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Good morning, friends and supporters of YMCA Texas Youth and Government! Over the course of the past weekend, middle school students from all across Texas convened in Austin for the Junior Youth and Government State Conference. These students all debated respectfully and advocated passionately for their beliefs in our Legislative [...]

Hello friends of Texas Youth and Government! Our 7th Annual Junior Youth and Government State Conference will take place March 3rd-4th in Austin, Texas. Over 600 students from all across Texas will convene to practice their skills as debaters, advocates and legislators in our Legislative and State Affairs Forum Sections. [...]

Happy Thursday, friends of YMCA Texas Youth and Government! The application for the YMCA Conference on National Affairs (CONA) is now open. High school students from any YG program section are invited to apply to represent Texas at this national conference, to take place July 1st-6th, 2017. Each year, Youth [...]

Hello friends of Texas Youth and Government! Last weekend we held our 70th Annual YMCA Texas Youth and Government High School State Conference. Over 1300 students from our 5 Districts across Texas convened in Austin for 3 days of mock-government in our Judicial, Legislative, Media and State Affairs sections. As [...]

Bri Branscomb explains her journey to YG State Conference By: Kyle Gehman The class stands up, starts to recite with “I pledge allegiance to the flag, of the United States of America”, however, a sophomore from Leander High School stays seated. She Bri Branscomb from the Leander High School delegation [...]

By: Nettie Comerford To start the General Affairs session at the 2017 Youth and Government competition, Chambliss Peirson, Allison Reimer, and Lily Turner proposed, to increase accountability of schools who are in violation of Title IV and perpetrators of sexual assault in universities. The group began by sharing a testimony [...]

In light of a recent article released by Print Media, Governor Kennedy Montgomery has requested we release a statement to defend his reasoning behind dismissing the media from his meetings. In Print Media we honor the input from delegates and officers alike, but we also support the work and reporting [...]

By: Willow Dalehite During the General Assembly of the State Affairs forum, proposals that passed the first round on Friday were discussed, amended, and voted on by all State Affairs delegates. Among those passed was a proposal entitled “Texas Water Quality” by delegate Noah Busbee of Dallas, which, with seven [...]

By: Chloe Opelt Bill presentations in the House started at 9 a.m. on January 28, 2017. During bill presentations, delegates can develop a sense of urgency to question bill authors, turn in pro/con slips, and present amendments. One complication is time, most actions in the House are timed due to [...]

By Caden Ziegler The primary function of both the Lobbyists and the Governor’s  Cabinet is to push an agenda on the House or Senate. Both sections attempt to persuade Senators or people from the House to vote a certain way on certain bills. As a Governor’s Cabinet member from Oklahoma, [...]

By Heather Costello The Hyde Senate debated intensely on Brent Baldwin’s, a delegate from the Christian Life Preparatory School delegation, bill that if passed would change the legal drinking age in Texas to 16.  Although, the bill didn’t pass with a 20-16 vote at the end of the secession. Proponent [...]

By Briana Taylor Youth and Government delegates participating in Hyde House, which is a branch of the Legislative section, spend their day presenting bills that were previously passed by Hyde Senate, and have since been passed down to them. Delegates propose amendments for bills of fellow delegates, and vote [...]