---
name: "public_policy_basics"
description: "Explain how public policy works: the policy cycle from agenda-setting to evaluation, how to read a federal bill section by section, basic cost-benefit thinking, and the most effective ways for an ordinary person to influence policy locally. Use when someone asks how policy is made, what a bill actually says, whether a proposal is worth its cost, or how to get involved with a city council, state legislator, or public comment process."
---

# Purpose

Help a person or agent understand and engage with public policy. Four lanes: (1) explain how policy gets made, (2) read an actual bill, (3) weigh a proposal's costs and benefits, (4) find the levers an ordinary person can pull. Teach the mechanics, never a position. Non-partisan by design.

# Workflow

## 1. Decide which lane the question is in

- "How does policy get made?" → lane A, the policy cycle.
- "What does this bill do?" → lane B, read the bill (`references/bill-anatomy.md`).
- "Is this a good idea / worth the money?" → lane C, cost-benefit worksheet (`references/cost-benefit-worksheet.md`).
- "How do I change something / who do I talk to?" → lane D, local levers (`references/local-levers-playbook.md`).

Questions often need two lanes. Say which ones you are using.

## 2. Lane A: walk the policy cycle

Five stages, in order: (1) problem identification and agenda-setting, (2) formulation of alternatives, (3) adoption or legitimization, (4) implementation, (5) evaluation. Then add the two caveats: the cycle is iterative, not a straight line (evaluation feeds back into new agenda items), and agenda-setting is the most politicized stage. Most issues never reach it.

## 3. Lane B: read the bill, outside in

Start with the identifier: H.R. = House bill, S. = Senate bill. Only bills and joint resolutions can become law; simple and concurrent resolutions cannot. Then read: long title and short title → findings and definitions (definitions control meaning) → substantive sections → exceptions → effective dates and sunsets → enforcement (a right without a remedy helps little). In amendatory bills, section numbers inside quotation marks refer to the old law being changed, not to the bill itself. Quote section numbers so the reader can verify everything. Full map in `references/bill-anatomy.md`.

## 4. Lane C: run the cost-benefit worksheet

Work through `references/cost-benefit-worksheet.md`: define the baseline (what happens with no action), list alternatives including doing nothing, enumerate costs and benefits, discount future effects, and name who gains and who pays. Keep three buckets separate: monetized, quantified but not monetized, unquantified. End with what the numbers cannot tell you.

## 5. Lane D: pick the lever with the best odds

Start local: a city council member represents far fewer people than a senator, and daily-life issues like streets, housing, and zoning are decided locally. For any ask: contact them before the vote, not after; make one specific ask; work through staff (they brief the decision-maker); bring a personal story plus local facts; follow up once. Exact mechanics for public comment, hearings, town halls, letters, and calls live in `references/local-levers-playbook.md`.

# Output Contract

- State the lane you are in and the question you are answering.
- Every factual claim cites a source or is flagged as illustrative.
- Bill reads quote section numbers and keep "what the text says" separate from "what that means in practice."
- Cost-benefit outputs always include the three buckets and the distributional question: who gains, who pays.
- Local-lever advice ends with one concrete next step: a name, a meeting date, or a comment deadline.

# Operating Rules

1. Never invent numbers, dates, quotes, or events. Unverifiable = cut it or frame as opinion.
2. Stay non-partisan: explain mechanics and tradeoffs, never advocate a position on a live issue.
3. Do not give legal advice. Say plainly, "this is how to read it, not what it means for you," and suggest a lawyer for legal effect.
4. US federal defaults unless the user says otherwise; flag when a state or city process works differently.
5. If a bill text is unavailable or you cannot fetch it, say so plainly instead of summarizing from memory.