Volunteer lobbyists, Tony Sermonti and Adan Espino explain to Open Window School’s Capitol Classroom students how formalities in parliamentary procedure are there to preserve civility in the legislative process and maintain decorum around contentious issues. February 3rd 2021.
Explore this series for insightful answers to questions about Washington state’s legislative process. This collection of video excerpts are pulled directly from our Capitol Classroom program. Each year, Teach With TVW’s Capitol Classroom program pairs middle and high school social studies classes with a volunteer lobbyist to guide them through the legislative process, educating and empowering students to become active and engaged citizens.
Volunteer lobbyist, Carolyn Logue explains to the Green Hill School Capitol Classroom students how to write a letter to the Appropriations Committee. February 3rd 2021. ‘Highlights’ are excerpts from our Capitol Classroom program. Each year, Teach With TVW’s Capitol Classroom pairs middle and high school social studies classes with a volunteer lobbyist to guide them through the legislative process.
Overview: This video follows students in the Capitol Classroom program at Lake Washington High School as they research, draft, and advocate for legislation addressing gender-based pricing discrimination in Washington state. Working with lawmakers students experience every stage of the legislative process—from developing policy ideas and meeting with legislators to testifying before committees and navigating political opposition. Along the way, viewers gain insight into how bills move through the legislature, the role of public testimony, and the challenges of balancing equity, business concerns, and public policy in a citizen legislature.
Overview: This video explores how therapeutic and mental health courts are transforming the justice system by focusing on treatment, accountability, and recovery instead of punishment alone. Through personal stories, judges, court coordinators, and participants explain how mental illness, addiction, and trauma often contribute to criminal behavior—and how community courts provide support, housing, counseling, and treatment to help people rebuild their lives. The documentary highlights lower recidivism rates, stronger community outcomes, and the human impact of seeing people as individuals rather than case numbers.
Overview: This video follows young people at Washington’s Green Hill School as they share their experiences with incarceration, rehabilitation, and advocacy for juvenile justice reform. Through personal stories, students explore how counseling, education, and supportive programs helped them rethink their futures and find purpose beyond their past mistakes. The video also highlights their work with lawmakers on Senate Bill 6160, a juvenile justice reform bill focused on rehabilitation, brain science, and reducing recidivism. Viewers gain insight into the challenges facing incarcerated youth and the power of civic engagement, second chances, and restorative approaches to justice.
Overview: This video explores the groundbreaking work of educator Isidore Starr and his efforts to transform civics education from rote memorization into active, issue-based learning. Through discussions of Supreme Court cases, mock trials, and controversial issues, Starr empowered students to think critically about liberty, justice, equality, property, and power. Set against the backdrop of McCarthy-era fear and censorship, the video highlights how Starr’s innovative approach helped shape modern civic and law-related education, encouraging students to embrace their role as informed and engaged citizens. Created in collaboration with the Centre for Education, Law & Society, Simon Fraser University.
What happens after a bill finally passes both the House and Senate? In this episode of Civics 101 in 120 Seconds (ish), Mike Hoover explains the final stage of the legislative process: the governor’s desk. After surviving committees, floor debates, amendments, concurrence, and compromise, a bill reaches the governor for one final decision. Mike breaks down the governor’s options, including signing a bill into law, vetoing it, allowing it to become law without a signature, or issuing a partial veto on specific sections of legislation. Viewers also learn how veto overrides work, why governors are often involved in negotiations long before a bill reaches their desk, and how laws are officially added to Washington’s legal code once the process is complete.
What happens when the House and Senate pass different versions of the same bill? In this episode of Civics 101 in 120 Seconds (ish), Mike Hoover explains the legislative process of concurrence and dispute — the final negotiations that determine whether a bill actually makes it to the governor’s desk. After a bill passes through committees and floor votes in one chamber, it must go through the entire process again in the other chamber. But because lawmakers often amend bills along the way, the House and Senate frequently end up with different versions of the same legislation. Mike breaks down how lawmakers resolve those disagreements through concurrence, dispute, and conference committees. Viewers learn how chambers negotiate changes, why bills sometimes “ping pong” back and forth between the House and Senate, and how conference committees work to hammer out final compromises when disputes become too large to resolve easily.
Where does state money come from, and how does the government decide how to spend it? In this episode of Civics 101 in 120 Seconds (ish), Mike Hoover breaks down the basics of Washington State’s budgeting process and explains why the legislature’s most important constitutional responsibility is passing a balanced budget. Viewers learn that Washington does not just have one budget — it has three. Mike walks through the operating budget, capital budget, and transportation budget, explaining how each one funds different parts of state government, from schools and healthcare to roads, ferries, and construction projects. The episode also explores how lawmakers forecast revenue and spending needs using economic and caseload forecasts, why state budgets are planned in two-year cycles called bienniums, and how budgeting involves balancing public needs with available revenue.