Henry Stern, D-Canoga Park, is planning a hearing to discuss lowering the voting age and increasing political participation of young people.

Stern is set to have a committee hearing to discuss a constitutional amendment to lower the voting age on March 17 at Reseda High School.

“Whether you care about LGBT issues, affordable housing, the environment, immigration, you name it — we’ve got all this untapped power,” said Stern. “The first time ever, there are millennials in the (California) Senate — It’s time to make a change.”

The town hall was organized to gauge the interest of millennials — not only to get an opinion on the voting age — but to find a way to engage these young voters.

The Senator also wants students to send a video, song, speech or comment about lowering the voting age and other issues young voters are passionate about — on his Facebook or Twitter with the hashtag #YouthVote.

In the 2014 general election, the turnout of eligible California voters aged 18 to 25 was 8.2 percent, according to the California Secretary of State.

“A political analyst told me that voter participation is so low for millennials — they are statistically insignificant,” said Stern.   

Senator Stern is a member of the California Millennial Caucus, a body designed to foster dialogue among young and innovative legislators committed to working on the issues facing millennials and future generations, according to their website.

Each group consists of members of the state legislature under 40 years of age. Caucus members are committed to pragmatically working towards a culture of political cooperation.

“The goal of this hearing is to see what young people want from their legislators,” said Stern. “Millennials are getting involved in their communities — just not coming out to vote.”

Stern authored SB 596 to increase youth participation and civic engagement — this bill would establish a statewide organization designed for students to directly participate in state government.

“The main goal of this bill is to get high school students to organize themselves,’” said Stern. “Each high school would elect their own representative to a state body.”

The organization would give young people a voice to millennials and youth not yet eligible to vote directly to members of the state legislator, said Stern.

Stern also co-authored a bill called the Assembly Constitutional Amendment (ACA) 10, an amendment to the state constitution that would lower the voting age from 18 to 17 in California.

“Young people develop civic habits not in college — but while living in their community,” said Stern. “When I moved away to college, I lost that connection — I wasn’t as well informed on the local issues, so I wasn’t as motivated to vote.”

As a constitutional amendment, ACA 10 requires a two-third vote of both houses of the state legislature and the approval of voters in order to take effect.

California is currently one of 11 states that allow 16-year-olds to pre-register to vote. There are also 22 states and Washington D.C. allow 17-year-olds to vote in primary elections or caucuses if they will be 18 before the general election.

“About half of all high school seniors are sitting on the sidelines — unable to vote,” said Stern. “They want to get involved, let’s just give them the opportunity.”

The committee hearing is set for March 17 at Reseda High School from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.