Tracking a piece of legislation may sound like an assignment out of a college civics class . . . until you learn how decisions made in Sacramento or Washington D.C. turn into real issues for Lakewood taxpayers, homeowners, and residents.
If you're intrigued by a piece of legislation under consideration in Sacramento or Washington D.C., the Internet (and the online services offered by the state Legislature and Congress), the Internet can give one a ringside seat on the drama that goes into making the laws that will shape the city.
Essential resources for the grassroots lobbyist:
California State Assembly
California State Senate
U.S. House of Representatives
U.S. Senate
Library of Congress/Thomas (legislative information)
L.A. County
League of California Cities
National League of Cities
U.S. Conference of Mayors
Los Angeles Times
Press Telegram
Sacramento Bee
The "e" way to the grassroots
Thousands of bills every year pass like "The Perfect Storm" through the halls of the state capitol in Sacramento. All aspire to change the lives of Californians for the better. Each of these "good ideas" by a legislator has to fight for attention, compete with similar legislative proposals, survive the winnowing process of committee votes and friendly (and not so friendly) amendments, pass both houses of the state legislature, and escape a possible governor's veto.
Going from "good idea" to "good legislation" is a process that is both fascinating and perplexing.
The process is open to the public, of course, but tracking proposed legislation that may affect your family or business wasn't at all easy . . . until now. Never have so many Americans had so much access so quickly. The cause of this "great leap forward" in access and speed? It's no mystery. You're using it right now!
Your access through the World Wide Web is beyond our Founding Fathers' wildest dreams. They imagined a deliberative process that relied on reports that were published days or weeks after proposed legislation had been heard by the state legislature or Congress.
That's not the case today. State and federal legislation is just a click away, along with analyses, status reports, and the results of voting through the entire legislative process.
You don't have to wait for TV, radio, or newspaper reports after the fact to tell you about current legislation. You can be your own "legislative watchdog" and join the on-going debate -- with a letter, an e-mail, or a fax -- to your representatives in Sacramento or Washington D.C. before a bill becomes law. Who knows, your "good idea" may spark its very own piece of legislation.
Getting started
As a brand-new legislative watchdog, you'll need to know which proposed legislation is important to you. The best place to start, not surprisingly, is a good newspaper. The Press Telegram and Los Angeles Times cover the County Board of Supervisors, the state assembly, state senate, and Congress. The Sacramento Bee, as the "hometown" paper of the California Legislature, follows the twists and turns of the state legislative process better than almost any other publication.
All three papers have helpful websites -- particularly the Sacramento Bee -- and frequently report from Sacramento on legislation that is significant to the Lakewood and Long Beach area.
Good bill hunting!
Let's look at a piece of proposed legislation that Lakewood residents might want to track. To learn more about a bill, go to the California State Assembly site.
Go to Legislation. Enter the bill number and the name of the bill sponsor. You will access a page that allows you to choose whether you want to read the bill in HTML or PDF format.
Before selecting, scroll to the bottom of the page. Hit "Subscribe." Enter your e-mail address and you will be informed automatically by e-mail of all committee actions, amendments, hearings, and updates to bill you have choosen.
Then, return to read the latest version of the bill. Over time, the file will include actions taken by the relevant Assembly and Senate committees and the reports by legislative analysts.
Most lawmakers have website and you can go to them to get their perspective on an issue. You can find theor mailing address, e-mail address, phone and fax numbers in Sacramento by clicking on "Assembly Members" from the California State Assembly homepage and then clicking on his name, which is listed alphabetically.
Legislative watchdogs
If a resident has an appetite for legislative sleuthing, they'll also want to use these links:
California State Assembly
Hit the "Legislation" link. You'll arrive at a page where you can locate a particular bill by its number or the name of one of the bill's authors.
[Remember: Bills introduced in the Assembly have the letters "AB" preceding the bill number. Bills introduced in the Senate have "SB" before the bill number. Occasionally, there will be Constitutional Amendments initiated in either the Assembly or Senate. These will be labeled with ACA or SCA, respectively.]
