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From time to time TTP will supply information on how to effectively deal with the New Jersey Legislature. 

• June, 2005 posting

HOW A BILL BECOMES A LAW

1. Idea Developed

A legislator decides to sponsor a bill, sometimes at the suggestion of a constituent, interest group, public official or the Governor. The legislator may ask other legislators in the same House to join as co-sponsors.

2. Bill Drafted

 At the legislator's direction, the Office of Legislative Services, a non-partisan agency of the Legislature, provides research and drafting assistance, and prepares the bill in proper technical form.

 3. Bill Introduced

During a session, the legislator gives the bill to the Senate Secretary or Assembly Clerk, who reads the bills title aloud. This is known as the first reading. The bill is printed and released to the public.

4. Committee Reference

 The Senate President or Assembly Speaker usually refers the bill to a committee for review, but may send the bill directly to second reading in order to speed its consideration.

 5. Committee Action 

When scheduled by the chair, the committee considers the bill at a meeting open to the public. The committee may report the bill to the House as is, with amendments, or by a substitute bill. If not considered or reported, the bill remains in committee.

6.  Second Reading

 When the bill is reported to the floor (or referred directly without committee review), its title is read aloud for the second reading. The bill is eligible for amendment on the floor. After the bill is given third reading, the House must vote to return it to second reading for any further amendments. 

7.  Third Reading

When scheduled by the President or Speaker, the bill is given third reading and considered on the floor. The bill may not go through second and third reading on the same day, except by an emergency vote of 3/4 of the members (30 votes in the Senate, 60 in the Assembly).

8.  House Veto

The bill passes when approved by a majority of the authorized members (21 votes in the Senate, 41 in the Assembly) and is sent to the other House. If final vote is not taken, the bill may be considered at another time or may be returned to a committee by a vote of the House.

9. Second House

The bill is delivered to the second House where it goes through the same process. If the second House amends the bill, it is returned to the first House for a vote on the changes. A bill receives legislative approval when it passes both Houses in identical form.

10.    Governor’s Action

 After final passage, the bill is sent to the Governor. The Governor may sign it, conditionally veto it (returning it for changes) or veto it absolutely. The Governor may veto single line items of appropriation bills. Bills passed in the last 10 days of a two-year session may be "pocket vetoed."

11.  Law

A bill becomes law upon the Governor's signature or after 45 days if no action is taken. If vetoed, a bill may become law if the Legislature overrides the veto by a 2/3 vote (27 in the Senate, 54 in the Assembly).  A law takes effect on the day specified in its text or,  if unspeci­fied, July 4th following its passage.  

I. Characteristics of Effective Legislative Testimony

Good preparation (including preparation for questions)  

Speaker clearly identified and accessible

Accurate facts, sources, and documents of positions

Case examples which are appropriated and which help make the point 

“To the point”: and concise; “Brief is good”

Length – as long as necessary, no longer

Quality and articulateness of the position

(Keep the discussion at a high, dignified level)

Positive tone, avoiding “ad-hominem” arguments

Presentation/Delivery (audible/persuasive)

and appearance (nicely printed);

identified the issues, time, place and

hearing officials for future reference.

II. SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS

For EFFECTIVE TESTIMONY

(The variables which affect the strength and impact of the testimony.)

Þ     The political/emotional nature of the legislation (routine, emotional, etc...)

Þ     The scope/complexity of the issue

Þ     Merit of legislation (good bill vs. poorly conceived legislation)

Þ     Special interests who are also interested in the bill on either side

Þ     The state of the bill in process (newly filed, re-filed, held over from past years)

Þ     The officials holding the hearing (governor, legislators, special commissioners, etc ...)

Þ     How sophisticated the hearing officers are

Þ     Likelihood the bill will pass this year, next year, or in future years

Þ     Audience (supporters, foes, print or broadcast media)

Þ     Extent to which questions will be asked of the testifier

III. RULES TO FOLLOW

IN PRESENTING TESTIMONY

• Courtesy to the Chair and everyone else.

• Identify yourself (and your organization) to the Chair

• Testify to the Chair, not the audience.

