Create a New Law Template
Steps:
Choose an Idea—Name the idea for a new law or policy you selected from the spinning wheel.
The options are:
Requiring all American citizens to attend college
Providing free Internet access to all homes
Requiring all businesses to practice recycling
Funding free health care clinics that are available 24 hours per day, seven days a week
Requiring all pets in private homes to be licensed and vaccinated
Requiring a high school diploma to obtain a driver’s license
Providing free transportation to all retired senior citizens
Requiring all restaurants to offer healthy meal options
Explain Your Idea—Why would this idea make a good law? Use complete sentences to explain.
Summarize the Discussion—Discuss the idea with a trusted adult. Write down some thoughts or details about the idea from your discussion. Use complete sentences.
Explain the Process—Finish filling in the steps your idea would have to go through to become a law at both the federal and state levels of government.
Federal State
1. Bill Introduction: You write your federal representative or senator about your idea, who introduces the idea as a bill in their chamber of Congress. 1. Bill Introduction: You write your state legislator about your idea, who introduces the idea as a bill in the state legislature.
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4. The House Rules Committee sets the rules for debate on the bill in the House. 3. Committees debate and edit the bill.
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6. 5. The state Senate approves the bill.
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Think Local—How is the lawmaking process at a local level different from the state or federal government? Use complete sentences.
