My Legislative Paging Experience
By Sydney Hoffman on January 22, 2019
I served as a legislative page at the capitol in Pierre, SD from Jan. 7-17. The first day, Jan.7, we had orientation and helped set up things for the next couple of months. The first official day of session began Jan. 8.
For those that are not familiar with the SD Page Program, it is a program that is available for high school juniors and seniors across South Dakota. This program gives those students the opportunity to look at the legislative process firsthand while assisting legislators through menial, but important, tasks. Pages are appointed to serve in the House of Representatives or in the Senate. This appointment is based on the legislator sponsor signature on your application. For example, I live in district 19, which Rep. Schoenfish resides. I obtained his signature on my application, and since he is a House member, I was selected as a House page.
As I arrived my first day for orientation, I was a little nervous because I did not know what to expect; however, I quickly became comfortable with the other pages. Soon after, I would also become extremely comfortable and willing to speak with everyone whether they were a representative, senator, lobbyist, appointed official, or the governor herself. The page program is very well-respected and taken seriously, and so, we as the pages were treated with the same equal respect. The only contradiction to this would be the pranks. A couple Senators would send pages to get them things that did not exist or have us do something outrageous. However, it was all in good fun, and it gave us something to do if we were not in a meeting. This prank war ended on the last day of the term when the Senate pages were able to get Kristi Noem’s signature on an executive order stating that all prank requests must be approved by the advisor. Needless to say, that executive order, written on a “Girl Scouts- Dakota Horizon pad,” is now framed in the post office.
This was just an example of some of the laughs we had in the capitol, but we also had many responsibilities. A standard day of session begins with committee meetings at 7:45 a.m. until session convened at 2 p.m.; however, with the election of the new governor and her appointees, the first week mostly consisted of joint sessions including Governor Kristi Noem’s inaugural address, Chief Justice David Gilbertson’s judiciary address and Honorable Rodney M. Bordeaux’s (President of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe) tribal address. For me, this was very exciting. These addresses listed plans and/or problems for/of this state and hearing it in person made each problem that more disheartening. I plan to continue staying up on the state’s current events to keep record of the governmental actions that were taken.
As I served the first term, I did not get to hear about many bills, but I still learned a great deal. I heard from the House Ag and Natural Resources Committee, the House Commerce and Energy committee, the House Education Committee, the House Local Government committee, and the Joint Appropriations committee. This committee process is often overlooked, but it is the step to floor discussion. After a bill is drafted by a legislator, an agency or a citizen, it is put on the calendar with a legislator sponsor assigned to it. It is then first brought up in the committee it pertains. If the bill passes it in committee, it then moves to the session floor for discussion. If it passes on the session floor in one chamber, then it moves to the other chamber. From there, the bill would then be brought to the governor for her signature or veto. This long process begins at committee first though, and what makes that fun to watch is that anyone can come in and testify. In House Education committee, however, I listened to multiple homeschooled students come to testify as proponents of the bill to lower the ACT requirement on the SD Opportunity Scholarship application from 28 to 24 for homeschooled students. This would create an even playing field for all forms of high school education. I can also report that that bill passed unanimously in committee, and it also passed on the House floor.
I enjoyed listening to testimony and discussion in committee meetings, but I also had duties. I was to arrive 15 minutes early to set up the room with desk plates and handouts needed for the committee representatives. I also had to make sure everyone who came in the room signed in, as it was very important for the secretary to record anyone who testified. Once the committee began and went on-air, I introduced myself and future plans to the committee board and listeners. During the meeting, I would distribute hand-outs, make copies, get coffee and eventually, clean up.
If I was not in a committee meeting in the morning, I was likely on post office duty or phone duty. In the post office, we sort individual mail, distribute newspapers, sell stamps and make copies. Phone duty required us to take messages from the public and give those messages to the requesting legislator. Other miscellaneous duties included organizing bills in the documents room, distributing journals and bills in the corresponding binders in each chamber and at the end of each day, passing out the House and Senate calendars for the next day in all of the required and specified locations.
The day was done when we finished passing calendars. Sometimes that could be pretty late at night, but since I served term one at the start of session, the day never went that terribly long. I was usually at the capitol from 7:15 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. At the end of the day, I expected to catch up on my homework, but each night they pages hung out together. I struggled managing my time the first week, but I did much homework during the weekend in the middle of the term. This allowed for me to catch up enough to enjoy the nights out with the pages. We went ice skating, played card games, dined out and even played an official volleyball scrimmage of House pages vs. Senate pages. The House pages won, and our victory was announced at the beginning of session on our last day.
One night after the day’s work, we had a special event planned. The pages dressed up and headed to the governor’s mansion for supper. Later in the evening during supper, Noem spoke to us about her background and goals. She gave us some advice for success and allowed for each of her children and assistants to say a few words, too.
Overall, this was an incredible experience, and I strongly encourage everyone to apply for this paging program. I went into the week hoping to learn more about our state’s governmental process first-hand. Not only did I get to do that, but I also got to increase my knowledge about current events and bills, make connections with important names in the state and make life-long friends.
