El Dorado Youth and Government Delegation Bulletin #11

“

Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"  

- Emma Lazarus

Bill Hearing Night is This Week (11/01)! Make Sure You're Prepared!

1.) Bill Hearing Night is this Week on Thursday (11/01)!: This year's bill hearing night is this week on Thursday, Nov. 1 from 6pm-9pm in the Oak Ridge High School Theater. Attendance to Bill Hearing Night is MANDATORY for all delegates. All delegates must, even if you are not speaking, wear Sacramento attire to Bill Hearing Night. Sac Attire is what we call our professional dress code - the style of clothes we wear to our final conference of the year. Click here for a review of Sac Attire. If you have questions, ask! 

Bill hearing night is a big deal for our delegation. This year is special because I got word that we will have several VIP's coming to bill hearing night this year. In addition to having our local El Dorado County Supervisor John Hidahl coming, we are also going to have several key core staff members from Cal YMCA attend. The Core staff is also bringing several international representatives, through the Northern California World Trade Center, that are in the U.S. learning about our democracy.

As a reminder: Our delegation will create 10 bills and our judges will select the top 5 of bills to advance from BHN to our conferences. You will get 10 points for attending bill hearing night. Parents, family, and friends are also invited and strongly encouraged to attend! Delegates will get an extra point for bringing friends or family.

List of Confirmed BHN Judges:
Aaron Palm - Oak Ridge High School Principal
John Hidahl - El Dorado County Supervisor 
Mr. Seely - Oak Ridge High School Teacher
Johnnie Pina - Legislative Policy Analyst, League of California Cities
Edwin Kim, El Dorado Deputy District Attorney

We will be splitting up the night into two groups for families to present (see below). The first group will present from 6-7:30pm and the second group from 7:30-9pm. The order of the families is the order they will present.  PLEASE BE ON TIME OR EARLY TO YOUR GROUP. Delegates do not need to attend the other group's presentations but are welcome to. 

Group 1 - 6-7:30pm:

• 1st Adams
• 2nd Stafford
• 3rd Arico
• 4th Parish
• 5th Borg

Group 2 - 7:30-9pm:

• 6th Driscoll
• 7th Causley
• 8th Durham
• 9th Melehani
• 10th Merchant

Here is the script for Bill Hearing Night:

Clerk reads enacting clause of Bill	Chair: “The clerk will now read the enacting clause” Clerk: [reads enacting clause]
Sponsor’s speech (3 minutes) – purpose and major provisions of Bill	Chair: “It is now in order for an author/sponsor speech is such an author/sponsor present” [Author/sponsor raises hand and is recognized by chair] Chair: “To what point do you rise?” Delegate: “To make an author/sponsor speech.” Chair: “Please rise, state your name and delegation. You have 3 minutes” Delegate: [gives speech. When done can yield time to questions. If there are no questions, then yield time to the Chair]
Legislative Analyst speech (2 minutes) – Gives an objective analysis of what the bill does, how much it costs, it's benefits or potential negative consequences.	Chair: “It is now in order for a legislative analyst speech is such a legislative analyst present” [Legislative analyst raises hand and is recognized by chair] Chair: “To what point do you rise?” Delegate: “To make an legislative analyst speech.” Chair: “Please rise, state your name and delegation. You have 2 minutes” Delegate: [gives speech. When done can yield time to questions. If there are no questions, then yield time to the Chair]
Lobbyists speak for and against (2 minutes each)	Chair: “it is now in order for a lobbyist speech in favor of this bill is such a lobbyist present?” [Lobbyist raises hand and is recognized by chair] Chair: “To what point do you rise?” Delegate: “To make an lobbyist speech in favor of this bill.” Chair: “Please rise, state your name and delegation. You have 2 minutes” Delegate: [gives speech. When done can yield time to Questions. If there are no questions, then yield time to the Chair] Chair: “it is now in order for a speech from a lobbyist against this bill is such a lobbyist present?” [Lobbyist raises hand and is recognized by chair] Chair: “To what point do you rise?” Delegate: “To make an lobbyist speech against this bill.” Chair: “Please rise, state your name and delegation. You have 2 minutes” Delegate: [gives speech. When done can yield time to questions. If there are no questions, then yield time to the Chair]
Sponsor’s summation speech (3 minutes each)	Chair: “It is now in order for an author/sponsor summation speech is such an author/sponsor present” [Author/sponsor raises hand and is recognized by chair] Chair: “To what point do you rise?” Delegate: “To make an author/sponsor summation speech.” Chair: “Please rise, state your name and delegation. You have 3 minutes” Delegate: [gives speech. When done can yield time to questions. If there are no questions, then yield time to the Chair]
Judges critique (3 minutes) 15 mins per family presentation, total

Each group will have a total of 15 mins for their presentation.

