By Yoni Kintzer , Special to JTNews
Inspiring and eye-opening — the only way to describe my weekend in Olympia with the Legislative Youth Advisory Council (LYAC), a group of 22 youth from around Washington State who represent youth issues to our state legislature.
The council invited members from different youth organizations throughout the state to come to Olympia on January 27 for LYAC’s annual Action Day. My peers and I descended on Olympia from all over the state to explain the issues affecting kids in our state. Having lived a fairly sheltered life in Seattle, I was not aware of many issues facing our state’s youth. We learned about the foster care system, undocumented students, the rampant drug abuse in South King County, the struggles of the many military families and more.
I met teens who were committed to not ending up on drugs or in prison like their parents. I spoke with teens who were undocumented students struggling to navigate the ropes of applying to college with such a status. My eyes were opened to the serious issues so many teens face on a daily basis.
Though I have always had a passion for politics and hope to serve someday, it is hard not to become disillusioned by the infighting in Congress. A meeting with state Senator Maralyn Chase (D-32) in Olympia reignited my passion. Usually, our meetings with legislators are simple: They listen to the youth bills we support, take our bill summary, and say “thank you.” This time was completely different. Sen. Chase asked us tough questions and then wrote, “Yes” on the bill summary noting that she would vote for the bill. No politician or legislative staff has ever done that in my presence before. That sounds good, right? But wait! There’s more: For the bills that were only introduced in the House and not the Senate, Chase had her legislative assistant write and submit identical bills to the Senate, which she introduced later that day.
Senator Chase showed us that democracy still works. When constituents have issues, and there are bills proposed to fix our problems, she is ready to help. She wanted to support the youth of Washington State regardless of party. It was exhilarating to interact with a state Senator who valued what we had to say, and took action. Because of our discussion, Sen. Chase introduced Senate Bills 6492 and 6493 only hours after our meeting. I saw democracy in action. Our voices can, in fact, make a difference.
Yoni Kintzer is a junior at Northwest Yeshiva High School and serves on his student government as the chair of the Committee for Israel Awareness.