Health Legislation & Advocacy I
LAW 5297-29019
Syllabus
University of Houston Law Center
Fall 2016
Monday 1:00p-3:00p
Room TBA
Professor Patricia Gray
Office: TUII-201K2 in MPS
Phone: 713-743-2206
Email: pgray@central.uh.edu
Office hours by appointment:
Monday
I.
Professor Allison Winnike
Office: TUII-201N in MPS
Phone: 713-743-2198
Email: anwinnik@central.uh.edu
Office hours by appointment:
Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday
Course description
This two-credit course is designed for LL.M. and upper level J.D. students who are interested in
how health policy is developed and implemented through legislative and regulatory actions. Health
Legislation & Advocacy I is the first part of a two-semester course. Students are required to take both
the fall and spring semesters. The fall semester will focus on the health policy development process,
including researching and drafting a policy proposal on behalf of a non-profit community partner.
Students will learn the skills to determine the best method to advance the policy proposal, whether
through legislation or rulemaking. This course satisfies the Skills Course Requirement.
II. Course material
Required textbooks include:
1. BEAUFORT B. LONGEST JR., HEALTH POLICYMAKING IN THE UNITED STATES (6th ed. 2016), ISBN: 978-156793-719-0. Referred to as “LONGEST” in reading assignments.
2. ROBERT J. MARTINEAU & ROBERT J. MARTINEAU JR., PLAIN ENGLISH FOR DRAFTING STATUTES AND RULES
(2012), ISBN: 978-1-42249-914-6. Referred to as “MARTINEAU” in reading assignments.
3. Texas Legislative Council, Texas Legislative Council Drafting Manual (Jan. 2015), available at
http://www.tlc.state.tx.us/legal/dm/draftingmanual.pdf. Referred to as “DRAFTING MANUAL” in
reading assignments.
4. Additional readings for each class will consist of statutory and regulatory provisions, journal
articles, court opinions and media reports describing the impact of legislation.
Syllabus current as of March 24, 2016
III. Course requirements and grading
This class prepares students for the two-credit spring course Health Legislation & Advocacy II
which runs concurrently with the Texas 85th Legislature Regular Session. Classes cannot be successful
without student preparation and participation. Therefore, attendance is required for all classes except
in extraordinary circumstances which must be promptly reported. Attendance will be kept.
Grading will be based on several practical writing assignments (including a legal memorandum
outlining the policy issue and possible solutions, a draft of proposed legislation, community support
proposal, a letter to community partner, and a letter to a legislator), a weekly written comment and
class participation.
Students are required to submit a brief comment reflecting their insights about the readings or a
question raised by the readings by noon on the day of the class. Questions should be sent to both
pgray@central.uh.edu and anwinnik@central.uh.edu with “[class date] class comment” in the subject
line.
Assignment
Memorandum of Law and Policy
Proposed Legislation (draft)
Proposed Legislation (final)
Community Support Proposal
Letter to Community Partner
Letter to Legislator
Weekly Written Comment
Class Participation
Due Date
September 26
October 24
November 7
November 14
November 21
November 21
weekly
weekly
Final Grade Percentage
25%
5%
20%
10%
10%
10%
10%
10%
Class cancellation:
In the event class must be cancelled because of weather, a makeup day will be held as
scheduled by the Law Center.
Guest lecturers:
Guest lecturers will present at certain classes. Please give our guests the courtesy of your
preparation and participation. We are fortunate to have them offer their insight and knowledge.
Students needing special accommodations:
If you need special accommodation, please let either professor know so that we can make
arrangements with the appropriate support services within the university.
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IV. Course Outline
Week 1 (August 22)
Overview of health policy and the context and process of health policymaking.
Readings:
1. LONGEST Chapter 2 “The Context of Health Policymaking” (pages 29-58)
2. LONGEST Chapter 3 “The Process of Health Policymaking” (pages 83-101)
3. Texas Legislative Council, Dates of Interest 85th Legislature (2016),
http://www.tlc.state.tx.us/dates/dates%20of%20interest.pdf.
Week 2 (August 29)
Discussion on agenda setting and legislation development.
Readings:
1. LONGEST Chapter 5 “Policy Formulation: Agenda Setting” (135-163)
2. LONGEST Chapter 6 “Policy Formulation: Development of Legislation” (165-193)
Due:
1. Weekly written comment emailed by 10 a.m., August 29
Week 3 (September 12)
Introduction to community partner and discussion of issues.
Guest Speaker: Community Partner
Readings:
1. MARTINEAU Chapter 1 “The Never Ending Struggle” (3-10)
2. MARTINEAU Chapter 2 “How Statutes Get Made in a Legislative Body” (13-21)
3. MARTINEAU Chapter 6 “Mandatory Form and Language” (63-71)
4. MARTINEAU Chapter 7 “Arrangement of Bill Sections” (73-77)
Due:
1. Weekly written comment emailed by 10 a.m., September 12
Week 4 (September 19)
Discussion on health policy implementation, including rulemaking and operation, and how to
draft a legal memorandum outlining the policy issue and possible solutions.
