California Government and Politics Assignment: Legislative Plan

1. Assignment:

You are the Legislative Director for a member of the California State Legislature preparing for the

2015,2016 session. You are to write a full legislative plan based on one of the eligible pieces of legislation listed in Section two.

 

Your plan should address all eleven questions listed in section three and can be presented in whatever format you prefer.

 

After you have completed your legislative plan you need to prepare the supporting documentation to help your member of the legislature build public support for the chosen legislation. This includes an opinion editorial for a traditional  newspaper, a floor speech to give in the legislature and social media posts to communicate directly to your followers.

 

Your plan .must include answers to all questions in section three along with all the supporting documents. as listed in sections four. five.and six.

 

2. Section Two: Eligible legislation:

Pick one of the major pieces of legislation listed below. A. SB 350: Golden State Standards

(Senator Kevin DeLeon)

This legislation calls for a SO percent reduction in petroleum use in cars and trucks, a 50 percent increase in energy efficiency in buildings, and a goal of 50 percent of state utilities’ power coming from renewable energy, all by 2030.

 

1. ACA 1: Legislative Transparency Act

(Assembly member Kristin Olson)

Assembly Constitutional Amendment (ACA) 1 would require all legislation, including the

budget, to be in print and publicly available for at least 72 hours before passage by either the State Assembly or Senate.

 

1. SB 277: Immunizations and Vaccinations

(Senator Richard Pan)

Legislation to repeal the personal belief exemption that currently allows parents to opt

their child out of vaccines in our schools

 

1. SB 4 – the Health for All

(Senator Ricardo Lara)

This legislation would expand access to health care coverage for all Californians, regardless of their immigration status. The bill continues the Senator’s efforts to address

the exclusion of undocumented Californians from the state’s  health care exchange.

 

1. AB 66: Body Cameras for Law Enforcement

(Assembly member Shirley Weber)

This legislation would help facilitate body cameras for Law Enforcement officers.

 

 

1. SB 142: Privacy and Drones

(Senator Hannah Beth Jackson)

This legislation would prohibit the unauthorized use of unmanned aerial vehicles in

airspace directly over private property.

 

1. SB 128: End of Life Act

(Senator Walk)

This. bill would enact the End of Life Option Act authorizing an adult who meets certain qualifications, and who has been determined  by his or her attending physician to be suffering from a terminal illness, as defined, to make a request for medication prescribed pursuant to these provisions for the purpose of ending his or her life.

 

1. H. SB15: Higher Education Funding Act

(Senator Marty Block)

This legislation would boost funding for University of California and California State

University to support enrollment growth, provide more course offerings, and increase student support services.

 

1. AB 43 State Earned Income Tax Credit

(Assembly member Mark Stone)

This legislation would create a state version of the federal earned income tax credit for low-income families.

 

1. SB 178: California Electronic Communications Privacy Act

(Senator Mark Leno and Joel Anderson)

Legislation that would require that law enforcement officers to obtain a warrant before

accessing a person’s digital information, including emails and other data stored off the smartphone on remote servers or cloud services.

 

3. Section Three: Legislative Plan

 

Background on legislation

1. What does the bill do? Why do it now?

(Explain what it is proposed to do and how. Also, if this issue being presented to deal with a public crisis or particularly event make sure you explain how those events have Jed to this measure being proposed.)

2. Has this legislation or similar legislation been proposed before in California or other states? What was the outcome of previous attempts? Have their been any ballot

measures related to this subject?

3. What groups will support it? What groups will oppose it? Are these groups powerful?
4. How is this legislation likely to be received in the member’s home district?

(Often times issues are popular (or unpopular) statewide but for various reasons there

. are different feeling in a particular legislative district. Consider the demographics,

income, and politics of the legislative district of the member you chose to work for in this

assignment).

Path through the legislature

5. What policy committee is it likely going to be referred to? What members on that committee are likely to support it?
6. Does the bill have a cost? What is the plan to pass it in the appropriations committee?
7. Which policy committee is it likely going to be referred to in the other house? What members on that committee are likely to support it?
8. What is the plan to get it out ofthe appropriations committee in the other house?
9. Who is ideal member of other house to “jockey” the bill?

(You should pick someone who is already a co-author or supportive of the legislation. Additionally, you might look for someone who might have been a leader on similar issues to this in the past or at lease an indication of interest in this policy area.  Your floor jockey in the “other house” is responsible for presenting it on the floor of that body and helping ensure smooth passage.)

 

Executive Branch

10. How is the Governor likely to react to this legislation? Has he signed or vetoed similar pieces of legislation in the past? Has he made any statements in campaigns on this topic? Are any of the groups that support or oppose particularly close to the Governor? Might this help or hurt the legislation?

 

Courts

11.Are there any obvious legal concerns with this legislation? Have the courts ruled on similar issues to this in California or other states?

 

4. Section Four: Floor Speech

Write a floor speech for your member to present this bill. It should be no more than 3 minutes.

Write your speech and then read it aloud-as if you were giving a speech. If too long, make it shorter. If too short, make it longer. Your final version should be between 2 minutes and 3 minutes when read aloud as a speech.

 

You can find a number of examples of floor speeches online.

 

1. Section Five: Opinion Editorial

Write an opinion editorial authored  by your member in support of this piece of legislation. This will

run in a local newspaper and should be between 500 and 700 words.

 

You can find a number of examples of opinion editorial by elected officials online.

 

6. Section Six: Social media

Prepare 3 tweets, 3 facebook posts, and 3 instagram posts for your legislation. (9 total social med ia

posts you will use to help build support for your legislation).

 

You can search the accounts of political figures to find examples of building support behind

. legislative efforts on social media.

 

7. Section Seven: Other Information

There is no minimum or maximum length on this assignment.  Take the space you believe is

• · necessary to address the relevant issues. The floor speech is timed and the opinion editorial is 500to 700 words. Social media posts need to be consistent with what is generally accepted for social media platforms.

   

  You must show all citations, using the proper format for academic writing, and your paper will be graded on both substance and style. Each student must do his or her own work, adhering to university regulations prohibiting plagiarism and cheating.

 

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