Sac Central Delegation Bulletin #3

At last week's meeting, you learned about how journalists cover the State Capitol and how you can position your legislative ideas for maximum media attention. Start this week, you'll see how those tips pull information useful not just to journalists, but to lobbyists, analysts, and bill sponsors, too. On the flip side, as a voter, you should expect anyone proposing new laws to be able to provide that basic info!

At the next meeting: We'll be diving in to the bill development process!  
What's due: Political Parties Ranking Sheet (new delegates only); Sweatshirt Design Ideas; Preliminary Bill Ideas/Topic Areas
Now Officially Overdue: Delegation Registration, paperwork, payment 1, conference registration. 

Here's what you need to know this week:

1.) Bills, Bills, Bills: You'll want to bring any bill ideas, no matter how loosely formed to this week's meeting. You might have a specific problem to solve or maybe you just know you're most interested in reading about environmental issues, criminal justice reform, or education. Just be thinking about what you'd like to spend the next 5 weeks thinking really hard about because we're going to divide into 3-4 bill groups this week. Please do these things to be prepared for this week's meeting so everyone has some baseline info before we start group discussions: 

• 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!) 

2.) Statutory Scavenger Hunt: Here's an article that touches on agriculture, healthcare costs, the legacy of slavery in America, nonprofit work, and the law.  The woman featured in the article describes a problem that some states have enacted laws to solve, but not every state. Has California? Use some of the resources linked in Item #1 of this bulletin to try to find out.

3.) October 2 - Mandatory Meeting: One week from Wednesday we'll convene our most important meeting of the year: the one where we will set our Delegation Values for this year. We'll decide together what's most important to us and how we want to be known statewide. Make sure you're there.

4.) Leadership Opportunities: There are lots of elected and appointed leadership opportunities in Y&G, both statewide and within various program.  Check out this information on elected/appointed positions. Returning delegates have a lot more options but we HIGHLY encourage everyone to take a chance and apply or run for offices available to you! Applications are already available in Reggo (click here for info on how to access applications). Leadership apps are due in Reggo by 6pm on Wednesday, October 2!

5.) Field Day! Saturday, September 28 is our annual Capitol Coalition Field Day. This is a chance to meet delegates from our sister delegations in El Dorado Hills and Grass Valley and spend more time getting to know each other before our first conference in November. There is no longer a cost to participate in Field Day. Right now, the following folks are signed up: Carenna, Connor, James, Jenni, Jimmy, Kathina, Liam, Sam, Ting, Trisha, and Priya. If you need to change your attendance status, please let me know by Monday. 

REMINDERS

Sweatshirt Designs: This year, out sweatshirts will be gold. Sweatshirt design ideas are due this week and we'll finalize the design at our October 2 meeting. Here is an album of previous shirt designs.

Current Events: You can't set good policy if you don't know what's going on in your community, the state, the country, and the world. Check out the suggested reading link list in last week's bulletin.

Financial Aid: Financial assistance is available and information and applications are available in the paperwork packet. We cannot emphasize this enough: financial concerns should NEVER prevent a delegate from participating in Y&G. Don't ghost! Talk to your lead advisor if financial concerns ever arise. 

Family Corner: 

EARLY BIRD TICKET PRICING ENDS MONDAY NIGHT! Join us for S'moresfest 2019! Each year, the YMCA's fall fundraising gala provides us with the opportunity to meet fellow YMCA supporters as we eat BBQ and gourmet s'mores, drink beer and wine, and shoot arrows. (Yes, all of that happens). Parents are invited for a great date night out for a great cause. Early bird tickets are just $50 each and are on sale now! Sponsor opportunities are still available. And we're still on the lookout for a last couple of live-auction packages. If you have a vacation home or an interesting job/connection/idea for a behind the scenes tour or experience, contact Christiana today! 

Helpful Links:

Missed a bulletin?

Need to make a payment?

Looking for forms or handouts?
Who We Are?

Mark your calendars:

September 25 - Sweatshirt Designs Ideas Due
September 28 - CapCo Field Day (sign up here)
October 2 - Mandatory Values Meeting
October 12 - S'moresfest 2019 (sign up here)
October 18 - Payment 2 Due
October 30 - Mandatory Bill Hearing Night
November 9-11 - Training & Elections Conference I

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 #5

"We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win.” – 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy 

1.) Volunteering: Helps the Community and Helps Us! Thank you to all of the delegates and advisors who participated in the Quick Quack carwash this past Saturday! If you missed that event, fret not! There are more volunteer events coming up. Sign-ups for all events are now available here.

