The most effective way to get involved is to join our Catholic Advocacy Network. click here

"...the value of democracy stands or falls with the values which it embodies and promotes."
Evangelium Vitae ("The Gospel of Life"), Pope John Paul II

"For Catholics, public virtue is as important as private virtue in building up the common good. In Catholic tradition, responsible citizenship is a virtue; participation in the political process is a moral obligation. Every believer is called to faithful citizenship, to become an informed, active, and responsible participant in the political process."
Faithful Citizenship-US Bishops' Statement of 11/99

“.....democracy is itself a moral adventure, a continuing test of people’s capacity to govern themselves in ways that serve the common good and the good of individual citizens.”
Ad Limina Address, John Paul 11


The following information is offered to assist you in becoming an effective advocate.

E-mail

• Very effective
• Convenient
• Immediate for sending
• Immediate for response expectation

Letter Writing

• Very effective
• Opportunity to explain issue in detail
• Requires time to compose and mail
• Time lapse in response expectation

Phone Calls

• Issue should be simple to explain
• Ease in generating high volume by use of phone tree
• Best tool when short of time

Personal Visits

• Establishes and maintains relationship
• Personalizes your agenda
• Requires time

Media Contact

• May be letter-to-the-editor, talk radio contact, opinion/editorial
• A voice to your policy-maker
• Educates your community
• Letters section is most highly read section of the newspaper

Writing, Faxing, or E-Mailing

Legislators pay attention to their daily mail. The same rules apply when you are writing, faxing or e-mailing.

1. Do your homework. Know the pros and cons of your issue and be prepared to answer questions or supply information. If you can, thank the legislator for past support on issues and ask for continued support.
2. Take a stand; Make it personal. In the first paragraph, state why the issue concerns you and what you think should be done. Share your knowledge and experience. Explain how the issue will personally affect you, your family, friends, quality of life, and the community. Provide concrete real life stories and analogies.
3. Cover one issue per letter, fax, or e-mail. Present your case in a convincing rational way to the legislator. Do not use buzz words or initials that may not be understood. Offer to provide more information if requested.
4. Be sure to identify yourself as someone who lives in the elected official's district. You are a part of their constituency and an active registered voter.
5. Ask for a response. Ask for a specific action.
6. Follow up a positive vote with a letter of thanks. Let the legislator know you will share their positive action with others you know who are also concerned with the issue. If the legislator cannot see the issue the way you do, do not burn your bridge. Thank them for listening and express hope to agree in the future.

The Personal Letter

Letter writing is the most effective form of written communication, as legislators understand the time it takes for you to gather your thoughts, put them down on paper and mail them. They realize that you must feel very strongly about the issue to take the time to write them and therefore, they may pay more attention.

The Salutation
   Begin your letter with respect, including his/her title.

Identify Yourself
   State your name, that you are a constituent, and include your parish name and address/district

Be Specific
   State your reason for writing in clear and concise words.
   Use facts, and identify the bill by name or number with one bill per letter.
   Share your personal concerns and experience and how you feel the bill might affect others.

Request a Response
   Request a response including his/her position on the bill.
   Request that he/she vote in a particular way.

Closing
    Include your postal address, as the return address on the envelope can be misplaced.

Be timely - Write your letter as soon as possible after you are notified. There is no reason to write if the legislator has already voted.

Be courteous and reasonable - Show consideration regardless of your views, how strongly you feel, or how your legislator has voted in the past.

Show approval - If your legislator has voted positively in the past, express gratitude in your letter. You will be remembered the next time you contact him/her.

Be personal - Computer-generated mass mail is becoming so sophisticated that it often appears to be done by one person. A legible handwritten letter will have more impact. If typed, be sure to sign and include a handwritten "P.S."

Phone Calls

Phone calls are IMMEDIATE. They also have the personal direction similar to a personal meeting; but are less time-consuming to arrange and carry through.

Politicians may have their staff answer their phones and the staff member may be the individual you must be prepared to speak with about the issue. Do not worry - sometimes the staffer you speak with is the very one in charge of your particular issue, and may ultimately have some influence on policy AND the politician.

Tips on Phone Calling:

   Be Prepared - know about the bill being discussed in case there are any question posed to you.

   Identify yourself by name and address/district.

   Identify the pertinent bill by name and number.

   Stay brief and simple - focus on one point to influence your legislator's vote in your direction.

   Ask for the legislator's view on the bill being discussed.

   Leave a message if you are transferred to voice mail.  Be sure to leave your name, the date and
   time of your call, a brief reason for your call, your telephone number, and request for a response.

   Encourage others to call - there is a impact in number. You legislator tracks the volume of calls
   that come into the office regarding a particular issue.

