|
Should the Minimum Drinking
Age Be Changed?. A Simulation on the Legislative Process EILEEN H. TAMURA In its September/October 1990 is-
sue, The Social Studies devoted a
special section to the issue of citizen-
ship education in a democracy, an area
of continual and primary concern in
social studies education. Crucial to
good citizenship in students is their un-
derstanding of how government works
in the United States, but without
hands-on experience, students often
find textbook explanations dull and
meaningless. Simulations can help
make this information become more
vivid to students.In the simulation presented here,
students take the roles of legislators
and lobbyists. Because the legislative
process is a long and involved one (see
Handout F), the activity is limited to
key elements of the process. The legis-
lators are members of the state Senate
Transportation Committee. They in-
troduce bills, hear testimony, discuss
concerns with lobbyists and constit-
uents, and make decisions on the mini-
mum drinking age. The lobbyists are
individuals and groups who attempt to EILEEN H. TAMURA is director of social
studies projects at Curriculum Research
and Development Group, College of Edu-
cation, at the University of Hawaii,
Honolulu. persuade the senators by meeting with
them, asking them to introduce and
support bills, and testifying at Com-
mittee hearings.The minimum drinking age is a
topic of special interest to most high
school students, who will soon be
eighteen years old. Because state legis-
latures first lowered and then raised
their minimum drinking ages, inter-
ested parties have argued for one posi-
tion or another (U.S. News 1984; U.S.
News 1986), and researchers have
sought to find out if changes in the law
have, in fact, affected alcohol-related
traffic accidents ( Asch and Levy 1987;
Bolotin and DeSario 1986; McClellan
1990; Robertson 1989; Kashani 1988;
Wagenaar 1982). Some of the infor-
mation and arguments, which have
been contradictory at times, are given
in Handout C.Students taking roles as senators
consider the conclusions drawn by re-
searchers, the pressures brought on by
lobbyists, the views of constituents,
and the possible loss of federal high-
way funds. As a result of the simu-
lation, students come to appreciate the
complexity of the legislative process.
They learn that most bills die in com-
mittee, that individuals and skilled
lobbyists can be persuasive and influ-
ential, that campaign contributions
can help influence legislators, that
elected officials' desire to be re-elected
sensitizes them to their constituents,
and that the successful enactment of a
bill is a long and involved process.Besides learning about how govern-
ment works and about the relationship
between alcohol-related traffic acci-
dents and the minimum drinking age,
students also sharpen basic skills.
They are called on to argue their posi-
tions, write persuasive essays, and
speak convincingly before the class.The suggested timetable divides the
simulation into five days. Day 1: In-
troduce students to the simulation, as-
sign roles, and have students write bills
(steps 1-6). Day 2: Students write testi-
monies or position papers and edit
them (step 6). Day 3: Students prepare
to testify or develop questions for the
hearing (step 6). Lobbying occurs (step
7). Day 4: Committee hearing occurs
(steps 8-13). Day 5. Committee de-
cides on the issue (step 13). Students
then debrief each other about the sim-
ulation (steps 14-15). The Procedure | | To introduce students to the
topic, ask them to write this question | | on a sheet of paper: At what age
should drinking be legal? Give them a
couple of minutes to write their re-
sponses and list as many arguments as
they can think of to support their posi-
tions. Then pair them off and have
them share their views with their part-
ners. | | Have students read Handout A,
which introduces them to the simula-
tion. | | | Assign to each student the role
of lobbyist or senator. There should be
six senators and six lobbying groups of
four or five members each (see Hand-
out B). If you have more than thirty-
six students, increase the number of
lobbying groups to eight. Designate
one of the senators as chairperson of
the Senate Transportation Committee,
representing District 3. Because the
chairperson needs to conduct the com-
mittee hearings, this role should be
given to a capable student. Assign
each senator to one of the five remain-
ing districts and each lobbying group
to an organization or interest group. | | | Pass out Handout B. Senators
are to write their names on the lines
above their profiles. They may use
their real names or make one up. Then
have all students record the names of
all the senators and the members of
the lobbying groups on Handout B. | | | Have students read Handout C.
