2019-20 El Dorado Youth and Government Delegation Bulletin #10

"Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.” – Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Bill hearing night is this week! I am so excited for all of you to show off the dedication, encouragement, and empathy you have put into your family's bills. There will be judges from both Oak Ridge and the real legislative community who will be assessing your bills and giving you constructive feedback. Make sure to have all of your bill language and speeches ready for your presentations. Practice makes perfect, so I encourage you to time your speeches and say it to your friends and family first to practice. Let your family leader or advisor (or me!) know if you need help! Best luck on Thursday!

1.) Bill Hearing Night THIS WEEK (10/24): Our bill hearing night is this Thursday, Oct 24th from 6-9pm. We are splitting our meeting into two halves, 5 families will present between 6-7:30pm and the remaining 5 from 7:30-9pm. You need only to attend the half of the night with your bill, but you are welcome to stay for the whole meeting. Below is the order and group of each family:

Group 1: 6-7:30pm

1) Adams
2) Arico
3) Durham
4) Parish
5) Stafford

Group 2: 7:30-9pm

1) Borg
2) Causley
3) Driscoll
4) Melehani
5) Merchant

This event is open to the public, so be sure to bring your friends and family! 

Additionally, all delegates are required to wear Sac Attire to this meeting, even if you are not presenting. For those who do not know what Sac Attire is, it means wear business professional clothing. Here is a link to the official dress code for the 72nd Model Legislature and Court system. 

The structure of bill hearing night is each family gets 15 minutes to present their bill to the audience and judges. Below is the breakdown for time each role gets to speak:

• Delegation secretary reads enacting clause of bill (30 seconds) 
• Sponsor speech (3 minutes) - purpose and major provisions of bill
• Legislative Analyst Speech (2 minutes) – fiscal analysis of the bill
• Pro-Lobbyist speech (2 minutes)
• Con-Lobbyist speech (2 minutes)
• Sponsor's summation speech (3 minutes)
• Judges scoring and comments on bill (3 minutes)

This year, only 4 bills will advance to the conference. The judges will rank their top 4 bills and we will announce the winners at the end of the night. You definitely want to make sure your family's bill is one of the top 4! 

I will be pulling the bills from this folder, so be sure the final bill language in your family's bill template here!

Last, but not least, you will receive 10, yes 10 points, for attending bill hearing night and an additional 1 point if you bring a friend or parent! These points will help you get the program area of your choice after the first conference. Ask a returner about the points if you have questions. 

2.) Upcoming Weekly Meeting Schedule: We have a busy schedule the next couple weeks. Please mark your calendars for these events in the coming weeks:

• Bill Hearing Night - 10/24
• No Meeting (Happy Halloween) - 10/31
• Mandatory Pre-Conference Meeting - 11/7
• Training and Elections 1 Conference - 11/9-11/11

3.) Mandatory Parent and Delegate Pre-Conference Meeting (11/7): Our first Fresno conference is right around the corner! Make sure you attend our mandatory pre-conference meeting to discuss the logistics, and what you will be doing as delegate at the conference. If you are a new delegate (or a returner!) this meeting will be especially important to attend. Each delegate will get 5 points if they attend this mandatory meeting and an additional 2 points if they bring an adult member of their family. Get those points y'all! 

4.) Fresno Conference Lunch Order: Please fill-out this link for your Fresno 1 conference lunch order for the bus ride home. Since the conference does not provide lunch on Nov 11, we order lunch from Subway to eat on the way home. If you would like to order a sandwich for the ride home on the 11th, fill-out this form and bring $7 in EXACT CHANGE IN CASH to the bus on Nov 9th. More details to come about the Fresno conference in the coming weeks. 

Parent Corner

- Mandatory Parent and Delegate Pre-Conference Meeting (11/7): Our mandatory parent pre-conference meeting is Nov 11 at 6:30pm. Please attend this meeting to learn about the conference, the logistics, and what your delegate will be doing there. If you cannot make this meeting, please let me know.

