Push for simplified bill language

By Noah Shifter, Staff Writer

Civic engagement: the participation in political processes via voting, discussing current events and more. Democratic societies need high levels of civic engagement among all groups to truly represent their people. 

Unfortunately, youth and non-native English speakers have low levels of civic engagement, and the issue stems partly from the cryptic legal language in bills that affect our lives.

According to the Census   Bureau, voting in 2018 hit a 53% turnout rate among all eligible U.S. citizens. However, only 27% of eligible voters from ages 18-29 and less than 40% of     immigrants cast a ballot. Young citizens and non-native English speakers aren’t exercising their right to vote, and election results won’t represent their needs.

While low voter turnout has many causes, the complicated language of bills and propositions discourages citizens from engaging in civic activities like voting. Accessible language is a must in states like California, where citizens vote directly on propositions. 

Here is an excerpt from AB-86, a school funding bill that influenced our district’s decision to start reopening schools. 

“An act to amend Section 69432.9 of, to add and repeal Article 8 (commencing with       Section 32090) of Chapter 1 of Part 19 of Division 1 of Title 1 of, and to add and repeal Part 24.6 (commencing with Section 43520) of Division 3 of Title 2 of, the Education Code…”

This sits at the top of the bill, and it discouraged me from reading the rest. That type of language continues throughout the bill, and the same occurs for other bills approved by the State Assembly. I can barely read that, and I’m a native English speaker with an interest in law! When legal language looks like this, how can we expect youth and immigrants to engage with the politics affecting them? How can we expect anyone to willingly interact with this?

A complete reworking of legal dialect is highly unlikely, if even possible. However, there is something that we can do about this problem. 

Interested in politics or civic engagement and want to help your community? Take on the language of the bills. Read over bills relevant to your community and write understandable summaries. Help others become informed while informing yourself.

Share your summaries with peers and they will see how their government affects them. Once you start the process, everyone can easily interact with the political system, and our democracy will thrive with participation and representation.