Monday, March 7

As I've mentioned before, I am at the Sergeant-at-Arms desk.  While this may sound very important, it is actually... dull.  As a note is passed in from a lobbyist outside, it is put on the desk.  Then, I ring either the east or west page bell.  I also wait for the phone to "ring." I put ring in "quotations" because there is only a tiny light that flickers during an incoming call to alert me.  There wasn't a single call all day.  Or maybe there was, but I was tying my shoes.  What I accomplished was consolidating sticky notes, organizing the papers underneath the plastic top, peeling thousands of tiny, stubborn pieces of tape off of the desk, and straightening up the desk drawer (the little organizer is now taped to the bottom so it doesn't slide; there is a label for where the stapler goes; there are two push-pins for the holes in the scissors to be placed so it doesn't move...).  And I was even pushing the two buttons as I did all this!

Today there was a Lunch 'n Learn with Majority Whip Erik Helland.  His job is to make sure there are at least 51 votes for a bill before it reaches floor debate.  In other words, every single piece of legislation that will ever hit the floor will pass.  What the rep told me last week (Thursday) makes sense.

Speaking of passing bills, the House began doing a whole bunch of it today. HF 242, HF 348, HF 404, HF 465, HF 468, HF 474, and HF 494 were all debated and passed in 40 minutes.

If you want to think that sitting at the desk is important, go ahead. I won't stop you.