RI Model Legislature- What is it?

The Rhode Island Model Legislature– a drab name for a fascinating organization.

The RI Model Legislature essentially does what an actual legislature does: drafts bills, holds committee meetings, and votes on legislation. Thus, teaching students about the workings of government. The Rhode Island Model Legislature has been doing this since 1946, making it the oldest legislative simulation in the country. On March 16 of this year, the 77th session of this legislature met to pass or fail bills. During this event, EWG had four individuals representing the district: Owen Spira as a party whip for the House, Graeme Griffiths as Combined Judiciary Committee Chair, and Brielle Bamberry and Julia Kiernan as regular members of the House. With interviewee, Owen Spira’s, perspective, along with my own, as a member of Model Legislature, we hope we can paint an accurate picture of this fascinating organization.  

“Each districts’ students draft bills they would like to see enacted.”

Model Representative Owen Spira

The RI Model Legislature is made up of students from different districts who work together as a district, or just as individuals, to draft bills that they would like to see implemented. These bills can discuss any aspect of Rhode Island; however, they must not conflict with the State Constitution, the US Constitution, or Federal Law. These bills are submitted and assigned to committees where the next step of the process occurs.

After all the bills are drafted, the students come together on Committee and Caucus day. Spira described this as: “A day where you meet with your party and go over the party platform…and discuss ideas.” In other words, on this day, party leaders (who will be discussed later) explain the party platform which lays out what the party hopes to achieve, including priority bills and objectives. 

After this, the committees meet to discuss and vote on bills that relate to the committee (i.e. the Judiciary Committee votes on bills relating to crime). Each committee is led by a Committee Chair and Co-Chair who are part of “leadership”. If the bills pass, then they move on to the RI Model Legislature as a whole, where the next step of the process occurs.

“I think of committees as the filter to make sure only well done bills make to the next step of the process.”

Model Senator Graeme Griffiths

As stated by Spira: “From there it goes to Model Leg [short for legislature] Day, where we are at the statehouse.” This event is formally known as General Assembly Day, and is every civics nerd’s dream. For one day, the Rhode Island State Legislature allows the Model Legislature to use their facilities to simulate the bill-passing process. All of the bills that passed each committee are sent to either the upper chamber (the Senate) or the lower chamber (the House). 

For example, bill one passes committee and is sent to the House. The House debates the bill and can fail the bill, at which point it is dead, or pass it. If it is passed, then it is sent to the Senate, where the whole process happens again. If a bill passes both houses, it goes to the Model Legislature Governor, who can either veto it or sign it into Model Legislature Law. This process occurs for every bill that passes a committee. The event as a whole runs from 8:30 am until 1:00 pm (with a few breaks in-between). It is exhilarating, fascinating, and fun, at least, if you enjoy debate. 

So now you understand the process, but who runs this show? Well, for that, let us turn to the Model Legislature Leadership. This is a group that can be summed as the students running the show. Owen Spira described the various roles saying, “You can chair or co-chair a committee, you can be a party leader or a whip within your party, and the highest up positions are Speaker of the House and President of the Senate who both lead a chamber.” For explanation purposes, a party whip is someone who works with party leaders to rally votes and bring members to committees or chambers to speak on their bills.

In addition, there are a number of bureaucratic leadership positions that are concerned with tallying votes and similar roles. The leaders are selected via interviews by the program supervisors based on who they think will be best suited for the job. Members of Leadership go to Leadership Meetings once, every other week from November to March to learn more about how democracy works. As a member of Model Legislature, if you want to be involved at the highest level you should try out for leadership positions. However, you are not obligated to, and should only do so if you can make time for it. 

Finally, why do people join Model Legislature? I think Mr. Spira said it best: “I joined because I felt I was starting to gain an interest in politics and government, and I was thinking about possible career choices in the future.” To state Mr. Spira’s point more succinctly, people join because they care about the government, and want to know if they would like to work in it. That is what model legislature is all about: learning how the system that governs our lives works, and how to change it for the better. As someone who has been in Model Legislature, and plans to continue on with it, I would encourage everyone who has an interest in law, politics, or government to consider joining. Knowing about how the world works is always a good thing, and, even if it doesn’t become a career, it will always be a learning experience.