A Journey Through Political Education

Day 15

2007-04-04T13:29:00.000-07:00

0800 - 1645.

The Iowa Disaster Medical Team led the pledge today. A fellow page's father was in the Team, so that was neat to see. After the pledge, a group of traditionally-dressed Dutch people (sound familiar?) were milling around in the back - it was the Pella Tulip Days court. They introduced the court, and then asked Rep. Baudler to come down front ... they gathered in a circle around him and sang 'Happy Birthday' to him - in Dutch. Speaker Murphy remarked that he had never before seen Rep. Baudler blush. Anyways, the girls distribed Dutch letters and cookies, and Rep. Baudler had brought brownies. Later, the Iowa Finance Commission (?) passed out funnel cakes on Frisbees to reps, and served more up downstairs. No free lunch ... funnel cakes were good though. I did get a Frisbee later.

Legistlation: entirely non-cons. The House adjourned at 2:30 for committee, but we discussed a reserve police officer training bill [S.F. 110], a horse-racing regulation bill [S.F. 129], mortgage release certificates [S.F. 400], and unannounced drug/alcohol testing for employees [S.F. 284]. There was little discussion on any of these items ... Rep. Bailey rose for a Point of Personal Privilege concerning the flag amendment of the previous day, and how he felt it avoided the proper process. There was some debate on both sides of the aisle regarding this issue, which was generally considered non-partisan.

Day 14

2007-04-03T08:14:00.000-07:00

0800 - 1930.

This morning, there were three units of the Iowa National Guard standing on the west side of the chamber, which was quite a surprise! Later, they read House Resolutions honoring those units for their service. The biggest lobbist event of the day was "Nonpublic School Day," which ended up being mostly Catholic schools. I saw the Governor (of Boys State) as well as students and parents from St. James Elementary, which is in my town. Each of the nonpublic schools brought a group of students to do a performance - everything from puppets, to a classical choir, to orchestras showed up. Plus they brought cookies, of which I had 15-25. That was lunch. Representative Bukta brought apples to celebrate her birthday ... nice of her to add nutrition. The Friends of Clear Lake Water brought bottled water, and there was plently left over for us after we distributed to the desks.

Legislatively, not a lot. During a veterans' affairs bill [H.F. 817], someone sneezed extremely loudly right after Speaker Murphy asked for a "second" to approve a motion. That was funny. On the same bill, Rep. Bailey added a amendment [H-1554] to this bill that wasn't really related, but was good to have. It concerned creating a section in the Iowa code that defined abuse of the flag, in response to the judicial overturn of Iowa's current stance as unconstitutional. Other bills discussed (but not really debated) were a judicial "house cleaning" bill [H.F. 777], a pollutant discharce system bill [S.F. 405], and S.F. 131 concerned "publication of property assessment equalization orders," whatever that means.

Day 13

2007-04-02T21:29:00.000-07:00

1100 - 1930.

Nothing happened today. Nothing, I swear. OK, one thing. The Orange City Tulip Festival queen and her court said the Pledge. They were wearing period costumes, so I can understand why they left in a hurry.

The only bill in which I summoned the remotest interest was H.F. 718, a bill to reduce the dangers of cigarettes in starting house fires. It passed, of course (97-0), but the opening statement described the applicable technique as "speed bumps" to reduce smoldering. I found this oddly amusing. The House passed three other bills, overwhelmingly, yet we still had a late night as a result of committee meetings throughout the day and debate starting at 6 PM.

Since this post is exceptionally short, a Google quote follows:

Man is the only animal that laughs and has a state legislature.
- Samuel Butler

Day 12

2007-03-29T09:25:00.000-07:00

0745 - 2230.

Another breakfast - this time by the American Lung Association. I ran into more people who knew where Washington was - a perennial surprise. The Iowa White Water Association was set up in the rotunda - they are attempting to limit the dangers of so-called wall dams, which are nearly impossible to see at high stages of the river. If sucked into the current caused by such a dam, one is typically killed. These dams also greatly limit the ecosystem of the area. I had an interesting discussion with them. Also, the Boys and Girls Clubs were congregating throughout the Capitol - made it hard to find a place to sit for lunch.

