From: yasu@ll.mit.edu (Alan Yasutovich)
Subject: HOW TO CHANGE A LAW
Organization: MIT Lincoln Laboratory
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 92 19:13:45 GMT



	More re-post!!!!!!!!!!








SUBJECT: How do you get the law changed?
(We are talking about state laws here, but the federal process is much
the same.)


Introduction: How is a law made?

     A legislator introduces a bill in the house or the senate. (Or
hopefully both.)  It has its first reading....a formality.
It is then assigned to committee.  The committee holds a public
meeting and makes modifications to the bill.  It goes back to the house
for second and third readings and may be further amended in the full
house.  It then goes through the same process,  (or if introduced to
both houses at the start has been going through the same process in the
other house),  in the other house.  After surviving through both houses,
if it does, any differences are ironed out in conference committee and it
goes back to the house from which it passed in a different form to be 
passed on a final vote.
If it makes it through all this it has to be signed by the Governor to
make it into law.

HOW CAN A LEGISLATIVE ACTIVIST HELP THIS PROCESS OUT?

You can start even before the bill starts out.
Various study committees often meet on an ongoing basis.  Get to know
when they meet and attend.  Introduce yourself to members of these 
committees.  Get to know them.  Let them know you.  Testify to the
committee.  Build up a raport with a sympathetic member of the
study committee. 
     If no appropriate study committee exists, attend a legislative
session and listen and watch until you find a legislator who appears
to be sympathetic.  Introduce yourself to him/her.  OR write to some
of your legislators.  After you have read their response, write again
to those that seem to have similar points of view.  Go to a session
and introduce yourself to them.

So far 6 months to a year has gone by!

After you are known to appropriate legislators ask them if they would
consider sponsoring legislation in the area in which you want the law
changed.  If you get a positive response,start to look for other
co-sponsors.  YOU MUST GET SPONSORS OF THE POLITICAL PARTY IN POWER IN
WHICHEVER HOUSE THE BILL IS INTRODUCED.  Better yet get co-sponsors
from both parties, the more the better.  IF POSSIBLE GET THE BILL
INTRODUCED INTO BOTH HOUSES, SPONSORED BY MEMBERS FROM BOTH PARTIES.
If you have the competence, you should prepare the first draft of
the bill itself.  IF you don`t have the competence, FIND someone
that does!.

OF course,examine the existing law first and make the changes as
simple and as logical as possible.
DON`T MERELY GIVE THE LEGISLATOR THE CONCEPT AND RELY ON THEM TO DO
THE WORK.
DO CONFER WITH the legislative counsel`s office or Legislative Services
Agency (whatever it is called in your state, there is a bunch of 
professionals who write bills for legislators.)
DO LOOK AT OTHER STATES  nad tailor your proposed legislation to 
correspond to that of another state, if appropriate.
DO NOT TRY TO BE TRICKY OR CLEVER.  KEEP IT SIMPLE.
I.E. TRY TO RESTRICT THE SUBJECT MATTER TO A SINGLE ISSUE
(E.g. the XXXXXXXXX statute change that criminalized visitation denial
consisted of only two words introduced into an existing statute
which criminalized parental kidnapping.)

So the bill is written and will be introduced.  Now the real work
begins.

DO approach all members of the relevent committee to which it will be 
assigned.  (It may even be necessary to lobby to get it assigned to
the correct committee and not buried in some other committee, or worse
yet not even assigned to committee.)

ABOVE ALL TRY TO DEVELOP A RAPPORT WITH THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE COMMITTEE.
These chairpersons often act little short of god in determining if your
bill will be called and if the committee will hold a meeting to discuss it.
IT WILL BE NECESSARY AT ABOUT THIS TIME TO HAVE 10-30 PEOPLE CAPABLE
OF WRITING INTELLIGENT LETTERS EXPRESSING THE IMPORTANCE OF HAVING THIS 
BILL PASSED OUT OF COMMITTEE.


DO TALK TO ALL LEGISLTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRIOR TO A HEARING.
(Votes are frequently decided in advance of hearing the facts!)

DO not place your proposal with a legislator simply because he/she is
from your district.  You need someone who has an interest in the bill
and who WILL WORK HARD for it.

IT IS important to time your proposal correctly.  It has to be introduced
early in a session to get a good chance of getting through everything.

IT DOES HELP to give money to the re-election committees of your 
sponsors and co-sponsors.

NOW COMES THE TIME TO SPEND MORE MONEY IN PREPARING AND DISEMINATING
(WIDELY) INFORMATION AND "TALKING PAPERS" TO OTHER LEGISLATORS.

Right after the bill comes out of committee for second reading, every
possible legislator should have had several personal letters from 
constituents asking them to support the bill and an information
package from you or your organization.  Then members of your 
organization should start phoning and leaving messages in support
of the bill.  THEY MUST ALWAYS BE POLITE.

(WE have often generated up to 100 phone messages per day in XXXXXXXXX
during critical times for a bill.  This takes organization and above
all a phone tree to spread out the message to your members.)

Watch the votes AND let the legislators KNOW you are watching their
votes.  ASK them (POLITELY) why they voted against you if they did.
Ask them to reconsider in future.  TELL THEM YOU APPRECIATE THEIR
SUPPORT if they voted the way you wanted them to.  NOTHING WORKS
BETTER THAN LETTING A POLITICIAN KNOW THEY ARE BEING MONITORED AND
APPRECIATED.

(The teachers lobby in XXXXXXXXX almost always gets its way.  Why?
because they can tell you how each legislator voted on anything.  They
do the homework.)

So far if everything went perfectly, it has been over a year.
If it did not go perfectly....hopefully you have learnt from your
mistakes and will have a better performance next time.

IT CAN BE DONE.

WE HAVE DONE IT IN XXXXXXXXX.

WE WILL CONTINUE TO DO IT IN XXXXXXXXX.








>From Wall Street Journal 11/19/92

     The Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling
ordering a father to pay college support.

(I do not have the ruling and will make a synopsis of the case as soon
as I obtain it.)

     From the newspaper article the ruling appears to made on the grounds
that since the "child" had turned 18, he was now an adult and thus no
longer a dependent child, and thus the college order of one adult
supporting another adult was not "child" support.


-- 
	Alan Yasutovich
	"inquiring  (and nosey) minds WANT TO KNOW!!!"
	I can remember when "safe sex" meant having a padded headboard!!
	Tick Tock.....Tick Tock......Tick Tock .....Tick Tock......
Newsgroups: alt.child-support,soc.men,soc.women