- Friendly Payment Reminder - Oct 18th: Our second payment installment of $437.50 was due last week, on Oct. 18th. Please pay here online or have your delegate bring a check made out to the Sacramento Central YMCA to this week's meeting. Please contact Dylan O'Tarrow if you have any questions about payments.  

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?

Question about the Sacramento Central YMCA?

Question about CalYMCA?

Question about our delegation?

Want to know how many points you have?

Want to know which family you are in?

Mark your calendars for these key events!

Oct. 18, 2019 -Second Payment Due

Oct. 24, 2019 -Bill Hearing Night - Open to Friends and Family (Oak Ridge)

November 9-11, 2019 -Training and Elections 1 Conference (Fresno)

Nov. 15, 2019 - Third Payment Due

December 13, 2019 - Fourth and Final Payment Due

January 18-20, 2020 -Training and Elections 2 Conference (Fresno)
February 13-17, 2020 -72nd Model Legislature & Court (Sacramento)

Sac Central Delegation Bulletin #7

Only three meetings left until our first conference! Quick breaking news: This year, Sac Central will be taking the train to T&EI! We'll discuss this in detail at our pre-conference meeting on November 6, but for now, know that we'll be meeting at the Amtrak Station downtown at 7am on Saturday, Nov 9 and returning at 6pm on Monday, November 11. Now, back to this week's news: 

At the next meeting: We'll practice our Bill Hearing Night presentations and learn about Sac Attire (Officers should wear Sac Attire to this week's meeting!) 
What's due: Your bill group's updated draft bill language and bill worksheet. 
Now overdue: Payment #2

Here's what you need to know this week:

1.) Bill Hearing Night Presentation Format:

Each Bill Group member should work on preparing their speech for Bill Hearing Night. You'll give your speech at this week's practice. It's fine to work from notes but make sure that you've printed your notes out. In our delegation, we don't read from our cell phones or tablets. Here is the BHN Procedure and here is the BHN Script. We'll practice this format this week at our meeting.

Here are the types and maximum lengths (practice with a timer!) of the speeches you will prepare:

• Sponsor Speeches:
• Author/Sponsor Speech: 3 minutes - introduce the purpose and major provisions of the Bill. 
• Author/Sponsor Summation Speech: 2 minutes - wrap up your main points, rebut or clarify anything raised during Lobbyist, Legislative Analyst, or Audience discussion. 
• Legislative Analyst Report - 2 minutes - This is not a speech for or against the bill. It is a neutral report about the bill: it's fiscal impact, any funding problems, structural problems, any information about how the bill works that legislators would need to know to cast an informed vote on the bill. 
• Lobbyist Speeches - 2 minutes for and 2 minutes against
• The lobbyist supporting the bill should work with the sponsor. Repeating the same points as the bill sponsor is less helpful than touting the other reasons to support the bill - perhaps points the sponsor didn't have time to get to. 
• The lobbyist against the bill is not out to make the sponsor and pro-lobbyist look bad. We're not aiming to kill the other side. Thoughtful, passionate arguments against the bill are welcome. Generally, "con" arguments take one of two forms - either there's no problem to solve or the way the bill solves the problem isn't the right way.

For tips on constructing your persuasive speech, check this out. 

2.) Updated Draft Bill Language, Worksheets Due This Week:

Here's a link to the 2019 Sac Bill Drafts folder. Your bill language and bill worksheets should be done prior to the start of this week's meeting. If you need help, just ask!   

3.) Schedule Overview: Make sure you attend our next three meetings!

• Oct 23 - Final bill language and bill worksheets due; Review Sac Attire; Practice Bill Hearing Night
• Oct 30 - BILL HEARING NIGHT!
• Nov 6 - Mandatory Pre-Conference meeting

REMINDERS

Bill Hearing Night: On Wednesday, October 30, we'll convene our annual Bill Hearing Night in the Historic Hearing Room at old Sacramento City Hall (915 I Street) from 6:00-8:00pm. Delegates will wear "Sac Attire" - our professional dress code for Sac Conference. We'll review this at practice bill hearing night. We encourage you to invite parents, teachers, and friends to see what you've been working on in the program this year. Each bill group will present their bill. The audience and delegation the top vote-getting bill will go to the 72nd Model Legislature & Court. (Hint: turn out your vote!)

