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Editor
Ethan
If you think following politics is boring, think again. Politicians try to give voice to the people they represent. How would you like to represent thousands or millions of people with a gazillion different ideas? Look here each month to find out about our elected leaders and what they are doing. Go the the Letters to the Editor page, write to "Dear Ethan" and let us know what you think.
On April 1, no fooling, we took a trip to the Annapolis State House and explored its chambers and underground corridors. We also talked with our State Representative, Liz Bobo, and met two state senators from Howard County, Ed Kasemeyer and James Robey. Check out what we saw and learned. Contributors to this article: Carly, Avery, Beth, Ethan, Zoe and Kate.
Want to see our previous issue? Go to :
This is a close-up of a desk in the House of Representatives.
Representatives push "yea" if they are voting for a bill, "nay" for no, "exc" if they excuse themselves from a vote, "clear" if they made a mistake and "page" if they want to call a page. A page is a high school senior from Maryland that volunteers two weeks during session. Pages can go to the bill room to get a bill and run errands for the Representatives.
This is where the 141 Delegates deliberate and vote in the State House. The General Assembly has 47 Senators and 141 Delegates elected from 47 districts in Maryland.
This is the front of the House of Delegates. The balcony is where onlookers can sit and watch proceedings.
This is a picture of the colonial flag hanging from the wooden dome in the State House. The State House's dome was built entirely from wood and has no metal nails, just wooden pegs and iron holding it together. It is the biggest wooden dome in America. There is a large acorn on top of the dome!
This plaque in on the floor of one of the rooms in State House. George Washington resigned his commission as head of the Continental Army within the Old Senate Chamber in 1783, so he could run for President of the new country. This step was unusual at that time in history and started the tradition in our country that we would be governed by a civilian leader and not the military.
These are the very friendly guys in the Bill Room, located in the basement of the Legislative Services Building. All the bills are stored here and are color coded -- blue for the House of Delegates and white for the Senate.
Most bills take years to become law, or never become law, because they have to go through a complicated process. Most proposed bills are opposed by somebody, and a lot of deliberating and arguing goes on in the many steps it takes for a bill to become law. Can you believe it took 50 years for the seat belt law to get passed in Maryland? You can click on the following website for kids and find out how a bill becomes a law and lots of cool facts about our state government. www.mdkidspage.org
This is one of several tiffany windows in the State House -- some very expensive and beautiful glass!
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Pictures by Carly
