The Drafting Manual

Every bill in this House compresses to one sentence:

WHO does WHAT by WHEN, verified by EVIDENCE, for AMOUNT, else CONSEQUENCE.

If your sentence has all six parts, Claude — or a patient afternoon — can expand it into a lawful bill. If it's missing parts, the drafting process is just asking for them. The formula is the whole art; everything below is detail.

Funding. Money for milestones. The startup tranche, the bonus for a shipped thing. Uses Terms §1 (stipend) and §2 (milestone table). The most common bill and the reason this House exists.

Charter. Establishes or empowers an ongoing operation — a department budget, a research program, a standing capability. Uses staged terms: prove, then scale. U.H.R. 2 is the model: research budget now, live capital only after evidence.

Household. One-time major decisions: the trip, the renovation, the big purchase. Names the amount, the decision, who executes, and when it's considered done.

Recurring. Anything periodic: stipends, allowances, subscriptions, standing duties. Must name its period, its amount per period, and its review date — recurring bills without review dates outlive their sense.

Amendment. Changes an existing law. Names the target by number, quotes each clause it changes, states the new text in full (Rule X §1). Also the vehicle for repeal, revival of forfeited tranches, and constitutional amendments (which additionally need counsel's written review, Const. Art. V).

Copy these into Terms; adjust names and numbers. They exist so every bill doesn't reinvent — and mis-invent — the same machinery.

Miss Clause A — Grace then forfeit (the default; applies even if you write nothing): "Default applies (Const. Art. IV §3): 7-day grace after a missed deadline; delivery within grace pays in full; after grace the tranche is forfeited, revivable only by two-signature amendment."

Miss Clause B — Reduced payout: "Delivery within 30 days after deadline pays 50% of the tranche; later than 30 days, the tranche is forfeited."

Miss Clause C — Mandatory renegotiation: "A missed deadline convenes the House at the next sitting to amend this schedule; the tranche is suspended, not forfeited, until that sitting."

Drawdown clause (for any live-capital law): "If the account falls X% below its high-water mark, activity pauses the same day and resumes only after review at a sitting. This clause cannot be waived verbally." — X% is written in ink before the first trade, because no one sets a sane limit mid-loss.

Escrow clause: "The Funder deposits the full amount with the Secretary of the Household & Treasury on passage; the Secretary releases each tranche on verification." — use when the beneficiary wants certainty the money exists.

Verification clauses — name evidence a stranger could check: - "…live and usable at [URL]" — for shipped software. - "…shown on the [Stripe/brokerage/bank] dashboard, screenshot filed to the Registry" — for numbers. - "…the physical thing exists at [place] and the verifying officer has seen it" — for objects. - "…confirmed in writing by [named third party]" — for outside facts.

Sunset clause: "This law expires on YYYY-MM-DD; obligations vested before expiry survive it." — every funding bill should carry one; charters may run perpetual.

Renewal clause: "This law renews for successive 6-month terms unless any party files non-renewal 14 days before term end."

Report clause: "The Beneficiary reports progress at the first sitting of each month, in writing, filed to the Registry."

Read each milestone and ask:

Five yes → sign-ready. Any no → it will become a Bench case; fix it now, while everyone still likes each other.

The sentence: "If I ship the MingLLM iOS app to the App Store by 2026-09-01, Dad pays me $3,000; also $500/month for API costs until then."

Becomes: type funding; sponsor Yiming Beckmann; funder Andrew Beckmann; beneficiary Yiming Beckmann; sunset 2026-09-08. Terms: §1 base stipend $500/month from passage to sunset, for API costs, receipts filed monthly. §2 milestone: "MingLLM iOS app approved and downloadable on the App Store (evidence: the store listing URL), deadline 2026-09-01, payment $3,000, verified by Secretary of the Household & Treasury." §4 Miss Clause A. Enforcement: verification within 3 days of claim (Rule IX), payment within 7 days of verification, receipts to the Registry.

Total drafting time with the /new-law prompt: under a minute. The House's standards are high; meeting them is cheap.

§A good law is one nobody ever has to reread angrily.