IMPORTANT: for your group's bill to be eligible to be voted on at Bill Hearing Night, you must identify a conference Primary and Secondary sponsor. The bill that gets the most votes will be our bill at Sac Conference in February. If no one wants to commit to sponsoring that bill at conference and serving in the houses program, that's a problem. So have two names for me by Oct. 23.

Bill Resources:

• Here's what a finished bill looks like, so you know what you're making. 
• Watch this video about how to start the bill idea and bill research process. 
• Watch this video about the 4 basic kinds of legislation our State Legislature can consider. 
• Review this Bill Worksheet - these are the basic questions you'll need to answer about your bill by Bill Hearing Night. (Those questions should sound familiar after last week's presentation!) 
• Want to know all the current laws? Here they are! (Get to know this site, it's a bill author's best friend!) 

Family Corner: 

Bill Hearing Night is Wednesday, October 30 and You're Invited! Make sure to save October 30 for Bill Hearing Night. This annual event is a chance for delegates to show off to friends, family, and special guests all of their hard work so far this year. You won't want to miss it! 

Helpful Links:

Missed a bulletin?

Need to make a payment?

Looking for forms or handouts?
Who We Are?

Mark your calendars:

October 18 - Payment 2 Due
Oct 23 - Practice Bill Hearing Night - Bill Language and Worksheets Due
October 30 - Mandatory Bill Hearing Night, Sac Attire Required
November 6 - Mandatory Pre-Conference Meeting
November 9-11 - Training & Elections Conference I
December 8 - California International Marathon Volunteer Event
December 13 - Swim with Santa Volunteer Event at the YMCA
January 15 - Mandatory Pre-Conference Meeting
January 18-10 - Training & Elections Conference II
February 5 - Mandatory Pre-Conference Meeting
February 13-17 - 72nd Model Legislature & Court

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.

Gold Country Delegation Bulletin #6

Thanks so much to those who helped out at S'moresfest on Saturday. The event was a tremendous success - We should have a # for how successful shortly! In the meantime, know that your volunteer work helped make our success possible.

NOTE SCHEDULE CHANGE: DUE TO FALL BREAK, WE'LL HOLD OUR BILL HEARING NIGHT PRACTICE THIS WEEK INSTEAD OF NEXT WEEK, AND NEXT WEEK THERE WILL BE NO MEETING. ALSO, THERE WILL BE NO MEETING ON THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31st TO ALLOW FOR ANNUAL FALL TRADITIONS WITH FAMILY/FRIENDS.

At the next meeting: We're going to hold our Bill Hearing Night Practice! We will take the time to focus on each of your group's bills, discuss them as a group, look at draft bill language, and practice persuasive speaking. We'll discuss Sac Attire, which you'll need to wear to Bill Hearing Night on 10/28. We'll also be deciding our hotel roommates for our first conference. Delegates are housed 4 to a room, split between male and female. We'll have a room of boys and two rooms of girls. Delegates of non-binary gender may choose to allow for their highest comfort level per Y&G policy. Be guided by YMCA values of Caring and Respect for this process.

What's due: Your bill group's first-draft bill language (template in folder linked below) and bill worksheet; Payment #2

Here's what you need to know this week:

1.) Bill Hearing Night: On Monday, October 28, we'll convene our annual Bill Hearing Night in Grass Valley City Council Chambers at City Hall. Delegates will wear "Sac Attire" - our professional dress code for Sac Conference. We'll review this at practice bill hearing night. We encourage you to invite parents, teachers, and friends to see what you've been working on in the program this year. Each bill group will present their bill. The audience and delegation will vote, and the top vote-getting bill will proceed to the 72nd Model Legislature & Court. (Hint: turn out your vote!)

