By Dana Dribble

OLYMPIA has experienced a new face as of late. It's young, it's fresh, and it belongs to sixth-grader Alex Jonlin.

The Nathan Eckstein Middle School student from Seattle hopes a bill he is pushing will bring far more fresh faces to the state's Capitol, as well as more interest in legislation and the leadership process. It's a proposal worth supporting.

The bill calls for establishing a Legislative Youth Advisory Council, offering a voice to those Washington residents who cannot yet vote.

Presented by Jonlin, 11, the measure grew out of his earlier proposal for an Office for Children's Opinions.

Following several unanswered letters and months of frustration, Jonlin finally got the boost, and the sponsor, he needed to see his idea move ahead.

Senate Bill 5254, sponsored by Sen. Ken Jacobsen, D-Seattle, and others, would enact Jonlin's plan for a 22-member youth council, convening no more than six times a year. The council would advise members of the Legislature on issues of importance to young people.

Washington state would not be the first to introduce a youth council, but it would be among the first few.

The National Convention of State Legislators ranks engaging youth in civic participation an important legislative priority. In the past two years, California, Illinois, New Mexico and North Carolina have introduced legislation aimed at involving young people in mock elections and policy debates.

States have increased efforts at improving civic education, from allowing preregistration for 17-year-olds in Illinois and Hawaii (and, in Connecticut, primary voting), to the mandatory teaching of civics in high school in Vermont and New Hampshire.

And beginning with the 2006-2007 academic year in Washington, all public elementary, middle and high schools will be required to carry out a classroom-based civics assessment that has been preapproved by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Maine created the first statewide advisory youth council in 2002. Its Legislative Youth Advisory Council conducts public hearings, drafts bills and makes recommendations on pending legislative proposals.

New Mexico followed in 2003 by creating a youth council within its Children, Youth and Families Department. The council's members discuss problems facing New Mexico's youth and recommend possible solutions.

Here in Washington, should SB 5254 pass, youth-council members would advise the Legislature on measures important to the state's young people; they would also hold periodic seminars on leadership, government and the Legislature. The council would report annually on its activities and legislative proposals.

Several Washington leaders and institutions already make it a practice to consult young people, including U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., state Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe, D-Bothell, the city of Lacey and the state Board of Education.

The bill has the potential to spark a sincere interest in local government and the legislative process.

The Superintendent of Public Instruction's Office has offered to help manage the council. The Legislature has yet to decide how to implement the measure, should it pass.

Improving civic education through the direct involvement of youth seems an ideal way to attract those who are not yet old enough to cast a vote.

Dana Dibble is a 2004 graduate of the University of Washington.