LOGAN — On Wednesday, Congressman Steve Stivers (R–OH) stepped away from Congress and into the classroom as he visited the AP Government class at Logan High School to talk to them about how Congress works.
 
Between 30 and 40 juniors and seniors were instructed to split themselves up into a House of Representatives and a Senate and elect representatives for each prior to the federal congressman’s arrival and begin brainstorming legislation that they would like to see passed.

When Stivers arrived, he facilitated an impromptu “presidential” election between four candidates, complete with 30-second speeches.

Positions established, the two sides began to present their bills for consideration. The suggestions that were made included taxing fossil fuels, or a carbon tax, a bill regarding medical marijuana, universal healthcare, eliminating federal incarceration of low level drug offenders, eliminating federal regulations on guns, term limits for federal judges, and subsidizing clean energy.

The bill regarding universal healthcare received the most votes and was thus decreed “Senate Bill 1”, as a “senator” was the one who sponsored it.

Stivers then lead the students through the steps that are required to make that bill a law, complete with hearings where Stivers and his assistant presented arguments for and against the bill.

According to a flow chart displayed during Stivers’ visit, the steps to vote a bill into law are as follows: 1) A constituent or lawmaker has an idea. 2) The bill is written and then introduced by the member of Congress. 3) The bill is debated, amended and approved by the House Committee. 4) The bill is debated on the House floor and if passed is sent to the Senate. 5) The Senate Committee of jurisdiction makes their changes to the bill and sends the bill to the floor. 6) The bill is debated on the Senate floor and if passed, goes to a conference committee. 7) The House and Senate versions of the bill are made into one by a conference committee. 8) The unified bill is voted on by both houses and if the bill passes is sent to the president. 9) The president decides to sign the bill, or not, and if he does it becomes a law.

Though this chart used the example of the bill originating from the House, it is the same procedure if it comes from the Senate.

“One of the points I like to make along this journey is how easy it is to kill a bill,” Stivers told the students.

This visit was made possible by the efforts of former student Brenna Gates, who graduated from LHS last year and now attends Mount Vernon Nazarene University.

Gates reached out to the offices of Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) and Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) as well as Stivers’ office in the spring of this year.

“I have an extreme interest in political science and public relations, so I thought it would be really beneficial, especially for our county because we don’t get a lot of attention from congressmen or senators,” said Gates. “I thought it would be a great opportunity for the students of our school to witness and experience a meeting with out federal legislators.”

Neither of the senator’s offices returned her call, but a representative from Stivers’ office contacted her in September. By this time, Gates had begun her freshman year of college, and so she provided them the information of her high school AP Government teacher, Lenny Meyer.

“I do think they [the students] are very appreciative, they seem really excited,” shared Meyer. “When his staff told what he would be talking about, it fit really well with what we’re studying right now. We just finished our unit on Congress and he likes to talk about the realities of being a member of Congress vs. the textbook version of being a member of Congress, and then he’s actually nice enough to just open it up for questions.”

“We really appreciate Congressman Stivers coming in,” agreed LHS Principal Jim Robinson. “

Stivers stated that he was glad for the opportunity to come and speak to the students.

“It’s always great to come speak to government students in the high schools, especially AP Government because they get it and they’re engaged, and smart, and want to be here and have conversation,” said Stivers. “But I always like to go through how a bill becomes a law because I want them to understand the process of how their government works for them and if they have an idea, they can always come to me and I’ll try to make something happen. It’s always fun and interactive, we had a great experience today and I really enjoyed it.”