Sac Central Delegation Bulletin #2: Bill Time!

As we continue to get going in this new year, there continues to be a lot of information and reminders! The good news is that a lot of this material will drop off after this week once registration is complete. 

I won't be able to attend this week's delegation meetings, but you'll be in good hands with advisors Rob, Robbie, and Dylan and special guest Derek Dolfie, Lead Advisor for the El Dorado Delegation. 

NEW BUSINESS:

1.) Payment 1 Due This Week: A $400 payment is due this week. If you signed up for the bank draft, payments will be deducted on the 20th of each month. Checks can be submitted at this week's meeting (payable to "Sacramento Central YMCA with your delegate's name in the memo line). 

• If you are making payments online, you will need to log into your account. This is usually going to be done with the delegate's email address (or the parent's email) and the password was automatically generated as the delegate's First and Last initial and their date of birth. So Jane Delegate, born on March 15, 2002 would have a password of JD031502. Contact Dylan if you have problems logging on to make your payment. 
• Here are online payment instructions.
• Payments received after Friday, September 21 will be considered late.

2.) Capitol Coalition Field Day (extended deadline: Sept 19): Our Coalition Field Day convenes on Sunday, September 30 from 10am-4pm at the Sacramento Central YMCA. The cost is $10 (covers supplies and lunch) and you can sign up here. (If cost presents a hardship, talk to your lead advisor ASAP). Please bring your $10 payment to this week's meeting. Cash or check only, in envelope with Delegate's name.

3.) Mixed Bags Sales Start This Week: Mixed Bags catalogs will be provided at this week's delegation meeting along with instructions on completing order forms and collecting sales tax. Orders will be due on October 3. Delegates earn 50% of their pre-tax sales towards their program fees. Delegates who indicated interest in participating get priority for catalogs. All delegates need not have applied for Y-Assist to participate. Delegates not on Y-Assist who participate can choose to have their sales credited towards their program fee balance or donate their sales to our general scholarship pot. 

4.) Financial Aid Applications Due This Wednesday: If you are interested in applying for financial aid, applications are due this Wednesday. (See pages 19-24 in the paperwork packet for applications.) There are two applications you must submit:

• Y-Assist - funding provided by the Sacramento Central YMCA
• Award notifications will be going out shortly via email from Dylan
• CalYMCA Individual Scholarship - funding provided by CalYMCA
• Award notifications will be provided the first week in October 
• Both applications require the same supporting documentation. You need only submit one copy of your supporting documentation. We will submit the CalYMCA Individual Scholarship Application on your behalf.
• Please make sure that you fill out both applications completely. Incomplete applications or applications missing supporting documents cannot be processed.
• The CalYMCA Individual Scholarship deadline is this Thursday. If you don't submit your application by this week's meeting, you will miss out on funding! 
• Reminder: If you want to be here, we want you to be here. We are committed to ensuring no delegate drops the program solely because of financial concerns. If you are concerned that your supporting documents don't provide a complete financial picture, please include a supplemental letter explaining your particular situation. For further assistance, contact Dylan O'Tarrow, Y&G Coordinator, at 916-452-9622.

5.) Bills! It's time to start learning about the bill writing process! Get a head start on the process by checking out a few resources before this week's meeting. First up, here's a video about where to look for bill ideas and starting the bill development process - including how to search old bills on subjects you are interested in. Next, here's an expanded version of the handout you received last week with the 10 steps to writing your bill. See the reminder section below for links to news resources for current events. Take some time this week to check out the headlines and see what interests you. Bill writing is an area where it doesn't pay to think too big. Small, specific problems are the perfect subjects for bills. Don't try to recreate K-12 education or reorganize all of state government. 

• Take a look at recent Veto messages from Governor Brown. These can give you some ideas for issues current legislators find important and the reasons why their solutions didn't quite cut it. Look for entries here called "Legislative Update" and scroll to the bottom to see vetoed bills and veto messages. 

6.) Complete the Conference Registration Process (due Sept 18/20) Please complete Reggo registration ASAP. Returners should still have their accounts from last year and be familiar with the process. New delegates can check out this instruction sheet (magnify to see detail). Make sure to take not of your "Participant ID" number at the end! You'll need it to . . .

7.) Complete the Political Ideology Compass (due Sept 20) Last year, Y&G started a new Issues & Activism program area. This replaced our former "Political Parties." Parties in Y&G are not like real world political parties. There are no "Democrats" and "Republicans" - instead our parties are named after California emblems like Redwood, Trout, and Poppy. Delegates are sorted into one of six parties through the Political Ideology Compass (PIC) - our version of the Sorting Hat (#hogwarts) Once in groups, parties work collaboratively to decide what issues are most important and which solutions they think are most viable in addressing them. You PIC your party (get it! PIC - pick! ha, so clever) through an online issues quiz available here. To PIC, you must first have registered so you have your Voter ID - which is your "participant ID" in Reggo. For more instructions, click here.

