Erin Warren debates a bill while participating in the 4-H Congress in Austin. Warren served on the Senate during the three-day congress. (Courtesy photo)
Three days in the legislature
by David Rupkalvis
(Posted 7/27/2010 04:32 pm)
editor@grahamleader.com
Five Graham residents spent three days this month serving in the Texas Legislature — almost.
Five 4-H members spent three days in Austin to participate in the 4-H Congress, with three serving as members of the House of Representatives, one serving as a senator and the fifth playing the role of a lobbyist.
While the bills they debated will not become law, the experience was one the teenagers — Erin Warren, Timothy Warren, Audrey Reynolds, Ethan Reynolds and Katharyn Camp — will not soon forget.
“It was really fun and a good experience,” Timothy said.
Erin Warren attended 4-H Congress two years ago. She said it was a perfect fit for her interests.
“I’ve always really like politics and debating with people,” she said. “People told me it was really fun, and we got to go two years ago, and it was a blast.”
Erin served on the Senate, one of 31 4-H members who spent three days on the Senate floor at the capital. Timothy and Audrey and Ethan Reynolds served in the House, three of 150 members. Camp was a lobbyist.
More than 100 potential bills were presented by the teens. The bills went through the various committees before going to the full House and Senate. If the bills passed, they still had to be signed into law by the governor.
“I know in my committee, we had about 20 bills,” Erin Warren said. “We only passed 11 bills through. We got to debate all our bills, but we only passed 11.”
Each county was able to bring a bill. Timothy Warren wrote a bill for Young County.
“It was about presidential candidates having to show their birth certificates,” Timothy said. “If they weren’t real, Texas would get to withhold its electoral votes.”
Audrey Reynolds said most bills made it through to the full House. One that was eliminated was a bill that would get rid of the law requiring seatbelt use.
“One that passed that I didn’t think should pass was the concealed handgun law,” Audrey said.
That legislation lowered the age for carrying concealed handguns from 21 to 19.
In one case, a bill passed only to be vetoed by the governor. The bill was then returned to the full House and full Senate.
“We did pass it but it was very close,” Erin Warren said. “We overturned her veto. That was pretty cool.”
Ethan Reynolds served on the Judicial Committee.
“There were no controversial bills in there,” he said. “There was the open carry law when a 14-year-old could carry a gun. It didn’t go anywhere.”
As a lobbyist, Camp spent the three days trying to talk the “lawmakers” into passing bills. She said she enjoyed the experience even though she lobbied for some bills she was personally opposed to.
She said some of the bills she lobbied for included a same-sex marriage law, legalization of marijuana, prohibiting abortion and a ban on smoking.
“All of them passed committee,” Camp said. “The abortion one was made law.”
While some of the bills were controversial, most made it through committee to allow the full body to debate the issue.
“Congress is about debate,” Audrey Reynolds said. “You can’t have debate on bills if they don’t pass committee.”
After three days in the Legislature, would the teens want to serve in the House or Senate?
“I don’t think I could do it for a living, but it was a lot of fun,” Camp said.
“I thought it was interesting at first, but by the end of the week, I was worn out,” Audrey Reynolds said. “It was very stressful.”
But it was also fun. All five teens said there were parts that were memorable.
“Besides the social aspect, I liked that you could walk freely in the capital and be able to use the things professionals use,” Audrey said. “That was neat.”
“The first day in our committee, one of the lobbyists came up and he was yelling like crazy,” Ethan said. “That was pretty fun.”
“For me it was the last night,” Erin said. “That was the night state congress retired our jackets. It was really sad.”
As a group, all five agreed that overriding the governor’s veto was fun.
“Getting to fight the governor and getting that thing overturned was fun,” Camp said. “She was not happy with us.”
Due to age restrictions, the three girls will not be able to participate when 4-H Congress returns in two years. But Ethan and Timothy say they will be back.
