Budget Night: Part 1

Another day at the Senate: this time of the year where the budget negotiations begin are quite honestly some of the greatest of the entire session. The senators true colors of loyalty come out, and we are able to see who’s willing to cross party lines in a greater effort of trying to win over some budget pork for their districts.

This is always an interesting time because many of the session’s defining issues are brought forward as means of debating the compromises that will need to be made in order to pass the budget. This draws much criticism from both sides, as the public sees this backdoor deal making as the nefarious deeds that make people hate politics. I personally categorically disagree with that misunderstanding, and actually find the deal making my favorite part of democracy.

Having a senator being able to witness what his or her district needs, and being able to compromise and haggle for it is what our system is all about. Yes there are the grandiose speeches on the senate floor, that do little other than make us pages slowly drift asleep, but it is in these meetings with other legislators that the senators are truly at work. It is at these times where democracy is actually happening.

Career Services Event #1: Professional Etiquette

The first career services event that I went to was the Professional Etiquette that was held in UCENT 279. This event wasn’t terribly long, and basically just discussed the different ways to hold oneself on both social media and in real life during meetings with prospective employers. This also discussed how we can set ourselves apart from others during an internship and job fair.

This was good information, but much of it was things that I already knew and thus did not provide anything hugely substantial or new to my experience or understanding of how to better my employment future.

Free Write: Outliers, the Story of Success

As a free write, I would like to discuss a recent book that my ENG 216, Persuasive Policy Writing course has just begun called Outliers, the Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell.

The book is very interesting in that it discusses the various means in which there are different paths to reaching a point of success. Gladwell talks about how there are means of success, some being born into the right family, while others are simply rising into their careers at the right times in history. The most interesting aspect about this though was the success that was attained through those who followed the 10,000 hours rule. This rule essentially claims that anybody who practices something for 10,000 hours will reach a level of success—something that I find admirable in that it does not require your success to be tied to something that you cannot control, like your birth.

As I continue on with the rest of the book, I will keep updates on Gladwell’s commentary and different examples of success, but as of right now, I think this man is on to something great.

A typical day at the Senate

A typical day at the Senate is as follows: I arrive at 8am (more like 8:10, I swear it’s not my fault, the DASH bus always runs at strange times), and immediately go to work making sure that the Senate Coffee Shop is up and running. It’s very important of course that that coffee shop is functional, or otherwise Senate staffers would lose their mind by 10:30. I then proceed to work on a few constituent services cases. These often vary in degree of severity, with some simply asking for a pothole to be fixed or a speed sign hung up, and others asking for state aid with covering their medical bills or fighting against a corporation that has wronged them.

Following this, there is usually a lunch held on the Senate lawn hosted by one of the various lobbying and special interest groups. At 1pm, we proceed promptly to the floor for that day’s session. I serve as the Senate’s bill reader, so I sit in front of the President and control all of the senator’s mics, as well as maintain the pace of the legislation on the agenda. Following our time on floor, we then move on to the various committees of that day. These committees take up the remainder of the day, until 5pm, from which the Senate promptly wraps up.

Medical Amnesty

No matter the year, whether it be in the months prior to a presidential election or the year after midterm election, the youth in America are always counted out as being apathetic and uninvolved to the political process.

Well, that stereotype was just not true this past Thursday, February 19th, as over 100 ASU students came to the Senate to show their support of coming legislation. The bill, SB 1190, is sponsored by Senator Kelli Ward of Lake Havasu, but was spearheaded by former ASU student, Devon Mills. Commonly referred to as 'Medical Amnesty', the bill would grant protection to intoxicated minors and would give them access to medical help in case of an emergency without fear of citation or arrest. The meeting was held in Senate room 109, which is the smallest of the Senate hearing rooms, even though it was known that that day would see a surplus of visitors. Whether intentional or not, the image of concerned college students literally overflowing the Senate was quite a sight, and I believe carried some weight when the Senators in the Judiciary committee chose to cast and explain their votes.

I definitely agree with and support the medical amnesty bill, but just as Senator Bob Worsley stated in committee, I too am concerned with the potential message that this sends to college students who can possibly abuse this law and causing confrontation with law enforcement.
I just hope my fellow ASU students realize that even though that there was a great success that day as this bill passed out of committee, there is still a long road ahead before it becomes a law.

Utterly Disrespectful

Two days ago, a student, who out of the little respect I can give him shall not be named,who represents the ASU College Republicans, penned a letter to every Democratic elected official in the state of Arizona outlining his absolute discontent with their existence in their offices, while pursuing a goal that is in no means conceivable other than to merely antagonize people of a different party affiliation. He began the letter in a pretty respectful tone, that gives the reader a kind of uneasy feeling, not knowing the intent behind this letter. Shortly, into his second paragraph, this student goes on the offensive, stating how he and his fellow Glen Beck fan club members worked tirelessly to ensure that these Democratic officials did not return to their respective offices after the November midterms.

The letter goes on into detail about how wrong these Democratic members are, and how they are supposedly the cause for the present negative state of things in the state (Note: Democrats are in the minority in both legislative chambers, as well as not having a single elected member of their party at the statewide executive-level). Serving as a Page for the Democratic caucus, I greatly admire the many State Senators that I serve, regardless of party, but it truly bothers me when someone who just in their higher-position in a respected organization at the same university that I attend so rudely offends these elected officials, I feel almost guilty by association. Even though I in not a single way was involved with or even knows anybody who knows anybody involved with the writing of this letter, I still feel as if I needed to apologize to the Senators--ensuring them of the obvious, that ofcourse this one student does not represent ASU students as a whole.

To the student that wrote the letter I say this: Good luck getting into politics if you're already starting out your career by burning bridges.

My role

The Arizona Senate is the upper chamber of the Arizona Legislature, the state legislature of the US state of Arizona. The Senate consists of 30 members with each representing an average of 219,859 constituents. Members serve two-year terms with term limits that limit Senators to four terms for a total of eight years. The Senate Majority is currently held by the Republican Party led by Senate President, Andy Biggs of Gilbert, with the the Minority Democratic Party led by Sen. Katie Hobbs of Phoenix.


As a Senate Page, my role includes delivering correspondence and legislative material within the Senate building and around the Capitol complex. We also attend to the needs of the Senators while on the floor of the Senate Chamber during formal sessions, in standing committees and party caucuses. I have a particular role in the Senate serving in the Senate Democratic Caucus, as well as serving as the Senate's floor bill reader.