We all care deeply about basic issues such as reducing single use plastic and keeping out water clean. But sometimes when solutions become formalized, what seemed simple becomes a complex series of papers, legal jargon, and unfamiliar terms. How do we dissect and comprehend the language of bills?
With a little bit of insight and practice, reading policy can actually transform from daunting to digestible.
Watch the full recording of the live session at the bottom of this post, or read below for some of the key takeaways.
Finding the legislation:
Most legislatures post bills on their website. The legislature’s website can be a treasure trove of useful information, including a “plain language” summary and the path the bill has taken since it was filed. Check out the Oregon State Legislature website and start exploring.
First things first:
Bills start with a number, title and summary that provide crucial clues.
- The bill number helps you track the bill as it moves in and out of committees.
- The title helps you understand what specific policy area the bill deals with.
- The summary, usually called the “summary as introduced,” is a paragraph or two that breaks down—in plain language—what the bill is trying to accomplish.
Know where to look: Most bills amend existing laws instead of creating new ones. For those bills, there are a few key things to look for. For many states, any language being added to the law will be underlined, and anything being removed will have a line through it.
Have the latest version: A bill almost always changes as it winds its way through the legislature. You can make sure you’re looking at the most recent version by checking your legislature’s website.
Check the signers: Every piece of legislation has a sponsor—the lawmaker who introduced the legislation—and cosponsors—other lawmakers who support it. Knowing who’s backing the bill will help you develop your strategy for either killing the bill or ensuring it is signed into law.
Learn when it kicks in: At the end of the bill is the enacting clause. Look there to see when the proposed changes in the legislation will take place.
For a detailed glossary of bill structure and definitions, check out this Guide to Reading a Legislative Measure.
and even more terms are defined in this glossary.
Definitions:
Proper definition of terms is essential for successful implementation. Often how terms are defined is the most important part of a bill. Definitions get us on the same page about policy basics…and it’s also where we should be alert for loopholes. For example, when looking into House Bill 2509 (Single-Use Bag Ban), it is essential to define every term being use in the bill. Many stores are using plastic bags of a thickness that is technically defined as reusable, even though they are still plastic and many consumers treat them as single-use items. Even when labeled “reusable,” bags made of plastic still signal disposability to many people. Allowing stores to use bags like this is a loophole that defeats the purpose of the single-use bag ban. Similarly, paper bags need to be carefully defined. In the first draft of the bill, some fiber bags were technically not legal and so that bill is now being amended with updated definitions. These details get tricky and deserve our close attention. Restaurants have slightly different rules than stores and so they are listed in a different section.
Implementation of policy can get complicated when terms are poorly defined.
Evolution and Understanding of Terms:
Bill language needs to be continually updated to reflect the most recent thinking in sustainable solutions. Sometimes it takes so long to create policy that the terms and research behind the policy actually changes before decisions are made. For example, materials such as bioplastics and certain "compostables" were thought of as good alternatives to plastics in the recent past. But new research has shown that those materials are not actually great solutions. It can take so long to write policy and garner support for it, that by the time we are considering bill language, our original ideas for solutions have changed.
House Bill 2365 (Comprehensive Food Ware Bill), unfortunately died in session. But it is an interesting example of evolved terms. For instance, how does one know if a material is compostable? As it has become clear that some products labeled "compostable" do not break down easily and clog processors, terms have been changed to "readily compostable," meaning material that can fully decompose in an at-home compost system. The term “recyclable” means: the material can be collected by curbside recycling service providers and sorted and recycled by a majority of the material recovery facilities that operate in this state or currently accept materials from within this state AND that there has been a consistent market for the material for the previous two years. Many of these definition issues also point to the larger problem of truth in labeling and the assumption that producers are familiar with recycling systems. As our understanding of sustainable materials changes, so must our policy language. It is only by clearly defining these terms can we close the loopholes!
Preemption:
Preemption occurs when law at a higher level of government is used to overrule authority at a lower level, essentially when the state makes it illegal for a municipality to pass a law. In 2019, the Oregon legislature proposed Senate Bill 90, which prohibits food and beverage providers or convenience stores from providing single-use plastic straws to consumers unless consumers specifically request single-use plastic straws. Initially, environmental groups supported the bill. But after parties representing the plastics industry offered up a series of amendments, the bill was changed to prohibit local jurisdictions from making their own rules about straws. Generally, single-use plastics bans initially appeal to environmentalists, but the real meat behind the bill was to make it illegal to fully ban straws as written in Section 2 of the bill. Luckily those paying attention picked up on these changes and rallied to oppose the bill.
Sunset Clauses:
Be aware that some policies contain a "sunset provision" or "sunset clause" which is a measure within the regulation or statute that provides that the law shall cease to have effect after a specific date, unless further legislative action is taken to extend the law.
Always think about who is posting bill as that can create layers of nuance in the language!
Understanding Local Ordinances
Ordinances look different than bills, such as starting with “whereas” statements. They include references to other plans and often contain many definitions so that it is abundantly clear who and what are being affected.
Example: On April 15, 2019, the Newport City Council adopted Ordinance No. 2148 regulating the use of single-use, plastic carryout bags. The effective date of the ordinance is July 1, 2019 for retailers with more than 10,000 square feet of retail space. However, within this ordinances many types of exemptions were defined, for various defined hardships and types of businesses, and ability to implement. There is detailed violation and penalty information as well as the effective date. Sometimes ordinances are effected quickly, and sometimes in the distant future. Some bills wont go in effect for a few years to give people time to comply. Bills is typically the start of the next year, while ordinances may be enacted farther down the road.
More Ideas on How to Approach and Understand Policy Language:
- Find a partner to discuss bills! Two heads are better than one and a buddy can make the process less intimidating.
- When reading a document, use the “Command Find” function to search a specific word! (Unfortunately, for ordinances, this doesn’t always work if it is a scanned PDF. Non-readable PDFs are not very accessible according to ADA as they are not readable by software for vision impaired people, so potentially there will be improvements on this system in the future?)
- Read City Manager’s report which has more plain language. These documents are public and are great resources on decisions.
- If you are still unable to understand the language, where should you go? If you know a city councilor, ask them! They should know. Otherwise, city staff such as managers and attorneys can be great resources. It can be interesting to see if they understand it, because they are voting on it!