• Saturday, September 21: Great American River Clean Up, Negro Bar State Park, 9a-12pm;  (4 points)
• Field Day: Saturday, September 28: 10am-3pm, Sacramento Central YMCA (2021 W Street): Lunch, activities, and t-shirt. $15 fee to attend to cover food and materials. Payable by check or cash (in a LABELED envelope!) (4 points)

A note about attendance at the Quick Quack car wash. We have a large amount of delegates sign up to volunteer at the event, and a large number of delegates email or message advisors saying they couldn't come last minute. While we always understand that things come up, do you best to honor the things you commit to. Dedication is one of our values, lets #liveourvalues by being dedicated to the things we say we are going to do.

2.) 2019-20 El Dorado Delegation Sweatshirt Designs:  The call for this year's El Dorado sweatshirt designs is now open! Please submit your sweatshirt designs to this google drive folder as a PDF. All designs need to incorporate the El Dorado delegation name and be Y-appropriate (no drug, alcohol, or offensive designs). I have included some previous design ideas in the folder for reference. Please make the designs no more than two colors as we have to pay more for additional colors in the design. Submit your designs by Oct 3, 2019.

3.) T&E I Leadership Applications & Descriptions: Elected Leadership applications for the 72nd Training & Elections I are available in Reggo now. Registrations are due by Thursday, October 3rd. You can find a complete list of MLC appointed and elected positions with descriptions on the MLC Resources page under the Leadership & Elections Page. New Development & New For This Year! Forum Chairs will apply via an application in Reggo, and the application is open now. Reggo will allow you to submit up to one application each for elected leadership, appointed leadership, and an appointed program. Click here for instructions on how to access leadership forms in Reggo.

71st MLC Election Changes The number of delegates El Dorado can run for an elected leadership position has changed. The new maximum number of delegates a delegation can run is 4.  Elected Leadership is broken down into three categories. There are a limited/unlimited number of candidates per delegation that can run in each category. The breakdown is: Category 1: Forum Lt. Gov, Forum Speaker, Lt. Gov, Speaker, Sec of State, Chief Justice. Max 1 candidate in category 1 Category 2: Speaker and Pro-Tem of ConCon, IAC Chief Rap, District Attorney, Legislative Pro-Tems, NIC PC, Attorney General.  Max 4 candidates from category 2. (or 3 if you have 1 from category 1) Category 3: State Superintendent of Public Instruction, CIB State Treasurer, State Legislative Analyst, Youth Governor  (Formerly grassroots positions. No limit as to how many can run per delegation.) El Dorado may only have four candidates for Elected Office between Categories one and two each year. For a quick list of elected leadership positions and their categories, please click here.  To be eligible to run for Youth Governor, delegates must complete the 73rd Youth Governor Intent to Run application in Reggo, attend a meeting at T&E I, and get lead advisor approval to run within their I&A party. It is possible for multiple delegates in the same delegation to run for Youth Governor if they meet the above requirements.  Lead and Governor Lobbyist interviews have been moved to T&E I. These interviews are conducted via a phone call. Results will be announced at T&E I.

73rd Youth Governor Update   The process for running for the 73rd MLC Youth Governor has changed this year. Here are steps: Submit an Intent to Run application in Reggo. Your political party is the party you were assigned during the 71st MLC. Application deadline is October 3, 2019. After the application deadline, candidates will be sent a position information form with Youth Governor expectations, important dates, and job duties. Candidates will need to print out the form and acquire the proper signatures. Attend the Youth Governor information session prior to opening session at Training & Elections Conference I and turn in the information form with all signatures.  If you have questions, email elections@calymca.org.

What does this all mean? It means, if you are interested in running for an elected, leadership appointed, or appointed position please let me know ASAP so we can begin coordinating. If there are multiple candidates that would like to run for the same office, we will also need to hold a delegation primary. Please take a look at this information and let's chat!

4.) Bills, Bills, Bills! The bill develop process is now in full swing. Please spend this week thinking of ideas for your family's bill idea. The California state legislature adjourned last Friday (well technically at 3am on Saturday morning) with many bills failing to pass. I encourage you to look at some of the bills that did not pass this year to use as inspiration for your bill. If you are having trouble, please reach out to your family leader or advisor for help. Bring your bill idea to this week's meeting to discuss further with your family. Remember, there are two criteria for a good bill idea: 1) It cannot be existing law and 2) It has to pertain to California (sorry no federal bills). Best of luck with your bill idea search! 