Each family, by this Monday (10/29) at 5pm should have the following things done: 

1) Completed the bill worksheet (links below)
2) Completed all speeches for each speaker
3) Completed final bill language for your bill (bill template links below). 

I will need to make sure all of the bills are ready so I can send them to our judges before Thursday.

Family bill templates and worksheets:

• Adams Family: Worksheet, Bill Language Template 
• Arico Family: Worksheet, Bill Language Template
• Borg Family: Worksheet, Bill Language Template
• Causley Family: Worksheet, Bill Language Template
• Driscoll Family: Worksheet, Bill Language Template
• Durham Family: Worksheet, Bill Language Template
• Melehani Family: Worksheet, Bill Language Template
• Merchant Family: Worksheet, Bill Language Template
• Parish Family: Worksheet, Bill Language Template
• Stafford Family: Worksheet, Bill Language Template

2.) T&E 1 Room Assignments: Follow this link: http://bit.ly/2PdDwxh to see the final room assignments for T&E 1. The room assignments were based off of the room suggestions that delegates submitted last week. Not everyone got the exact room they wanted, but luckily we will only be spending a a couple hours a day in the rooms and mainly to sleep. I tried my best to keep people together but we must have four people to a room. Delegates can switch rooms after T&E 1 if desired, but must let me know. Thank you for your patience and understanding on this.

As always, thank you for reading and I will see you on Thursday!

Derek Dolfie

Lead Advisor/Delegation Dad

El Dorado Delegation

Helpful Links:
Missed a bulletin?

Need to make a payment?

Mark your calendars for these key events!

October 19, 2018: Second Y&G Payment

November 1, 2018: Mandatory Bill Hearing Night
November 8, 2018: Mandatory Pre-Conference Meeting
November 9-11, 2018: Training & Elections Conference I, Fresno
December 2: California International Marathon Volunteer Event
January 19-21, 2019: Training & Elections Conference II, Fresno
February 14-18, 2019: 71st Model Legislature & Court, Sacramento

Sac Central Delegation Bulletin #8: Bill Hearing Night is Tuesday!

All your hard work so far has led to this: Bill Hearing Night is next Tuesday, October 30. You've all done great work and I'm really impressed by your efforts! 

NEW BUSINESS:

1.) Bill Hearing Night is this TUESDAY! 

Who: All delegates and their families! Bill Hearing Night is for everyone - invite friends, family, teachers, everyone!

Where: Sacramento Historic City Hall Hearing Room (915 I Street)
When: 6pm-8pm
Parking: There is a structure available at 10th and I Streets and street parking around city hall along I Street and 9th and 10th Streets. Please make note of parking meter hours and avoid tickets.

BE ON TIME! Make sure you leave time to be IN CITY HALL and ready to go AT 6PM. It is a weeknight in downtown Sacramento. There will be heavy traffic coming into and going out of downtown and it may take you time to find parking. Have a plan for arriving on time and make sure you communicate that to any family members attending or giving you a ride. 

2.) Sac Attire: As we reviewed at the last meeting, all delegates are expected to wear "Sac Attire" to Bill Hearing Night. Sac Attire is what we call our professional dress code - the style of clothes we wear to our final conference of the year. Click here for a review of Sac Attire. If you have questions, ask! 

3.) Bill Hearing Night Format: The Delegation President will welcome everyone to Bill Hearing Night and introduce the first bill group. Delegates presenting a bill will sit on the dais. You may use the microphones to speak if you wish but be very careful with them. Do not unnecessarily bend or play with the microphones. If the green light is on, your mic is on. If you're not presenting or speaking, make sure you turn off the mic. Delegates not presenting will sit towards the back of the room to allow our guests to sit in the front.