Since I don't have the House Journal with me for Thursday, I will discuss the principal events of the evening. We discussed two very controversial bills - the first was a supplemental spending bill. It was pork. However, it was pork in the same vein that had been issued by Republican representatives in previous years. My only opposition to this true statement is that Senate, House, and Governor all pledged to cut earmarks and pork spending. This bill stands in stark contradiction to that pledge. The bill did pass. The other major issue was a Health Education bill [H.F. 611]. Now this bill was incredibly sneaky. It changes the content of sexual education and other health classes taught by public schools. At this point, you can opt to keep your child out of said classes, but you must file with the "appropriate principal." The sneaky part is that all the curriculum will be "age-appropriate (nothing new here) and research-based." Research-based, in this case, means research as defined by certain "compromise" organizations within the bill, but also "information that is free of racial, ethnic, sexual orientation, and gender biases." Therefore, any curriculum that contains said "biases" is inappropriate for Iowa education for "school districts and accredited nonpublic schools." This information will be provided to the schools as a "supplement," and they can chose to do with it as they will. However, the "bias" part of the bill was never discussed on the floor, never mentioned to the public. That is the stealth and beauty of it all. The bill passed on to the Senate. Much of my faith in the goodwill of this Legislature has been tarnished today.

UPDATE: I did remember an interesting debate during the day - IMNION reminded me of it. One of the first bills considered during the day would ban deer anti-contraceptives for civilian use [H.F. 740]. Apparently, it is currently classified as a "pesticide," and could be abused by civvies. The funny part is that my rep, Representative Greiner, stated she would vote 'no' on this bill because it "amused" her. I found this immensely funny, and my good humor was only deepened by the fact that I was walking behind Majority Leader McCarthy when he shrugged his shoulders and voted 'no' "because he felt like it." The bill passed, 84-13, but the "opposition" was quite varied and rather amusing.

Day 11

2007-03-28T08:37:00.000-07:00

0800 - 2230.

Today was an extremely busy day, people- and bill-wise. In the morning, we had breakfast offered by the AARP. Apparently, there was two other breakfasts as well that I missed. TeenPact was back again. We had lunch offered by a retirement community - it was lasagna and garlic bread, the best free lunch I've had yet. Representative Clute's son had his first birthday, so we had cake. An organization of women voters showed up, as well as Just Eliminate Lies (JEL), the anti-smoking group. The Iowa Library Association provided an afternoon snack, with meatballs, smokies, fruit, and cookies. Apparently Washington was represented, although I never saw my boss. Another afternoon snack was served by the American Heart Association "sweethearts," who were, coincidentally, attractive college girls. The AHA snack was quite healthy, thankfully. We saw teens from the Capitol Project '07, which apparently volunteers at the Capitol. Since we went into the evening, I got a piece of excellent cake from the SAA, as well as Happy Joe's pizza left over by the reps. A good day for free stuff.

An appropriations bill for certain state organizations [H.F. 874] was discussed today. Various Republican amendments lost party-line votes, and the bill passed, 52-45. Other business was slim, amidst committee meetings, until the big bill of the evening - H.F. 877, a "statewide voluntary preschool program" for four-year-olds. The biggest opposition to this bill was that it would give public schools an unfair advantage for preschooling, as it provides a teacher for up to 10 hrs a week for every school that wishes to take advantage of the offer. The other opposition was that it would cost upwards of $109 million in 2014, as defined by the bill. Once again, numerous Republican amendments were voted down, although there was a brief flash of humor. Minority Leader Rants asked if Rep. Mascher (D, Johnson) would yield to a question. However, since Rep. Mascher sits one seat to the left, he said, "Would my colleague to the left yield to a question?" Speaker Murphy dryly asked, "Physically or politically?" That was quite amusing. Anyways, the bill passed the House 53-43, and was sent to the Senate. The House adjourned at 11:30 PM, and got ready for the next day.

Day 10

2007-03-27T08:16:00.000-07:00

0745 - 0530.

A free breakfast was offered from a State Child Care organization. It was also 4-H day at the Legislature, so half of the county 4-H programs were invited to the Capitol. The other half get invited next year. We also had visits from the Iowa Renewable Energy group, in which my neighbor is involved extensively, as well as TeenPact, a Christian political organization involving a FPS arch-competitor as well. A YMCA group was hanging out somewhere too.

We had several non-competitive (and therefore non-controversial) bills come up in the morning. In the afternoon session there was a bill concerning lead testing of children six years old [H.F. 158) that passed, albeit with much discussion. The House also discussed a bill that deals with investment of companies in Sudan [S.F. 361] out of protest for Sudanese atrocities. Other progress was limited - many committee meetings again today.

