Bill Book and Final Prep
It’s only a couple more weeks until everyone hops on their respective buses to travel to Springfield – are you ready? Check out the helpful tips below to make sure you are ready as possible before you arrive on March 15th.
Bill Book
You can now download an electronic copy of the 2013 Bill Book (Right-click and “Save As…” – Opening within the browser may not work). You will receive a bound copy when you arrive in Springfield.
This file will be password protected. Please ask your advisor for the password if they have not already sent it to you.
Legislators
More than anything, just know your bill as well as you can.
- Understand every section and why it is there.
- Know as many reasons that your bill should become law as possible.
- Be able to defend arguments against your bill.
An easy to prep for all of this is to download the Bill Prep Checklist, do your research and fill it out. Everyone in a bill group should do it separately and share answers afterwards.
Also, downloading the bill book early should allow you to get familiar and do some research on the bills in your committee. Check out the “Prepare for Springfield” Guide to get some guidance on what you can be doing in advance of arriving in Springfield.
Presiding Officer and Committee Chair Candidates
There are two sample role plays available for Presiding Officer candidates and Committee Chairpersons to use for practicing parliamentary procedure.
Lobbyists
Just like legislators, make sure you know your bill that you are advocating as well as you can by completing the Bill Prep Checklist. Also, be prepared to give your two-minute committee testimony for your bill. Don’t just write it…know it and practice presenting it – out loud.
Also, read all of the bills that will be in your committee and, for any other bills that you would like to testify on, do some research and prepare a short testimony.
Legislative Assistants
Plan and practice your opening statement for your proposal. You will have limited time to persuade other LAs that your proposal should pass, so you must be prepared to use your time effectively. Please check out the Bill Prep Checklist and use it to prepare for the debate on your proposal.
Attorneys
Student attorney teams should make sure that they are prepared to give their oral arguments. Be thoroughly familiar with your argument and be able present it without reading from the brief. Also, familiarize yourself with the arguments that your opponents have presented in their brief (which you should have received, or soon will receive, in the mail) and prepare rebuttal arguments to their points.
Additionally, you should prepare for your role as justices in Springfield by thoroughly reading the trial and appeal facts and the cited cases for the case you are not directly arguing.
- If you are arguing Case A (People v. Taylor) – Read the trial and appeal facts and all 8 cited cases for Case B (People v Jordan).
- If you are arguing Case B (People v. Jordan) – Read the trial and appeal facts and all 8 cited cases for Case A (People v Taylor).
Everyone
Review the dress code and get some sleep.
We’ll see you in Springfield on the 15th!