• Make sure everyone can hear you.

• Explain your position quickly.     

• Offer a short (single summary) restating your position

• Accept questions and answer as accurately as possible.  (If you do not know the answer or have the correct information, offer to present it to the Chair as soon as possible.)

• Bring copies of the testimony (at least for each member of the panel, plus others for staff/press).  Usually 20 copies are sufficient.

• Prepare to be a brief as possible.

“If I had more time, I would have written you more briefly.”—Cicero 

IV. PUBLIC SPEAKING

Content

1. Entertain: Must keep audience interested

2.  Inform:  Audience must learn and remember facts presented.  Teach them information they don’t know or have forgotten and should recall.

3.  Persuade.  Induce the audience to think, feel or act in a manner selected by the speaker.  (Formulate new beliefs or strengthen existing ones.

A.  General: the broad objective or intention of the speech

ELEMENTS OF CONTENT

B.  Specific:  The speaker determines the particular reaction the speech should prompt.  Specify what the audience should know, feel, believe or do.

1.  Speeches should contain only one central idea.

2.  The objective should be clear and concise

3.  Words should be accurate and simple.  The subject and approach should make the audience want to hear the speech.

Methods of Delivery

Methods of Preparation

Preparation is usually prompted by several items: Opportunity or Obligation to speak; Occasion and Audience; and Research.

1. Opportunity or Obligation

1.   You discover need to speak out and you know objective and topic.

2.   You are asked to speak or are assigned to speak and you are given a topic or you can select a topic.

2. Audience and Occasion: A consideration of the occasion and the audience may help in the preparation and help determine general and specific purposes. Gear your speech towards your type of audience.

1   Audience: Consider its needs, attitudes, experience, age, range, intelligence, education, social, professional, religious affiliations, etc...

2   Occasion: Celebration, political meeting, rally, dinner, etc...

3. Sources of Research

1.  Primary source of materials is yourself, your experience, your background and your personality.

2.  Secondary sources are other people, books, articles, etc...

3   Once information is gathered you must determine what you will use. Purpose

of speech determinations content, not research. It is difficult to omit material already prepared, but it is often necessary.

2.  Speech Format

PRELIMINARY REMARKS (PRIOR TO SPEECH)

1. Acknowledge personal invitation and/or express gratitude for opportunity to speak.

2. Protocol Recognizing VIP’s, appropriate acknowledgement, etc…
3. Put audience at ease with casual comments, joke, story, etc…

FORMAL SPEECH

I.         Introduction (Capture and Assert)

A.     Get attention and interest of audience

B.      Declare the central idea of the speech

C.      Specify what the audience is “to”:

1.   Understand

2.   Accept

3.   Do

II.   Body (Support, i.e., any material that makes the idea believable and acceptable)

A.      Establish the central idea in the minds of the audience.

B.       Explain, clarify, substantiate and support the central idea.

III.     Conclusion

1. Summarize the main points of support.
2. Challenge the audience.
3. Express connection/involvement.
4. Re-Emphasize final idea.

REMEMBER:  LEAVE THEM WITH WHAT YOU WANT THEM TO REMEMBER!

V. Useless Fundamentals

Some things taught traditionally as "fundamentals" of public speaking are actually quite useless and have the danger of lowering your potential to be effective. Here are a few:

1. Don't be nervous: Right. And stop breathing, too. Even the most effective public speakers are nervous. They just learned how to keep it in check and channel it into energy that works for them--not against them.

2. Use a podium: Why (unless you have to)? If you think of your audience as channel-surfing television viewers, what do you think they'd do if they saw a program featuring a speaker standing behind a podium?

3. State your objective: Who cares about your objective?  Members of your audience want to hear how what you say meets their objective!  (Related point: Never, never, never, talk about how difficult it was to prepare for your talk, how hard it's going to be to fit everything you have to say into the allotted time, etc.  Nobody cares!)

4. Speak slowly: Do it and you'll drive people nuts because these people live in a world where television news anchors speak between 165 and 195 words a minute!

