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State rep for a day

By Carrie A. Izard

THEY were nearly 200 junior and senior college students with three days to decide on six pieces of legislation which were before the Illinois General Assembly. They arrived in Springfield on a Thursday, fresh, enthused and ready to politick. By Saturday afternoon, they were weary-eyed, groggy and either defeated or ecstatic about the final House action. But they had worked hard and finished their business, killing three pieces of controversial legislation and passing three others.

There were no close votes, but there were aggressive lobbying, heated debates and late-night caucuses. And when the last vote was tallied, the delegates to the first annual intercollegiate Model Illinois Government (MIG 79) had taken the following actions:

- Shot down (96-27) a constitutional amendment to limit state and local government tax increases. The measure was defeated when its constitutionality was questioned. It took a roll call vote, however, and the amendment's proponents -- mosty Republicans -- were depressed.
- Defeated (70-41) a bill to raise the drinking age to 21, but not before accusations were made that the bill's opponents were too emotional; it hit too close to home.
- Stifled an amendment which would reduce the number of members in the House of Representatives even before the session began, according to some students; it was killed in committee.
- Passed (89-23) a bill which would provide for collective bargaining for public employees although the bill was "amended to death" during a fierce debate, according to one student legislator.
- Passed (103-14) a bill which would require a 5-cent deposit on all beverage containers sold in Illinois because, as a committee member said in one session, "It's time we show our priorities and lead our constituency in the right direction."
- Passed (109-1) a bill which would increase the authority of student trustees on college and university boards. Predictably, there was little resistance from either party.

It was a three-day simulation of the Illinois House of Representatives (the Senate was excluded to prevent overwhelming complexities), sponsored by the Consortium for the Teaching of State and Local Government, held in Springfield and hosted by Lincoln Land Community College and Sangamon State University. Operating on a $12,000-grant from the Board of Higher Education (through the Higher Education Cooperative Act), the consortium assigned colleges one or more of 56 legislative districts, and three students were assigned to represent each district.

Tempting to speculate
It is, perhaps, tempting to regard the final House action as an indicator of college students' political inclinations in matters of government spending, the environment and adulthood responsibilities. But the number of student simulators from among the total number of Illinois college students is so minute that such speculation could be treacherous. Perhaps the real importance of MIG '79 lay in the practical opportunities it gave to those students rather than in the possible implications of their votes.

When they arrived in Springfield, MIG participants were, for the most part, a group of disorganized, unsure, but eager students unfamiliar with Springfield and with each other. Less than an hour after the simulation began, they had clearly coalesced into hardworking, coordinated groups.

It "far exceeded anyone's expectations," said Cynthia Ingols, assistant dean of Kappa College at the College of DuPage and president of the consortium. Students did not come to MIG with any kind of "ivory tower idealism," as was anticipated by George Perry, executive director of MIG and a faculty member at Lincoln Land. "In contrast, I think student legislators had almost a crude realism," said Perry.

Solving the problems
Participants spent their rare breaks between committee sessions discussing pros and cons of bills; candidates for majority and minority leaders introduced themselves, shook hands and passed out leaflets as early as the keynote session; students discussed party strategy over cheeseburgers and cokes; committee members dropped their suit coats and rolled up their shirt sleeves; and "representatives" not only requested but demanded parliamentary rulings from the House floor on the final day.

Every day was crammed in order to guide MIG from the keynote address by Secretary of State Alan J. Dixon through to the final consideration of bills. "If you solve the problems of state government in three days, let us know, will you?" Sen. Terry Bruce said from the Senate chambers during one gtoup study session.

Republican and Democratic caucuses were held the first night. When the Democrats considered electing two majority whips because someone heard the Republicans had done so, a student said, "Since when do we do something just because the Republicans do it?" The statement drew heavy applause from fellow Democrats.

On the second day students went from a plenary session called to order by Speaker of the House William A. Redmond, to committee sessions --from another caucus that night to the final action Saturday morning.

It was tight, and ivory towers tumbled in the face of experience; but a lot was accomplished as students worked earnestly to make MIG '79 successful. There were problems but they were minor. Time constraints prevented the Democrats from discussing party strategy the first night. When the House Committee on Environment, Energy and Natural Resources met, the session was strategically adjourned so the Democrats could get their act together.

The House Labor Committee had to adjourn in order to find copying machines for its bill; someone decided that according to correct procedure, each legislator must have a copy of the bill before it could be discussed.

There were other minor annoyances, but student legislators were more concerned with the substance of their legislation than with logistical or technical problems.

Entering a whirlwind
The committee sessions weren't games to the simulators. They knew their bills and knew what they wanted amended. For example, four amendments were added to H.B. 5, the Illinois Beverage Container Act. The amendments gave the Illinois Liquor Control Commission the right to enforce the act, raised the penalty from a petty offense to a Class A misdemeanor, standardized the deposit requirement versus the bottle-ounce size, and required that plastic rings and cardboard containers sold with beverage containers have a refund value of not less than two cents each.

The committee that discussed the bill to reduce the size of the legislature killed the bill despite testimony by Patrick Quinn, who heads the Coalition for Political Honesty.

On the final day, as bills were voted on, tempers flared. "The taxpayers demand this amendment," said an opponent of House Joint Resolution 13. But a proponent yelled, "This does not give any tax relief. This bill does not give any tax rebates. It just puts a limit on taxing." A Democrat opposed to the amendment said, "They [Republicans] are trying to ramrod their personal and private feelings on this legislation and I find it disgusting."

It had been a whirlwind of lobbying, debating, strategy and power. When the House adjourned Saturday, most students were starting their spring vacations -- a break that several students said they needed.

Plans are being made for a MIG '80, according to Perry, who hopes there will be more student involvement in the planning stages. "They really didn't seem to need our [faculty] help at all .... They were prepared, they knew what they were doing. I was astonished," said Perry.