREEMENT can be made about the additions and subtractions from the bill in the committee the bill DIES.
   • If the bill does not finish the “editing” process in time it DIES.
   • If a bill passes floor action, the sponsoring committee must complete a neatly organized and printed "BILL SUMMARY" to be sent to the other class. This should outline the following, at a minimum:
     • Title of Bill
     • Outline of the intentions of the bill.
     • Brief description of the changes made to the bill in committee.
     • Possible benefits and costs of the bill (be sure to included any funding requirements.)
     • Any other definitions or points that will help to explain the bill to the other house.
   • Any bills which have passed through committee will be sent to another class, along with the original bill and the BILL SUMMARY.
   • If at any time, a committee is bill-less, it will be dissolved and dispersed into
     other committees.
3. WHEN CLASSES RECEIVE BILLS FROM OTHER HOUSES:
• The Speaker will review and assign bills to committee.
• Once the bill is in committee, the committees will have 20 minutes to discuss the other house's bill.
• Committees can make ADDITIONS or SUBTRACTIONS as they wish, there are no requirements on this portion of the simulation.
• If NO AGREEMENT (majority of committee must agree) can be made about the bill in the committee the bill DIES
• If the bill does not finish the “editing” process in time it DIES.
• Committees are not simply allowed to kill a bill for no reason. Bills can be killed, but only for valid, political reasons. If committees are not performing their roles properly, Mr. B. and Mr. Lind will void any upcoming benefits on the test for "illegal procedure."
• If the bill is changed and then passed, the bill moves to a CONFERENCE COMMITTEE, made up of selected members of each class in question (Mr. B. and Mr. Lind will decide these). Conference committees will have 5 minutes to fix the bill, if possible. If an agreement cannot be reached in 5 minutes, the bill dies.
4. Floor Action (the entire class will participate in floor action):
   • If an identical bill is passed through two committees or a bill passes through Conference Committee, it will be presented to the floor for action. The bill and its changes will be summarized for the consideration of the whole, including the Costs and Benefits of the bill. Amendments may be made at this time, if the class wishes.
   • After floor discussion and amendments, if the Speaker wishes to have a vote, there will be floor vote on the bill. If the bill passes, it will move to the PRESIDENT’S DESK. The PRESIDENT will decide whether to SIGN or VETO the bill.
   • If the bill is SIGNED it becomes a LAW.
   • If the bill is VETOED it returns to the floor for a vote in an attempt to OVERRIDE THE VETO. A 2/3 vote of all members all classes will be required to overturn a veto. Again, this vote must be on political grounds, not "we want to pass a bill" grounds.
5. Any STUDENTS that manage to have their bill passed into law by the President will be allowed a "Mad Minute" on the upcoming LEGISLATIVE BRANCH test.

GRADING: Students will be graded on the following criteria:

• BILL SUMMARIES: Thoughtful completion of the original bill, as outlined above, all bill sections complete and properly analyzed= 50 points. Summary incomplete or incorrectly analyzed= 25 points, bill summary not completed= 0 points.
• COMMITTEE ACTIVITIES: Proper participation in all committee activities, including amending and adding to bills, as required above= 50 points, Incomplete or improper activities in committee= 25 points, Refusal to participate in committee activites= 0 points.
• FLOOR ACTION: Proper participation in floor activities, including commenting appropriately at least twice in the discussion= 50 points, Limited participation in floor activities= 25 points, refusal to participate in floor activities= 0 points..
• INTERACTION AND PARTICIPATION: Thoughtful, respectful and proper interaction with others throughout the course of this project= 50 points, Interactions occassionally inappropriate to the task at hand or disrespectful of the simulation process= 25, student is removed from the simulation for improper interactions= 0 points.