Week Three...

Since I am playing catch up on the blog writing I will give you the run down of this week. Monday mornings are pretty slow committee wise but gives me a chance to work on constituent services. A new duty I was assigned this session. It's very interesting we get to do research on constituent issues that the Senators have received. It's amazing to see the concerns many citizens have within the state and how many people don't know the difference between what state handled issues and city handled issues are - It's only been a few weeks and I have learned so much about what the state can do and what the city, county etc can do. Senate wise its been a pretty slow week- Senator Bundgaard's seat was finally filled this week- so we have a full house now. On the floor we have only had first and second reads so nothing too interesting debate wise has happened. However, tomorrow is usually when we have committee of the whole and depending on what the bills that are being voted on are, there maybe some interesting debates. Until next week...

First Day Back...

Being back in Arizona in general was fairly weird for me but returning to the Senate that was an entirely different feeling, it was almost like coming back home. Being that this is my second session I walked in with a lot more confidence and a lot more excitement. I started the first day session started which was nice- no orientation needed. Seeing all the new pages and how nervous they were reminded me so much of my first day. So I tried my very best to put them at ease. The first day was fairly easy. I was selected to be reader for the session, which is a ton of fun. Since floor session doesn't normally start until 1:30- I used the morning to help some of the newer pages out with their duties and to inform them of what was expected of them. The first day of session is slightly different since its more like the Olympics' opening ceremonies and even more so this session since the State Senate now has a new Senate President.  Watching President Pierce take his place at the Rostrum was a very momentous occasion- its almost like a new beginning for Arizona. As a reader during this session I didn't get to do much but turn mics on and off. The afternoon was my first day as the page on the National Resources and Transportation Committee. Should be interesting since this is my first time on this committee and AZ takes their natural resources very seriously. The rest of this session with a new Senate President and new senators coming in should be interesting.