At the beginning of the first day of the session, it was evident that the pages were not the only people who did not know what they were doing. Of the hundreds, perhaps millions of people crammed into the suddenly small space, many were brand-new to the show. For example, our first task was to pass out papers to all the desks. Upon completion, we realized that instead of a single sheet, it was supposed to be a three-page packet. We hastily picked the papers back up, much to the dismay of several representatives, and tried again. As they arrived, several legislators asked us to retrieve boxes of files etc. from their vehicles - we finally figured out where the heck they had parked (e.g. I was told to look for a Honda CRV while holding a key to a Chrysler).
The first order of business was to vote in the Chief Clerk and the Speaker. Next, each legislator's name was read off along with their district number and they were all sworn in. Then the majority leader (R) went through the motions of making several motions to notify the governor and senate that the house was "ready for business". The formalities followed were gruelingly... grueling.
The rest of the day was - slow. They recessed over lunch hour (11:30-1:45) during which we had almost nothing to do. Near the end of the day, we carried 166 boxes, each containing the entire State of Iowa Code, across the chamber to a small office. All in all, I really did have a good day. I am looking forward to being busier in the future.
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