You are offered a choice of viewing the bill in HTML in a simple, typewritten format. Or you may select PDF, which will display the bill in the same format as it is printed for the legislators to consider.
You will need Adobe Acrobat, downloadable free at Adobe Software. Use it to view legislation and many committee or agency reports.
Another neat watchdog-friendly feature is a free service called "Subscriber." The State Assembly will automatically inform you via e-mail of any amendments, committee actions, etc. as the bill progresses all the way through approval and enactment.
California State Senate
A similar, but not identical, means to locate and track pending Senate bills is available at the California Senate site. Both the Senate and Assembly sites offer ample information explaining the legislative process.
The Senate's FAQs are meager. But, their page links to a group of related associations, media, and departments. Among them is the Legislative Analyst, which is helpful in understanding the impact of proposed measures.
Keep in mind during your searches that the bill numbering process begins anew each session, which is every two years.
So, SB 1234 in the 2003-2004 legislative session will be different from SB 1234 in the 2004-2005 session.
U.S. House of Representatives
A good place to begin is at "The Legislative Process" link. It gives you access to information about bills and resolutions being considered in the Congress, broken down into digestible segments.
I recommend you go to "Tying It All Together" before you jump into "Bill Text," "Bill Status," "Amendment Status," "Committee Jurisdiction," "Roll Call Votes," or "Current House Proceedings." It is a summary explanation of how the legislative process works.
Library of Congress "Thomas"
Once you've read that, to paraphrase a familiar LA car dealer's TV theme song, "Go see Thomas! Go see Thomas! Go see Thomas!"
THOMAS (as in Jefferson) is the Library of Congress' searchable database about the U.S. Congress and the legislative process. THOMAS allows you to search bills by topic, bill number, or title. You can find committee reports by topic or committee name via THOMAS.
U.S. Senate
At first glance, the U. S. Senate home page seems like a guide to an art gallery. There's a painting from the Senate Art Collection (The Battle of Lake Erie). There are paintings of old senators and old buildings where the Senate once met in New York City.
Once you get past their past, you will notice at the top of the page a button for "Legislative Activities." (Remember the House called it "The Legislative Process." That's where you can check on the Senate's activity or inactivity, as the case may be).
L. A. County
With practice, you can readily follow the meeting agendas to see what is going on in a county that has a greater population than 42 states. At the county home page, hit the Board of Supervisors (I mean that figuratively). From there, you may access either the "Board Agenda" button or the "Statement of Proceedings" button. The former will tell you what measures the Board is considering, while the latter will tell you what items the Board actually approved, denied, or tabled.
Links to an Information Booklet are available to assist the public with agendas and meetings of the Board. A copy of Rules of the Board also is online.
League of California Cities
The League is primarily an information and advocacy resource for cities. The League isn't a neutral player in the process of making laws. The League sees the legislative process as a "contact sport." So, be prepared for strong opinions.
Their site has short, informative sections that will help you understand state policies and legislative issues in a number of areas, including these links:
National League of Cities
Check out the "Legislative Priorities" section. The NLC sets out the most crucial legislative areas for American cities. This is a guidepost to understanding the reasons for their positions on proposed legislation.
Next, check out the "Other Resources and Gateways." This links you to "The Big Seven" organizations that, according to the NLC, "represent the top elected and appointed officials in the nation's state and local governments. This page also links to 200 other national organizations and associations that serve local government by subject area (i.e., education, finance, transportation, etc.). You will be well grounded in what goals local governments are aiming to achieve.
U.S. Conference of Mayors
The U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) features current issues of concern to America's mayors such as "Kids and Violence," "Hunger and Homelessness," and "Gun Safety."
By clicking on the "Washington Update" icon, you'll get a menu of topics. Select any that interest you. I tried "Education and Workforce Training" and found dozens of informative articles and reports addressing these issues.
What you find here is a way to locate the "hot bills" that are the greatest help or detriment to America's mayors and local government. From here, you can check them out for yourself and form your own opinion.
After all, isn't that what the exercise we call Democracy is all about?
