Travis, Miles, and I had the opportunity to sit in on a general assembly meeting that discussed three different bills that were presented to the Senators of North Carolina.
The first bill discussed the “300-foot rule” for all child sex offenders in North Carolina. It passed with all senators in agreement stating that no child sex offender may enter within 300 feet of an area directed towards children.
The second bill discussed property theft and what would be considered a misdemeanor or felony. It was passed with all the senators in agreement with two amendments adjusted and added.
Luckily for us, 45 minutes before the hearing an abortion bill was added to the meeting schedule. This bill discussed how a woman should not be able to terminate their pregnancy if the reasoning behind it is due to race, sex, or if the baby is to be born with down syndrome. We got to hear from multiple different guest speakers, two people with down syndrome as well as people who opposed the bill. It definitely made the experience more exciting, especially because one of the Senate members was not in favor of the bill and continued to ask questions making it get a little more heated than the past two bills. All in all the bill did pass this committee and will be moving on.
Afterward, we got to speak to Mrs. Jennifer Beddford, a woman on the Legislative committee about her job and how she ended up where she is today. It was a fascinating conversation and opened my eyes to different things that I may want to look into for my future.
Even though I wasn’t initially interested in political science, I enjoyed this experience very much and found a new interest of mine. I am thankful for Mr. Markham for making this possible as well as Mrs. Beddford’s time.