Ask them to see if they had thought of
some of the arguments listed in the
handout when they discussed the issue
earlier with their partners. Tell stu-
dents that they are not limited to a
minimum drinking age of 18 or 21.
Encourage them to think of other pro-
posals to reduce alcohol-related traffic
accidents. | | | Pass out Handout D, which
takes students through the process of
preparing for the Senate hearing.
After students have written their bills,
these need to be copied so that each
lobbying group and each senator has a
copy. You may want to grade the indi-
vidually written testimonies and posi-
tion papers in terms of their clarity
and use of supporting arguments. | | | Lobbying takes place in sena-
tors' offices, in hallways, at fund-
raising events, and other places. In this
simulation, lobbying will take place in
the senators' offices. Give students the
following directions. | | | | | | | On the day of the committee
hearing, arrange the room as in the
diagram below. | | | Because all the bills pertain to
the same subject, they will be con-
sidered together at the hearing. In
other words, people testifying will be
able to comment on any and all bills. | | | Have the Committee chair fol-
low this procedure during the hearing: Call the meeting to order and
announce that all bills pertaining
to the minimum drinking age will
be considered at this time. Call on the first group to tes-
tify. When the person has finished
testifying, ask committee members
if anyone has a question. If so,
give the legislator an opportunity
to speak. Continue in this manner
until all groups have been given an
opportunity to testify. | | | | | | | Everyone should address each
other as (Madam or Mister) Chair,
Senator _____, and Mr. or Ms.
_____, as appropriate. | | | Each senator must ask at least
two questions during the hearing. | | | After all lobbyists have testi-
fied, the committee will decide
whether to move a particular bill out
of the committee for a floor vote by
the full Senate. If all bills die, that is, if
no bill is voted out of the committee,
then the existing law remains on the
books. The committee chair should
hold a general discussion with the sen-
ators to get an idea of what they think
about the issue. The chair should de-
termine which bill they favor and what
amendments may be needed to im-
prove it. If votes need to be taken, the
committee chair will have four votes,
whereas committee members will have
one each. (Because committee chairs
have much greater power that commit-
tee members, I have given the chair
four votes in this simulation.) If there
is a tie vote, the chair will make the
final decision. | | | After the simulation, have stu-
dents read Handout F. Then debrief | | |
| | them about the simulation, using the
following suggested questions. | | This simulation went through
just a few of the many steps needed
to transform an idea into law.
What were the steps in the simula-
tion? Begin with a person having
an idea. | | | What have you learned about
lawmaking from this simulation? | | | What qualities should a good
lobbyist have? What qualities
should a good legislator have? | | | What advice would you give
someone who has to testify before
a legislative committee? | | | Lobbying groups give candi-
dates campaign contributions.
How might this interfere with the
ideal political process? | | | What can citizen groups with-
out money do to counteract the
influence of campaign contribu-
tions? | | | Why do you suppose it is so
difficult for a bill to become law? |
| | | Have students write an essay
based on the debriefing discussion. | | | If you are a senator, sit at a
desk with your nameplate on it.
This is your office. When lobby-
ists approach you, ask them ques-
tions to clarify their positions. If
you find problems with the bills
that they support, tell them so
and explain why. If you have
written a bill, see if someone
would testify in favor of it. You
should be ready to listen to the ar-
guments used by both sides. A
group may change your mind.
Don't worry if your final decision
differs from what you wrote on
your position paper. Be polite
and thank the lobbyists for com-
ing to see you. | | | If you are a lobbyist, visit each
legislator with your group. Your
task is to convince the senators to
support bills that your group sup-
ports. Present arguments to back
up your viewpoint. Keep in mind
the profiles of each senator. You
can expect arguments against
your proposal, so you should be
prepared to present counter-argu-
ments. When you approach a sen-
ator, introduce yourself and the
group that you represent. Be po-
lite. Be sure each person in your
group has a turn to speak to the
senator. Remember that the com-
mittee chair has greater power
than the committee members.
