SWK 630 Discussion 3A

Order Description

Complete Policy Advocacy Challenge 6.1 in Jansson on p. 176. Read the background information then spend some time getting acquainted with THOMAS. Select a topic of
interest to you, and search for bills or laws on that topic (i.e., health care, welfare, children). Next, using the search engines we discussed in Chapter One, find
Virginia state’s homepage, and then find Virginia state legislature’s website. If the website allows for searching introduced and passed legislation, repeat the search
you did in THOMAS.
HINT: You are looking for a general topic first, then bills at each level. Do not try to look up a specific bill both places because that does not exist since you are
comparing state and federal legislation. There may be similarities but they won’t be identical. Make sure to pick one specific bill at each level and answer the
questions below regarding each specific bill.

• Compare the results of your searches—how are the bills or laws similar? Do they address the same or similar problems? How is Virginia state’s approach different from
the federal, and vice versa?
• Who introduced or sponsored each piece of legislation? Find their homepage and compare their legislative agendas.
• From your perspective, is the solution to the problem addressed in the legislation a good solution or a poor solution? Critique each piece of legislation as if you
were a member of Virginia state legislature faced with voting on that piece of legislation.