The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

OLYMPIA, Wash. – Waitsburg teens Tom and Seamus House, and Tim Daves, got a firsthand taste of the legislative process as they represented Walla Walla County in the 4-H Know Your Government (KYG) program in Olympia on Feb. 17-21. The teens participated in a mock legislative process, but their results are often considered by the "real" Washington State Legislature.

Know Your Government is a civic education program that rotates annually between learning about the legislative system, the judicial system, elections and party platforms and politics and the media. The program focuses on teaching youth to be responsible citizens and productive adults.

This year, 11 teens from different Walla Walla County 4-H clubs, attended the event. The teens met for three months, working with Coach Sarah Bergman, who trained them on the legislature theme. Meetings focused on how to address a chairman, how to speak in front of a group and how to research a bill and present it to the house and senate.

Senior Tom House participated in the program for the first time last year, when the theme was the judicial system, and chose to participate again to learn about the legislative process. Sophomores Seamus House and Daves were first-time participants.

"I wanted to learn more about how the government works and this was a great opportunity to do that," Tom House said. "I not only learned how to get a bill passed, but came to understand that everyone has their own opinion. We need to understand that other people have their own ideas and we need to know how to have a polite argument. We can all voice our opinions but its ultimately for the group to decide," he added.

At the convention, teens divide into groups, where they choose from a list of bills that are currently active in the legislature to lobby for.

Daves and Seamus House worked on HB1180, which gives discounts on hunting and fishing licenses to veterans with disabilities. The bill easily passed in both the KYG house and senate. Results from the program will be passed on the Washington State Legislature.

"Lobbyists and representatives are watching to see what matters to kids," Seamus said. "Many bills deal with issues like schools or bussing and they want to know what kids think. Since this was passed by kids on all floors, it might have a better chance of getting passed in the actual legislature."

Tom House worked on HB2247, which would give government officials the ability to put down feral dogs and wolf/dog hybrids that were causing harm to other animals. That bill passed the House but not the Senate.

Tom said the process was somewhat frustrating because the bill seemed to get hung up on a side issue.

"Some people didn't like the idea of animals being put down, but the bigger problem was that the bill put wolf/hybrid dogs on the dangerous dog list. Many people don't like the idea of Washington having a dangerous dog list and didn't want another dog added to it," he said.

Tom said that bill having to do with mental health, suicide prevention and helping disabled veterans received wide support among the teens.

While at the KYG conference, the youth participated in a scavenger hunt around Olympia, completed community service, and attended a reception at the Capitol Rotunda.

"My take-aways were how to properly run a formal meeting, how to put together a presentation for an argument to get a bill passed, how to work better as a team, and how to find those outside my team who supported what I was doing," Tom House said.

The Know Your Government program is open to all high school 4-H members who wish to participate. Learn more by calling (509) 524-2685, or check out the Walla Walla County 4-H Facebook page.