Click here for sample phone call script.

Visiting Members of the Legislature

The Legislative Plaza can seem like a very confusing place. However, a visit while the legislative session is in progress can be informative, effective, and educational.

A face-to-face meeting with your elected official and a rational discussion about the pending issues will both educate you and your Senator and Representative. Your visit could very well be the deciding factor that will influence their position.

It is best to have a visit prearranged when possible. During an active day on the hill ten to fifteen minutes is the usual length of a visit.

Introduce yourself. If you are with a group, allow one person to clarify the purpose of your visit. (example: We are here for Catholic Day on the Hill.  The issue we wish to discuss with you today is ____________________________________). Allow time to get acquainted, but do not get off track. Express your views and ask their position. Try and stay with the focus issue of the meeting. You have a short time to discuss the issue and if you try and cover too many items, the importance of the focus issue is lost which can become confusing.

Follow up your visit with a brief call, fax, letter, or e-mail. Thank the legislator for their time and reconfirm your point of view. If you have other issues you feel strongly about, you have now established a relationship and should contact them on that issue.

Be punctual, patient, and flexible. The legislator may be late or interrupted during your meeting. If for some reason the legislator can not keep their appointment, be understanding. Schedules change and legislators are trying to accomplish a large amount of work in a very short amount of time. Do not think you are not important to them. Leave your name, address, and some information with the staff, or write a note to the Legislator.  Always thank the staff. They are an important link in communicating with the office.

Follow up your visit to the office with a thank you and include a brief recap of what you covered (or intended to) in the meeting, reinforcing your request for his support during voting.

How a Bill Becomes a Law in the General Assembly

Click here to view diagram.

Lawmaking in Tennessee

Types of Legislation
In Tennessee, formal expressions of legislative intent may be made in any of three ways: (1) bills; (2) resolutions; and (3) joint resolutions.

Bills
A bill is a form in which a proposed law is drafted for introduction in the Legislature, and it remains a bill until final legislative and executive action is taken upon it.

Acts, public and private, are the end results of bills and do not become acts until they are passed in identical form by both houses of the Legislature and are (1) signed by the governor; or (2) allowed to become a law by the governor’s failure to return the bill stating his objections to it; within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it has been presented to him; or (3) passed by a majority of all the members of each house, notwithstanding the objections of the governor, where he has vetoed the bill.

There are three types of bills in Tennessee:  the terms—public acts, general acts, public laws—are used interchangeably in referring to legislative enactments of statewide application, although “public acts” is the official designation. 

General bills apply to all areas of the state and amend the TCA, though the Attorney General has ruled that, in certain circumstances, counties may be excluded upon vote of the membership.

General bills of local application are acts which amend the Tennessee Code, but rather than applying statewide, they apply only to specific areas of the state. These areas are usually designated by population brackets.

Private, local, or special acts refer to acts applicable to one subdivision or part of the state and require approval of the legislative body governing the area to which the act applies.

Resolutions
Resolutions, unlike bills, do not become the law of the state when acted upon by the Legislature, but serve merely to express the will of the majority of the body by which they are adopted. Resolutions are termed House Resolutions or Senate Resolutions depending upon the house in which they are adopted. Resolutions passed by both houses are joint resolutions.

Joint Resolutions
Joint resolutions are a higher form of expression of the legislative will than resolutions.  Although they are not laws, they do have the force of law for certain limited purposes.  If they originate in the Senate, they are Senate Joint Resolutions;  if they originate in the House, they are House Joint Resolutions. Joint resolutions require the approval of the governor and are subject to the same rules as bills with reference to vetoes, passage over the governor’s veto, and taking effect upon failure of the governor to sign or veto them.

The Steps in Passing a Bill
The following represents the normal procedure in transforming a bill into law. The steps below describe passage of general bills. The procedure is somewhat different for local bills. A simplified  description follows.

Introduction
A legislator may introduce a bill in the body of which he is a member by filling it with the appropriate clerk. Bills must be typewritten on letter size paper (8 1/2” x 11”) and are introduced in the original and one copy. Both the bill and copy are jacketed in manuscript covers of different and distinctive colors. The signature or signatures of the member, or members, sponsoring the bill must be placed on the cover. It also must contain the caption of the bill.

Numbered by Chief Clerk
The bill is then examined by the Chief Clerk of the House or Senate to see that it conforms to legislative rules, is given a number which is placed on all copies, and is then distributed as required under the rules.
Since the Tennessee Constitution provides that no bill shall become a law until it shall have been considered and passed on three different days in each house, a somewhat complex procedure then follows concerning the bill.

