The FRONT LINE
CAPITALIZING ON THE CHAOS
THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS SEEMS MESSY , BUT IT ’ S REALLY MEANT TO PROVIDE OPPORTUNITY .
By Todd Adkins , Vice President of Government Affairs
One of the reasons many Americans pay little attention to legislative activity is , well , it ’ s downright confusing . There seems little order to the chaos , with bills introduced , debated , altered , combined or often disappearing altogether with no rhyme to anyone ’ s reason . Some laws are changed in the blink of an eye while other measures , even with broad public support , never gain any traction . It ’ s easy to understand why many people feel confused and helpless , especially when it comes to the issues that we care about the most , like hunting , fishing and trapping .
The good news is , within all this chaos , the legislative process provides abundant opportunities for citizen action and change to occur . In other words , the complex process becomes a positive feature of our republic , where we as groups and individuals can seek out and demand change . If you believe in good government , embrace the noise as the saying goes .
One might ask , “ How often do laws really change ?” Well , in recent sessions , the U . S . Congress introduced more than 15,000 bills , with a mere fraction ( less than 10 percent ) being enacted . Each bill must survive a brutal process where the House and Senate have several procedural steps largely designed to kill — not pass — legislation . The states are very similar with more than 100,000 bills introduced across the country and with a very small percentage ever becoming law .
The process begins with a bill introduction , and you ’ ll often see alerts from the Sportsmen ’ s Alliance to contact legislators to support or oppose a bill at this time . Then , with each stage of the process , we alert our supporters to make their voices heard , while at the same time working with legislators on key committees and in leadership about the bill and its impact on sportsmen .
Critically , at each stage of the process — like between committee hearings — alternate language is often presented in the form of an amendment , where bill sponsors or others try to build support or remove objections to the bill before the next step . This , too , will often provoke an alert from the Sportsmen ’ s Alliance asking for input from the public .
You ’ ll often see the same process over multiple legislative sessions , where a bill that failed in previous years is brought back in an amended form and then starts the entire trip again . And for major legislative efforts , even after a bill is initially passed and signed by a governor or the president , there are often bills in succeeding years to amend the original bill ( now law ) by supporters and opponents alike . What this means for our organization and each one of us as sportsmen is simple : we must remain eternally vigilant and ready to engage when called upon at each stage of the process .
PHOTOGRAPH ADOBE STOCK BY
10 SPORTSMENSALLIANCE . ORG