Bill Writing Guide

---

Bill Drafting Instructions

There is a required form for all Youth Legislature bills to follow. Though our format varies slightly from "real" legislation, students may still wish to consult a local legislator to assist in presenting the bill idea in the correct format and language. Also, Bill Drafting Manual , an excellent resource with detailed guidelines and sample bills may be obtained by writing to the Montana Legislative Services Division, Capitol Station, Helena, MT 59620, or calling (406) 444-3064. Montana YMCA Youth and Government Program form guidelines follow actual legislative format whenever possible.

---

General Form Guidelines:

1. Submit the bill on 8-1/2 x 11 standard white paper. Handwritten bills will not be accepted. Bills too faint to be reproduced will be rejected.
2. Use the current year's header exactly as requested. Lines, blank spaces and requested information are required by the staff to properly direct and track bills.
3. Except for the Header, double space the entire bill, including the title. (11/2 space is acceptable). This allows amendments and comments to be noted between lines if necessary.
4. Express your intent in clear, concise everyday language. Do not use vague or flowery language. See the grammar suggestions at the end of this section.
5. Write as briefly as possible. Because of the short session and cost of printing, bills of the Youth Legislature may not run more than two pages, double-spaced (11/2 space is acceptable). One page is preferred. For readability, documents should not be written in anything smaller than a 10 point font size.
6. Indent all Sections and Subsections.
7. Material to be stricken from present law is dashed out using hyphens or the strikeout feature on a word processor. Material to be added to present law is underlined. Most word processing programs will perform strikeout and underline functions.

---

Bill Drafting Style:

Header:

Bills with an incorrect header will be returned. Students MUST use the newest form which is given to advisors! Click here for a sample of a correct bill header

1. All bills must have the words "YMCA Youth Legislature of the State of Montana" at the top.
2. Bill Number: Leave these blanks empty. They are for office use only.
3. Legislative Action: PLEASE INCLUDE ALL 5 BLANK LINES. We need all of them to track bills! Leave these areas empty. They are for use during the session.
4. Introduced by: Type in the name of the bill's legislative sponsor or sponsors (No more than two sponsors, please).
5. Authored by: Put in the names of the people who actually wrote the bill, even if they aren't legislators.
6. If the bill is being introduced at the request of the Governor or another non-voting official, then add the line "at the request of..." and fill in the person's name and office.
7. Delegation: Type in your delegation name (City, school, YMCA, whatever).
8. Referred to Committee: Leave this blank. The state office assigns bills to committee.

---

Body of a Bill

A bill must include the following features:

1. Beginning with the title, all lines must be numbered consecutively. Some word processing programs have a mode that will automatically do this for you. Otherwise, key the entire bill first, make all necessary revisions, and only number the lines at the very end; it's difficult to renumber lines every time you make a major change.
2. Title: A short, descriptive title begins with the opening phrase, "A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED:" (All caps, not in quotes), followed by "An act to..."
3. Title is enclosed by quotation marks, and MUST describe the bill. If the bill revises or amends existing law (and most do), Montana Code Annotated (MCA) or Administrative Rules of Montana (ARM) title number(s) must be included. Make sure that numbers of all sections amended or repealed in the body of the bill appear in the title.
4. "Cutesy" titles are not appropriate.
5. A correct title would be: A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: "An Act to require that all motorists carry liability insurance, amending Section(s) xx-x-xxx and xx-x-xxx, MCA."
6. An incorrect title would be: A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: "The get the bums off the road act."
7. Preamble or Statement of Intent: 99% of bills do not need one. This is a brief statement which, if used, comes immediately after the title and describes the purpose of the bill. These are sometimes made up of 1 to 5 "whereas" clauses. Preambles should generally be avoided, or if used, kept to the barest minimum. They should only be used to indicate legislative intent and NOT to make an argument for the bill, quote statistics, etc. If Whereas clauses are used, they come immediately after the title. Preambles are most commonly used with resolutions.
8. Enactment clause: After the title and preamble, if any, all bills must say, in all caps, "BE IT ENACTED BY THE (year) MONTANA YMCA YOUTH LEGISLATURE:" (exclude quotes in the actual bill) This enactment clause must come after the title and before the body of the bill.
9. Body of bill is written in standard upper and lower case type. There should be a separate Arabic-numbered section of the bill for each new section or for each existing section amended . The following items are frequently part of the body:
10. If you do have a working title, other than the official title of the bill, make a section titled "Short Title." Most people don't need to do this, but here is an example of how one reads: Section 1: Short title. The short title of this act is "The Motorist's Liability Insurance Act."
11. Definitions, if any are needed to avoid repetition and assure clarity (not required).
12. Main legal principle or proposition.
13. Procedural and administrative provision. This might include funding mechanism, administrative department, and other necessary provisions.
14. Sanctions and penalties, if applicable.
15. Repealing Clause: It may be necessary to repeal one or more statutes that conflict with a new act. Each statute to be repealed must be identified.
16. Saving Clauses (not required): To save certain acts to which you do not want the bill to specifically apply. It restricts general operation of the statute - often used with a repealing clause.
17. Material from MCA or ARM should read exactly as the present code (including all punctuation), with matter to be stricken dashed out and new material underlined. If a statute is being amended, cite the number or the statute or rule again in the relevant section and proofread the bill against the current version in MCA or ARM.
18. Fiscal note: Though not always needed, a bill that requires an appropriation of money should indicate where that money will come from. A single sentence indicating that funding for the Act will come from the General Fund is the simplest way to do this, unless another method is more appropriate. Be careful about using a bill to impose a new form of taxation, unless the bill is specifically designed to do so: For example, don't try to fund a recycling bill with a Sales tax--Montana doesn't have a sales tax! (If you want to enact a sales tax, write a separate bill to do it.)
19. Enactment Date: All bills' final section must be an enactment date. This is a statement that says WHEN the bill will go into effect. Usually the Youth Legislature uses "This act will become effective upon passage." If there are special circumstances, a different enactment date may be used&emdash;July 1, October 1, January 1 of the following year, etc.
20. Put --END-- at the end of the bill. Because bills are so similar in appearance, it is a courtesy to clarify when the bill is finished, especially for multi-page bills.