The script for the proceeding can be found here.  You don't need to stand during your presentations since you'll be sitting at the front of the room with access to the microphones.

Each bill groups makes the following speeches: 

- Bill Sponsor - introduces the bill and gives the opening and closing speeches on the bill (up to 3 min sponsor speech and 2 min summation speech). Speeches should include information about the problem your bill hopes to solve and why your way of solving it is the best way. If you can anticipate the likely Con arguments (which you should know from working in your bill groups) and address why they are no big deal, all the better. 

- Lobbyist For - speaks in favor of the bill (up to 2 min speech and 1 min summation speech). The Pro Lobbyist should support the solution within the bill language but doesn't necessarily need to make the same arguments as the Bill Sponsor. Work with the Bill Sponsor to see what pro comments might not fit into their allotted time to see whether you can help by adding these arguments to your speech.

- Lobbyist Against - speaks against the bill (up to 2 min speech and 1 min summation speech). NOTE: on Bill Hearing Night the Con Lobbyist should not be aiming to kill the bill at all costs. At Bill Hearing Night, the goal is to present highly debatable bills to the audience. While you can point out structural problems with the bill language, the majority of your time should be spent on the substantive reasons to vote against the bill. Why is this the wrong way to solve the problem?

- Legislative Analyst - gives an objective analysis of what the bill does, how much it costs, it's benefits or potential negative consequences. (up to 2 min speech) A Legislative Analyst should not be arguing for or against the bill. They are usually largely concerned with cost or possible legal impediments to the proposed solution. 

ALL BILL GROUP MEMBERS SHOULD REVIEW BILL LANGUAGE TO MAKE SURE THEIR ARGUMENTS ARE ACTUALLY DRAWN FROM WHAT THE BILL PROPOSES TO DO!

4.) Bill Draft Language Must Be Finalized by Sunday at 6pm: We are hoping to print bill language for our guests but can't do that unless all four bills are finalized. Ask if you need help! Make sure you check your bill template for feedback left previously. 

• Parental Leave: Worksheet, Bill Language (Trisha, Miraya, Keymora, Priya)
• Plastics/Environmental: Worksheet, Bill Language (Kayla, Jenni, Jimmy, Mitchell)
• Carpool Lane Access: Worksheet, Bill Language (Aaron, Sam, Connor, James)
• Tree Damage: Worksheet, Bill Language (Liam, Cameron, Leo, Natalie)

Every group should review this and make sure their drafts match technical requirements.  

5.) No Meeting Wednesday, October 31: Bill Hearing Night will be our meeting next week. There's no meeting on Wednesday night. Happy Halloween! 

REMINDERS:

Next Two Meetings are Mandatory: TUESDAY Oct 30, Bill Hearing Night, and the week after (Nov 7), our pre-conference meeting, are both mandatory. Be there!

Payment #2: If you haven't yet, please bring your payment to our next meeting, or pay online. (Click here for instructions on using the online payment system.) If you have a question about the amount owed, please contact Dylan. Your prompt payment is greatly appreciated!  

Check the website first! 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!

Parent Corner

- New Parent Mandatory Meeting Nov 7: Our pre-conference meeting is coming up on November 7. A family member from each new delegate family is required to attend. Returning delegate families are encouraged to attend. 

At the next meeting we'll . . .  

-- Select our bill for the 71st Model Legislature & Court!

See you on Wednesday!

Sac Central Delegation Stands For Respect, Responsibility, and Purpose

Helpful Links:

Missed a bulletin?

Need to make a payment?

Looking for forms or handouts?

Mark your calendars:

TUESDAY October 30, 2018: Mandatory Bill Hearing Night
November 7, 2018: Mandatory Pre-Conference Meeting

November 9-11, 2018: Training & Elections Conference I, Fresno
November 16, 2018: Payment #3 Due
December 2, 2018: California International Marathon Volunteer Event

January 19-21, 2019: Training & Elections Conference II, Fresno

February 14-18, 2019: 71st Model Legislature & Court, Sacramento

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. 

Sac Central Delegation Bulletin #7: Practice Bill Hearing Night Tomorrow! #beready

NEW BUSINESS:

1.) Next Three Meetings are Mandatory: This week is practice bill hearing night, next week (on TUESDAY) Oct 30 is Bill Hearing Night, and the week after (Nov 7) is our pre-conference meeting. All three meetings are required. Please make sure you are there! 

