[53] in UA Senate
Writing Senate Legislation
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Paul Baranay)
Fri Oct 9 19:49:01 2009
From: Paul Baranay <pbaranay@MIT.EDU>
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 2009 19:48:29 -0400
To: ua-senate@mit.edu
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Hi Senators,
I know that I promised you a guide on writing legislation a few days ago,
but I recently have been battling some sort of return of the flu, so a lot
of things have gotten pushed back for me. That said, here's an attempt to
encapsulate some of the most relevant points about legislation:
- A piece of legislation has two main sections: a series of "whereas"
clauses and a series of "that" clauses. The "whereas" clauses explain *
why* you are writing this bill. The "that" clauses explain *what* effect
you want the bill to have.
- By convention, Senate legislation can be either a *resolution* or a *
bill*. In general, bills are for when the Senate is enacting something
that it has direct power over (e.g. finances, executive committees). A
resolution, on the other hand, is something that the Senate wishes or wants
to happen, but does not directly control (perhaps because the administration
controls it).
- A resolution contains the words "*Be it resolved by the
Undergraduate Association assembled in Senate*" between the "whereas"
and "that" clauses.
- A bill, on the other hand, contains the words "*Be it enacted by the
Undergraduate Association assembled in Senate*."
- If you're not sure whether your legislation should be a resolution or a
bill, just start off by calling it a resolution.
- Legislation should be sent to the Speaker and Vice-Speaker (
ua-senate-officers@mit.edu) at least *two days* before the meeting so it
can be placed on the agenda. This is a requirement of the bylaws; while
it's possible to bring up new legislation during the meeting, it's somewhat
frowned upon.
- Ideally, I'd actually encourage you to send us the legislation *three
or four days* in advance so we can give you feedback on the bill and
suggest improvements before it goes before the entire Senate.
- You are highly encouraged to use the bill/resolution templates at
http://ua.mit.edu/senate/#templates. If you write the legislation in
LaTeX (which is encouraged if you know how), please send in the raw .tex
file, not the .pdf file.
I hope this helps clarify the basics. Of course, we'll also be covering
legislation writing extensively during the Retreat.
Thanks to those who have already sent in legislation! The agenda has been
updated with the legislation I received from Ryan --
http://web.mit.edu/ua/senate/UAS41/agendas/2009-10-13.pdf -- and there might
be one other bill coming in as well.
Because the next meeting is on Tuesday, legislation is due on *Saturday
evening,* so that the final agenda can be sent out on Sunday.
See you on Tuesday!
- Paul
P.S. If any of you cannot attend the meeting on Tuesday, please email me
with your excuse.
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Hi Senators,<div><br></div><div>I know that I promised you a guide on writi=
ng legislation a few days ago, but I recently have been battling some sort =
of return of the flu, so a lot of things have gotten pushed back for me. =
=A0That said, here's an attempt to encapsulate some of the most relevan=
t points about legislation:</div>
<div><ul><li>A piece of legislation has two main sections: a series of &quo=
t;whereas" clauses and a series of "that" clauses. =A0The &q=
uot;whereas" clauses explain <i>why</i>=A0you are writing this bill. T=
he "that" clauses explain <i>what</i>=A0effect you want the bill =
to have.</li>
<li>By convention, Senate legislation can be either a <b>resolution</b> or =
a <b>bill</b>. =A0In general, bills are for when the Senate is enacting som=
ething that it has direct power over (e.g. finances, executive committees).=
=A0A resolution, on the other hand, is something that the Senate wishes or=
wants to happen, but does not directly control (perhaps because the admini=
stration controls it).</li>
<ul><li>A resolution contains the words "<span style=3D"font-family:He=
lvetica;font-size:12px"><i>Be it <b>resolved</b>=A0by the Undergraduate Ass=
ociation assembled in Senate</i></span><span style=3D"font-family:Helvetica=
;font-size:12px">" between the "whereas" and "that"=
; clauses.</span></li>
<li><font face=3D"Helvetica" size=3D"3"><span style=3D"font-size:12px">A bi=
ll, on the other hand, contains the words "<i>Be it <b>enacted</b> by =
the Undergraduate Association assembled in Senate</i>."=A0</span></fon=
t></li>
</ul><ul><li>If you're not sure whether your legislation should be a re=
solution or a bill, just start off by calling it a resolution.</li></ul><li=
>Legislation should be sent to the Speaker and Vice-Speaker (<a href=3D"mai=
lto:ua-senate-officers@mit.edu" target=3D"_blank">ua-senate-officers@mit.ed=
u</a>) at least <b>two days</b> before the meeting so it can be placed on t=
he agenda. =A0This is a requirement of the bylaws; while it's possible =
to bring up new legislation during the meeting, it's somewhat frowned u=
pon.</li>
<li>Ideally, I'd actually encourage you to send us the legislation <b>t=
hree or four days</b>=A0in advance so we can give you feedback=A0on the bil=
l and suggest improvements before it goes before the entire Senate.</li>
<li>You are highly encouraged to use the bill/resolution templates at=A0<a =
href=3D"http://ua.mit.edu/senate/#templates" target=3D"_blank">http://ua.mi=
t.edu/senate/#templates</a>. =A0If you write the legislation in LaTeX (whic=
h is encouraged if you know how), please send in the raw .tex file, not the=
.pdf file.</li>
</ul></div><div>I hope this helps clarify the basics. =A0Of course, we'=
ll also be covering legislation writing extensively during the Retreat.</di=
v><div><div><br></div><div>Thanks to those who have already sent in legisla=
tion! =A0The agenda has been updated with the legislation I received from R=
yan --=A0<a href=3D"http://web.mit.edu/ua/senate/UAS41/agendas/2009-10-13.p=
df" target=3D"_blank">http://web.mit.edu/ua/senate/UAS41/agendas/2009-10-13=
.pdf</a> -- and there might be one other bill coming in as well.</div>
</div><div><br></div><div>Because the next meeting is on Tuesday, legislati=
on is due on <b>Saturday evening,</b>=A0so that the final agenda can be sen=
t out on Sunday.</div><div><br></div><div>See you on Tuesday!</div><div>
<br>
</div><div>-=A0Paul</div><div><br></div><div>P.S. =A0If any of you cannot a=
ttend the meeting on Tuesday, please email me with your excuse.</div>
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