Support LR-26-CA!

LR-26-CA Introduced by Senator Larson of O'Neill would change the Nebraska State Constitution to allow any citizen of eighteen years or older to run for and serve in any public office, be it Governor, State Senator, or Supreme Court Justice. This legislation does not change the constitution itself, but would put it on the ballot for voters to decide in November. The Nebraska Governor's Youth Advisory Council is strongly in support of LR-26-CA for the reasons explained below.

Why must LR-26-CA pass?

v In Nebraska, 18 is old enough to vote, be drafted, serve in the military, and have access to tobacco, yet these young citizens are labeled as too immature or inexperienced to run for certain offices.

v If 18 is mature enough to kill whilst serving in the military, then 18 is old enough to legislate.

v The right to decide who can hold public office should belong to the voters.

v This will encourage greater youth participation in politics.

v There has been a strong global precedent over the last few decades to reduce the voting age in Austria, the United Kingdom, and other countries. These changes, often brought on by youth, display a desire and willingness to engage and fulfill the duties of voting and serving in a public office.

Everyone should have a place in American Democracy, and that includes holding public office. The legislature should be supporting and encouraging people of all ages to take part in government by voting yes on LR-26-CA!

What is your stance on this bill? Should everyone of legal voting age be allowed to serve in any Nebraska public office? Should the Nebraska people as a whole decide? Post your comments below!

~James Moseman

This post reflects the view of the Nebraska Governor's Youth Advisory Council members and may not reflect the view of Governor Ricketts. Please contact the Governor's office for his official stance. 

GYAC Summer Retreat

GYAC just got finished with one of its more interesting meetings. This was for many reasons, the most prevalent of them being; saying goodbye to 6 members, meeting with Governor Ricketts for the first time, and welcoming 5 new members into the fold.

The meeting was held in Crete Nebraska at Doane College. Being our summer meeting we focused largely on training, welcoming new members, and planning for our meeting with Governor Ricketts. At this meeting GYAC discussed different ways of involving our alumni as many of them have amazing things to offer, and some of them are now experts in their field. Eventually, after much debate, we came to the decision to hold an annual alumni barbeque at our summer meeting, so as to pick their brains. 

From there we went on to talk about education, something very important to us as we are largely high school students. When discussing education we covered everything from restructuring the ACT and other Standardized Tests, creating Charter Schools, and stopping cheating, to creating incentives for teachers to provide more high quality knowledge rather than often teaching only or largely to the test. When discussing much of this with Governor Ricketts the next day he was very open-minded. Governor Ricketts also mentioned that allowing charter schools in Nebraska is something he is going to be pushing very hard for. 

We then tried to tackle the enormous topic of Underage Drinking. For this topic we tried to narrow down the causes and contributors to it being such a big problem in the U.S., specifically in small communities. We discussed everything from mixed messages sent by the older generations to availability and distribution. Eventually, we decided to keep researching it, specifically in regards to educating parents and communities about its dangers and if it is going to be a problem, then how to do it responsibly.

The meeting with Governor Ricketts went very well. He was very receptive of us and our ideas, while also encouraging us to go deeper. He challenged us to do more research, reach out to other youth in our communities as well as other organizations, and to come up with specific solutions to help alleviate the problems in the education system and with underage drinking.

All of us, from new members to our most experienced left the summer meeting feeling empowered and motivated to go out and make a difference. With hard work and the help of fellow members to keep everyone accountable that will be an imminent surety.

~James Moseman

A Lower Minimum Wage? LB599

LB 599 is a bill that sets a new definition of a Young Student Worker. A worker younger than 18 years of age could be a lesser minimum wage than the original wage voted upon. The Nebraska minimum wage recently increased with the citizen of Nebraska strongly behind it. The bill will allow employers to pay this employee a minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. Once a young student worker graduates from or permanently ceases his or her high school education program, they must be paid the full statutory state minimum wage.

Our stance on this is opposition due to these reasons:

•   Employers would show a preference towards younger minors as opposed to adults.
•    As an employer, would you choose 2 seventeen year olds you can pay less or a 30 year old single mother?
• The bill aims to make jobs more available to adults and take young people out of the job circuit. We feel the opposite affect would occur.
•  Makes making ends meet for lower income families more difficult
•  If a young adult's income contributes to the family income, the family will lose money due to the age of the young adult. This may limit the school activities the student can participate in due to increasing the number of work hours in order to make ends meet.
• Will influence dropout rates
• Teens will feel the need to drop out of school in order to work more hours, especially if faced with the challenges of teen pregnancy
•  Every demographic is affected
• While the youth are directly affected, adult will also be affected due to potential job loss that went to a younger generation
• People that are directly affected by this bill are not able to vote for representatives that will represent them fairly and needless to say they don’t have a say in the bill.
• This bill directly affects people younger than 18 years old; people who have little say in the government yet.

What is your stance on this bill? Should young people holding jobs earn less than adults working the same job? Comment Below!