IMPORTANT: Note that our delegation will have two non-freshman delegates in the Houses program this year. If you're one of them, you'll be representing the bill that wins the vote at Bill Hearing Night. Please be sincere and attentive with your feedback this week, on all bills.

2.) Draft Bill Language, Worksheets Due This Week:

Here's a link to the 2019 GoldCo Bill Drafts folder. Each bill group has a template for their bill language and for their bill worksheet. If you've already begun a digital version of your bill worksheet and it's not in there, let me know ASAP (send me a link to it).

This week you'll also be letting me know who will fulfill which bill group role. We'll go over the speeches you'll prepare for each role:

1. Bill Sponsor - introduces the bill and gives the opening and closing speeches on the bill (The Bill Author - 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.)
2. Lobbyist For - speaks in favor of the bill
3. Lobbyist Against - speaks against the bill
4. Legislative Analyst - gives an objective analysis of what the bill does, how much it costs, it's benefits or potential negative consequences.

3.) Schedule Overview: The next couple of weeks are instrumental. Please make sure you're at this week's meeting, and that you are in close touch with your Bill Group! Here's an overview:

• Thursday, Oct 17 - Bill Hearing Practice: going over bills one by one for feedback and finishing touches
• Thursday, Oct 24 - Fall Break -- no meeting! But if you're in town, feel free to meet to practice more. Last year over Fall Break some delegates met at a coffee shop to get some final practice.
• Monday, Oct 28 - BILL HEARING NIGHT! Please arrive as early as 6pm so that we can check-in and be sure everyone knows what they are doing and when.

REMINDERS

Bill Resources:

• Here's what a finished bill looks like, so you know what you're making. 
• Watch this video about how to start the bill idea and bill research process. 
• Watch this video about the 4 basic kinds of legislation our State Legislature can consider. 
• Want to know all the current laws? Here they are! (Get to know this site, it's a bill author's best friend!) 

Family Corner: 

Bill Hearing Night is Monday, October 28, 6:30-8pm, and You're Invited! Make sure to save October 28 for Bill Hearing Night. This annual event is a chance for delegates to show off to friends, family, and special guests all of their hard work so far this year. You won't want to miss it! 

November 7th will be our first Pre-Conference Meeting of the year! All parents are invited to attend at the normal meeting time. New delegate parents' attendance is mandatory.

-MaryJane

Lead Advisor

Gold Country Delegation stands for Advocacy, Grit, and Growth-Mindset

Helpful Links:

Missed a bulletin?

Need to make a payment?

Looking for forms or handouts?

Mark your calendars:

October 18 - Payment 2 Due

Oct 17 - Practice Bill Hearing Night - Bill Language and Worksheets Due

October 28 (Monday) - Mandatory Bill Hearing Night, 6:30-8pm (GV City Hall) 

November 7 - Pre-Conference Meeting (Mandatory for parents new to MLC)

November 9-11 - Training & Elections Conference I

Nov. 15, 2019 -Third Payment Due  

December 8 - California International Marathon Volunteer Event

December 13, 2019 - Fourth and Final Payment Due  

January 15 - Pre-Conference Meeting (Mandatory for parents new to MLC)

January 18-10 - Training & Elections Conference II

February 5 - Mandatory Pre-Conference Meeting (Mandatory for all parents)

February 13-17 - 72nd Model Legislature &Court

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.

2019-20 El Dorado Youth and Government Delegation Bulletin #9

"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.” – J. R. R. Tolkien

1.) Bill Hearing Night NEXT WEEK (10/24): Our bill hearing night is on Thursday, Oct 24th from 6-9pm. We are splitting our meeting into two halves, 5 families will present between 6-7:30pm and the remaining 5 from 7:30-9pm. You need only to attend the half of the night with your bill, but you are welcome to stay for the whole meeting. I will announce the order of family presentations in next week's bulletin. This event is open to the public, so be sure to bring your friends and family! 

