Laws
The movement keeps four separate law libraries. Which one a record lives in is decided by two questions: who wrote it, and did anybody let it vote.
The four
| Library | Who wrote it | Filed? | Enacted? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Problem laws | Congress | yes | yes — in force |
| Good laws | a legislator | yes | passed, voted down, or never allowed a vote |
| Fix bills | the movement | no | no |
| Fixing the law | — | — | the process, not a library of records |
Why the vocabulary is enforced
An enacted law is in force and governing people right now. A bill is language somebody wrote. Conflating them is the single most damaging error available on this site — a movement that blurs a law that exists and a bill we would like to exist has no standing to complain when anybody else does it.
So: a fix bill page never shows a vote count, because there was no vote. It never shows a sponsor, because there is none. Its status language is about drafting, never about passage.
The third fate
The category that does not exist anywhere else: filed, and never allowed a vote.
A bill can die in committee, be denied a rule, be left off the calendar, or be stripped in conference. Each is functionally identical to defeat and none produces a roll call — so the record is blank, and a blank gets read as nothing happened.
Here it is an event, with a name and a stage attached. That is what the good law library exists for.
How they connect
a PROBLEM -> its ROOT CAUSES -> a FIX BILL closing some of them
-> a GOOD LAW somebody actually filed
a PROBLEM LAW -> the acts of the people who advanced it -> the Monkey Award
a GOOD LAW -> the acts of the people who advanced it -> the Llama Award
Pages in this area
- The four libraries — what each is for.
- Law vs bill — the vocabulary, and the rules that follow from it.
- How a record is sourced — where every claim comes from.
Where to go next
- Problems — the area before this one.
- Problem Laws — the area after this one.
- Open the app — do this for real, on your own seats.