VHSL Student Congress

Official Rules
For official rules, please see the VHSL Debate Manual.

Understanding Legislation
A bill is an enumeration of specific provisions which if enacted will have the force of law. A resolution is simply a generalized statement expressing a conviction or sentiment. A resolution will generally center debate on the broad principles of the concept; a bill is more apt to delve into the merits of the specific provisions it contains. Although they are not necessary, a resolution may have whereas clauses, but a bill never has them. The use of both bills and resolutions will add variety to congress proceedings.

Resolutions
Simple resolutions are usually generalized statements expressing the belief of the group adopting them, and they do not have the force of law. Resolutions may be preceded by one or more whereas clauses, stating the principal reasons for adopting the resolution, but their number should be limited and may be omitted altogether.
View a Sample Resolution (32K .pdf)

Bills
A bill is an enumeration of specific provisions which if enacted will have the force of law. It must be definite; it must state exactly what is to be done or not to be done. A penalty must be stipulated or the law will not have force. A bill does not have whereas clauses.
View a Sample Bill (32K .pdf)

Preparing and Submitting Legislation
In constructing your bill or resolution, be sure that the following procedures are followed:

1. Use this VHSL Student Congress website to ensure proper submission of legislation. For regional, super-regional and state tournaments, the bottom of the each tournament page, linked above, will contain drop down boxes that list the high schools in each region. To submit your legislation, select your high school name and you will be automatically redirected to the proper submission form for your region. All legislation must be typed, double-spaced, and no longer than one page. Each line of a bill or resolution must also be numbered.

2. The first words of a bill are "Be it enacted." The first words of a resolution are "Be it resolved." As you begin to enter your legislation on the web submission form, a drop-down box on the form will let you select “Be it enacted” or “Be it resolved” so there is no need to type it separately. A resolution may be preceded by one or more whereas clauses but bills and joint resolutions never have them.

3. The language of a bill must always be in the imperative mood. That is, it must state exactly what is to be done and by whom. Bills and/or resolutions that do not conform to the VHSL Congress guidelines may be rejected from consideration for the Student Congress docket.

4. All tournament submission deadlines posted on the Regional, Super-Regional, and State legislation pages are strict deadlines. All submissions are automatically timestamped at the time the Submit button is pressed. No legislation with a timestamp after 11:59:59 PM on the deadline date will be accepted for consideration for any reason. All forms require the entry of an email address so that proof of the submission can be automatically emailed to that address upon submission. There are some situations that might cause the submission email not be received even when the legislation has posted successfully. These situations may include, but are not limited to, incorrect entry of email address, entering an email address that does not exist, entering an email address (such as Google Apps for Education/G Suite email addresses) that may be restricted by schools from receiving any outside email notifications. We urge any student that does not receive a confirmation email to contact the Clerk of Congress to verify if the legislation was received properly. This will allow the student a chance to re-submit the legislation before the deadline. If no confirmation email is received AND the student does not follow up AND it is determined that the legislation was actually not received, the student will be disqualified from competition.

Submission key:
NOT YET OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS - Submission form has not yet opened for this this season’s tournament. It should open about 30 days before a reported tournament date.
OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS - Submissions are currently being accepted for this tournament.
SUBMISSIONS NOW CLOSED - The deadline has passed for submissions for this tournament (happens a week before the scheduled tournament).

Offering Amendments
Amendments may be brought from the floor. Amendments must be in writing using the VHSL Amendment Form and state exactly the words to be added or stricken and may be considered only upon a second (by show of hands) of 1/3 of the members PRESENT. Negative 1/3 seconds are never to be taken.

1. Amendment is written using VHSL Amendment Form.
2. Amendment is submitted to parliamentarian.
3. Presiding Officer reads amendment and determines if it is germane.
4. Parliamentarian reads amendment aloud.
5. Presiding Officer asks for a 1/3 second of the members present. If the amendment does not receive the 1/3 second, debate continues with the next appropriate speech. If the amendment receives the 1/3 second...
6. Presiding Officer asks for an authorship speech on the amendment. Preference for the amendment's authorship speech shall be based upon the number of speeches given (regular speaking precedence). The person who wrote the amendment does not automatically have the right of authorship; it becomes the property of the chamber.
7. Once the first proponency speech is given, no automatic questioning period follows. A con speech on the amendment will be in order.
8. Debate will then alternate pro and con on the amendment until the amendment is disposed of in the proper manner.

Note: Any speech on the main motion is out of order if it does not pertain to the amendment while the amendment is on the floor.

Presiding Officer and Conduct of Business
The President of the Senate shall follow Parliamentary Procedure according to VHSL rules and according to Robert's Rules of Order in the event VHSL rules do not cover a question of procedure. Bills and resolutions shall be considered in the order in which they appear on the docket, unless the rules are suspended. (A motion to consider a bill out of sequence or not on the calendar at all is a suspension of the rules and requires a two-thirds vote.) An authorship speech shall be a maximum of 3 minutes in length, but this authorship speech will have an additional 2 minutes of cross-examination to follow the speech. This two minute addition does not apply to speeches on amendments. At the State Congress, a Congressperson from the authorship school shall be entitled to this privilege.