How to Write a Bill
During the conference, all delegates in House and Senate committees will get to craft a piece of legislation they would like to propose. Each topic in WMC holds many different controversial issues within it, and it is the delegate's job to create solutions. A bill is exactly that: a solution, or part of a solution, you would like to see implemented by our national government. Each bill should contain the following sections:
The Preamble
The Preamble section is where you outline your reasoning for the bill. What is the general problem? What about the problem makes your bill necessary? Why should your idea be chosen over other proposed legislation? Statistics, facts, current events, and other pertinent information should be the highlight of this section. Each clause in this section must begin with a “Whereas”, and all sections should be linked with a comma.
The Body
Whereas the Preamble outlines the argument behind your bill, the Body explains exactly what you are specifically proposing. Each proposed idea should be in its own section, which may be further divided into subsections and sub-subsections to provide further clarification. The two most important sections in a bill are funding and enactment.
A funding clause states where your bill's funding will come from. It may be taken from a department's annual budget (i.e. Let the money for this bill be appropriated from the Department of Defense), a new tax (i.e. Let a 15% tax be implemented on all luxury good sales in the United States), or you can leave it to be decided by another Congressional committee (i.e. Let the House Ways and Means (or Senate Appropriations) committee delegate funding). Without funding, most bills cannot work, so make sure to include it.
The most essential portion of your bill is the enactment clause. This essentially states when your bill will be enacted, or implemented. If this is not a section in your bill, then no matter how good it is it will not happen, so make doubly sure to include it. The typical enactment date is 91 days, but the specific amount of time is left up to delegate discretion. Keep in mind that any enactment dates of 90 days or shorter require a 2/3rd majority to pass in both committee and full sessions.
A funding clause states where your bill's funding will come from. It may be taken from a department's annual budget (i.e. Let the money for this bill be appropriated from the Department of Defense), a new tax (i.e. Let a 15% tax be implemented on all luxury good sales in the United States), or you can leave it to be decided by another Congressional committee (i.e. Let the House Ways and Means (or Senate Appropriations) committee delegate funding). Without funding, most bills cannot work, so make sure to include it.
The most essential portion of your bill is the enactment clause. This essentially states when your bill will be enacted, or implemented. If this is not a section in your bill, then no matter how good it is it will not happen, so make doubly sure to include it. The typical enactment date is 91 days, but the specific amount of time is left up to delegate discretion. Keep in mind that any enactment dates of 90 days or shorter require a 2/3rd majority to pass in both committee and full sessions.
Sample Legislation
These pieces of legislation have been modified from actual bills Maggie Walker students have proposed at conferences such as Princeton Model Congress or Penn Model Congress, and we thank them for their contributions.
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Click "Download File" to the right for a Bill Template! |
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