2.) Practice Bill Hearing Night This Week: 

Each group will give a full bill hearing night presentation tomorrow night! 
As a reminder, these are the required parts of a presentation. 

- Bill Sponsor - introduces the bill and gives the opening and closing speeches on the bill (up to 3 min sponsor speech and 2 min summation speech)

- Lobbyist For - speaks in favor of the bill (up to 2 min speech and 1 min summation speech)

- Lobbyist Against - speaks against the bill (up to 2 min speech and 1 min summation speech)

- Legislative Analyst - gives an objective analysis of what the bill does, how much it costs, it's benefits or potential negative consequences. (up to 2 min speech) 

Check out the script for the proceeding here.  

3.) Final draft bill language check-in tomorrow: Make sure you've checked your bill template doc. I have left comments and suggestions on each one. 

• Parental Leave: Worksheet, Bill Language (Ting, Trisha, Miraya, Keymora, Priya)
• Plastics/Environmental: Worksheet, Bill Language (Kayla, Jenni, Jimmy, Mitchell)
• Carpool Lane Access: Worksheet, Bill Language (Aaron, Sam, Connor, James)
• Tree Damage: Worksheet, Bill Language (Liam, Cameron, Leo, Natalie)

Every group should review this and make sure their drafts match technical requirements.  

4.) Returners should wear Sac Attire to tomorrow's meeting: All delegates will need to wear Sac Attire to Bill Hearing Night on Tuesday, Oct 30. Returners should wear Sac Attire to tomorrow's practice bill hearing night to help new delegates understand the dress code! 

5.) Payment #2: If you haven't yet, please bring your payment to this week's meeting, or pay online. (Click here for instructions on using the online payment system.) If you have a question about the amount owed, please contact Dylan. Your prompt payment is greatly appreciated!  

REMINDERS:

Bill Hearing Night Date Confirmed: Tuesday, October 30: This year's Bill Hearing Night will take place again at the Historic City Hall Chambers in downtown Sacramento. We have received a final confirmation of the date from Council Member Steve Hansen's office: Tuesday, October 30 from 6-8pm. This is a very important night for all delegates and attendance is mandatory. Parents, family, and friends are also invited and strongly encouraged to attend! Mark your calendars!

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!

Parent Corner

- Bill Hearing Night, TUESDAY October 30!: Bill Hearing Night is just a week away! It's one of our biggest nights of the year and we encourage all families to attend to see firsthand all the hard work your delegates have been doing for the past month or so. Please make plans to be there!

- New Parent Mandatory Meeting Nov 7: Our pre-conference meeting is coming up on November 7. A family member from each new delegate family is required to attend. Returning delegate families are encouraged to attend. 

At the next meeting we'll . . .  

-- Practice our bill hearing night presentations
-- Select roommates for our upcoming conference

See you on Wednesday!

Sac Central Delegation Stands For Respect, Responsibility, and Purpose

Helpful Links:

Missed a bulletin?

Need to make a payment?

Looking for forms or handouts?

Mark your calendars:

October 17, 2018: Payment #2 Due
October 24, 2018: Mandatory Practice Bill Hearing Night
TUESDAY October 30, 2018: Mandatory 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

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. 

El Dorado Youth and Government Delegation Bulletin #10

“We are not here to curse the darkness, but to light the candle that can guide us thru that darkness to a safe and sane future 

."

-President John F. Kennedy

Practice Bill Hearing Night is This Week (10/25)! Make Sure Your Family Is Prepared!

1.) Practice Bill Hearing Night: This week is our delegation's practice bill hearing night. Our meeting will be 30 minutes longer (6:30-8:30pm) to accommodate more bill work. Practice bill hearing night will provide an opportunity for each family to practice giving their speeches or the drafts of speeches that they have completed. We will have each family present their bill. Please come prepared and let me know if you have questions! 

2.) Payment #2 Reminder: Our last payment was on October 19. Please make sure you submitted your payment on time! 