---

General Content Guidelines

1. A bill will deal with only one subject.
2. Be aware of the different types of Legislation. Most of the legislation at Montana YMCA Youth Legislature will be BILLS. There are a few other forms of legislation that may be introduced, and they are also described below:
3. Bills. A bill may do any one or more of the following: Create new law, Amend existing law, or Repeal existing law
4. Constitutional amendments. All Constitutional Amendments, after passage by the legislature must go to a vote of the people. These must be written in the form of a resolution and include the EXACT wording as it will appear on the ballot. These will be written with the following style of title: A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: "AN ACT TO SUBMIT TO THE QUALIFIED ELECTORS OF MONTANA AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE ________OF THE MONTANA CONSTITUTION TO..." The remainder of the bill uses standard bill formatting. Note: A proposed amendment to the Montana Constitution must receive a two-thirds majority vote of the Legislature before it is taken to the people in an election, but it does not require the Governor's signature.
5. Referenda. The people may approve or reject any act of the Legislature except an appropriation of money. The Legislature may order a proposed law to be voted upon by the people. The following style of title is used for a referendum bill: A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: "AN ACT TO ____________ (describe content of act) ; PROVIDING THAT THE PROPOSED ACT BE SUBMITTED TO THE QUALIFIED ELECTORS OF MONTANA; ....
6. Simple Resolutions. This is a formalized motion passed by one house only. It may be used to amend the rules of one house or to provide for the internal affairs of the house adopting it. A simple resolution does not require three readings or a roll call vote as does a bill or joint resolution. The title of a simple resolution will read: A RESOLUTION OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES (or SENATE) OF THE MONTANA YMCA YOUTH LEGISLATURE THAT...
7. Joint Resolutions. A joint resolution may be used to express a desire, an opinion, sympathy, or a request of the Legislature; to express the will of the Legislature to the United States Congress; to amend the Joint Rules; to ratify or propose amendments to the United States Constitution; to direct changes to, repeal, or direct adoption of a rule in the Montana Administration Code. The title of a joint resolution will read: A JOINT RESOLUTION OF THE SENATE AND THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE MONTANA YMCA YOUTH LEGISLATURE TO...

---

Grammar Suggestions:

For additional detail on style, consult the Montana Legislative Services Division's Bill Drafting Manual.
1. Use the present tense.
2. Use simple language. Don't use two words if one will do; don't use a long word if a short word will do.
3. Use the active voice, not passive (example: "shall appoint" NOT "shall be appointed").
4. Use the singular instead of the plural when possible.
5. Use the article "a" or "an" for more precise writing. For example, "A person whoÉ" is better than "any personÉ", "each personÉ", or "all personsÉ"
6. Use gender neutral language when referring to a person affected by a statute. Use words like "member," "person," "individual," "applicant," etc.
7. The word "shall" should not be used to state a legal result or fact. For example, use "A person who violates this is guilty of a misdemeanor," NOT "A person who violates this act shall be guiltyÉ"
8. However, use the word "shall" when you are imposing a duty or indicating that an action is mandatory. Use "must" when referring to a thing instead of a person, or when referring to something a person must be or must have.
9. Use "may" for something optional or when a right, privilege or power is conferred.
10. Say "may not" to express a prohibition. Avoid "shall not" or "must not," as well as double negatives such as "Can't not choose to..."
11. Capitalize as little as possible and according to standard usage.
12. Use correct punctuation to support your idea and avoid ambiguity.
13. Try to avoid abbreviations. If abbreviations are used, write the full term out the first time it is used, with the abbreviation shown in parentheses. For example: "Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)."
14. If you can't avoid provisos, introduce an exception or limitation with "except that", "but", or "however", or simply start a new sentence.
15. If the circumstances in which the rule is to apply can be stated briefly and simply, they should precede the rule itself.
16. A direct statement should include all persons and things to be covered by the rule; if there is a simple exception to the rule, place the exception at the end of the rule.

---

Back to Top | Back to Legislature Page | General Guidelines | Bill Drafting Style | Writing the Body of a Bill | Content Guidelines | Grammar Suggestions | Bill Samples | Disallowed Bill topics for this year | Home