This reflects the view of the Governor's Youth Advisory Council members and may not reflect the view of Governor Ricketts. Please contact the Governor's office for his official stance. 

Our Day at the Capitol + What's GYAC

When I was a sophomore, my guidance counselor pulled me out of class. Naturally, I thought I was in trouble. She told me about a great leadership opportunity called the Nebraska Governor's Youth Advisory Council. I was ecstatic, and couldn't wait to apply! The Nebraska Governor’s Youth Advisory Council consists of up to 25- 14-21 year-old students from across Nebraska. Members are expected to attend all Council meetings and activities. All costs associated with membership are paid to ensure equal opportunity. Meetings are held four times per year with two in Lincoln and two in other parts of the state.

On March 8^th and 9^th, 38 GYAC and Project Everlast members participated in our second joint Legislative Day. On Sunday we all, from different locations across the state, made our way to Camp Carol Joy Holling to participate in various ice breakers, learn about the process of making and proposing a bill, and how we as citizens can advocate for our beliefs. After reading through 25 pages of bills ranging from healthcare to education, we narrowed it down to the five bills we would present the next day to senators and the Lt. Governor.  We received great help from nine community partners from Voices for Children, NE Appleseed, Project Everlast, the Department of Education and UNO.

               On Monday we packed up and headed to the Capitol to meet with Lieutenant Governor Foley. We then gave 3-5 minute presentations on our five bills and engaged in a debate of sorts with the Lieutenant Governor. Members learned a lot from the experience and were grateful for the chance to see things from his perspective.

From there we headed to the First Baptist Church to meet with Senators at our Senators’ Luncheon.  We ate lunch and gave our presentations to 13 members of our state legislature. We engaged in conversation with the Senators and were very excited that we had nearly a third of the entire legislature for a whole hour.  Such an opportunity does not come around often.  Upon the culmination of the luncheon, we cleaned up, and headed home, full of ideas and plans to implement in our communities, so that we can better represent and advocate for the brilliant youth of Nebraska.

Some GYAC responsibilities include: keeping abreast of the bills, laws, policies and decisions that may impact on youth; increase communication between youth, community and government; move the focus off the deficiencies of youth and on to the assets and their contribution to Nebraska’s communities; increase youth and adult partnerships in order to build better communities; provide opportunities for youth involvement on state and local boards; assure that youth are represented in State initiatives such as those that impact employment and job training opportunities rural and urban economic sustainability, juvenile justice and child welfare services; and to collaborate with other state and local youth organizations. The Council strives to give youth from diverse populations and geographic locations in the State a united voice. The Governor, Senators, Department directors, Program administrators and others will have a direct link to youth through their contact with this Council and the youth the Council represents statewide. 

Applications are reviewed at both the summer and winter meetings. Applications may be submitted at any time and will be held until the next review cycle. GYAC members review applications to the Council and the Governor makes the final selection. \If you have any questions, please contact the Council by emailing Cassandra Blakely at cblakely@nebraskachildren.org or calling 402.817.2003.

While on this council, I have seen the truly amazing minds of Nebraska’s youth. They can achieve astonishing things when given the resources and trust to do so. That is why I believe GYAC is important, and why I plan on my continued service. I hope to bring back the ideas and activities we do, so that that our communities can be benefited as much as possible!

~James M. 

LB 643 - Legalizing Medical Marijuana

Legalizing medicinal marijuana has been proposed as a bill in the Nebraska legislature. Medicinal marijuana is a hot topic in the U.S. currently, considering that 23 states have already legalized it, which is why I thought GYAC should take a stance! The bill would allow nonprofit organizations to grow and sell the plant to people who obtain a state card from a physician. The bill would also allow card holders to grow up to 12 marijuana plants themselves to be used for medical use. Medicinal marijuana has been used around the world for hundreds of years. Only in recent history has it gotten a bad rap because of its circulation in the illegal drug circuit. There are side effects to the use of this drug, but like any other drug, the benefits must be weighed with the risks.

Hope you guys find the topic as interesting as I do! I look forward to hearing your opinion. 

Governor Pete Ricketts

Exciting things have been happening in the Great State of Nebraska! We recently elected Governor Pete Ricketts to take office after Governor Heineman. The Governor's Youth Advisory Council is really excited to meet with Gov. Ricketts and discuss our views on bills that affect the youth of Nebraska! We will be meeting with the new governor, as well as the senators in the legislature, in early March to go over a few bills that are important to us as a council.

Also, with the new legislative session, the council will be posting their views on particular bills and why they might want to bring this to the council and the governor! We would love to hear some of  your views too!

Marketing kit

The Governor’s Youth Advisory Council is busy at work constructing a marketing kit for the council! As a council, we want to put a bigger focus on youth in government. With our marketing kit, we hope to be able to talk to youth from across the state about the council, and how they can get involved in their local governments and student councils. By speaking with other youth, we hope to build a passion in them to become more involved!

Is there anything you think should be included in the kit? Are there any questions you have about the council that you want answered? If so, just comment below!