Each year, the Idaho State Legislature meets to create laws it thinks the state of Idaho needs.
Though many students are from out of state and will not live in state when they are done at the University of Idaho, the decisions the legislature makes often impact UI and its students. At the very least, these decisions could affect students while they live here for four years.
These decisions include taxes and wages. The legislature also approves university funding proposed by the State Board of Education.
This semester, Emily Johnson, a junior Broadcasting and Digital Media major and student journalist at UI, is stationed in Boise to cover the legislative session for The Argonaut.
This will provide an opportunity like never before for students to get informed and involved with the legislature in the state’s capitol.
From now until the middle of March, or beyond if the session goes longer, The Argonaut will report in detail those issues in legislature that affect students, not from the perspective of a law-maker or lobbyist, but from the perspective of a student.
It’s easy to ignore politics as something only our parents need to think about. But the truth is the decisions made in Boise this year will affect you during your adult life — a time that isn’t too far in the future.
Establish a pattern of involvement in state matters now because your voice matters, regardless of how young or inexperienced you may feel. Those patterns will follow you throughout your life.
When issues come up that affect the university, raise your voice. Contact your legislators. You can find out who they are and how to contact them at legislature.idaho.gov.
If you have an issue that you think is important, but isn’t being addressed, don’t hesitate to bring it up. If you have an opinion about a topic that is being addressed, share it.
Americans have done some amazing things in the last couple of years simply by sharing their thoughts.
A year ago, the American public stopped the Stop Online Piracy Act, an act imposed to extend U.S. law enforcement control over the trafficking of copyrighted property on the Internet, in the national legislature by being vocal and adamant about what they wanted.
If it can happen on a national level, why can’t it happen in Idaho?
— KC