Bills are written in a precise manner and must have the components listed.
1. Bill Header:
Sponsor: The name of the prime sponsor of the Bill
Co-Sponsor: Up to 3 additional names of those assisting to draft the Bill
Delegation: School, Club, or YMCA hosting your delegation
Endorsed By: Name of Advisor (Advisors will be emailed Bill for approval)
Referred to Committee: Sponsor can select 3 Committees to refer the Bill. To balance Committees, Bills do not always get their first choice.
Bill Title: Follows the Maine Legislature format: “An Act Relating To: 7–10-word descriptive title.” If the Bill revises or amends and existing Maine law the Maine Revised Statute Annotated (MRSA) title number must be included.
Titles should be clear, professional, and policy-focused.
2. Bill Body Formatting:
Numbered Lines: Do not number the lines in your Bill, that will be done when Bills are place in final format.
Sections And Subsections: Each idea in the body of your Bill should be designated as a new section. Designation of each section should be in ALL CAPS, bold, underlined, with an Arabic number. Example: SECTION 1:
Definitions: Any term unfamiliar to the general public should be defined, and any term that has a meaning unfamiliar to the general public should be defined.
All definitions must be in ALL CAPS, bold, italics with a dash followed by the definition. Example: DEFINITION of CLIENT – person using the service of this agency.
3. Bill Body Sections MUST Be Included:
The Bill Body contains all the details of what you want your bill to do for Maine. You are making the case for why it should become a law. One-line sections do not make a proper Bill.
For example, if your Bill said only, “SECTION 1: We need to raise the speed limit on I-95 to 80 mph,” it would be unacceptable. This does not give any information about why a speed limit increase would be beneficial. There are no statistics from any reliable sources that show how an increased speed limit has worked in other States or Countries. One sentence does not provide enough Information for lawmakers to determine if the Bill should pass, so it will fail to pass.
The body of your Bill will include the following items:
Proposition: How do you propose that the outcome of the Bill is to be accomplished?
Procedural or Administrative Provisions: Who will enforce or see that the proposition is accomplished?
Sanctions and Penalties: What will happen to those in violation of the proposition?
Repealing or Saving Clauses: If any existing laws are to be repealed, or if any existing laws are to be saved because of the proposition they should be correctly noted.
Enactment Clauses: When will this Bill take effect, immediately upon passage, 90 days after passage, or another time?
Statement Of Fact/Fiscal Considerations:
This is where you place facts that support your Bill, this is not a place to put a written argument, only facts are to be a part of this section. Facts must be verifiable, and statistical. How much will this Bill cost to implement, and where will any needed money to fund the proposition come from? This will be a realistic number—not simply a guess—you must research an estimated cost.
References:
List any research materials used in drafting your Bill, this will allow others to check out your sources. They should be listed in bibliography style including magazines, newspaper, internet, reference books articles, or interviews with local officials.
Justification/Summary:
This is the place where you give your reasons for writing the Bill and make your case for passing it. You may use opinions in your argument for this Bill. Be persuasive, but concise, 3 to 5 lines maximum.
4. Before Bill Submission:
When you have completed your Bill draft:
- Have a friend read it and give feedback.
- Run a grammar and spell check. Your Bill will not be edited after submission; it will appear as submitted in the Bill Book.
- Get approval or endorsement from your group Advisor.
5. Submit Your Bill Online:
- Click the “Submit a Bill” link on the maineyg.org website and complete all the fields in the form.
- Click Submit
- You will get a confirmation email that your Bill has been successfully submitted.
- If we have any questions or need more information, we will get in touch with you.
