Find a current bill that relates to your health topic and conduct an analysis of that bill. This can be either at the federal or state-level or local level. This assignment is on a pending piece of legislation. It is NOT on a current law or passed legislation. Referencing course materials, be sure to include the following in your legislative analysis.
• Summary of the bill
• Discuss current status of the issue, any proposed changes, and any issues
• Lead sponsors of the bill
• Bill history
• Funding for the bill and any cost considerations
• Co-sponsors of the bill
• Supporters and opposition to the bill
• Contact information for the bill (“for more information”)
GovTrack - Heatlh provides much of the information for the bullet points below for federal legislation, except for opposition to a bill.
ProPublica - Represent - Reports on bills and statements by Congressional members. Also tracks lobbyists.
Open States.org - Track bills, review upcoming legislation, and see how your local representatives are voting in your state.
State government sites will provide similar details.
The database Nexis Uni indexes both federal and state bills.
COVID 19 Related Materials, State comes from Nexis Uni. It is a little hard to follow other than being organized by state.
Opposition to federal bills by legislators can be found in their press releases. Search U.S House of Representatives and U.S. Senate for these.
News reporting on bills is a good source for finding out who are the key players for and against bills. Nexis Uni is a good database for searching this at the federal level.
CQ Magazine is helpful for federal legislation and floor votes by name.
Local governments often have web sites, but the level of detail for bills is hit or miss. For example, Philadelphia City Council has a searchable "Legislative Information Center" at https://phila.legistar.com/
County-level governments usually have good documentation, but it can take some clicking to find it. For example, Delaware County, PA has documentation on legislation under "County Council Members" at https://www.delcopa.gov/council/members.html
Meeting Agendas and Minutes are good places to look for pending local legislation and / or policy changes.
For example, Delaware County, PA Meeting Agenda, Minutes, and Video https://www.delcopa.gov/council/meetings.html
For example, Swarthmore (PA) Borough Council Meetings https://www.swarthmorepa.org/2231/Borough-Council-Meetings
For example, Wallingford-Swarthmore School District in Delaware County, PA for the 1/22/22 meeting: https://go.boarddocs.com/pa/wlsw/Board.nsf/Public#
DA DistrictAdministration.com is a commercial site that requires free registration. It tracks school administration policies, for example, a Mask tracker at: https://districtadministration.com/track-school-mask-rules-requirements-state-by-state/
Local news reporting found through the database Access World News can sometimes help with this.
