On the morning of Wednesday, June 15, the Missouri Girls State General Assembly traveled to the state capital in Jefferson City to view the capital building and work on legislation in the Senate Chamber. We went along to cover their progress.
The Missouri Girls State Senate is made up of 24 delegates, 3 from each county. While in session, the Senators moved to perfect their sixth bill, a bill created to introduce sports as an option for Girls State attendees. The bill would include sports as part of governmental activities time. During their session in Jefferson City, the Senate proposed two amendments to this bill, and both were granted. The first would replace the word ‘sports’ with ‘extracurriculars’ in the bill, so that other activities outside of sports would be included. The second would remove the portion of the bill calling for a sign-up for sports, as it was not deemed necessary.
Amidst these amendments, there are still several disagreements between Senators about the bill. Some argued that giving time for sports was no different than giving time for the band, while others believed giving time during governmental activities for sports would take away from the Girls State purpose to help students build up and participate in a government. Additionally, many argued that governmental activities would not be an appropriate time for this activity, and times like during morning workouts would be more fitting. Many senators also voted against the amendment to change ‘sports’ to ‘extracurriculars,’ as the main issue was the lack of sports in the Girls State program as compared to the Boys State program.
After the second amendment was granted, Senator Allison Skidmore of Anthony City requested to speak about the bill. Permission was granted, but instead of saying her mind on the bill, Skidmore began reading ‘You Can, Too! Journey to the Missouri Senate: 36 women senators share their stories.’ As Senator Skidmore began to filibuster, President Pro Temp Brittany Hickerson frantically looked around in hopes a senator would request her attention. Eventually, Senator Mallory Moon of Benton City did so, and requested the bill be moved to the informal calendar. Permission was granted, and the filibuster ended, along with the time they had at the capital.