Parent Corner

- First Payment Was Due Last Week: Please note that our first payment is due Sept 13. You have three payment options this year:

1. Pay the entire program fee of $1750 via check payable to the "YMCA of Superior California" or online here. 
2. Pay the first installment of $437.50 (via check or online) and return the completed Bank Draft (EFT) Enrollment Form (found in the paperwork packet)
3. Submit your completed Y-Assist Application with supporting documentation and a deposit of $100 via check or online. Please note that Y-Assist Applications without supporting documentation cannot be processed.

The YMCA is committed to equal program access for all interested in participating in Y&G. If payments ever present a hardship, talk to us. We are here to help. If you want to do this program, then we want you to do this program, too. 

- Join us for S'moresfest 2019! Each year, the YMCA's fall fundraising gala provides us with the opportunity to meet fellow YMCA supporters as we eat BBQ and gourmet s'mores, drink beer and wine, and shoot arrows. (Yes, all of that happens). Parents are invited for a great date night out for a great cause. Early bird tickets are just $50 each and are on sale now! Sponsor opportunities are still available. And we're still on the lookout for a last couple of live-auction packages. If you have a vacation home or an interesting job/connection/idea for a behind the scenes tour or experience, contact Derek today! 

- Bill Hearing Night Date Change: After speaking with the delegates, officers, and advisors, I have decided to move Bill Hearing Night up one week to Thursday Oct. 24th to remove the conflict with Halloween. (Apparently most of the delegation and advisors care more about Halloween than I do, whoops!) Please make a note of this so you can mark your calendars to attend. 

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?

Want to know how many points you have?

Want to know which family you are in?

Mark your calendars for these key events!

September 13, 2019 - First Payment Due

Sept. 21, 2019 - Great American River Clean Up Volunteer Event (Folsom)

Sept. 28, 2019 - Capitol Coalition Field Day (Sacramento)

October 12, 2019 - Smoresfest 2019 YMCA Fundraising Gala (Sacramento)  

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)

Gold Country Delegation Bulletin #2

It's so nice to be a growing delegation! At this past meeting, we welcomed two new delegates and two more prospective delegates. Our guest speaker (Julie Baker from Californians for the Arts) spoke about how organizations (and people) determine what public policy to support or oppose.  The major takeaway: what would *you* expect to hear about a public policy proposal in order to support it? Keep this question in mind as we head into our bill development process.

Also, please bring the Legislative Handbook packet to all future meetings. If you haven't already, please create a Y&G folder or binder to keep your paperwork organized. I have extra folders if needed..

At the next meeting: You'll learn about more Y&G's court and media program areas. We'll divide into bill groups based on general policy areas of interest.  Also, we will set aside 10 minutes to register for the T&E 1 conference (those who have already registered can help with the Reggo system).

What's due: Your $15 Field Day Payment; Fall Event Form.

Here's what else you need to know this week:

1.) Wake Up to This Week's Current Event: Come to this weeks meeting prepared to debate this bill - something most of you may find highly relevant to your lives! Here's one background article on the issue - I'm sure there are more if you look. As you look at bills, and as we start to think about the bills we'll write this year, keep the  following 10 questions in mind (the basic info legislators and lobbyists have to keep in mind when trying to pass or kill a bill):

1. What problem does the legislation help or solve?
2. Where did the idea come from? 
3. Who would be happy to have this problem solved?
4. Who would be sad to see the problem solved (or to see it solved in this way)? I.e., who benefits from keeping things the way they are?
5. Would the changes under the new law cost money to implement? What would the costs be for?  Who pays for it and how? (i.e.: Do you need a new tax? Do you end another program or pull funds from another program? Do you create a user-fee or fee specific to the legislation? Are costs borne by the entire state?) Who would be affected by the changes? In what way? (who benefits, who bears any burden, does it impact equally on all, etc.) 
6. What research have you conducted so far? (Include website addresses, names of publications, etc)
7. What would opponents of this bill say about it and what research would they rely on? 
8. Where could an interested person find out more about the issue? (For example: links to advocacy groups or community organizations, additional research, state agency websites, etc.)  

