RHB/7/19
Sponsored by Shea Gittere, Morgan Cumbie, Sanjana Prasanna of Page High School
This legislation was filed in the Education category
Presented as part of the YIG Volunteer 2024 conference
| 1 | BE IT ENACTED BY THE TENNESSEE YMCA YOUTH IN GOVERNMENT |
| 2 | |
| 3 | Section 1: Terms used in this act shall be defined as follows: |
| 4 | Youth Voter: Any citizen between the ages of 18-29 who are eligible to vote. |
| 5 | |
| 6 | Section 2: This bill encompasses three parts and aims to achieve a higher rate of youth voter |
| 7 | participation. |
| 8 | a) All high school government & civics courses will be required to offer opportunities for voting |
| 9 | registration in class. Eg. A class period is reserved for all students to register to vote; students |
| 10 | under 18 can pre-register |
| 11 | b) All high schools will be required to give students an excused absence on election days, with the |
| 12 | understanding that students vote. If students have not yet turned 18, they may still take part in |
| 13 | the democratic process through submission of a vote in an online poll set up by the teacher. |
| 14 | Note: This portion (Section 2b) does not apply to students whose schools are not in session during |
| 15 | election days. |
| 16 | c) All high schools will be required to provide transportation to the polls if needed, be that through |
| 17 | school bus, carpool, etc. |
| 18 | |
| 19 | Section 3: The voting portion of this bill will work like a field trip. Teachers and chaperones will |
| 20 | travel with students taking the bus to the polling site. The teachers will remain at the polls in order |
| 21 | to confirm voter participation of each of their students. This list will be turned in to the attendance |
| 22 | secretaries of their school to give each student an excused absence. |
| 23 | |
| 24 | Section 4: The items in this bill will be enforced by the Tennessee Department of Education. |
| 25 | |
| 26 | Section 5: The addition of this field trip will cost $54,583 per year and will be funded through the |
| 27 | Tennessee Department of Education budget. |
| 28 | a) 65,500 seniors (including under 18) / 48 students in a bus = 1,365 busses |
| 29 | 1,365 busses x $20/hr pay to drivers (average hourly salary) x 2 hours = $54,583 annual budget |
| 30 | b) This is the maximum foreseen expense, as many high school seniors will drive themselves to |
| 31 | the polls. Schools will be reimbursed for the bus expenses by collecting forms from students ahead |
| 32 | of time, specifying the number of students needing a ride and thus the number of bus drivers that |
| 33 | were paid. |
| 34 | |
| 35 | Section 6: All laws or parts of laws in conflict with this are hereby repealed. |
| 36 | |
| 37 | Section 7: This act shall take effect at the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year, the public |
| 38 | welfare requiring it. |
| 39 |