8. Delegation Registration Packets Due This Week Our internal registration process is comprised of three steps. Step one is our online registration form. Step two is to pay an initial $100 deposit (or to submit your completed Y-Assist and Individual Scholarship Form with supporting documents). Step three is to return your completed paperwork packet. Please submit your completed paperwork packet at this week's meeting. 

9.) Sweatshirt Color Vote This Week: Each year, delegations design their own sweatshirts. Our coalition wears the same color sweatshirt and we select the color through a team process. This year, Gold Country and Sac Central will each select 2 colors. El Dorado Delegation will then select our final color from among those 4 choices. Make sure you're there this week to cast your vote! 

REMINDERS:

Community Service and Fundraiser Volunteer Sign-Ups. We've got several community service opportunities in September and October Click here and let us know which days you are available to participate. It would be great to have at least 3 more people volunteer for this coming Saturday's Tahoe Park Clean Up Day since Tahoe Park is our meeting home!

Current Events Will bill work starting soon, it's time to start paying attention to the news! The legislature just completed its 2 year session and a lot of bills died or were sent to the Governor this week. Keep up on current events by getting in the habit of checking out the headlines each day. Rough & Tumble is a great news aggregator website that collects top news from papers around California. You can also subscribe to The Roundup for a daily news digest delivered to your inbox. Of course, the Sac Bee is a great source, too.

Get to know the website. In addition to our bulletin, a lot of valuable information can be found at our website. Here, you'll find all past bulletins, delegation information, a program calendar, and a link to our forms and downloads folder. Remember to check the site first - chances are you'll find answers to most of your questions!

Remind and Groupme: We use two messaging services to communicate. First, you'll be added to our Remind text messaging service. We use this to send reminders and communicate important information at conferences - no app required! Next, you'll be added to Groupme, a free group messaging app we use for less formal communication between meetings and at conferences. Downloading the free Groupme app is highly recommended. Make sure you interact with groupme once you are added or else your notifications will shut off. 

Y-Assist and Scholarship App. We have several forms of financial assistance available for delegate families. The first, and most important, are found in your paperwork packet (pp 19-24). Y-Assist is provided through our YMCA and the Individual Scholarship is provided by CalYMCA (the YMCA that coordinates our conferences). If you would like to apply for financial aid, please complete both application forms and submit them with the required supporting documents. (You only need one copy of your supporting documents. We will submit the Individual Scholarship to CalYMCA on your behalf.)   We are committed to equal program access for all and are dedicated to ensuring the benefits of Y&G are available to every student in our community without regard to financial need. No delegate should ever drop out or refrain from joining because of financial concerns. If you want to do this program, we want you to do this program. 

Parent Corner
- Camp Capital City: The Sacramento Central YMCA's signature fall fundraising event is quickly approaching! This evening of nostalgic summer camp themed fun supports our Y-Assist Fund, providing program access to all in our community, regardless of financial need. We'd love to have you attend! Tickets and sponsorships are available! Click here for more info.

-Remind your delegate to check email and read each week's bulletin and encourage them to stay on top of things like completing forms and registrations. Having them complete these tasks themselves helps impart some of the "soft skills" Y&G is designed to teach like responsibility, respect, and time management. 

-Join Remind: If you are not in our Remind text group, please text @sc71parent to 81010 from your mobile phone to join. This message group will be used only for occasional reminders and for conference travel alerts. 

At the next meeting we'll . . .  

- Start learning about the bill process

- Continue learning about program areas

-Continue to get to know each other
- Select sweatshirt color options!

See you on Wednesday!

Helpful Links:

Missed a bulletin?

Need to make a payment?

Looking for forms or handouts?

Mark your calendars:

September 19, 2018: Payment #1 Due
September 22, 2018: Tahoe Park Clean Up
September 26, 2018: Mandatory Values Meeting

September 30, 2018: Capitol Coalition Field Day

October 13, 2018: Camp Capital City YMCA Fundraiser; Volunteer Sign-ups here.
October 24, 2018: Mandatory Practice Bill Hearing Night
November 7, 2018: Mandatory Pre-Conference Meeting

November 9-11, 2018: Training & Elections Conference I, Fresno
January 19-21, 2019: Training & Elections Conference II, Fresno
February 14-18, 2019: 71st Model Legislature & Court, Sacramento