Legislation Efforts

Legislative Efforts

We work on legislative efforts at both the city and state level. These laws that were proposed and passed include the Party Host Law, Fire Safe Cigarettes Law, and a law requiring all persons purchasing rolling papers to be over the age of 18 – known as our Zig-Zag Project. These projects were all spearheaded by Y2Y members. They drafted the bills, spoke at hearings in front of Senate and House of Representatives, and were present at the signing of the bill into law.

In addition to this work members also speak in support of or against state or federal legislation that others have proposed.  In the past, Y2Y members have testified in Concord at the State House on issues such as:  smoke-free restaurants, raising the tax on tobacco, not lowering the drinking age, increased funding for underage drinking prevention, opposing the legalization of marijuana and many other issues.

As a youth empowerment program, students in Youth to Youth taking part in legislative activities have an opportunity to learn a variety of real world skills that empower them to solve problems in the future.  Students learn the legislative process, the use writing skills to prepare the proposals, learn how to prepare their arguments, and get experience in speaking publicly to express their point of view.