3.) Bill Hearing Night: This year's bill hearing night is next week on Thursday, Nov. 1 from 6pm-9pm in the Oak Ridge High School Theater. Bill hearing night is a big deal for our delegation. We have invited local elected officials, Oak Ridge Teachers, and government professionals to be judges for this event. Our delegation will create 10 bills and our judges will select the top 5 of bills to advance from BHN to our conferences. This is a very important night for all delegates and attendance is mandatory. You will get 10 points for attending bill hearing night and an extra point for bringing friends or family.

List of Confirmed BHN Judges:
Aaron Palm - Oak Ridge High School Principal
John Hidahl - El Dorado County Supervisor 
Mr. Seely - Oak Ridge High School Teacher
Johnnie Pina - Legislative Policy Analyst, League of California Cities
Edwin Kim, El Dorado Deputy District Attorney

We will be splitting up the night into two groups for families to present (see below). The first group will present from 6-7:30pm and the second group from 7:30-9pm. Delegates do not need to attend the other group's presentations but are welcome to. Parents, family, and friends are also invited and strongly encouraged to attend! Mark your calendars!

Group 1 - 6-7:30pm:

• Adams
• Stafford
• Arico
• Parish
• Borg

Group 2 - 7:30-9pm:

• Driscoll
• Causley
• Durham
• Melehani
• Merchant

For our Bill Hearing Night, each bill group needs someone fulfilling one of the following roles:

• Bill Author/Sponsor  - introduces the bill and gives the opening and closing speeches on the bill
  • Will have 3 minutes to give an opening sponsor speech and 3 minutes to give a closing author summation speech.
• Legislative Analyst - gives an objective analysis of what the bill does, how much it costs, it's benefits or potential negative consequences. (2 mins)
• Lobbyist For - speaks in favor of the bill (2 mins
• Lobbyist Against - speaks against the bill (2 mins)

Note: The Bill Author/Sponsor - the person who writes the bill and is in charge of that draft language, is usually the same person as the Bill Sponsor but not always. That's up to your group to decide. If you are the bill sponsor either 1) you are going to be in Houses to shepard your bill through the legislative process, or 2) you will find another El Dorado delegate to be the bill sponsor who will shepard the bill. 

Family bill templates and worksheets:

• Adams Family: Worksheet, Bill Language Template 
• Arico Family: Worksheet, Bill Language Template
• Borg Family: Worksheet, Bill Language Template
• Causley Family: Worksheet, Bill Language Template
• Driscoll Family: Worksheet, Bill Language Template
• Durham Family: Worksheet, Bill Language Template
• Melehani Family: Worksheet, Bill Language Template
• Merchant Family: Worksheet, Bill Language Template
• Parish Family: Worksheet, Bill Language Template
• Stafford Family: Worksheet, Bill Language Template

4.) Bill Work for this Week: Bill hearing night is in 10 days! We will be continuing to focus on each families bill this week and get ready for our practice bill hearing night this Thursday, Oct 25. 

Each family, by this Thursday should have the following things done: 
1) Completed the bill worksheet (links above)
2) Completed speeches for each speaker
3) Completed draft language for your bill (bill template links above)

5.) Legislative Committee Chair Application Deadline Extended: The deadline to apply for Legislative Committee Chairs in Reggo has been extended until October 23rd at 5:00pm. Please note that this year delegates do not need previous MLC experience to apply to be a Committee Chair. This year we will select a total of 40 Committee Chairs so that the time commitment is not as great as it was last year during MLC Sacramento. If you are interested, please apply!

6.) Pre-Register/Register to Vote!: There is little more important politically than exercising your right to vote. It is our delegation goal to have 100% of delegates 16 years or older to pre-register or register to vote. I will bring pre/registration cards to the meeting again this week. But, you can also register online at: https://registertovote.ca.gov/

As always, thank you for reading and I will see you on Thursday!

Derek Dolfie

Lead Advisor/Delegation Dad

El Dorado Delegation

Helpful Links:
Missed a bulletin?

Need to make a payment?

Mark your calendars for these key events!

October 19, 2018: Second Y&G Payment

October 25, 2018: Practice Bill Hearing Night
November 1, 2018: Mandatory Bill Hearing Night
November 8, 2018: Mandatory Pre-Conference Meeting
November 9-11, 2018: Training & Elections Conference I, Fresno
December 2: California International Marathon Volunteer Event
January 19-21, 2019: Training & Elections Conference II, Fresno
February 14-18, 2019: 71st Model Legislature & Court, Sacramento