PADM-GP.

2411 – Fall 2022

Policy Formation and Analysis
Legislative Proposal Memorandum Assignment (10% of Final Grade)
Due Tuesday 10/18 at 6:45PM via Brightspace

Assignment:

In one single-spaced page (12-point font, 1” margins), prepare a press release for an actual case study MC’s bill from
the 2021-23 congressional session. You must choose a bill which has been introduced with the member as
the sponsor, not just a cosponsor. The bill should not have an existing full-blown press release.
You will write on the representative or Senator you were assigned in the first assignment, as determined by
the first letter of your last name.
You must include the following items:
(1) title of the press release,
(2) summary of the action,
(3) member’s quote (you provide a quote the communications director or press secretary will approve)
(4) interest group endorsement and quote (you provide a quote the communications director or press
secretary for the member and interest group will approve)
(5) “full” description of the action. (For an overview of each item and an example, refer to the case study
members’ annotated press releases.)

If you would like some guidance on what might be a good bill to select, don’t hesitate to reach out to Professor
Carlino either by email or in office hours.

Expectations:
You should read though at least five of your assigned member’s recent press releases (available on the MC’s
website) to get an idea of how the member’s staff typically outlines and completes press releases (because, as we
note in class, those styles are not universal). You will not cite readings for this assignment. However, you are
expected to demonstrate an awareness of the logics in the lecture and readings in your framing of the press release.
It should abide by general parameters of press releases writ large, should make a nod in style and framing to the
general approach of recent press releases for that MC, and should be making a clear appeal to electorally relevant
constituencies. And, if you reference relevant statistics, reports, draft bills or the like: ensure that you
endnote them as you did in Assignment #1.

Alternative Assignment: If you would like to continue forth with the legislative proposal from Assignment #1,
and craft what a press release would hypothetically look like for that legislation, you are free to so long as you abide
by the same expectations above.

** See Example Press Release in PDF on Brightspace**