Thank the senator before you
leave. |
Conclusion Social Studies educators have been
told repeatedly that students find so-
cial studies courses uninteresting and
irrelevant to their lives ( Fernandez et
al. 1976; Science Education Databook
1980; Schug et al. 1984). This need not
be so. All students, even the most aca-
demically gifted, profit by hands-on
experiences ( Serow 1990). Because ex-
periential learning is a powerful moti-
vator that can give meaning to abstract
processes ( Janger 1988), we should use
it whenever possible. Handout A: At What Age
Should Drinking Be Legal? In the early 1970s, many state
legislatures lowered the legal drinking age
to eighteen in reaction to two events. The
twenty-sixth Amendment to the Constitu-
tion, ratified in 1971, lowered the voting
age to eighteen. Additionally, many eight-
een-year-olds were being called to military
duty to fight in Vietnam. The thinking was
that if eighteen-year-olds were old enough
to vote and to fight and die for their coun-
try, they were old enough to drink.In the years that followed, concern
developed over teenage alcohol abuse and
alcohol-related traffic accidents, and, in
the late 1970s and early 1980s, many states
reversed their earlier decisions by increas-
ing the minimum drinking age to twenty-
one. In 1964, responding to a recommen-
dation of the Presidential Commission on
Drunk Driving, Congress passed a law re-
quiring states to raise their minimum drink-
ing age to twenty-one or lose substantial
federal funds to build and improve their
highways. By 1988, all states had met this
requirement. Should they have done so?During the next few days, you will be
asked to consider the issue of the minimum
drinking age by taking roles as state legisla-
tors and lobbyists. Those who are lobbyists
will attempt to convince legislators to vote
one way or another, and the legislators will
have to decide which way to vote. For the
purposes of this simulation, assume that
the law in your state, enacted six years ago,
places the minimum drinking age at
twenty-one, and that senators must decide
whether that law should be kept as it is,
lowered, or raised. Senators may also
decide to enact other measures to combat
drunk driving.Legislators are expected to serve the peo-
ple who elected them. There are two
schools of thought about how legislators
can best do this. One is that they should
follow the preferences of their constituents.
Today, with access to opinion polls,
legislators find it easier to know what their
constituents think about major issues. Still,
it is not possible for representatives to
know exactly what their constituents think
about all the hundreds of bills that are in-
troduced in the legislature. Undoubtedly,
those who are more vocal and better
organized have greater influence. The other
view is that legislators should be leaders
and follow their own thinking on issues
because their constituents expressed con-
fidence in their judgment by voting them
into office. The reality, of course, works
neither one way nor the other. Represen-
tatives tend to combine the two views in
their voting. Sometimes they emphasize
their constituents' desires, sometimes their
own thinking.Students should keep in mind that
legislators want to be re-elected. Thus, the
legislators will consider the votes that they
might win or lose by taking a particular
stand. Additionally, because they need
money to be re-elected, legislators are in-
fluenced by campaign contributions from
organizations and individuals. In this par-
ticular issue, loss of federal highway funds
is another factor that the legislators need to
consider. Handout B: Role Sheets | | Senatorial District 1. Senator _____
Your district includes the area around
Market Street, a business section having
many liquor stores and bars. You are con-
cerned about the loss of revenues to those
businesses that sell liquor, the result of the
minimum drinking-age law passed six years
ago. The state's economy has been slug-
gish, and you think that perhaps a lowered
legal drinking age might help boost it. | | | Senatorial District 2. Senator _____
You represent a middle-class neighbor-
hood. You know first-hand the tragic
results coming from alcohol-related traffic
accidents. Recently, your neighbor's
twenty-two-year-old son, who had been
drinking heavily before taking the wheel,
crashed into a telephone pole and died. In-
cluded in your district is a new subdivision
of families with young children. You are
concerned about the future of these young-
sters when you read about the high in-
cidence of regular drinking among high
school students. You believe something
must be done now to educate students
about the risks involved with drinking. | | | Senatorial District 3. Senator _____
You are the chairperson of the state Senate
Transportation Committee. As chairperson
you will preside over committee hearings
on bills concerning the minimum drinking
age. Because you chair the committee, you
have more power than the rest of the com-
mittee members in the final decision on this
issue. You are concerned about the upcom-
ing election because the opposition political
party is planning to campaign hard to un-
seat you. | | | Senatorial District 4. Senator _____
You come from a business family and sym-
pathize with the concerns of business peo-
ple. You represent the entertainment dis-
trict of the state, which has seen an eco-
nomic decline since the minimum drinking-
age law was passed six years ago. | | | Senatorial District 5. Senator _____
You believe that alcohol is harmful to one's
health and safety. Five years ago, you
worked hard to convince fellow legislators
to raise the minimum drinking age from
eighteen to twenty-one, and you do not
want the law rescinded. However, you are
open to the idea of raising the minimum
age, if you can be convinced that it is the
right thing to do. | | | Senatorial District 6. Senator _____
You are concerned that if the minimum
drinking age is lowered to eighteen, federal
highway funds will be cut. Your state needs
the financial help to repair its highways.
