The Insanity that is the Arizona Legislature

At any given time, there are, in my opinion, at least 10 ridiculously insane bills in the Arizona legislature. 

As a progressive working in progressive politics, I spend most of my time actively opposing most legislation vs. proposing legislation. The truth is, very, very few Democratic bills are even ever brought up to be heard. 

To give you some examples, SB1318 is a bill that just passed in the Arizona Senate and will surely pass in the House. The bill restricts women who receive health insurance on the federal exchange to receive any coverage for an abortion, with the exceptions of the health of the mother and in the case of rape or incest. Keep in mind, these are private insurance  companies they receive insurance from. It will undoubtedly be challenged by an organization like Planned Parenthood who will probably win and overturn it. 

Another example is a bill that has not yet passed, but has made it through Senate subcommittee, which is SB 1445. SB 1445 which prohibits the police to release the name of any officer involved in a shooting for three months. I understand that this is being proposed with the idea of keeping the officer and his/her family safe, but it's a terrible bill and terrible idea. Police officers are public servants and we deserve transparency in government. Not to mention we live in a state with a less than ideal report card when it comes to discrimination issues. 

These are just two bills I've discussed. If I started listing and explaining all of the anti-secular and anti-labor bills up for consideration my blog could become a thesis. 

As President Obama once said, "This is why we fight-in hopes of a day we no longer need to."

Career Services Event-Employer Panel

Yesterday, February 18, 2015, I had the opportunity to attend a workshop sponsored by Career Services Department. It was called Employer Panel: Nonprofit & Government Careers. Five guests sat on the panel and discussed various aspects of their individual careers. Those individuals were Holly Langley from the Department of Homeland Security, Arin Lopez from the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Arizona, David Parziale from the Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits, Holly Prasetio from the Maricopa County-Office of Public Defense Services, and Shannon Scheel from the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Each panelist discussed their education and background and how they had come to the careers they currently serve in. While I wish there would have been more time reserved to ask them questions and speak with them, I did appreciate everything they had to say and did find it quite informative. Most of them emphasized how important volunteer work is. As someone that has volunteered for various organizations for several years and have had excellent experiences and opportunities because of it, I completely agree and was that much more receptive to everything else they had to say. They discussed the ups and downs of their jobs, many of which I've thought about, but several I never had. And they gave some great tips on how to succeed in each of their respective fields.

I enjoyed the panel and felt enriched by it, if nothing else, these are fantastic contacts that I would feel comfortable reaching out to in the very near future. Throughout my career, I have learned and come to appreciate how key networking is. Should there be another similar panel, I would happily attend again.

A shot of the panel

Mi Amor

For my free write, I thought I would take the opportunity to write about the love of my life, Jose Alonso-Dias Terrazas. I wanted to write about the person and relationship I love most in my life.

Jose and I met over 10 years ago. I was living in Lawrence attending the University of Kansas and working at a retail store part-time. He worked at the store next door and would occasionally come in to buy sodas. I had a pretty mighty crush on the guy. We would flirt a bit whenever he came in and eventually he asked if I would like to come see his band play. I love music, especially local, and was all about it.

The two of us 10 years ago. 

From there, we hit it off. I was crazy about him. He made me laugh and continues to, like no one else ever has or does. I'm incredibly attracted to him. The chemistry is palpable. We dated for a few months and while things never sizzled out, sometimes things just don't work out with young people. He started dating another and I moved to Arizona-we went our separate ways. I thought about him throughout the years. Eventually, some months ago, I decided to reach out to him via the internet. We immediately reconnected and it was it as if time stood still in that we pretty much picked up exactly where we left off. We are now crazy in love.

A video of us from last month, January 2015. 

Did I plan on falling in love with someone 1,000 miles away? I did not. Love is like that, I suppose. I am sooooo glad I did though. He is truly wonderful and wonderful to me. I've never loved someone the way I love Jose. And I've never felt as loved by someone as I do him. While I am writing this blog about our love, there really are no words to describe just how intense our love is. He makes me swoon in every way. We want to share and spend our lives together-happily ever after.