Passed on First Consideration
A bill must be filed with the Chief Clerk no later than 4:00 p.m. on the day preceding the date of introduction. Any bills pre-filed in conformance with this House and Senate rule are introduced under the proper order of business, while any bills filed after 4:00 p.m. of the preceding day or during that day’s session are held for introduction the next day the house is in session. There being no objection, the bill is passed on first consideration.

Passed on Second Consideration
The next legislative day following introduction of a bill, the bill is passed on second reading and is referred by the Speaker to the appropriate standing committee under the proper order of business.

Referred To Committee
After the bill has been referred to committee, it will remain there unless one of the following courses of action is taken to bring it out: (a) the sponsor of the bill appears before the committee to explain the bill, and his motion to have the bill recommended for passage receives a majority of those present and voting in the committee; (b) after seven days in a committee without action being taken, the bill may be recalled from committee by a majority of the members of the Senate or House as the case may be; (c) if the bill is not considered controversial in nature, it is placed on a committee consent calendar and then reported as “recommended for passage” if objection is not raised; or (d) in the House committees, if the sponsor fails to appear before the committee at the scheduled hearing on two occasions and he fails to request that his bill be rescheduled, the bill is returned to the Clerk’s desk where it is held pursuant to Rule 81(2); (e) in the Senate committees, if the sponsor fails to appear before the committee at the scheduled hearing and has failed to request that his bill be rescheduled, the bill is return to the Clerk’s desk for the purpose of being withdrawn from the Senate.

The committee chairmen report committee action taken in reporting bills out of committee to the Chief Clerk. All bills being recommended for passage by the committee are referred automatically to the scheduling committee, which is the House Committee on Calendar and Rules or the Senate Calendar Committee.

Referred to Calendar
The House Committee on Calendar and Rules is made up of the speaker, the speak pro tempore, the majority leader or his designee, the majority caucus chairman, the minority leader of his designee, the minority caucus chairman, two members each of the majority and minority parties, on chairman, on vice-chairman, and one secretary (appointed by the speaker) and the chairman of each standing committee. This committee sets the calendar and establishes the schedule of meetings of the various standing committees. Unlike the Senate Calendar Committee, the House Calendar and Rules Committee debates the merits of a bill or resolution. While the Senate Calendar Committee determines when a bill will reach the floor for debate, the House Calendar and Rules Committee determines whether a bill will reach the floor.

The Senate Calendar Committee is composed of a chairman and the majority and minority floor leaders. The Senate rules state specifically that the Calendar Committee “shall only act as a scheduling committee and shall not engage in the determination of the merits of a bill or resolution” but shall calendar every bill or resolution referred to it.

Placed on Calendar
Written calendars (lists of bills to be considered for third reading) are required to be posted in the Senate Chamber at least 24 hours prior to consideration by the Senate or in the House Chamber at least 48 hours prior to consideration by the House. Senate rules limit the Senate calendar to 14 general bills, plus holdovers, while House rules place the maximum at 25, including any bills held over from previous calendars or any bills set by special order and excluding only those bills “bumped” or objected to on a Consent Calendar. Consent Calendars are made up of those bills and resolutions considered non-controversial in nature and are required to be posted in the House at least three days in advance of consideration and in the Senate by 2:00 p.m. of the day prior to consideration.

Passed On Third Consideration
On the day a bill appears “on the calendar,” it is open to debate and amendment by the entire body considering it (House or Senate). This action takes place under the order of business now known as “Calendar”.

The bill is then called up for passage, and after being considered the third time and discussed or debated, it may be passed with or without amendment by a majority of the members to which the body is entitled (50 or more votes in the House of Representatives; 17 or more votes in the Senate). When debate is over, a vote is taken on the bill and the question is, “Shall the bill be passed on third and final reading?” Procedure reaches that point either by (a) debate being exhausted, i.e., all those wishing to speak have done so and the Speaker calls for the question; or (b) a motion for the “previous question", which requires two-thirds vote of those present, automatically stops debate, and a vote is taken. If the vote on the passage of the bill carries, the bill automatically goes to the Chief Engrossing Clerk.

Bill is Engrossed
The bill now having been passed in one body then goes to the office of the chief engrossing clerk, where it is retyped, without errors or erasures, and is transmitted to the other body. The bill is “engrossed” by reproducing it with all the amendments inserted in the proper places.

Companion Bills
It is customary to introduce identical bills in both houses simultaneously. When this is done, the bills are called “companion bills”. When a companion bill is passed in one house, it then goes to the other house to await action on its companion. When the companion bill is called up, it is made to conform with the version already passed by the other house and the version first passed is substituted for the companion in the second house. The substituted bill is then considered on the third and final reading. (The motion to conform and substitute is appropriate only on third readings where a bill would have already gone through the first two steps required by the Constitution and the rules.)