On the other hand, you think that placing
the minimum drinking age at twenty-one is |
| | an ineffective way of reducing alcohol-
related traffic accidents. | | | Liquor Store Owners Association. Lobby-
ists: _____ Your association has been
very much concerned about the sluggish
liquor sales in recent years and blame the
problem on the minimum drinking-age law
that was raised from eighteen to twenty-
one about six years ago. Your group's posi-
tion is that young adults can learn to drink
responsibly and that what is needed is an
effective public awareness program to
teach people to drink in moderation. Your
association has $10,000 to contribute to
political campaigns. | | | Students against Discrimination. Lobby-
ists: _____ Your group is made up of
high school seniors and college students
who believe that they have been unfairly
discriminated against because of problems
caused by a small minority. You have gath-
ered hundreds of signatures from fellow
students who are of the voting age, and you
plan to show them to the senators. You
have also organized work groups that are
ready to help campaign for senators sym-
pathetic to your views. | | | Mothers against Drunk Driving. Lobbyists:
_____ Members of your well-organized
group have experienced the tragedy of hav-
ing their children killed in automobile ac-
cidents in which alcohol was involved. Be-
cause of this, your members are passion-
ately against drinking and driving. Six
years ago, you lobbied hard to raise the
minimum drinking age from eighteen to
twenty-one. You continue to do your ut-
most to lobby for strict laws against drunk
driving. Although your organization does
not have much money to contribute to
campaign funds, you can produce a flood
of mail at a moment's notice to influence
legislation. | | | Police Association. Lobbyists: _____
As police officers, you have witnessed
many traffic fatalities involving alcohol.
You believe that more needs to be done to
combat drunk driving. You also believe
that more funds need to be appropriated to
the police department so that more police
officers can be hired to help enforce the
present minimum age law. Your associa-
tion has $10,000 to contribute to political
campaigns. | | | Salvation Army Addiction Treatment
Center. Lobbyists: _____ You are con-
cerned about alcoholism in the country,
among adults as well as youths. Treating
alcoholism is an uphill battle. You favor
educational programs in the elementary
and secondary schools. You do not have
money to contribute to campaigns, but
your organization is well respected for its
work in the treatment of alcoholism. | | | State Parent-Teacher Association. Lobby-
ists: _____ You do not believe that
eighteen- to twenty-year-olds are mature
enough to handle liquor responsibly. You
believe that peer pressure is too strong at
those ages and that educational programs
in the schools are not enough to prevent
alcohol abuse among young people. Addi-
tional measures need to be taken. You have
a large membership that you can contact
during the next election, and you can create
a large letter-writing campaign to influence
legislators. |
Additional Roles Nightclub Owners Association. Lobbyists:
_____ It has been difficult for your
businesses during the past six years, since
the minimum drinking age law was passed.
Some nightclubs have gone out of business
as a result of the drop in revenue.
Something needs to be done to improve the
economic picture. Your association has
$10,000 to contribute to political cam-
paigns. National Organization of Emergency Phys-
icians. Lobbyists: _____ You have seen
the mangled bodies of traffic accident vic-
tims at hospital emergency rooms. Since
the minimum drinking age law was passed
five years ago, there seems to have been a
slight decrease in late-night traffic fatal-
ities, which you attribute to late-night
drinking. Your association has $10,000 to
contribute to political campaigns. Handout C: Should the Minimum
Drinking Age Be Kept at Twenty-one,
Lowered, or Raised? Some
Information and Arguments Should Be Kept at Twenty-one or Raised | | Although there is disagreement
among those who have studied the issue,
the federal government found, in its review
of existing research, that the bulk of the
studies concluded that traffic accidents de-
creased when the minimum drinking age
was raised from eighteen to twenty-one. | | | Some studies have shown that when
the minimum drinking age was lowered to
eighteen, there was an increase in traffic ac-
cidents involving teenagers younger than
eighteen. One can surmise that these
youngsters had greater access to alcohol
through their eighteen-year-old friends. | | | Drinking is a privilege; it is not a
right. It does not discriminate unfairly
against young adults to place the drinking
age at twenty-one or above, even though a
person is legally an adult at age eighteen.