2.) Sweatshirt Designs: This year, our sweatshirts will be gold (not shiny--more like this color). Sweatshirt design ideas are due by our October 3 meeting, at which we'll vote on them. Here is an album of previous shirt designs from the Sacramento Central delegation, for inspiration. All designs need to incorporate the Gold Country delegation name and be Y-appropriate (no drug, alcohol, or offensive designs). Please make the design no more than two colors to keep costs down (black and white count as colors).

3.) Returners - Check This Out: Returning delegates can get a jump on elected and appointed leadership apps by checking out this information on elected/appointed positions. Returning delegates have a lot more options and we HIGHLY encourage you to take a chance and apply or run for office! Applications are already available in Reggo (click here for info on how to access applications). 

4.) New Delegates ONLY - Check This Out: In Y&G, all delegates are part of a political party - but the parties aren't like real world parties. There are six and they are organized around various policy ideas. Please check out this google form and complete it by ranking your top 4 choices for political party this year. Returners will return to the same parties as last year and have an opportunity to change parties after T&EI; returners should not complete this form. 

REMINDERS

Post-Volunteering After-Party! After volunteering at SYRCL's Yuba River Watershed Cleanup Day, we'll head up to Pioneer Park for SYRCL's afterparty 1-3pm, which includes a great lunch. Please join us if you can! If nearby parents can facilitate rides from the volunteer spot to Pioneer, it would be very helpful.

Get Informed: You can't set good policy if you don't know what's going on in your community, the state, the country, and the world. Here are some resources for staying informed. Start a new habit by starting your day with a quick review of the headlines:

• Rough & Tumble - a headline aggregation site that runs down the top California headlines each day.
• The Union - our hometown paper!
• Sacramento Bee - a regional favorite! 
• Governor's Pres Releases - At this time of year, usually at least once a day, the Governor issues a press release about the bills he has signed and vetoed. Check out veto messages - they can give you ideas on how to improve a bill you might think is a good idea that didn't make it this session. 
• Capital Public Radio State Government News - The Legislature adjourned its session at 3am on Saturday morning - now, a bunch of bills have died or are heading to the governor. Read over the latest State Government news - a great place to find bill ideas!

Weekly Meetings: Delegates should be at 240 Mill Street (side door) in downtown Grass Valley ready to get to work at 6:30pm each week. Please feel free to join us a little early if it helps your schedule work out--our officers meet from 6-6:30pm, and all are welcome to sit in and observe quietly. Our meetings end at 8:00pm. Delegates should bring a notebook, folder with Y&G handouts, pen or pencil, and calendar/planner to every meeting.

Financial Aid: Financial assistance is available and information and applications are available in the paperwork packet. We cannot emphasize this enough: financial concerns should NEVER prevent a delegate from participating in Y&G. Don't ghost! Talk to MaryJane if financial concerns ever arise. 

Fall Volunteer Events and CapCo Field Day: Our SYRCL Cleanup event is this weekend! Then we have Field Day and S'moresfest. If you haven't signed up yet, do it quick!

Family Corner: 

Join us for S'moresfest 2019! Each year, the YMCA's fall fundraising gala provides us with the opportunity to meet fellow YMCA supporters as we eat BBQ and gourmet s'mores, drink beer and wine, and shoot arrows. (Yes, all of that happens). Parents are invited for a great date night out for a great cause. Early bird tickets are just $50 each and are on sale now! Sponsor opportunities are still available. And we're still on the lookout for a last couple of live-auction packages. If you have a vacation home or an interesting job/connection/idea for a behind the scenes tour or experience, contact MaryJane today! 

- MaryJane

Lead Advisor, Gold Country

415-515-4945

Helpful Links:

Missed a bulletin?

Need to make a payment?

Looking for forms or handouts?

Who Are We?

Question about Youth & Government?  

Mark your calendars:

September 13- Paperwork and First Payment Due

September 21 - SYRCL Clean-Up Day & Afterparty (sign up here)

September 26 - Sweatshirt Designs Ideas Due

September 28 - CapCo Field Day (sign up here)

October 12 - S'moresfest 2019 (sign up to volunteer here)

October 18 - Payment 2 Due

October 28 - Mandatory Bill Hearing Night @ Grass Valley City Hall, 6:30-8pm

November 7 - Pre-Conference meeting, Mandatory for new delegate families, encouraged for all

November 9-11 - Training & Elections Conference 1 (Fresno)

November 15, 2019 - Payment #3 Due

December 13, 2019 - Payment #4 (final) Due

January 18-20 - Training & Elections Conference 2 (Fresno)

February 13-17 - 72nd 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.