Day 9

2007-03-26T08:04:00.000-07:00

1100 - 1800.

Another short Monday. An Iowa State University (ISU) distributed some excellent cupcakes for breakfast. They also had a noon reception in the rotunda, whether celebratory or admonishing, I have no idea. Our choir had a practice today that went very well; however, it was at the same time as the reception. The Price Laboratory School Choir led the pledge, apparently they were a "national school of character." Right. We got hundreds of free cookies for Representative Cohoon's birthday - they were excellent sugar cookies. I had at least five. Later in the day, I saw a group titled 'iowafathers.com' wandering around. TeenPact was around too ... more about that tomorrow.

In regards to legislation, an ICN funding improvement bill [H.F. 851] passed overwhelmingly (97-2), a bill that allows high school students to serve as precinct election board members [618] also passed (83-14), and there were several other minor bills. Most of the day was committee meetings - we only saw 5-6 bills discussed on the floor.

Day 8

2007-03-22T20:26:00.000-07:00

0800 - 1700

Today's benefits included a breakfast in commemoration of the 20th Anniversary of the Groundwater Protection Act. They had chocolate muffins ... I took some extras for lunch. Yum. The Iowa Credit Union League was in attendance, and we had a visit from a group titled ICAN. Apparently, it is a UI student group that does research and white papers for legislators. Very interesting idea. Another non-legislative event of today was our Capitol Choir's (not really) first meeting. We are apparently performing in an celebration service for legislators ... I am quite unaware, actually. I assume it is Wednesday evening, April 11th. Anyways, it has a mix of representatives, pages, doormen, and clerks, so it will no doubt be fun.

Legislation of the day took a surprising twist when Rep. Rants blasted Rep. Wessel-Kroeschell for another of her bills. If you recall, she took quite a beating with voter registration, and I feel somewhat sorry for her. Today's issue was electioneering communications for campaign finances [HF 580]. It did pass, 82/15, but we were overdue for a debate. Rep. Reichert's bill for an Iowa propane education and research council was also attacked, on the basis that it appropriated money for a cause. The amount of money was rather minuscule, a tenth of a cent per gallon of propane, but the accusation had merit, in my mind. The bill had never gone through the Appropriations committee ... so there was quite a lively discussion about it on the floor. The bill [HF 556] ended up passing 67/29.

Day 7

2007-03-21T20:07:00.000-07:00

0800 - 1645

Various free things: ABATE of Iowa (a motorcyclist group) offered a breakfast this morning. Excellent stuff - apparently they had to get on a bus and leave Sioux City at 2:45 AM to get set up in time. As well as being the first day of spring, it was also Iowa Agriculture Day, and we were in full swing at the Capitol. The two Ag groups of the previous day returned, as well as turkey, pork, dairy, biodiesel, and poultry groups. There was enough free turkey salad, cheese, orange juice, eggs, cookies (with cranberries), and smokies to make a meal of it ... which I did. In addition to lunch, IAHPERD -- some sort of recreation organization -- popped in during the day. The CASA/ICADV, a coalition of groups opposed to sexual abuse and domestic violence, suddenly showed up wearing these bright red shirts, and they were furiously sending in messages attached to these folders of information. They would send in two or three at a time, which kept us popping up to place them on desks.

Once again, nothing revolutionary happened today. It's almost like there is the gigantic cloud of "right-to-work" hanging over all the bills we discuss. Since the House is only working on House bills this week, much of what we are discussing is old business that got set aside. Nothing controversial. A "energy city designation program" met some opposition that it limited benefits to rural areas, but that was only enough to grant it two 'no' votes. A beer keg registration bill passed with flying colors, although there was interesting discussion. One of the representatives hypothesized about his keg "showing up at a church social." A clerk joked, "He must be Catholic." It was pretty bizarre.

We went home on time. Thank goodness.

Day 6

2007-03-20T18:45:00.000-07:00

0800 - 1700

Another summary of lobbyist action -- The Iowa Department of the Blind served a breakfast including the tiniest muffins I have ever seen. They were free ... no doubt that had something to do with it. Ag Week continued with Soybean Day, and T-shirts, soy treats, and gigantic "soybean" exhibits. Palmer Chiropractic College provided a lunch ... so far, the best free lunch I've had. John Edwards visited the Democratic caucus today ... I sat in on his "pep talk" - 10 minutes, nothing original. No offense, but it wasn't a place to reveal new policies. It was interesting to see Mr. Edwards, though.

