I Didn't Break My Pinkie Promise!

See! I promised I would write again about what I do today at my internship site, and I haven't failed you (yet). Today, I sat in on a public affairs meeting at the Chamber. Arizona Senator Kimberly Yee came in and started off the meeting by discussing the 2017 Senate Majority Program. This program exists in hopes that it can serve as a framework of objectives to create opportunity and prosperity in Arizona. One of the most important goals of this program is to foster economic development and job growth, something Arizona has been very good at in recent years! Another important goal is to develop a strong education system. This involves the recent Prop 206 debate of rolling out funds for the prop and so on. This same idea goes hand in hand with a structurally balanced budget (another goal of the program) that can focus on K-12 education. Alongside this, Sen. Yee briefly discussed the idea of rewarding teachers who travel long distances to teach with bonuses, something Governor Doug Ducey supports.

One thing that caught my attention during Sen. Yee's talk was her discussion of voting and elections. She recounted her experiences during last year's elections in which the waiting lines to vote itself were so long that people were actually deterred from voting. It was interesting because people were actually much more involved in the recent election than in previous years, but despite their passion, the elections remained inaccessible to them. Sen. Yee spoke to the idea that a reform of the voting system is something that the Majority Program hints at significantly.

I'll end with one last tidbit of interesting information. During the meeting, the Chamber discussed the recent hot topic of Arizona's disability laws. Senator John Kavanagh and Representative Maria Syms have introduced legislation to tackle the problem of unnecessary lawsuits. In the last year, businesses faced several lawsuits claiming a violation of the Arizonans with Disabilities Act. These lawsuits usually result in huge payouts for the suer because, I imagine, of the sensitive nature of disability legislation. Sen. Kavanagh and Rep. Syms introduced two bills that would help combat this issue. Senate Bill 1198 tries to tackle the issue by giving businesses 60 to 90 days to fix compliance issues with the Disabilities Act. The bill would make it so that lawsuits can only be filed if businesses don't make any move to correct their violation of the law. House Bill 2504 focuses on the actual attorneys. It would allow courts to fine those who sued businesses just for the payout. 1198 is a pretty controversial bill at the moment, but people seem to be responding somewhat favorably to 2504. I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens.

Now onwards to my research! I plan on surveying the general public, elected officials, and lobbyists themselves about their perceptions surrounding the role and importance of lobbyists. The survey will probably contain seven to ten questions with short vignettes detailing a lobbyist’s work followed by a numbered scale from one to ten. The participant would then rate his/her perception of the lobbyist (one being “very displeased” and ten being “very appreciative”). More obscure stories will be given to lobbyists and legislators participating in the survey to minimize bias in their responses. At the end of the survey, participants will be asked to rate their overall understanding and impression of lobbyists along with their opinion of how significant they believe lobbyists are to the legislative process. The survey will also ask lobbyists how they believe they will be rated by the public.

So far, I have gathered a few anecdotes about lobbyists that I plan on using in the survey, but I'm still on the hunt for more obscure stories for the lobbyists and elected officials. Hopefully, I will be able to release a survey for the general public very soon. So look out for that. And make sure you take that survey! Because that would be nice and helpful. Unless you want to be unhelpful. In which case, I don't really know what to say to you.

Don't be that person.

Oh! And I hope you all have been enjoying the "What Day Is It?" section (to the right) that I've been writing/updating every day. With pictures. Just for you. In the wee hours of the morning. All to make your day happier. So be very grateful. 😁

Anyways, have an awesome weekend and see you next week for another funtastic post! Get it? Funtastic? Like fantastic except more fun? Ok, I'll stop now.