Different minimum ages are appropriate
for different reasons; for example, a per-
son cannot become U.S. President until he
or she is at least thirty-five. Even though
people may enter the military, vote, or get
married at age eighteen, they are still not
mature enough at that age to consume
alcohol. | | | Alcohol-related automobile accidents
are the leading cause of death among
fifteen- to twenty-four-year-olds. Drunk
driving accounts for more teenage deaths
than any other cause (5,000 teenage deaths
a year from alcohol-related accidents) in
the United States. Nationwide, 60 percent
of teenage deaths in auto accidents are
alcohol-related. Teenagers are involved in
twice as many fatal auto accidents involv-
ing alcohol as their population would sug-
gest. | | | Placing the drinking age above eight-
een will help keep alcohol out of the high
schools because only 50 percent of high
school seniors turn eighteen while still in
school. Alcohol consumption has a serious
negative impact on student attendance and
academic performance. | | | Although sixteen- to twenty-four-
year-olds are involved in 42 percent of all
fatal car accidents involving alcohol, they
make up only 20 percent of all licensed
drivers. |
Should Be Lowered | | Lowering the drinking age has no
measurable effect on traffic fatalities. Inex-
perience in drinking, however, creates a
traffic hazard independent of age. Thus at
whatever age drinking becomes legal, there
will be a short-term increase in alcohol-
related traffic accidents until those who
have come of age learn how to drink
responsibly. | | | Nationwide, teenagers tend to abuse
alcohol no more or no less when driving
than do people twenty-one to forty-two
years old. When taking into account the
fact that teenagers drive more miles than
older drivers do, the statistics do not show
a higher rate of alcohol-related traffic
fatalities for teenagers than for older
groups. | | | There are other, more effective ways
of reducing injuries and deaths from drunk
driving other than placing the minimum
age above eighteen, such as increasing
penalties for those caught driving under the
influence; increasing penalties for persons
who serve alcohol to intoxicated persons;
lowering the overall speed limit; increasing
the number of random road blocks; requir-
ing that automobile manufacturers install
automatic inflatable air bags; and public
awareness programs and frequent media
messages about drunk driving. | | | Raising the drinking age does not pre-
vent teenagers from drinking alcoholic bev-
erages. Teenagers can obtain them illegally
from their older friends. Also, some under-
aged persons obtain false I.D.s in order to
purchase alcohol illegally. |
Enforcing a higher drinking age is
difficult and requires extra law enforce-
ment personnel. State expenditures increas-
ed so that additional law enforcement per-
sonnel could enforce the law, and more
money was needed for the greater ad-
ministrative and judicial costs of pro-
secuting those who break the law. | | | | Placing the legal drinking age above
eighteen is unfair age discrimination.
