For the last 45 days every day I have been getting up at six in the morning and getting home at six at night. I have learned more in the last 45 days how the laws are really made then in 5 years of college. Since there was only floor time this week during the day I spent a lot of time outside the House and Senate galleries waiting for Representatives or Senators to come out and talk with us. One of the biggest disappointments of the session was around 11:25 on Thursday night. They Senate and House both ended early with bills still to be debated and I the first thought that crossed my mind when the vote to strike all the enacting clauses from unread bills was, "Horse SH!%. Those lazy, good for nothing, blankety blanks. They were elected to do a job and they only have to do it for 45 days and now they are cutting out early." Needless to say I was pretty upset. A few of the bills I had spent countless hours researching and lobbying for never even got to be debated in both houses and I was upset when they ended without debating them. However there is always next year to retry sending some bills through. I also sent some green notes in this week to the majority leaders in the House and Senate expressing my thoughts on Utah's resolution on the Federal bailout. The note I sent into them read something along these lines. Even a 6th grader would realize that you can't make more money by going into more debt but this is the Obama administration's answer. See it's great to get out there and campaign like you're going to start all these programs, help various groups, and promise money to everyone. But that money has to come from somewhere. I know it Socialist Utopia land it magically appears when pixie dust gets snorted by a multicultural unicorn with a PHD in Diversity and Sensitivity. Here in reality land it's everyone with a job paying other people to not get a job." I was sitting in the House gallery when the Majority leaders got my green notes and it made them smile and laugh. Over the course of the 45 days I became acquainted and worked closely with several Senators and Representatives and have learned that a lobbyist is only as good as his word.
Like I said last week however I still agree with Otto Von Bismark when he said, "If you love the law and sausages it best not to see either being made."
Week Of March 2nd
This past week has been filled with tons or really neat things. All of the committee meetings got finished on Tuesday so now there is only floor time in the Senate and House which means that I am spending alot of time up in the galleries and taking notes. It also means that I am writing lots of green and blue notes to send into senators and representatives. It seems like on Tuesday that I wrote well over three hundred green notes to send into the house on three or four different bills. One of the neat things that happened this week though is for the secrete ballot bill there were only five representatives that we didn't know how they were voting and they were the ones who really could decide if the bill passed or failed. I only sent in green notes to those five representatives. I used a quote by John Q. Adams that said,“Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote was never lost." One of the representatives that I sent this note into got up on the floor of the house and read my green note and quote that I sent him. The next day I sent him another green note that had a quote from Otto Von Bismark, "If you respect the law and love sausages never see either being made." (I didn't tell him it was from Bismark) and thanked him for reading my note and told him he gave me a little more hope that representatives actually read the things that we send them. Even though we only have one week left of the legislative session it doesn't seem to me like things are starting to slow down. If nothing else it actually seems like things are starting to become more frantic and hurried. Another thing that happened this week was that several school groups came through the capitol and met with our lobbying group for a few minutes. We talked to them about what liberty and freedom our and I talked about what I had learned as an intern. Right now I think we have around 45 kids between the ages of 14-17 that are coming up to the capitol throughout the week to intern for us. A few weeks ago they made me a supervisor which means I am supposed to watch out for the kids and make sure they don't get into any trouble. This week has been really fun but I am not looking forward to writing more notes to send in, maybe I can see if they will just let me email the senators and representatives instead.
Week of feb 23rd
This week has been full of surprises. I got to speak to my Representative this week and encourage his support of a bill that opts Utah out of the Real ID act. After speaking to him for a few minutes he invited me to join my local caucus. I also talked to my senator about why she supported a certain bill that I didn't like. I also spent time talking to a good percentage of the members of the House of Representatives about a bill that would prohibit illegal aliens who are going to college to still get in state tuition if they commit any crimes. So it effectively prohibits them from working while going to school. I also spent time on the phone with Jack Thompson figuring out information for the Truth in Advertising bill. I called the ABC in Utah and figured out what their penalties were f or dealing with those who sold to minors. I also went through all of the bill currently before the legislature searching for any bills that were dealing with parts of the code dealing with selling or providing sexually explicit materials for minors. I was doing this per the request of a legislator who didn't have time to get his bill ready for this year but still wanted to get what he needed accomplished, so he asked if we could find any bills currently in the legislature that he might be able to amend and add his bill to. I only found two bills that dealt with this issue. I emailed all of the senate several things that we wanted their support for. I also spent a good deal of time following Gayle around and doing whatever she needed done. The other issue that is still simmering in the back ground is the issue concerning Sen. Buttars remarks about homosexuality. Over all this week was a busy week.
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