On Friday, April 1^st, students from cities and towns all over Massachusetts traveled to Boston to the State House for Massachusetts’ 69^th Annual Student Government Day. There, the students were greeted by actual state officials and got an inside look on what it is like to be a voting member of the Commonwealth.

Each year, the chosen students are required to view mock-bills, which are similarly constructed and viewed the way as real bills would normally be if it were a real bill being discussed and voted upon. This year’s bills included the House Bill No. 2023, which was an “act to prohibit the sale of ‘energy drinks’ to persons under the age of 18” and the Senate Bill No. 1024, which was an “act to establish a living wage for employees of big box retail stores and fast food chains.”

The bills are then discussed in a formal hearing where representatives are able to stand up and announce their educated opinions and potential considerations to be taken into account when voting upon the bill.

During the hearing session for House Bill No. 2023, Holyoke’s own Hanna Smith ’16 (acting as state representative Aaron Vega) got to go up and bring to light some important considerations to take into account before the voting on the bill occurred.

The considerations that she brought to light (for the House Bill No. 2023) were that, “your average everyday coffee or tea, do in fact on average contain more caffeine and additives that are overall worse for you than those contained within energy drinks.” For the Senate Bill No. 1024, she brought the consideration to light that, “the Bill included raising the minimum wage for all fast-food and retail operations including small-businesses. And by raising the minimum wage so much, small-businesses would be unable to keep up, and would be unable to afford to pay their workers.”

After the formal hearing, the students were greeted and addressed by several actual state officials including Secretary of Education James Peyser, Comissioner Mitchell Chester, Senator Jennifer Flanagan, Representative Paul McMurtry, Executive Director (Senate Office of Education and Civic Engagement) Anne Ziaja, President of the Senate Stanley Rosenburg, Speaker of the House of Representatives Robert DeLeo, and Associate Justice Mark Green.

From there, all attendees of the event proceeded into the House Chambers and were seated into their corresponding position’s seats. At this location, they proceeded to vote upon the bills No. 2023 and 1024, using the same voting panels that the actual representatives use when voting upon bills, and organized in the same manner.

In conclusion of the event, the House Bill No. 2023 was rejected, while the Senate Bill No. 1024 was passed by the student representatives. Overall, Student Government Day was a great experience, and it allowed for students all over the state to get to experience what it is really like to be a state official for a day.