Storybook County Lessons · Lesson 2
Committee Hearing and Bill Ranking
The Committee on Housing and Hazards
Storybook County Lessons · Lesson 2
Committee Hearing and Bill Ranking
The Committee on Housing and Hazards
Grades 9 to 12, adaptable for younger students · Four 30-minute sessions
Teacher note. Handouts: 1. Sample Bills for the Committee on Housing and Hazards; 2. Committee Chair Script; 3. Bill Ranking Rubric. Also needed: placards with each student's district name, a gavel (a marker on a desk works) and a timer. Works best after Writing a Bill, but the sample bills let it stand alone.
The story
The story problem
The Storybook County Committee on Housing and Hazards has four bills on its calendar. Only two can advance to the chamber. Which ones deserve it?
- The Three Little Pigs
- Humpty Dumpty's household
- Residents of Beanstalk Hollow
- The Three Bears
Teacher note. These are the sponsors of the four sample bills. Use the class's own bills from Lesson 1 instead if you have them.
You will be able to
- Run a committee hearing in the correct order.
- Tell a technical question from a debate point.
- Use the recognition formula: thank the Chair, state name and district.
- Score a bill with a rubric and explain the score.
Who does what
- Committee Chair
- Runs the hearing from the script, keeps time, recognizes speakers, rules on points of order
- Clerk
- Reads the enacting clause, keeps the speakers list, records the ranking
- Sponsors
- 2 to 3 per bill. Present the bill and answer questions
- Committee Members
- Everyone else. Ask questions, debate, rank
Teacher note. Sponsors join the committee when their bill is not being heard but may not rank their own bill. Rotate the Chair and Clerk each session so several students practice presiding.
Session 1 · 30 min
How a Hearing Works
- Hook5 min
- The five parts10 min
- Technical question drill10 min
- Recognition formula5 min
Hook
If Humpty Dumpty's family asked the Legislature for a wall law, who would hear them first?
Teacher note. Explain that no bill goes straight to a vote of the whole chamber. Committees exist to hear a few bills carefully.
The five parts
- 1. Author's Opening: up to 4 minutes, save the rest for closing
- 2. Technical Questions: non-debatable
- 3. Debate: alternate con and pro, start and end with con
- 4. Author's Summation
- 5. Ranking or Vote
Teacher note. Teach the order using the Chair Script and write it on the board.
Question or debate?
Technical question
- Asks what the bill does
- "Does Section 2 apply to walls already built?"
Debate point
- Argues whether it should pass
- "This bill punishes homeowners instead of wolves."
Technical question drill
Listen to Sample Bill A. Write one technical question and one debate point.
Teacher note. Read Sample Bill A aloud. Call on several students to read both; the class sorts each into the right pile.
Say it
Thank you, Chair. [Name], [District].
The recognition formula
Teacher note. Practice standing with the placard, waiting to be recognized, then saying the formula. 5 minutes with the next slide.
The no-yielding rule
A recognized speaker speaks for themselves. You do not hand the floor to someone else.
Committee on Housing and Hazards
Sample bills on the calendar
Bill A. Wind-resistant construction. Sponsors: The Three Little Pigs. New Deep Woods dwellings need brick or stone walls; straw and sticks for roofing only.
Bill B. The Humpty Dumpty Wall Safety Act. Guardrails on any public wall over three feet; creates a Wall Safety Fund paid by a one-cent tax on eggs.
Bill C. An Act to Regulate Beanstalk Cultivation. Permit before planting any seed that may exceed cloud height; the planter is liable for anything that falls.
Bill D. The Porridge Temperature Disclosure Act. Unattended porridge must have its temperature posted; a defense to burglary for anyone who enters only to test porridge.
Teacher note. Supporting Document 1 also lists each bill's fiscal and environmental implications. Hand it out so committee members can ask about them.
Session 2 · 30 min
Full Hearing, Bills A and B
- Call to order3 min
- Hearing on Bill A12 min
- Hearing on Bill B12 min
- Debrief3 min
Committee Chair script
- "This hearing of the Committee on Housing and Hazards will come to order."