If a bill passes one house and is amended in the other, the bill goes back to the house where it was originally passed for action on the amendment. The first house may vote to concur or not to concur. If it concurs in the amendment(s), the bill follows through for the governor’s approval; but if the first house refuses to concur, the bill goes back to the house where the amendment originated and the motion there is that the house recede or refuse to recede from its position in adopting the amendment(s). If there is a refusal to recede, it then becomes necessary to appoint conference committees, consisting usually of at least three members of each house, to meet and attempt to reconcile the differences between the two houses on the bill or to recommend a course of action agreeable to both houses.

Bill is Enrolled
After being passed by both houses, the bill is enrolled, that is retyped, without errors or erasures, on a heavyweight paper, by the Chief Engrossing Clerk in the house of origin. This step involves preparing the bill in the exact form passed by both houses and in a format suitable for approval by the two Speakers and by the Governor.

Signed by Speakers
After the Speakers sign the enrolled copy, it is automatically transmitted to the Governor for his action.

Signed by Governor
The Governor may sign the bill, veto it, or allow it to become law without his signature. The Governor is allowed ten days (Sundays excepted) after a bill is presented to him to approve or veto the bill; if he takes no action within that period, the bill becomes a law without his signature. The Governor also has constitutional authority to reduce or disapprove any sum of money appropriated in any bill while approving other portions of such bill.

If the Legislature is still in session, the Governor returns all bills and joint resolutions to the house of origin after he has taken action. After adjournment of the General Assembly, bills are returned by the Governor to the Office of the Secretary of State.

If the Governor has vetoed a bill or reduced or disapproved an appropriation within a bill, the veto can be overridden, or reduced or disapproved sums of money restored, by a majority vote of the membership to which each body is entitled under the Constitution.

Sent to Secretary of State and Assigned Public Chapter Number

The Secretary of State's office assigns each general bill passed into law a public chapter number, while local bills are assigned private chapter numbers. The public chapters are published in pamphlet form soon thereafter for distribution to members of the General Assembly and other interested parties. Several months after the session, the public chapters, resolutions and joint resolutions adopted are published in bound volumes as the Tennessee Public Acts. The private chapters are similarly published in bound volumes as the Tennessee Private Acts.

Incorporated into the Code

In the meantime, the Tennessee Code Commission and the publishers of the Tennessee Code Annotated are busily converting and annotating new laws into the existing Code. The supplements and replacement volumes of the Code are usually available about six months after the adjournment of the General Assembly. (It should be remembered that private acts apply only to one city or county and do not become a part of the Code.)

Local Bills

The first three steps in passing a bill (introduction, numbered by Chief Clerk, and passes first consideration) are the same for local bills as for general bills. On second consideration, however, procedure changes and the bill is passed on second consideration and held on the Clerk's desk. Since local bills only affect one "locality," they need not be referred to a standing committee, but must meet the approval of the local legislative delegation. The Speaker may refer a local bill to committee in which case it follows the normal steps in the committee system.

After a local bill receives the signature of each member of the local delegation affected by the legislation, it is placed on the Consent Calendar.

From the Engrossing process on, the procedure for local bills is the same as for general bills. These bills do not amend the code, but instead become part of the Private Acts of a particular year.

Resolutions

The following represents the normal steps in adopting resolutions.

Resolutions differ from bills in that they do not become law but simply serve to express the views of the majority of one or both houses of the Legislature.

Resolutions adopted in only one house are known as House or Senate Resolutions, depending on the house in which adopted or introduced. Resolutions adopted by both the Senate and the House are called Joint Resolutions. If they originate in the Senate, they are called Senate Joint Resolutions, and if in the House, they are referred to as House Joint Resolutions.

In the Senate, all memorializing resolutions are referred to the Calendar Committee; and all other resolutions, except joint resolutions proposing joint conventions, are referred to standing committees.

In the House, all resolutions except congratulatory or memorializing resolutions are referred to standing committees, while congratulatory and memorializing are placed on the Consent Calendar. All joint resolutions in either house calling for a joint convention of both houses are referred to a committee consisting of the Speaker, the majority leader, and the minority leader; this committee is known as the Committee on Delayed Bills.

No resolution, except one proposing an amendment to the Constitution, is required to be read three times. However, according to Article III, Section 18 of the Tennessee Constitution, all joint resolutions, except those calling for adjournment of the Legislature and those proposing specific amendments to the Constitution, must be submitted to the Governor for his signature. The Governor may veto a resolution, just as he may veto a bill; and the General Assembly may override the veto of a resolution in the same manner it may override the veto of a bill.