This time, I even got an added perk, his son, Judah. I sometimes like to tease Jose that I'm only seeing him to become closer to Judah. The kid is maybe the sweetest little boy I've ever met. He's also super rad. I love Jose's mini-me.

A picture of me adoring his son, Judah. 

I can't express how thrilled I am about us growing together in the years to come. I've dated my share of creeps and I am proud to say my babe is not one of them. This one's a keeper. I suppose there's some truth to the saying, "You've got to kiss a lot of frogs, before you find your prince." There is no doubt about it, Jose is that prince.

A recent photo from January 2015. 

A Day in the Life with Arizona AFL-CIO

To describe a day with Arizona AFL-CIO is not difficult, but to describe a typical day is rather tough. I say that because my duties change very much from day to day. Part of the time I work at the Arizona AFL-CIO office and part of the time I work at the Arizona Legislature.

My schedule depends very much on the schedule of legislators and the Capitol. Since I am the Arizona AFL-CIO Legislative Intern, most of my work consists around tracking and analyzing bills that help or hurt our organization and unions as a whole, sitting in committee meetings pertaining to such bills, and meeting with legislators about these bills. These duties, of course, for the most part take place at the legislature.

I have several other responsibilities that take place at the office and sometimes involve going to meetings outside of the office. For example, earlier this week, I attended a meeting for an organization called the Arizona Justice Alliance in which we discussed reducing Arizona's budget allotment for the Department of Corrections through criminal justice and prison reform policies. And next week, I'll be attending a luncheon with Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema that is being held for executives of various supportive organizations. I will be attending with the Executive Director of Arizona AFL-CIO.

On Thursdays I spend a fair amount of the day prepping for our Friday legislative agenda meeting that takes place every Friday. The invited interested parties, nearly all union members, attend to learn about what is happening in regards to unions in the legislature. These meetings are held every Friday. I also am involved in the meetings on Fridays to welcome guests, ensure they have all of the proper materials such as the agenda.

Day to day work changes every day, but for the most part, one of these three different scenarios is what a day at my internship looks like.

Pictured at right: A current photo of me

Pictured at left:
A picture of the gallery, from my view, when the floor is in session.

To left: The organization that connects me with the legislature.

How School and My Internship Enhance Eachother

My internship and education have been complementing each other quite well lately. It's been interesting and rewarding to see my education reflecting and in the work I do and vice-versa.

As an example, yesterday, at the Capitol, on the lawn was an organization called NFIB-the voice of small business. I had never heard of it before. My boss, a lobbyist, told me that they were lobbyists. Later in the evening, in my Public Policy in the 21st Century class, lobbying was the topic of discussion, and my professor showed a video with a spokesperson from NFIB-the voice of small business! 

Another example of this was when the Professor, in that same class, showed the top 20 most powerful lobbying groups in the U.S. Congress, AFL-CIO was listed as the sixth. AFL-CIO is the organization I am currently working for. And I'm very proud to be doing so. 

Lastly, in a less obvious, but I feel more important topic is, reading about applying policy and then actually seeing how it happens in the work I do. It's one thing to read about policy and a very different thing to be participating in it. Hence this internship class, I assume. The textbook for my Public Policy in the 21st Century class discusses how lobbying and a bit of politics among the legislators works, but it doesn't go into much depth, at least in my opinion. It hasn't and probably won't discuss just how much depends on the legislators relationships with other legislators and the semi social contracts they have, in terms of whether they will or will not vote on a bill. 

I am excited to see how my internships and classes coincide throughout the semester. I am certain this is not the last of it. Nearly every day my lectures trigger something in my mind that relates to my work. I love the work that I'm doing and my education, particularly how the two apply to life.

Dr. Feeny-My "Policy in the 21st Century" professor 

Arizona AFL-CIO-
the organization I intern for.





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