In 1956 H.L. Mencken said, "Under democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule - and both commonly succeed, and are right." I was to see this in actuality throughout the rest of this week.
I got up the next morning and caught the bus at the same time and fell asleep almost as soon as I got sat down. On Tuesday I went to several committee meeting and by far though most boring of the meeting was the Revenue and Taxation committee. The only bill that I thought was worth anything was HB0023 which proposed to force counties, cities, townships and districts to lower taxes when they no longer needed that money and had a surplus.
After this meeting I then went to the senate floor and listened to the second reading of about ten bills. The two that stick out in my mind was one to limit what kind of ATVs are street legal and how big their wheels can be and the other dealt with areas where gangs hang out.
The following day I spent most of my time working in the office running bills and reading bills. I also spent time researching a bill that proposes Expedited Partner Therapy which allows a person who has chlamydia or gonorrhea to also get prescriptions for their partners.
On Thursday I spent a good deal of the day researching the benefits of full-day kindergarten versus half-day kindergarten and the statement made by Gov. Huntsman that children in Utah who were enrolled in Full-Day kindergarten were doing six times better. I also went to the house Health and Human Services sub committee meeting and the bill covering Criminal Abortion that I needed to listen to was circled till Friday.
Overall the experience that I gained this first week of my internship left me looking forward to the rest of the session. However this optimism was also tempered by the realization of something that Winston Churchill said, "Some men change their party for the sake of their principles; others their principles for the sake of their party."
First Day
When my alarm went off at six o'clock in the morning my immediate reaction was to think, who would ever get up this early in the morning. However I rolled out of bed and stumbled to the shower to wake myself up. After my shower I dressed quickly and started the car so that it could warm up a little before I left. My wife drove me to the bus stop near the round about at UVU. I stood there in the early morning watching my breath in the chilly morning air waiting for the 801 bus. When the bus finally arrived I was grateful to find that not only did my student ID work as a bus pass for the express bus but also that I didn't have to stand up the entire ride to Salt Lake City.
When I arrived in Salt Lake the bus dropped me off next to the LDS Church office building and I proceeded to start my trek up the snow encrusted hill toward the State Capital. After my ten minute hike I arrived at the Capital. It was my first time ever walking into the capital building and I stood and looked up the impressive building where our state laws are made.
After asking a Highway patrolman where the cafeteria was and making my way there I was greeted my a friendly table of Eagle Forum members.
After Michelle told me some of the things she wanted me to do I was then told to go to the house floor to watch the opening ceremonies. Elder Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve said the opening prayer and I watched some Air Force bubba's screw up the color guard. They weren't instep at all and one of the guys put his rifle on his left shoulder when the command was right shoulder arms.
After listening to the starting of the house I then went back to the office and helped to print out the Daily Order of Business and started to research what bills I was interested in following.
When I arrived in Salt Lake the bus dropped me off next to the LDS Church office building and I proceeded to start my trek up the snow encrusted hill toward the State Capital. After my ten minute hike I arrived at the Capital. It was my first time ever walking into the capital building and I stood and looked up the impressive building where our state laws are made.
After asking a Highway patrolman where the cafeteria was and making my way there I was greeted my a friendly table of Eagle Forum members.
After Michelle told me some of the things she wanted me to do I was then told to go to the house floor to watch the opening ceremonies. Elder Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve said the opening prayer and I watched some Air Force bubba's screw up the color guard. They weren't instep at all and one of the guys put his rifle on his left shoulder when the command was right shoulder arms.
After listening to the starting of the house I then went back to the office and helped to print out the Daily Order of Business and started to research what bills I was interested in following.
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