Readings:
1. LONGEST Chapter 7 “Policy Implementation and Implementing Organizations” (195-218)
2. LONGEST Chapter 8 “Policy Implementation Activities: Designing, Rulemaking, Operating,
and Evaluating” (219-257)
Due:
1. Weekly written comment emailed by 10 a.m., September 19
Week 5 (September 26)
Student presentations and discussion of memorandum outlining the policy issue and possible
solutions.
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Readings: none
Due:
1. Memorandum of Law and Policy emailed by 10 a.m., September 26
2. Presentation of Memorandum of Law and Policy to class
Week 6 (October 3)
Discussion on policy modification.
Readings: (34 pages)
1. LONGEST Chapter 9 “Policy Modification” (259-289)
Due:
1. Weekly written comment emailed by 10 a.m., October 3
Week 7 (October 10)
Discussion on legislative history research.
Guest Speaker: UHLC Reference and Research Librarian
Readings:
1. U.S. House of Representatives Office of the Legislative Counsel, Quick Guide to
Legislative Drafting (Oct. 6, 2014),
http://legcounsel.house.gov/HOLC/Resources/quick_guide.pdf.
2. MARTINEAU Chapter 8 “The Effect of Structure and Style on Substance” (81-83)
3. MARTINEAU Chapter 9 “The Drafting Process” (85-87)
4. MARTINEAU Chapter 10 “Plain English Principles on Word Choice” (89-95)
5. MARTINEAU Chapter 11 “Ambiguous and Other Troublesome Words” (97-102)
6. MARTINEAU Chapter 12 “Plain English Principles and Rules on Drafting a Sentence” (103117)
7. MARTINEAU Chapter 13 “Rules on Drafting Specific Provisions or Words” (119-124)
Due:
1. Weekly written comment emailed by 10 a.m., October 10
Week 8 (October 17)
Discussion on legislative drafting principles.
Readings:
1. Section 1 “The Legislative Process in Texas” of Texas Legislative Council, Guide to Texas
Legislative Information (Revised) 1-12 (Mar. 2015),
http://www.tlc.state.tx.us/pubslegref/gtli.pdf.
2. Texas Legislative Council, Reading Statutes and Bills (2014),
http://www.tlc.state.tx.us/pubslegref/readingabill.pdf.
3. DRAFTING MANUAL Chapter 1 “Introduction” (1),
http://www.tlc.state.tx.us/legal/dm/draftingmanual.pdf.
4. DRAFTING MANUAL Chapter 2 “Legislative Documents and Their Functions” (3-4),
http://www.tlc.state.tx.us/legal/dm/draftingmanual.pdf.
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5. DRAFTING MANUAL Chapter 3 “Bills” (5-55),
http://www.tlc.state.tx.us/legal/dm/draftingmanual.pdf.
6. DRAFTING MANUAL Chapter 7 “Style and Usage” (89-135),
http://www.tlc.state.tx.us/legal/dm/draftingmanual.pdf.
Due:
1. Weekly written comment emailed by 10 a.m., October 16
Week 9 (October 24)
Student presentations and discussion of draft Proposed Legislation.
Guest Speaker:
Readings: none
Due:
1. Draft of Proposed Legislation emailed by 10 a.m., October 24
2. Presentation of Proposed Legislation to class
Week 10 (October 31)
Discussion on developing competence in the policymaking process and preview of election.
Readings:
1. LONGEST Chapter 10 “Building Policy Competence for Health Professionals” (291-335)
Due:
1. Weekly written comment emailed by 10 a.m., October 31
Week 11 (November 7)
Discussion on advocacy strategies, election results, and student presentations of proposed
legislation.
Guest Speaker:
Readings: none
Due:
1. Final draft of Proposed Legislation emailed by 10 a.m., November 7
2. Presentation of Proposed Legislation to class
Week 12 (November 14)
Student presentations and discussion of Community Support Proposals.
Readings: none
Due:
1. Community Support Proposal emailed by 10 a.m., November 14
2. Presentation of Community Support Proposal to class
Week 13 (November 21)
Student presentations and discussion of Letters to Community Partner and Legislator.
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Guest Speaker:
Readings: none
Due:
1. Letter to Community Partner emailed by 10 a.m., November 21
2. Letter to Legislator emailed by 10 a.m., November 21
3. Presentation of Letters to Community Partner and Legislator to community partner and
class
Week 14 (November 28)
Student presentations and discussion of Letters to Community Partner and Legislator.
Guest Speaker:
Readings: none
Due:
1. Letter to Community Partner emailed by 10 a.m., November 28
2. Letter to Legislator emailed by 10 a.m., November 28
3. Presentation of Letters to Community Partner and Legislator to community partner and
class
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