Overview: During the 2025 session, Legislative Pages (students ages 14-16) had the opportunity to interview legislators from both the Majority party and the Minority party about issues of interest. In this lesson, students will learn about where the Majority Party, currently the Democrats, and the Minority Party, currently the Republicans, stand on three important policies regarding Housing. Essential Questions: The House Housing Committee considers issues relating to: A broad array of issues relating to housing, including accessibility, affordability, assistance, and supply; land use and zoning primarily related to residential uses; landlord-tenant law; homelessness; homeownership; farmworker housing; manufactured housing; housing authorities; and the Housing Finance Commission.
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Overview: During the 2025 session, Legislative Pages (students ages 14-16) had the opportunity to interview legislators from both the Majority party and the Minority party about issues of interest. In this lesson, students will learn about where the Majority Party, currently the Democrats, and the Minority Party, currently the Republicans, stand on two important policies regarding Early Learning and K-12 Education. Essential Questions: Senate & House Education Committees (2025) Overview: The Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee considers issues relating to: House Education Committee considers issues relating to: The House Education Committee considers issues relating to kindergarten through twelfth grade (K-12) education.
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Overview What are the roles and responsibilities of Washington’s Governor? Learn about this statewide elected office with former WA Governor Christine Gregoire. As the top elected official of the State of Washington, the Governor is essentially the commander in chief. By focusing on the responsibilities that the Governor has over the state of Washington, viewers will understand how the Governor works with the other statewide elected officials and the other branches of government. Essential Questions: Objectives:
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The State Government writes laws that affect the daily lives of all Washingtonians. Yet, most people do not understand how the laws are made, what goes into the legislation, or how that legislation is enacted. In this lesson, students will discover what the state legislature is doing in regards to issues they care about. Overview Students in this lesson will choose one bill to follow as it makes its way through the 2025 Legislative Session. While doing this, they will learn how a bill becomes a law, from the birth of an idea to the signing of the bill by the governor. By using short videos, replete with interviews with elected officials, to explain the process, students will identify places to get involved in the legislative process. They will analyze public testimonies, both for style and content. Students will watch speeches given by legislators on the floor of the House and Senate, examining amendments offered by both Democrats and Republicans. Finally, they will watch the governor sign the legislation into law, and identify further ways to stay engaged in the future. Essential Questions: Objectives: Lesson Plan for Civics and Government: Middle and High School – 9 to 10 class periods
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By using this lesson plan, in 2 to 3 class periods students learn not only how legislation is passed in Washington State but also how they can become involved and engage in issues they care about. There are suggested discussion questions, classroom activities, and options for summative assessments that engage students in their local community by examining the effects of new legislation. Essential Questions: Objectives:
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Students begin to see how government policy is shaped and informed through the legislative process and public input. Students get familiarized with the legislative process and who their representatives are. They learn the structures of government, get a legislative process overview, a tour of leg.wa.gov, and learn how to look up their representatives online. Essential Questions: Objectives:
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Learn about how a biennium works as you get ready for the 2026 session. The upcoming session is the short session, just 60 days, and legislators will have many issues to address, from the budgetary shortfall to pressing priorities from both political parties. Tune in to Teach with TVW each week to see how legislators are working to solve Washington’s most important problems. Essential Questions:
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In a democracy like ours, civic engagement is imperative. There are numerous ways to make your voice heard by the government: voting, protesting, petitioning, boycotting, or writing to your legislators. But there is another way that many people may not know about or may find too intimidating: testifying at a public hearing for a pending piece of legislation. In this 7 minute video, Ms. Paulson talks to lobbyist Melissa Gombosky and Representative Andrew Barkis about the importance of testifying at a public hearing, as well as tips for what to do with your time at the microphone. Essential Questions:
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When many people think of “the government”, they think of legislators giving long winded speeches on the floor of the House and the Senate. However, most of the work done during the Legislative Session is done in committees. Committees are the place where bills are researched, discussed, debated, and voted upon. Committees are where the public has the chance to have their voices heard, and committees allow legislators to focus on a specific topic so that the nuances of a proposed law are clear. In this 4 minute episode of Capitol Classroom+, you will experience the anatomy of the committee room, so that when you watch a committee hearing on TVW, you know the ins and outs. Essential Questions:
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The first week of the legislative session, especially after an election year, is filled with many ceremonial elements. In addition to the agenda setting speeches given by the Speaker of the House Laurie Jenkins, President of the Senate Lt. Governor Denny Heck, and Governor Bob Ferguson, legislative work started. Legislators began meeting in their committees, hearing bills. With over 40 committees meeting between the House and the Senate, there was a lot for Legislators to do! And with 1 out of every 5 members of the Legislature being new this year, the Capitol Campus was filled with many people smiling and looking for the most direct way out of the Legislative building. Essential Questions
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