Day 1

Today was my first day as an Iowa House of Representatives page. That seems oddly anticlimactic, similar to the actual experience. This is not to say that I am not excited about going back tomorrow, but rather to note that working as a page seems to often consist of insanely busy moments followed by long periods of inaction, at least from the page's point of view. The representatives are all in committee or subcommittee meetings, talking to lobbyists or constituents, meeting in caucus, researching upcoming bills, and otherwise performing the functions of government.

The actual day for me began at 8:00 AM. The actual Monday session typically starts at 1:00 PM, so the veteran pages actually come in at 11:00 AM. However, being new, the "new pages" (myself included) arrived at the Capitol bright and early to "learn the ropes." The most important part of the job, and currently the most daunting, is to learn the names, numbers, and placements of the representatives within the chamber. I will be studying tonight for our test in 2-3 weeks over this material. No doubt it will prove practically useful in the meantime.

Anyways, much of the actual work during the day is finding bills, finding representatives, bringing bills back, leaving messages, running errands (on the Capitol grounds), setting up committee meeting rooms, and so forth. Not difficult work (so far), but it can keep the pages busy, from what I've seen today.

On to the actual politics of the day. As I mentioned before, the session began at 1:00 PM, there was some brief announcements, most of them regarding various basketball success to reach the state tournament, and then the chamber stood at ease for some time. There was a brief flurry of activity later in the day, when four bills were considered. One was debated for some time, but only for clarification: all four passed unanimously. Then committees went into meeting, the House recessed until they returned, and they had not yet done so when we pages left at 6:30 PM. Rumor from the clerks has it that they were discussing the "fair share/right to work" bill, and that debate could go until the wee hours of the morning.

And now I finish this post, a fitting end to a semi-momentous day. Keep reading, because rumor has it that we will be debating the cigarette tax tomorrow ...