149th District state representative provides a lesson in government

Donnie Brown, right, the 149th District State Representative, speaks to fifth graders about his work at the State Capitol.(Jill Bock/Standard Democrat)

NEW MADRID, Mo. —Donnie Brown, the 149th District state representative, quizzed the New Madrid Elementary School’s fifth graders.

“How many of you want to be an elected official some day?” One hand went up.

“How many of you want to be a mayor or an alderman?” A few more hands went up.

Fifth grade students at New Madrid Elementary listen intently as Brown explains how a bill is brought before the legislature and can become a law. (Jill Bock/Standard Democrat)

“How many of you want to be a state representative or governor or the President of the United States.” Several hands were raised high in the air.

“How many of you are going to vote someday when you get to be 18?” Unsure, only a few hands were raised.

“That is the problem,” Brown told them. “People don’t vote. If you don’t go vote, then you don’t get to choose who represents you or what laws are made or what things happen in your town. You have got to go vote.”

Donnie Brown of New Madrid talks with students at New Madrid Elementary School about his career including his recent election as the 149th District state representative. (Jill Bock/Standard Democrat)

As part of the youngsters’ introduction into careers, Brown represented several.

Brown told the youngsters he once attended their very same school, after high school he studied engineering and now serves as the New Madrid County Highway Department’s engineer.He also told them about serving as mayor and now as their newly elected state representative.

Centering on his work as a representative, Brown explained he serves the people of New Madrid, Mississippi and part of Pemiscot counties. He told them about his work in the House of Representatives in Jefferson City.

New Madrid Elementary School's fifth graders pose for a photo with their State Representative Donnie Brown. Brown visited with the students to discuss his career, in particular his work as a state representative. (Jill Bock/Standard Democrat)

The fifth graders had plenty of questions for Brown.

Asked how much time his job takes? Brown explained being state representative is a part-time job. He arrives at Jefferson City at 4 p.m. Mondays for hearings and heads back to Southeast Missouri Thursday afternoons. It is a schedule he will maintain until May 12.

“It goes by fast because they keep you really, really busy. I usually start about 7 in the morning on Tuesday and get back to my room at 9 o’clock at night,” he said.

In response to if he ever went to foreign places, Brown told the students his work is centered in Missouri. He added as part of his introduction into being a state representative he traveled from Kansas City to St. Louis with other freshmen legislators and would travel again with them across the southern portion of the state.

The students wanted lots of details, from where does he sleep (in a hotel room) to where does he eat (the Capitol building has a cafeteria) to are there security guards (yes). Asked if he had met anyone famous, Brown said no but noted a bill was coming before a committee and the rapper Nelly might be testifying so he hoped to drop in to see him.

To help the students understand how a bill becomes law, Brown told them to imagine that some of them proposed he introduce a bill that New Madrid Elementary School serve cheeseburgers and fries for every meal.

“I would take that bill and file it. Then the speaker of the House would send it to a committee, which is a smaller group of representatives, those representatives would have a hearing and everyone would get to testify that wanted to,” he told them.

He said those who proposed the bill might come to Jefferson City to testify in favor of the cheeseburgers while others might testify against them stating they could be unhealthy. After the hearing, the committee would vote whether to send the bill to the House where all the representatives could consider it.

Brown explained to the students about amending a bill and how it would move to the Senate for more discussion. Eventually it could be sent to the governor.

Although primarily 10 and 11 years old, the youngsters had concerns about taxes, including how high would taxes get.

“No one likes to pay them but they pay for things we need - schools, roads, the military,” Brown said. “We have to have some but we try to keep them low. We don’t want to take any more than we have to have to do those certain things.”

As his presentation came to close, Brown asked again who was going to vote when they turned 18. He urged all the students to raise their hands.

“There are a lot of people elsewhere in the world that don’t get that chance, so people in America should be proud to vote and let their opinions be known,” he said. “Get out there and vote because your vote can make a difference. And when you get to be my age run for an office and you can make a difference in the place where you live.”