Answer questions in word document. 1-2 pages.
1. Identify a current or proposed state or national social welfare policy bill. Be specific; give name and number of the bill/proposed policy. Is this state or national level policy? If a state policy, what state?
2. Briefly describe in your own words the intended goal or purpose of this policy?
3. When was the last action taken on this bill? Has it already passed both houses to become law?
4. Who is/was the sponsor of this bill? Is the identified person affiliated with the Republican or Democratic party?
5. Identify and briefly describe one Internet website that is useful for finding information related to your identified policy. Include the name of the site and a URL/address. Your chosen website should provide a direct link to the legislation you have identified. Examples for national level policy include the
Library of Congress
and
govtrack.us
.
State level legislation can generally be found on the
state legislative home page
of the particular state. Briefly describe some of the useful things that can be found on your chosen website as they relate to your identified legislation.
6. Identify and briefly describe one advocacy group with whom you could be involved if you were attempting to influence this legislation. Include the name of each group and a working web address for their organization. Does this group support or oppose the identified legislation?
7. Identify one key player who supports this proposal. What arguments does he or she use to support the legislation? Include brief quotes with proper citations.
8. Identify one key player who opposes this proposal. What arguments does he or she use to oppose the legislation? Include brief quotes with proper citations.
Links
Examples for national level policy include:
Library of Congress –
https://www.loc.gov
Govtrack.us –
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/
State level legislation can generally be found on the
State legislative – https://www.ncsl.org/aboutus/ncslservice/state-legislative-websites-directory.aspx
ASSIGNMENT 1
· I am in the state of Texas.
· The governor of my state is Greg Abbott.
· I am in State Senatorial district 1 represented by State Senator is Bob Hall.
· I am in House District 1; my state Representative is Gary VanDeaver.
· My U.S. Senators are John Cornyn and Ted Cruz.
· A useful website for understanding government in my state is
Texas.gov | The Official Website of the State of Texas
. In this website, one can get all the information about this wonderful state. Some of the information provided includes health matters, the services provided by the Texas government agencies, how to make the business grow, recreation activities, culture, and others.
· One of the controversial social policies in my state is “A new Texas law bars transgender student athletes from competing on school sports teams that align with their gender identity”. According to opponents, a law that protects women’s sports does not need to be passed. Critics say cisgender women and girls might be adversely affected. Transgender kids’ mental health and well-being would be adversely affected, but the bill will also promote bias towards the transgender community.
· The Texas Active shooter alert program (house bill 103) passed into law in the year 2021. This bill was sponsored by Brooks Landgraf. The purpose of this law is to alert the public of local active shooter situations and encourage them to either leave the area or take cover in place to preserve lives and avert widespread carnage.
References
Landgraf, B. (2020, November 9). Texas House of Representatives. Landgraf, Brooks Member News Releases. Retrieved January 20, 2022, from https://house.texas.gov/news/press-releases/?id=7207
Welcome to Texas.gov. Texas.gov | The Official Website of the State of Texas. (n.d.). Retrieved January 20, 2022, from https://www.texas.gov/
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Assignment 1 Rubric
Activity: Assignment 1
Course: HUMS 365 DEA – *AMERICAN SOCIAL POLICY
Name: Travis McCalman
Criteria Exceeds standard Meets standard Does not meet standard Absent or no evidence Criterion Score
Student’s name 1 / 1
Legislators 10 / 12
State government
website
9 / 10
Controversial issue 6 / 10
State legislation 9.5 / 12
1 point 0 points
0 points
12 points
Name of state, Governor of
the state, State Senator,
senate district, State
Representative, state House
district, US House
Representative and district,
and U.S. Senators are clearly
and accurately stated.
6 points
Minimal attempt to answer
the questions; several of the
answers are incorrect or
missing; does not use full
sentences, just names, reader
is unable to validate due to
lack of
clarity.
0 points
Information not present.
Criterion Feedback
Who is your U.S. House Representative?
7 points
Identifies a website but does
not identify by both name
and web address. Brief, non-
specific description that is
not very helpful to the
reader.
5 points
Identifies a website, but
discussion is minimal or non-
existent.
Identifies a non-state specific
website.
0 points
Information not present.
Criterion Feedback
You need to provide a website, not a hyper
link.
10 points
Clearly identifies a
controversial state issue.
Discusses the controversy
making both sides of the
issue very
clear.
7 points
Clearly identifies a
controversial state issue.
Discussion needs a bit
further elaboration to make
both sides of the controversy
clear.
0 points
Information not present.
Criterion Feedback
Controversy and two sides need to be more clear. Your quote is uncited and it is not clear what women’s sports has to do with a transgender law. In a controversy, one
side says _____ and the other side says ______. Could be more clear.
Note – quotes need to be cited.
12 points
Fully and correctly answers
the questions:
Identifies state legislation by
6 points
Minimal attempt to answer
the questions; several of the
answers are incorrect or
0 points
Information not present.
1 point
9 points
Answers the questions, but
one or two of the answers to
the six questions are
incorrect or missing. (2 points
deducted for each incorrect
or missing answer)
10 points
Clearly identifies, by name
and web address, a useful
website for understanding
state government in
identified state of residence.
5 points
Identifies a potentially
controversial issue, but does
not make the controversy
that surrounds this issue
clear.
9 points
Answers the questions, but
one or two of the answers to
the six components of this
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Total
Overall Score
Grammar and mechanics 3.75 / 4
APA style 0.75 / 1
name and number, identifies
the sponsor of the legislation;
Provides a brief description
of the legislation;
provides a clear statement of
whether this bill is proposed
legislation or current law.
What was the last action
taken on this legislation?
Answer includes a working
link.
missing; does not use full
sentences, discussion lacks
clarity.
Selected legislation is federal
and not state level legislation.
Criterion Feedback
Be more – specific – “what and when was the last action taken”? When was this bill signed into law by the Governor? Missing a direct website linked to the bill.
3 points
Use of full sentences and
minor
errors in grammar,
punctuation, capitalization,
and spelling.
1 point
Incomplete sentences, and
major errors in grammar,
punctuation, capitalization,
and spelling.
0 points
Information not present.
Criterion Feedback
For the most part, good. Capitalize proper nouns – Like House, Senate, etc.
1 point
All references and citations
follow APA style and no
errors.
0.25 points
Some references and
citations follow APA and/or
major errors.
0 points
Information not present.
Criterion Feedback
You make an honest effort to cite, but this is not APA. Internal quotes need a citation that includes author, year, and page or paragraph number.
References – get rid of italics, Never cite by website, cite by author, Texas Government Homepage (year). Title, website.
Do not need “Retrieved from”.
Level 4
45 points minimum
Level 3
37.5 points minimum
Level 2
30 points minimum
Level 1
0 points minimum
question are incorrect or
missing. (2 points deducted
for each incorrect or missing
answer).
4 points
Use of full sentences and no
errors in grammar,
punctuation, capitalization,
and spelling.
0.5 points
All references and citations
follow APA style and minor
errors.