Because all age groups have similar
percentages of people who drink and drive,
why single out just young adults? | | | Most eighteen- to twenty-year-olds
are not involved in traffic accidents involv-
ing alcohol every year. It is not fair to
punish them for the faults of a very small
minority. It is especially unfair to young
adult females because they generally have
excellent driving records. | | | Eighteen-year-olds have all the re-
sponsibilities of adulthood (voting, doing
military duty, marrying, signing legally
binding contracts) and should be given the
privileges of adulthood, like drinking alco-
holic beverages and relaxing in nightclubs. | | | Placing the legal drinking age above
eighteen has negative economic conse-
quences. Employers may consider it too
risky to have those under the legal age han-
dle merchandise that they cannot buy, thus
increasing the unemployment rate among
young adults. Liquor stores, bars, and
nightclubs have lost a large percentage of
their income with higher minimum drink-
ing-age laws, resulting in the loss of thou-
sands of jobs in the state, and a loss of tax
revenue to the state. | | | Raising the legal drinking age will
not decrease crime but will actually in-
crease it. Many otherwise law-abiding peo-
ple will break the law by getting alcohol
through illegal means, and, in the process,
will begin to disrespect and disregard law-
enforcement officers. | | | Educating teenagers about the dan-
gers of alcohol abuse and drunken driving
is more effective than passing minimum
drinking-age laws in the prevention of traf-
fic fatalities. |
Other Information and Arguments | | The late teens and early twenties are
the years when excessive drinking occurs. | | | Drinking and driving are deadly be-
cause alcohol slows the muscles of the body
and blurs vision. Thus, a driver's response-
time to an emergency slows as a result of
drinking. Drinking coffee or cola, taking a
cold shower, or breathing fresh air will not
improve one's driving ability. | | | There are no safe drugs. Alcohol is a
drug dangerous to people's health. | | | A national survey on drinking found
that despite the fact that drinking among
eighteen- to twenty-year-olds was illegal, 92
percent of them had tried it, and many
drank regularly. About 35 percent of high
school seniors reported having had five or
more drinks in a row at least once in the
two-week period prior to the survey. Fre-
quent drinking occurred more among male
than female high school students and
young adults. | | | There seems to be a slight trend in our
country toward a disapproval of excessive
drinking. That is, it is becoming more ac-
ceptable not to drink. | | | Because of peer pressure, merely pro-
viding information about health risks re-
sulting from excessive drinking, and about
the dangers of drinking and driving to
students is not enough. They need help in
developing the ability to refuse drinks when
offered by their peers. They need to want
to say no, and they need to know how to
say it. | | | In a study done among alcoholics, it
was found that four-fifths of them had
begun drinking regularly before the age of
eighteen. The study suggested that early
drinking habits are influenced by the
availability of alcohol, parental behaviors,
and peer pressure. | | | According to the National Council on
Alcoholism, 20 percent of the 23 million
Americans having problems with alcohol
are under eighteen years of age. |
Handout D: Preparing for the
Senate Hearing | | Handout B includes short profiles of
all the senators and lobbying groups. Read
the profiles so that you are familiar with all
parties involved in this issue. You may
think of additional information to include
in your own profile. If you do so, keep in
mind that whatever you add should not
conflict with the information already given
in your profile. | | | Using the arguments and information
provided in Handout C and any other in-
formation or argument that you may
have, write a bill addressing the issue of the
minimum drinking age. Follow the format
in Handout E. (S.B. stands for Senate bill.)
You may not want to limit yourself to eigh-
teen or twenty-one years as the minimum
drinking age, or you may want to propose
more than one bill. Be creative in thinking
of a variety of ways to attack the problem
of drinking and driving. | | If you are a lobbyist, work with
members of your group in writing a
bill. | | | If you are a senator, you may
either join a lobbying group, get
together with another senator, or
write a bill yourself. | | | When your group has decided on
the exact wording of the bill (which
may take several drafts), have some-
one in your group write it neatly so
that copies of your bill can be made
available for all. |
| | | Your teacher will give you copies of
all bills to be heard in the committee. | | | Lobbyists. Meet with your group to
discuss which bills your organization will
support and oppose. | | Each of you will write testimony
based on your group's position. Use
the following questions as a guide.
What data can be used to support your
position? What arguments will you
use? How can you write persuasive tes-
timony? How can you argue against
information and arguments presented
by groups whose views oppose yours?
You will have to anticipate your oppo-
nents' arguments. | | | Use this format when writing your
testimony: Madam (Mister) Chair and members of
the Senate Transportation Committee. My
name is _____ and I am speaking for
(company name or group) _____ (Body of testimony: Tell which bills you
favor and which ones you oppose. Then
explain why you take this position.) Thank you for giving me the opportunity
to testify before your committee. | | | After writing a draft of your testi-
mony, have your group members help
you improve it. Exchange testimonies
and edit each other's writing. Answer
the following questions on a separate
sheet of paper: What is your name?