Legislation -- several bills were passed easily. Non-controversial, and so forth. The only two bills that saw any amount of debate today were an all-inclusive transportation bill and same-day voting registration. The transportation omnibus was controversial for its allowance of certain farm implements to drive on county roads, but a fee would be charged to the owners and would benefit the county. The bill passed.

The second bill would eliminate the 10-day pre-election registration period for voters in Iowa. There was a range of debate over this bill, mostly along party line, and some highlights follow. The bill would require a photo ID and certain proof of residence, as well as an signed oath certifying the legality of the vote. The Democratic supporters argued that the bill would improve voter turnout, especially among the coveted 18-25 demographic. It seemed from the arguments that the other beneficiary would be those who had recently moved to the state and had not had time to register. However, Republicans argued that the bill cheapened the voting process by simplification. Rep. Watts said, "It's up to the voter to inform himself!" Rep. Wortham questioned the voting judgment of anyone who failed to register previously to the deadline. Apparently, the model for the same-day registration was Minnesota, where 30% of voters do so same-day. Only seven other states currently allow this practice.

Rep. Wessel-Kroeschell's closing remarks raised an interesting question. She states that democracy is dependent upon allowing, even encouraging citizens to vote. However, don't the Constitutional principles of America center around individualism? Isn't democracy really dependent upon its citizens to be individually responsible? Also, is voting a right, or a privilege?

Regardless of the truth of the issue, the bill passed the House, 53-42. I will say that the debate was relevant and interesting - I look forward to more debates in the same line.

Day 5

2007-03-19T18:42:00.000-07:00

1030 - 1645.

This week is Agriculture Week at the Capitol. Today's feature was chooseiowa.com, a group supporting local growers and producers. They set up around the rotunda, so more free stuff -- just not food. The standard middle school groups were in attendance, and the Iowa Psychiatric Association had a lobbyist meeting today. The Iowa Department for the Blind provided the pledge-leaders ... we were offered hundreds of kolaches from Cedar Rapids, I think. They actually called it 'Kolache Day.' I had three - the cherry are the best. The other notable group was county supervisors ... there were quite a few wandering
around and contacting their representatives.

Legislatively, nothing happened today. Apparently, the chief clerk was sick, so no bills were debated. We convened at 1 PM, read Tuesday's bills, went into caucus and then committee, reconvened at 4:30, adjourned at 4:45. Somewhat boring.

This week I am the Sergeant-At-Arms, which is either the best or worst job of the page. If you enjoy being alone and not running bills back and forth, then S-A-A is the job for you. Normally, I would jump at the chance ... but I am realizing that the other pages provide company that is both valuable and enjoyable.

All in all ... another day, another dollar.

Day 4

2007-03-16T07:33:00.000-07:00

0800 - 1645.

Thursday was quite a surprise. Not all through the day, of course. There were many instances of "Capitol normalcy," i.e. school visits, lobbyists and so forth. Thursday's features were the Iowa Clean Water Association, who provided goodies and free lunches, Senator McCain sitting in on the Republican caucus, and a surprise visit by Gov. Culver. It was such as surprise that we had to read the paper to discover when and why he was coming: it turns out that he was signing the cigarette tax bill that the House had passed last Tuesday. There was much rejoicing, but we also got cake!

Today's actual session was relatively innocuous, even with the specter of the "right-to-work" debate hanging over our heads. When I parked in the morning, I walked into the Capitol with a Legislative Services Agency (LSA) page. She was hauling a sleeping bag and pillow, and told me she expected to stay the night. The discussion on the floor among the doormen was an all-night debate followed by more debate Friday. I heard anywhere from 140 - 400 amendments had been filed on the bill, so I well expected a long night. The House's actions during the day seemed prophetic of a long night as well: the Republicans were in a short caucus for about an hour, but the Democrats started caucusing at noon, delayed the 1:00 session, and did not come out of caucus until about 4:30. At that time, the House reconvened, and Majority Leader McCarthy requested adjournment of the House until Monday.

We were all stunned, of course, but in retrospect it appears that the Democrats did not feel they had enough votes to pass the bill. Even with the four-day session, I still put in 40+ hrs, so I am beginning to feel well-adjusted to the work as a page. I've made friends with the bill room clerks in both chambers, the House switchboard ladies, the doormen, and some of the other pages.

