This was written by Bella, one of our summer interns. The opinions expressed herein do not reflect those of Civitas other than respect for the value of open dialogue.
In my Civitas escapades this summer, emailing and pestering state legislators for their outlooks on key issues; watching seemingly endless debate in the State Capitol Building through YouTube; reading articles from sources everywhere from my hometown of St. Charles to Columbia and Kansas City; I have learned many things. But one extremely important lesson I am still in the process of learning is: I know nothing about state government.
Anyone from Missouri can remember key recent events in the State Government; from the dramatic resignation of former-governor Eric Greitens last summer to the huge national controversy over Missouri’s (and other states’) restrictive abortion laws just a few months ago. But few people have done things that seem integral to understanding policy, how it can affect their lives, and the personal power they hold to change it.
Few people know (or really care about) their state representatives, and few people have read (or even looked at) the State Constitution. In my AP Government class, we had two core requirements for graduation: passing a test on the U.S. Constitution, and passing a test on the State Constitution. The U.S. Constitution test was easy enough; that had been the focus of our studies in the class. But the State Constitution was a whole different story. I, personally, had read a chunk of the Missouri Constitution; I participate in Youth and Government every year, a YMCA-run program that takes high school students to Jefferson City in the fall to participate in a mock state government. I have participated in the mock House of Representatives for 2 years and the mock Senate for one year. I am very familiar with the revised Statutes of Missouri, how to access them, how Missouri laws work, and how basic laws are written. But this summer, in reading different forms of such infamous bills as HB-126 and SB-279, I realized the tangle of legal jargon that people can find themselves lost in when trying to figure out basic things about state legislation.
For one, there is no comprehensive guide to these things, at least not that I could find. The official Missouri House of Representatives Glossary of Legislative Terminology covers basic and some intermediate terms, such as Quorum and Amendment. But a lot of terms, especially those regarding specific processes, like Senate Substitute on a bill or Senate Committee Substitute on a bill- both terms and processes used in the legal spider’s web that was passing HB-126, an abortion bill that easily affects the lives of many of Missouri’s women. The U.S. Senate Glossary doesn’t cover these procedural terms, either. How are we supposed to know the status of the legislation that affects us most directly if we can’t even understand the language used to explain it?
The second part of the issue is that many people simply aren’t aware of the actions of state government; it’s no secret that the voter turnout for and state elections is consistently lower than that for presidential and national representative elections. I personally didn’t even know who my governor was until he resigned, and then it took me months to even remember the name of the man who replaced him- many friends of mine still don’t remember who he is.
I believe the solution to both of these things is increasing the level of education we receive on this topic in the state. Yes, learning about national government is extremely important. But it’s state government that can have profound impact on us as well, and the lack of conversation and mainstream information about it is confusing when weighed against the impact of its policies on us all. People can have considerable influence in state affairs, with a smaller electorate and more focus on specific communities. Teaching this can be as simple as asking students to write an email or letter to their legislator about an issue they are passionate about, or calling to speak their voice on a bill going through the legislature at that time. Our civics and government education is made to help turn students into active citizens. There is no point in including this education in our state curriculum if a large part of its primary goal is being swept under the rug.