Additionally, all delegates are required to wear Sac Attire (we will cover this in our next couple meetings) to this meeting, even if you are not presenting. For those who do not know what Sac Attire is, it means wear business professional clothing. 

The structure of bill hearing night is each family gets 15 minutes to present their bill to the audience and judges. Below is the breakdown for time each role gets to speak:

• Delegation secretary reads enacting clause of bill (30 seconds) 
• Sponsor speech (3 minutes) - purpose and major provisions of bill
• Legislative Analyst Speech (2 minutes) – fiscal analysis of the bill
• Pro-Lobbyist speech (2 minutes)
• Con-Lobbyist speech (2 minutes)
• Sponsor's summation speech (3 minutes)
• Judges scoring and comments on bill (3 minutes)

If you have a presenting role and have a question, do not hesitate to each out to me. 

2.) Bills, Bills, Bills! The bill develop process is now in full swing. Your family should now have it's their bill worksheet completed and a rough draft of your bill language done by this Thursday. Below are some steps you can take to further develop your bill idea and begin drafting:

• Here's what a finished bill looks like, so you know what you're making. 
• Watch this video about how to start the bill idea and bill research process. 
• Watch this video about the 4 basic kinds of legislation our State Legislature can consider. 
• Should have completed the Family Bill Worksheets - these are the basic questions your family will need to answer about your bill by Bill Hearing Night. (Those questions should sound familiar after last week's presentation!)
• In the same folder, be sure to begin writing your bills language in your family's bill template! 
• Want to know all the current laws? Here they are! (Get to know this site, LegInfo, it's a bill author's best friend!)

This week you'll also be finalizing your bill group role (if you haven't yet). Each bill group needs someone fulfilling one of the following roles:

• Bill Sponsor - introduces the bill and gives the opening and closing speeches on the bill (The Bill Author - 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.)
• Lobbyist For - speaks in favor of the bill
• Lobbyist Against - speaks against the bill
• Legislative Analyst - gives an objective analysis of what the bill does, how much it costs, it's benefits or potential negative consequences.

All bill worksheets and bill template MUST be completed by Oct. 17th. Make sure your family has their roles selected and have strong speeches! I will be making an agenda for bill hearing night in the coming week.  

3.) Upcoming Weekly Meeting Schedule: We have a busy schedule the next couple weeks. Please mark your calendars for these events in the coming weeks:

• Normal weekly meeting (Last chance to ask questions and practice for BHN) - 10/17
• Bill Hearing Night - 10/24
• No Meeting (Happy Halloween) - 10/31
• Mandatory Pre-Conference Meeting - 11/7
• Training and Elections 1 Conference - 11/9-11/11

Parent Corner

- Friendly Payment Reminder - Oct 18th: Our second payment installment of $437.50 is due this week, on Oct. 18th. Please pay here online or have your delegate bring a check made out to the Sacramento Central YMCA to this week's meeting. Please contact Dylan O'Tarrow if you have any questions about payments.  

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?
Question about the Sacramento Central YMCA?
Question about CalYMCA?
Question about our delegation?
Want to know how many points you have?
Want to know which family you are in?

Mark your calendars for these key events!

Oct. 18, 2019 -Second Payment Due

Oct. 24, 2019 -Bill Hearing Night - Open to Friends and Family (Oak Ridge)

November 9-11, 2019 -Training and Elections 1 Conference (Fresno)

Nov. 15, 2019 - Third Payment Due

December 13, 2019 - Fourth and Final Payment Due

January 18-20, 2020 -Training and Elections 2 Conference (Fresno)
February 13-17, 2020 -72nd Model Legislature & Court (Sacramento)

Sac Central Delegation Bulletin #6

Thanks so much to those who helped out at S'moresfest on Saturday. The event was a tremendous success - I'll have a # for how successful shortly! In the meantime, know that your volunteer work helped make our success possible!