5. Tell a joke to get started: No offense, but it's not as funny as you think it is and you are not a comedian. Most jokes start speeches off making everyone uncomfortable because immediately they put the audience member in the position of feigning amusement at something they don't find funny and may find offensive. A relevant true and entertaining story is always better than "A pig and a chicken see a sign advertising a breakfast special of ham and eggs . . . "

6. Turn the lights low to show your slides, etc.: Can you say "Nighty-Night?"

7. Cover all the bases: And your audience will remember nothing.

8. Make it flow: At one time, smooth, immaculate language and transitions probably was effective. But this is the age of television. Break it up. Be choppy. Jolt people.

9. Summarize at the end:  No.  Summarize all the way through to make people remember what you have said.

10. Keep control at all times: Loosen up, Captain Queeg. Let the audience wrangle if it wants to. They'll enjoy it more, and you'll come across as someone confident enough with yourself and what you have to say to give the audience some intellectual freedom.

*Material adapted from  I Can See You Naked   by Ron Hoof, 1992, Andrews and McMeel

 VI. Writing Speeches

After carefully following the rules for position papers, writing a speech should not be difficult as long as you follow these rules:

Outline the major points you want to emphasize.

Write down these points and number them in terms of proper sequence.

After each point, outline specific comments that you plan on making.

Use quotes and data to back up your major points.

A speech is more than an emotional appeal to the legislature; they must be sold on the merits of your case.

An oral delivery in a public hearing or committee meeting should be no more than five to ten minutes long.

CONCISE AND SIMPLE IS GOOD.

Double space the speech.

Notes can be written in the margins id additional comments need to be made to refute a point made by a prior witness.

Always have at least two persons proof read the speech.

Practice the speech to ensure a smooth delivery.

VII. Writing Position Papers

When writing a position paper check your paper against the following check list to make sure it is correct:

   Check for misspelled words.

• Check for proper grammar.

• Avoid contractions (i.e., can't, won't).

• The paper should be between five to eight pages.

• Make sure you have included background information on the issue

• Hard facts and data must be included to back up your opinion.

• What impact will this proposed legislation have on the budget?

• Avoid using technical and specialized terms that the legislature may not be familiar with.

• Use double spacing.

• Format the paper so specific points are enhanced.

• Use charts and other mechanisms to illustrate the point.

• Write clearly and to the point.

• Use simple language.

• Provide definitions if necessary.

• Anticipate questions and be ready to answer them.

• Papers should always be written in pro-con-pro format. (Presenting the oppositions arguments and pointing out the weaknesses of those arguments.)

VIII. Examples of Good and Bad Testimony

1.  Poor Testimony

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee.

My name is John Q. Public and I work for the thousands of elderly in this State, especially the ones with Medicare.

First, I want to object to the fact that only six out of eleven Committee members cared enough about this legislation to attend the hearing. I waited three hours to testify. The least you could all do is be here. However, I am very grateful to you, Mr. Chairman, for letting me speak.

Right now a lot of these people have to pay balance bills for their medical care. Balance bills are for charges that Medicare won't pay for because the doctors can bill patients whatever they want and force their patients to make up the difference.

Balance billing costs elderly in this State millions of dollars according to the government. We know that the biggest offenders are cataract doctors and the surgeons and their buddies in the operating room. It's not the family doctors who are doing it so much as the specialists.

The elderly on fixed incomes are being hit hard by enormous bills they can't pay. Thousands are afraid to go to the doctor because they think they will get a large balance bill.

We learned from the advance registration list that Dr. William Smith, President of the State Medical Society, will also testify on the bill. You're going to hear the doctors insist that the law is unconstitutional, or that physicians will flee the state if it passes. Others will tell you that doctors will refuse to treat Medicare patients if the bill passes. But we know what their motives are, and frankly, they're all lying - and they know it.

Despite what they'll tell you, states that have banned balance billing haven't had a single problem. Even the courts endorse the legislation.

Therefore, I have shown you why we must have this bill. I expect you to provide our elderly with the same support they show you on Election Day.

Thank you.

2.  Good Testimony