Youth and Government has a particular form that your bill should
take. This form is explained in the student handbook pretty
clearly. To make things a little easier, we have developed
a template that explains some of the sections, and makes it easy to
type your bill.
All you will have to do is first click on the link below to download
the template. If it does not automatically open, then you will
need to open it using Microsoft Word, then just type over the
explanations with the content of your own bill. If
you are doing this from home, you will need to have Word on your
computer. It shouldn't matter whether you have a PC or a
Mac. The template uses 10 pt. Ariel Font, with 1.5 line
spacing.
Microsoft Word Bill Template
Bill ideas - While is
always better to come up with your own bill, sometimes you might get
stuck. The advisors have brainstormed to come up with some ideas.
check out some of these ideas.
Examples of Bills, written
by New Mexico Legislators
1. Here is an
example of a
bill that has a couple sections.
You should click on the link to the bill as it was Introduced, which is
first in the list. The other links track the bill as it was
changed in committees or on the floor.
Section 1 would be the "Main Provisions" section that we have in the
bill template. In this section, note the use of phrases like,
"The Department of Education shall...", and "Money in the fund
shall..." that describe what the state will do as part of the law.
Section 2, the "Appropriations"
section,
identifies the fund from which money will come (the general fund), the
agency/account to which the money will go (the advanced placement
professional development fund), and what happens if there are leftovers
("...shall not revert to the general fund." which means that the
money
stays in the AP prof. devel. fund)
2. Here is an example of
a bill
written that was merely meant to amend current law.
Notice:
- The section of the law stated at the top of the
bill.
- All of the law to be ammended is written in the bill.
- The parts that are deleted are still typed, but are crossed out.
(In MS Word, select the Format menu, choose font, then strikethrough)
- Any addition to current law is typed and underlined.
3. Here is an example of
a very simple appropriation
bill
If you want to look at other bills that NM legislators have made, then
here is the general link to the NM State legislature
Ammending Laws
If you have an idea for a bill from the get-go, then you can start
writing. However, you may just want to amend current
law. The
laws of NM are online here.
When you go to the site, there will be a navigation bar on the
left. Click on the Folder entitled "New Mexico Statutes and Court
Rules". Below it you will see several sections. The ones of
primary interest will be the Constitution of NM, and "Statutory
Chapters in New Mexico Statutes Annotated". The statutory
chapters are basically most of the laws.
Here are some ideas about some laws that you might want to ammend:
- Chapter 22, Article 28: Do you think it is ok to sell
advertisements in public school busses? The state of New Mexico
does.
- Did you know that the constitution of NM forbids the carrying of
concealed weapons? Are you for this? If your name is
Charleton Heston, you aren't!