At the next meeting: We're going to discuss our bills, look at draft bill language, and go over persuasive speaking tips. We'll also be deciding our hotel roommates for our first conference. Delegates are housed 4 to a room. Male delegates will be housed in one room of 3 and one room of 4. Female delegates will also be housed in one room of three and one room of 4. Be guided by our values of Friendship and Caring for this process.
What's due: Your bill group's first-draft bill language and bill worksheet. Payment #2

Here's what you need to know this week:

1.) Bill Hearing Night: On Wednesday, October 30, we'll convene our annual Bill Hearing Night in the Historic Hearing Room at old Sacramento City Hall (915 I Street) from 6:00-8:00pm. Delegates will wear "Sac Attire" - our professional dress code for Sac Conference. We'll review this at practice bill hearing night. We encourage you to invite parents, teachers, and friends to see what you've been working on in the program this year. Each bill group will present their bill. The audience and delegation the top vote-getting bill will go to the 72nd Model Legislature & Court. (Hint: turn out your vote!)

IMPORTANT: for your group's bill to be eligible to be voted on at Bill Hearing Night, you must identify a conference Primary and Secondary sponsor. The bill that gets the most votes will be our bill at Sac Conference in February. If no one wants to commit to sponsoring that bill at conference and serving in the houses program, that's a problem. So have two names for me by Oct. 23.

2.) First Draft Bill Language, Worksheets Due This Week:

Here's a link to the 2019 Sac Bill Drafts folder. Each bill group has a template for their bill language and for their bill worksheet. During last week's meeting, I left some research links for a couple groups on their bill language templates.  

This week you'll also be letting me know who will fulfill which bill group role. We'll go over the speeches you'll need to prepare for each role as well:

1. Bill Sponsor - introduces the bill and gives the opening and closing speeches on the bill (The Bill Author - 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.)
2. Lobbyist For - speaks in favor of the bill
3. Lobbyist Against - speaks against the bill
4. Legislative Analyst - gives an objective analysis of what the bill does, how much it costs, it's benefits or potential negative consequences.

3.) Schedule Overview: We have a very busy next couple of weeks. Please make sure you're at each meeting from here till Bill Hearing Night! Here's a real quick overview:

• Oct 16 - Drafting the bill language, finding a home in the code; Persuasive Speaking
• Oct 23 - Final bill language and bill worksheets due; Review Sac Attire; Practice Bill Hearing Night
• Oct 30 - BILL HEARING NIGHT!

REMINDERS

Bill Resources:

• Here's what a finished bill looks like, so you know what you're making. 
• Watch this video about how to start the bill idea and bill research process. 
• Watch this video about the 4 basic kinds of legislation our State Legislature can consider. 
• Review this Bill Worksheet - these are the basic questions you'll need to answer about your bill by Bill Hearing Night. (Those questions should sound familiar after last week's presentation!) 
• Want to know all the current laws? Here they are! (Get to know this site, it's a bill author's best friend!) 

Family Corner: 

Bill Hearing Night is Wednesday, October 30 and You're Invited! Make sure to save October 30 for Bill Hearing Night. This annual event is a chance for delegates to show off to friends, family, and special guests all of their hard work so far this year. You won't want to miss it! 

Helpful Links:

Missed a bulletin?

Need to make a payment?

Looking for forms or handouts?
Who We Are?

Mark your calendars:

October 18 - Payment 2 Due
Oct 23 - Practice Bill Hearing Night - Bill Language and Worksheets Due
October 30 - Mandatory Bill Hearing Night
November 6 - Mandatory Pre-Conference Meeting
November 9-11 - Training & Elections Conference I
December 8 - California International Marathon Volunteer Event
January 15 - Mandatory Pre-Conference Meeting
January 18-10 - Training & Elections Conference II
February 5 - Mandatory Pre-Conference Meeting
February 13-17 - 72nd Model Legislature & Court

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.