Who wrote the essay? What is its posi-
tion? Is the position stated clearly? Are
arguments and information used effec-
tively to support the position? What
could be added? What do you like
most about the essay? How can it be
improved? Writing directly on the
essay, correct grammatical errors and
misspelled words. | | | Rewrite your essay, and then turn
in your final essay with your drafts and
the editorial sheets. | | | Choose one testimony from your
group to be presented orally before the
transportation committee. Then
choose one member of your group to
make the presentation. Discuss with
your group the kinds of questions that
the senators might ask after the testi-
mony is presented and the responses
that might be given. Although only
one person will make the oral presen-
tation, all group members will sit
behind that person and help respond
to the senators' questions. Have the
person who will testify practice aloud
before group members, emphasizing
words and phrases and pausing at ap-
propriate times for greatest effect. |
|
Senators, including the chairperson:
You should have some idea of how you
stand on the issue. Reread your profile on
Handout B. Is there anything else you can
add? | | Reread Handout C. Then write an
essay, taking a position on the issue
and supporting it with arguments. Do
not copy phrases from Handout C.
Use the information and ideas, but put
them into your own words. | | | Exchange papers with at least two
other senators. Edit each other's work.
Answer the following questions on a
separate sheet of paper: What is your
name? Who wrote the essay? What is
its position? Is the position stated
clearly? Are arguments and informa-
tion used effectively to support the
position? What could be added? What
do you like most about the essay?
How can it be improved? Writing
directly on the essay, correct gram-
matical errors and misspelled words. | | | Rewrite your essay, and then turn in
your final essay with your drafts and
the editorial sheets. | | | While the lobbying groups are
meeting to polish their oral presenta-
tions (see 4.e. above), prepare a list of
questions to ask those testifying at the
committee hearing. Some questions
may be informational; some may
question the arguments used to sup-
port particular positions You should
have at least five questions for each
side of the issue. You should be able
to think of more questions as people
testify during the hearing. Turn in
your questions to the teacher. | | | Fold a 5" × 8" index card in half the
long way. Then, using a felt-tip pen,
print with large lettering on the length
of one side Senator (your name). This
card will be your nameplate. |
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Handout E A Bill for an Act Title: Purpose: Text: Enforcement: Introduced by: (There should be one or more signatures of
senators willing to sign this bill. Signing a bill is
not endorsing it. It merely permits the bill to be
heard in the committee hearing.) Written by: (This information is for your
teacher's information.) Handout F: How a Bill Becomes Law The Senate hearing you have just simu-
lated is only one of several needed for a bill
to become law. If the majority of the legislators on the
committee oppose a bill's passage, or, in
some cases, if the chair opposes it, the bill
will go no further and will "die in commit-
tee." Supporters of the bill will then have
to wait until the next legislative session be-
fore they can try to convince enough legis-
lators to vote for the bill. If the bill, in its original or amended
form, is approved by the committee, it goes
to the full Senate, where it is debated,
perhaps amended, and then voted on. If
the bill passes the full Senate, it is sent to
the House and goes through the same pro-
cedure--a House hearing and then action
by the full House. A bill may begin its long trek either in the
Senate or in the House. A bill introduced
and passed by the House would then cross
over to the Senate. If the bill passes both the Senate and the
House in identical form, it goes to the
governor for signature. If the Senate and
the House pass different versions of the
bill, it goes to a conference committee of
members of both houses, where a compro-
mise bill may be decided on. If the bill
passes the conference committee, it returns
with its changes to the Senate and the
House. If the changes are accepted by both
houses, the bill is sent to the governor for
signature. At any time along the way, the bill may
die: if either house does not approve its
passage, if the conference committee can-
not agree on a compromise, if the changes
made in conference are not accepted by
either house, or if the governor vetoes the
bill. However, a governor's veto does not
automatically mean death for the bill.
If two-thirds of both houses pass the bill
after the governor vetoes it, the legislature
is said to have "over-ridden the governor's
veto," and the bill becomes law. REFERENCES Asch, P., and D. T. Levy. 1987 . "Does the
minimum drinking age affect traffic fa-
talities?" Journal of Policy Analysis and
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. 1976 . "High School students'
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USA Today 116:3. McClellan, M. C. 1990 . The problem of
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tally injured drivers and the minimum
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