Summary of the week: cigarette tax passed, unamended, and was signed into effect. Right-to-work has been postponed, so I wonder if we will hear about it next week or if the wait will continue. I suppose we'll all have to wait and see. Until next week ...

Day 3

2007-03-16T07:21:00.000-07:00

0800 - 1800

Wednesday was not a long day, but I was so tired by the end of it I went to bed early. The manner of the day was really pomp and circumstance. In addition to the school children that normally frequent the Capitol, we celebrated St. Patrick's Day with a representative from the Irish Parliament giving a very moving speech. A former and current representative did a jig with an Irish flag, a clerk sang and strummed Danny Boy, and 300-some cookies were distributed.

Later in the day, an Irish-dance middle school group did their thing on the first floor ... those kids knew their stuff. Iowa Airports on the Hill served Blue Sky ice cream, and Kappa Delta Phi provided cheesecake. Excellent day for desserts all around.

The actual political process Wednesday was rather conventional. By conventional, I mean nothing radical was discussed, all of the bills debated passed, and so forth. We stayed until 6, not very late compared to what we expected was coming. Right to work, and all that.

Day 2 -- Cigarette Tax Debate

2007-03-13T20:36:00.000-07:00

0800 - 2145.

Today was long and warm (77º), so the summary will be just that -- summarily short. I felt like I was settling into the routine more today, and I didn't feel faced with anything too daunting. Since I am currently assistant-sergeant-at-arms, whenever the sergeant-at-arms goes on break or leaves for the day, I take his spot at the desk near the back of the room. It's a fun job, when its not boring, but when you aren't busy you can listen to the debates or talk to the doormen, who are remarkably interesting.

The actual house business today was alternatively interesting and tedious. Several bills passed unopposed, and we pages passed out a significant pile of admendments and revisions to the "big bill" of the day -- the cigarette tax. For a more comprehensive look at the debate during the day, check out this corresponding blog, written by a fellow page. I can tell you what happened after 5 PM, however. The cigarette tax bill's admendments were still being considered through 7:30ish, the bill went back to a financial committee (Approportianment), and was eventually changed to match Senate File 128, the Senate's corresponding bill. Sooner or later, the House got around to voting on the actual bill. I was one of the last pages to leave, but they had not quite voted by 9:45. I just tuned into the live House audio feed, and it appears that the cigarette tax has passed. More information later ... until then, stay cooler than the Capitol.

Day 1

2007-03-12T19:44:00.000-07:00

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 ...

Day 0.5

2007-03-11T14:52:00.000-07:00

Today was my page orientation at the capitol building. They told us to come to the House Chamber, but neglected to note that all the doors would be locked, since the Capitol is closed on Sunday. So another page and I walked all the way around the building before some session 1 pages let us in. That was strange.

The briefing was long ... it was somewhat haphazard, so I hope I learned everything that I was supposed to. I still have nearly no idea what I'm going to be doing tomorrow ... so I suppose we'll find out. Haven't learned anything of a political nature yet, but no doubt I will be overwhelmed tomorrow.

The drive is about 15 minutes, but there is little - no traffic on Sundays. Tomorrow could be bad. The other pages seem nice - they threatened a hazing, but didn't follow through. Yet.

I suppose that's all for today - tomorrow will be the fun's beginning. Don't miss it, because I sure won't.

New Beginnings

2007-02-14T15:43:00.000-08:00

Random thought: Is there such a thing as old beginnings?

First order of business - ethanol. Specifically, corn-based gasoline-replacement lobbyist-sponsored ethanol. Personal bias on the matter: I like ethanol. It helps my town (one ethanol and one biodiesel plant in progress), it helps my state (corn prices are skyrocketing), and it helps my friends (many of whom are farmers). However, I am still not wholly convinced of its merits, and so my judgment will be reserved until a later time. Since the ethanol/renewable energy debate is going to be a crucial part of the next elections, the issue has current merit for those outside of the corn belt.

Secondly - you may note that I have no previous blog contributions, at least here. This is a result of my poliblog transfer from xanga to this locale. All of my political ravings (and they are many) can now be released towards an entirely new audience, and my personal comments can live on at xanga. What joy doth fill my heart.

Tertiarially - (is this a word?) does anyone out there know about the FPSPI (Future Problem Solving Program International)? I am conducting an impromptu survey to determine the public awareness towards the program. If you don't know about it, check out our work in progress at Wikipedia.