A Day in the Life
People often ask what the Legislature requires when we're not in session.
This week I left St. George Monday around noon for a meeting with the Utah Department of Transportation in Cedar City. From there, I went to Panguitch to meet with the Garfield County Engineer to talk about transfering roads from the State to the counties. Then, I went to Salt Lake City to check into a hotel. I spent most of the time on the road talking with fellow legislators about task forces and the upcoming interim meetings.
Tuesday morning, I had a tax policy task force at 8 a.m. From there, I went to a meeting for House/Senate leadership, a meeting of House leadership, a meeting of legislative management, lunch with other legislators, a meeting of the executive appropriations committee, a meeting with the Southern Nevada Water Association (I got there late and missed dinner that night -- though that practice probably wouldn't hurt me any), and, finally, a meeting with another legislator until 10 p.m.
Wednesday I had my education interim committee meeting, lunch with the majority caucus, afternoon meetings with legislators, and calls to constituents on the drive back to St. George (with a stop in Orem to get updates on my nephews' baseball, track and dating -- of which I suspect the first two were exaggerated and the latter under-reported).
This was an "interim week" -- which we have one week a month -- and involves more formal meetings than usual.
Next week, the only formal legislative meeting I have is the tax policy task force (all day). Other than that, I have an evening meeting with homeschoolers (I'm coming in character as President George W. Bush), a 5- or 6-hour meeting and tour with the local soil conservation district, a fairly quick conference call for a national committe I serve on, and a few miscellaneous meetings with constituents, agencies and interest groups. This is a fairly typical non-interim week. The rest of the week, I'll talk with caucus members, handle constituent correspondence and research (I probably get an inch-high stack of mail each day on legislative issues), and I'll try to finish catching up on my non-legislative work.
To stay on top of things, I started waking up at 4:00 a.m. in March. This is as awful as it sounds (sorry, farmers), but I am mostly managing to get to sleep earlier than I used to, and I do like the feeling of being ahead. The Whip role takes more time than I had figured, but it is enjoyable and well worth the missed sleep. All of this does, though, give me one more reason to smile when people tell me some stand will cost me my seat -- I'll sleep 'til noon.
This week I left St. George Monday around noon for a meeting with the Utah Department of Transportation in Cedar City. From there, I went to Panguitch to meet with the Garfield County Engineer to talk about transfering roads from the State to the counties. Then, I went to Salt Lake City to check into a hotel. I spent most of the time on the road talking with fellow legislators about task forces and the upcoming interim meetings.
Tuesday morning, I had a tax policy task force at 8 a.m. From there, I went to a meeting for House/Senate leadership, a meeting of House leadership, a meeting of legislative management, lunch with other legislators, a meeting of the executive appropriations committee, a meeting with the Southern Nevada Water Association (I got there late and missed dinner that night -- though that practice probably wouldn't hurt me any), and, finally, a meeting with another legislator until 10 p.m.
Wednesday I had my education interim committee meeting, lunch with the majority caucus, afternoon meetings with legislators, and calls to constituents on the drive back to St. George (with a stop in Orem to get updates on my nephews' baseball, track and dating -- of which I suspect the first two were exaggerated and the latter under-reported).
This was an "interim week" -- which we have one week a month -- and involves more formal meetings than usual.
Next week, the only formal legislative meeting I have is the tax policy task force (all day). Other than that, I have an evening meeting with homeschoolers (I'm coming in character as President George W. Bush), a 5- or 6-hour meeting and tour with the local soil conservation district, a fairly quick conference call for a national committe I serve on, and a few miscellaneous meetings with constituents, agencies and interest groups. This is a fairly typical non-interim week. The rest of the week, I'll talk with caucus members, handle constituent correspondence and research (I probably get an inch-high stack of mail each day on legislative issues), and I'll try to finish catching up on my non-legislative work.
To stay on top of things, I started waking up at 4:00 a.m. in March. This is as awful as it sounds (sorry, farmers), but I am mostly managing to get to sleep earlier than I used to, and I do like the feeling of being ahead. The Whip role takes more time than I had figured, but it is enjoyable and well worth the missed sleep. All of this does, though, give me one more reason to smile when people tell me some stand will cost me my seat -- I'll sleep 'til noon.
posted by steve u. at 5/21/2005
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2 Comments:
I am constantly amazed at how much time "part-time" legislators put into the job of representing their districts. Some make think when the legislature is out of session the Reps. are off duty. This is definately not the case. Our legislators deserve a big thanks from their consitituents for the time they put into being a legislator as the expense sometimes of family & "real" jobs.
Kate,
Be careful. As is, we're a little cramped in our temporary quarters. Bloat our egos any more and we might not fit into the place.
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