Brainstorming
You have found a legislative issue that interests you and resonates deeply in your soul, that is why you are learning to become a citizen legislative drafter. A good place to start is with some blank notebook paper and a writing utensil or other note-taking paraphernalia. These are some of the things you are going to want to expand upon to ensure a quality bill:
Who?
List every actor involved in your law. Citizens, business persons, enforcement persons, agencies, and so on. Good laws are specific about whom they are applied.
Funding?
Are additional resources required for the law? How will that be funded? Make notes on your ideas. Taxes, licensing, fees, and bonds are just a few methods you can investigate.
Information Needed?
Does information need to be found or stay updated? Sometimes legislation is written to investigate or learn more about a situation. Does a steering committee or study need to be funded and performed? The good news is that you do not necessarily need to be so in-depth that you design an actual study. You can write your law so that an administrative part of government is commissioned with figuring out those details. Other information gathering bodies can be advisory boards of actual professionals in a field. They can be client advisory boards that are a small group of people using a service who meet regularly to give feedback about what is going well and what needs improvement. Reflect on the law you are writing and how current but changing information could make it more targeted and efficient, or not.
How?
How will the law be enforced? Will it be enforced? Will it be an honor system? Is the law criminal or civil? What is the punishment?
Criminal Case: A court proceeding in which a person who is charged with having committed or omitted an act against the community or state is brought to trial and either found not guilty or guilty and sentenced.
Civil Case: This is a case where one party feels as though they were somehow “damaged.” This can be through non-payment, breaking a contract, negligence, liability, and so forth. The petitioner seeks to recover their damages in litigation. Legislation may specify civil penalties that can be imposed. Perhaps it is relevant to exclude the new law from civil penalties.
This brainstorming list is not comprehensive. You may think of other aspects that need to be expanded out. Writing legislation is just as creative as it is procedural. This is the place where all the ideas, big, small, silly, questionable, amazing, revolutionary, unlikely, etc., get written down.
Write out everything you would want to see in the law, regardless of how practical or likely it can be implemented. Brainstorming is your ‘wish list.’ Aim for the sky, but realize that there may be some roadblocks that will require creativity and compromise.
Pork Barrel Legislation
Legislation can be written to favor certain districts over others while still being paid for by all of the taxpayers. This is known as pork-barrel legislation. Citizens against government waste identify seven definitions of 'pork':
Requested by only one chamber of Congress
Not specifically authorized
Not competitively awarded
Not requested by the President
Greatly exceeds the President's budget request or the previous year's funding
Not the subject of Congressional hearings
Serves only local or special interest.
Legislation that is unrelated or controversial can sometimes be placed in unobvious bills. The Covid-19 relief bill known as the Continuing Assistance Act provided stimulus checks and economic relief. The bill has a provision that all government agencies are supposed to report to congress everything they know about the phenomenon known as ‘UFOs’ or ‘UAPs’ (Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon) within 180 days of it becoming law.
Avoid pork or be clever with it.
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