Bill Identification about Mental Health
Develop your awareness and knowledge of different methods for engaging in the legislative process in Michigan to help you develop skills in finding, analyzing, and advocating for or against proposed legislation. You will develop strategies for influencing legislation at one or more steps of the legislative process. This assignment requires you to familiarize yourself with your representatives in the Michigan state legislature and those who hold positions on legislative committees that can affect the outcome of legislation. You will also learn about how advocacy groups, coalitions, and social welfare organizations work to influence the legislative process.
Identify your representatives in the state legislature.
Locate and analyze pending legislation.
Develop at least one strategy for influencing social policy through the legislative process.
Draw upon self-awareness to assess your comfort level with participation in legislative advocacy.
Describe the potential impact of your legislative advocacy effort.
This assignment will allow you to practice a variety of research and communication skills needed when carrying out legislative advocacy and teach you about groups and organizations that work to influence social policy.
Identify your representatives in the Michigan House and Senate and provide their names, party affiliation, committee memberships, link to website, and contact information.
Familiarize yourself with how to find pending legislation
Bill identification: Identify a bill that has been introduced that is related to social work practice. This can be a bill that would affect clients at your field agency or something that interests you. The bill can be introduced in either the Senate or the House. Clearly identify the bill and provide a link to the bill.
Legislative analysis: Once you have settled upon a bill, address the following:
Purpose of the legislation: Summarize the purpose of the legislation using the text of the bill.
Background: What are the circumstances that led to the bill’s introduction? Who introduced it and why? Who supports it and why?
Is this something that you – in your role as a social worker – would support or oppose and why?
Legislative process: Describe – as of the due date of the assignment – where the bill is in the legislative process.
Influencing the legislative process: Based on where your chosen bill is in the legislative process, what steps should you take, based on your position on the bill, to advance or “kill” the bill. What resources and/or skills would you need? Who would be your partners in this effort?
Reflection: Describe how this assignment helped you develop your competence as a social worker.
To engage in the legislative process in Michigan, you can:
- Identify your representatives in the state legislature. You can find your representatives by entering your address on the Michigan Legislature website.
- Locate and analyze pending legislation. You can find pending legislation on the Michigan Legislature website.
- Develop at least one strategy for influencing social policy through the legislative process. Some strategies include:
- Contact your representatives. You can contact your representatives by phone, email, or in person. When contacting your representatives, be specific about the legislation you are interested in and why you support or oppose it.
- Attend a public hearing. Public hearings are held before legislative committees to allow the public to comment on pending legislation.
- Testify before a legislative committee. If you are an expert on the legislation being considered, you may be able to testify before a legislative committee.
- Organize a letter-writing campaign. You can organize a letter-writing campaign to encourage your supporters to contact their representatives about the legislation.
- Work with an advocacy organization. There are many advocacy organizations that work to influence the legislative process. You can work with an advocacy organization to develop and implement a strategy for influencing the legislation you are interested in.
Here are some examples of advocacy groups, coalitions, and social welfare organizations that work to influence the legislative process in Michigan:
- Michigan League for Public Policy
- Michigan ACLU
- Michigan Chamber of Commerce
- Michigan AFL-CIO
- Michigan Environmental Council
- Michigan Catholic Conference
- Michigan Association of School Boards
- Michigan Association of Counties
- Michigan Association of Cities
- AARP Michigan
- Michigan Association of Nonprofits
- Michigan United Conservation Clubs
- Michigan Farm Bureau
To assess your comfort level with participation in legislative advocacy, you can ask yourself the following questions:
- Am I comfortable speaking in front of others?
- Am I comfortable writing to elected officials?
- Am I comfortable organizing others?
- Am I passionate about the issue I want to advocate for?
If you answered yes to most of these questions, then you are likely to be comfortable with participation in legislative advocacy. However, if you are not comfortable with any of these things, there are still ways to participate in legislative advocacy. For example, you can donate to an advocacy organization or sign a petition.
The potential impact of your legislative advocacy effort will depend on a number of factors, including the issue you are advocating for, the level of public support for the issue, and the political climate. However, even a small amount of advocacy can make a difference.
Here are some examples of how legislative advocacy has been successful in Michigan:
- In 2022, the Michigan Legislature passed a law that legalized and regulated adult-use marijuana. This law was the result of years of advocacy by marijuana legalization groups.
- In 2021, the Michigan Legislature passed a law that raised the minimum wage in Michigan to $12 per hour. This law was the result of advocacy by labor unions and other groups.
- In 2020, the Michigan Legislature passed a law that expanded Medicaid eligibility in Michigan. This law was the result of advocacy by healthcare groups and other groups.
These are just a few examples of how legislative advocacy can be successful in Michigan. If you are passionate about an issue, you can make a difference by advocating for it.