Research Paper

This Research paper is over Texas Government: (Texas House of Representative Dade Phelan)

Research three bills sponsored by your Texas House of Representatives member or Texas Senator using the Legislative Portals’ website, and find out how far they got in the legislative process.

To find out who your Senate or House member is, go to: 

http://www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us/Zip.aspx (Links to an external site.)

Enter your address and decide who you want to use. (Do not use your US House or US Senator. For example, Cornyn and Cruz are your US Senators. We’re studying Texas, so you want to choose your Texas state Senator or Texas state House member.)

2) To find the bills sponsored and their progress, you will go to http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/

Click on “Bill Search.”

Click on the down arrow to find your Rep or Senator. (Reps names are first, then Senators, in alphabetical order.) Make sure the legislature at the top left says 2021(R) so that you are looking at the 2021 regular session, and then click “Search” at the top right.

This will give you a list. You can click on the HB ## to see the basics and history. Across the top are tabs, like Text, which will tell you about the bill. You’ll also see the history at the bottom, which has the most recent activity at the top. If it is law, it will say it was enacted … possibly with or without the governor’s signature. If not, you’ll see what step the bill died in.

2) Once you find the bills, you will look to see what issues are affecting your area using newspapers.           

 You may use any local newspaper or national newspaper, but local papers are more likely to discuss your area. The Dallas Morning News, Denton Record Chronicle, the Texas Tribune, etc. are fine. The news articles do not need to be on the same topic as the bills you looked at, or be an article specifically on your representative or senator. We’re looking for what is important in your community, because I want you to ask yourself: Does it appear to you, in general, that the representative or senator is doing what is important for the area you live in? Do they recognize issues important to where you live? The environment? Traffic? Crime? Education? According to the news, what need help and does it look like the rep is addressing those types of issues?

3) Visit your House or Senators legislator website or campaign site to see what s/he says their issues are.

What issues do they say are important to them and their district?

Now….take what you found in those three sections and use the information to write the paper.

Writing Prompt:

Should your House or Senate member should get your vote in the next election, basing your opinion on what you have found in your research?

Please specifically state your vote choice and share all your research, and how it affected your choice.

There isn’t a right answer to this, but you need to have a reasoned response, backed up with the information you found in the research and your own personal beliefs. (Yes, your personal beliefs. Your ideology is totally appropriate here, because it what you want from government and from your elected officials.) Consider what bills they wrote and sponsored, and if you agree with it. Explain each of the things you found as a part of explaining your vote choice. Consider whether your legislator seems to understand what is appropriate to your area, based on their values and goals from their website. Consider whether s/he understands what you and your city needs.

The assignment will generally take 3 to 4 pages to complete. You will need to include a works cited page; you may use MLA, Chicago, or APA as your style guide.