To obtain a paging application in coming years or to learn more about the program, you can visit www.sdlegislature.gov and click “Page Program” under the “Students” tab.
For those that are not familiar with the SD Page Program, it is a program that is available for high school juniors and seniors across South Dakota. This program gives those students the opportunity to look at the legislative process firsthand while assisting legislators through menial, but important, tasks. Pages are appointed to serve in the House of Representatives or in the Senate. This appointment is based on the legislator sponsor signature on your application. For example, I live in district 19, which Rep. Schoenfish resides. I obtained his signature on my application, and since he is a House member, I was selected as a House page.
As I arrived my first day for orientation, I was a little nervous because I did not know what to expect; however, I quickly became comfortable with the other pages. Soon after, I would also become extremely comfortable and willing to speak with everyone whether they were a representative, senator, lobbyist, appointed official, or the governor herself. The page program is very well-respected and taken seriously, and so, we as the pages were treated with the same equal respect. The only contradiction to this would be the pranks. A couple Senators would send pages to get them things that did not exist or have us do something outrageous. However, it was all in good fun, and it gave us something to do if we were not in a meeting. This prank war ended on the last day of the term when the Senate pages were able to get Kristi Noem’s signature on an executive order stating that all prank requests must be approved by the advisor. Needless to say, that executive order, written on a “Girl Scouts- Dakota Horizon pad,” is now framed in the post office.
This was just an example of some of the laughs we had in the capitol, but we also had many responsibilities. A standard day of session begins with committee meetings at 7:45 a.m. until session convened at 2 p.m.; however, with the election of the new governor and her appointees, the first week mostly consisted of joint sessions including Governor Kristi Noem’s inaugural address, Chief Justice David Gilbertson’s judiciary address and Honorable Rodney M. Bordeaux’s (President of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe) tribal address. For me, this was very exciting. These addresses listed plans and/or problems for/of this state and hearing it in person made each problem that more disheartening. I plan to continue staying up on the state’s current events to keep record of the governmental actions that were taken.
As I served the first term, I did not get to hear about many bills, but I still learned a great deal. I heard from the House Ag and Natural Resources Committee, the House Commerce and Energy committee, the House Education Committee, the House Local Government committee, and the Joint Appropriations committee. This committee process is often overlooked, but it is the step to floor discussion. After a bill is drafted by a legislator, an agency or a citizen, it is put on the calendar with a legislator sponsor assigned to it. It is then first brought up in the committee it pertains. If the bill passes it in committee, it then moves to the session floor for discussion. If it passes on the session floor in one chamber, then it moves to the other chamber. From there, the bill would then be brought to the governor for her signature or veto. This long process begins at committee first though, and what makes that fun to watch is that anyone can come in and testify. In House Education committee, however, I listened to multiple homeschooled students come to testify as proponents of the bill to lower the ACT requirement on the SD Opportunity Scholarship application from 28 to 24 for homeschooled students. This would create an even playing field for all forms of high school education. I can also report that that bill passed unanimously in committee, and it also passed on the House floor.
I enjoyed listening to testimony and discussion in committee meetings, but I also had duties. I was to arrive 15 minutes early to set up the room with desk plates and handouts needed for the committee representatives. I also had to make sure everyone who came in the room signed in, as it was very important for the secretary to record anyone who testified. Once the committee began and went on-air, I introduced myself and future plans to the committee board and listeners. During the meeting, I would distribute hand-outs, make copies, get coffee and eventually, clean up.
If I was not in a committee meeting in the morning, I was likely on post office duty or phone duty. In the post office, we sort individual mail, distribute newspapers, sell stamps and make copies. Phone duty required us to take messages from the public and give those messages to the requesting legislator. Other miscellaneous duties included organizing bills in the documents room, distributing journals and bills in the corresponding binders in each chamber and at the end of each day, passing out the House and Senate calendars for the next day in all of the required and specified locations.
The day was done when we finished passing calendars. Sometimes that could be pretty late at night, but since I served term one at the start of session, the day never went that terribly long. I was usually at the capitol from 7:15 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. At the end of the day, I expected to catch up on my homework, but each night they pages hung out together. I struggled managing my time the first week, but I did much homework during the weekend in the middle of the term. This allowed for me to catch up enough to enjoy the nights out with the pages. We went ice skating, played card games, dined out and even played an official volleyball scrimmage of House pages vs. Senate pages. The House pages won, and our victory was announced at the beginning of session on our last day.
One night after the day’s work, we had a special event planned. The pages dressed up and headed to the governor’s mansion for supper. Later in the evening during supper, Noem spoke to us about her background and goals. She gave us some advice for success and allowed for each of her children and assistants to say a few words, too.
Overall, this was an incredible experience, and I strongly encourage everyone to apply for this paging program. I went into the week hoping to learn more about our state’s governmental process first-hand. Not only did I get to do that, but I also got to increase my knowledge about current events and bills, make connections with important names in the state and make life-long friends.
To obtain a paging application in coming years or to learn more about the program, you can visit www.sdlegislature.gov and click “Page Program” under the “Students” tab.
