Know your Government
This week on the Capitol Outdoors Show, I mentioned that outdoorsmen need to be better informed. Being involved in government, I have learned the sites and shortcuts that will help outdoorsmen understand legislation. Capitol Outdoors will write up a synopsis on a piece of legislation and give our opinions on certain bills.I know it sounds elementary, but you would be surprised, some people do not know the basics about government and that is where we will come in. No questions will go unanswered and is too small for us!
Let's start at the Illinois Government 101: each Illinoisan has two United States Senators and a Congressman that represent them on a federal level. A good rule of thumb is if a piece of legislation affects more then one state at a time then it is a federal issue. Yes, two states could be debating an issue at the same time but their jurisdiction is only for that particular state. Citizens have one State Senator and a State Representative that represents them in Springfield for their district. We are not going to get down to a county or city level, but if any readers have questions regarding these two areas of government or anything else, we will be happy to address them, just email us at capitoloutdoorsman@gmail.com or capitoloutdoorswoman@gmail.com
If you're a citizen that doesn't' reach out to their elected official often or get the chance to see them in person, please make sure you know who they are. This is a an important step in being an informed citizen. Check the links on the side of this page and you will be directed to websites where you can easily find who your Legislator is.
As an outdoorsman you have to know how to look pieces of legislation up. Thomas.gov is an excellent tool in researching policy. On the thomas.gov website there are two ways to search for the legislation. By either looking doing a title search or looking up the bill number. Thomas.gov is very particular in title searches. This is why the best way to get legislative information is to know the bill number. Don't have a bill number, just do a quick google search for some keywords in the Bill.
The State of Illinois has a similar system. You can find it at ilga.gov. On the left hand side you can search by keywords or by Bill number.
Source- www.ilga.gov
Remember to enjoy the Outdoors, Good Luck and Stay Safe!!!
Capitol Outdoors