- "Will the Clerk please read the enacting clause?"
- "Sponsors, you have four minutes for your opening. You may reserve any remaining time for your summation."
- "We are now in a period of technical questions. Members wishing to ask a question, please raise your placard."
- "We will now move to debate. Debate alternates con and pro and must begin and end with a con speaker. Is there a con speaker?"
- "Sponsors, you have your remaining time for summation."
- "Members, please complete your ranking sheets. Sponsors do not rank their own bill." (Two gavel taps.)
Teacher note. This is Supporting Document 2. The Chair reads it word for word.
Call to order
Teacher note. The Chair opens using the script. The Clerk reads the enacting clause of Bill A.
Hearing on Bill A
- Opening: 3 minutes
- Technical questions: one series of three, 3 minutes
- Debate: two con, two pro, alternating, 1 minute each
- Summation: 1 minute
- Ranking sheets: 1 minute
Hearing on Bill B
Same sequence: opening, technical questions, debate, summation, ranking.
Debrief
What was hardest: keeping a question technical, or keeping debate alternating?
Teacher note. Rotate the Chair and Clerk for the next session.
Session 3 · 30 min
Bills C and D, Plus Points of Order
- Add two tools3 min
- Hearing on Bill C12 min
- Hearing on Bill D12 min
- Debrief3 min
Two new tools
- Point of Order
- The rules are being broken. "Point of order, Chair, that question is debate, not technical."
- Point of Information
- A factual question to the Chair about procedure
- Not in committee
- "Previous question" and "extend debate" are not in order. The Chair controls time.
Teacher note. The Chair handles a point of order this way: "State your point." Then rule: "Your point is well taken" or "Your point is not well taken," and move on. 3 minutes.
Hearing on Bill C
An Act to Regulate Beanstalk Cultivation. Same sequence as before.
Hearing on Bill D
The Porridge Temperature Disclosure Act. Same sequence as before.
Debrief
Did anyone use a point of order correctly? Did the Chair rule promptly?
Session 4 · 30 min
Ranking and Reporting Out
- Tabulate10 min
- Discussion10 min
- Report out5 min
- Wrap-up5 min
Bill ranking rubric: score each line 1 to 5
- How well written: format complete, changes clearly marked, language precise
- Justification and implications: evidence from the story, thoughtful fiscal and environmental sections
- Author's presentation and knowledge: clear opening, accurate answers
- Importance to Storybook County: a real and recurring problem
- Feasibility: could actually be carried out and enforced
- Debatability: produced real arguments on both sides
Teacher note. Maximum score is 30. This is Supporting Document 3; members complete one per bill heard.
Tabulate
Teacher note. The Clerk collects the rubric sheets and totals each bill's score on the board. The Chair explains that sponsors' scores for their own bill are set aside.
Discussion
Was the best written bill the most popular? Which rubric line separated the top two?
Teacher note. Compare the ranking to the room's gut feeling. At the conference the top-ranked bills from each committee go to the chamber or a Joint Session, and the rest wait for time to allow.
Say it
The Committee on Housing and Hazards reports Bills _ and _ favorably to the Assembly.
The Committee Chair
Teacher note. Report out, 5 minutes. Two gavel taps end the hearing.
Wrap-up
Write one sentence: what would make my own bill rank higher?
Teacher note. Assessment looks at Chair and Clerk, Sponsors, Committee Members, and Participation and Decorum (no clapping after a bill fails, no referring to other bills by name). Support: give question starters and shorten debate to one con and one pro. Challenge: run without the script, or add a friendly amendment to Bill D and vote on it before ranking.
The committee has spoken
The top bills move on to the chamber.
Eyes up here
Keyboard shortcuts and tips
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Project the slides from your laptop. Turn on Notes to see facilitation tips under the slide (keep them off while the screen is mirrored to students). Timed steps load their time into the timer automatically. Choose All slides to scroll or print every slide.