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.
Pictured at right: A current photo of mePictured 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.
That job sounds like you get to meet a lot of very interesting and influential people. Have you learned anything new while attending legislature meetings? When you work with the unions do they seem responsive to political ideologies as well? Or are they only concerned about protecting their interests? I feel like there needs to be better communication between legislature and the union. Sounds like an awesome place to go to work!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your comment, Cameron. I am learning soooo much! It's great and exactly what I was hoping for with this internship. While a union maintains a non-partisan position, if I were to be completely honest, we tend to stand with Democrats because they far more often support and oppose the policies that we also support and oppose. However, an example I'll give in which they maintain acting in their best interest is targeting Kyrsten Sinema to oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership bill as she has not publicly relayed her position. Better communication would be great, but the truth is, when the Republican legislature sees anything having to do with a union on a bill, they won't even bring the bill to committee. We have excellent communication with several of the Democratic legislators, but try to stay behind the scenes.
DeleteHey Charlie!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog, it is amazing how close we work but in different aspects!
My view during floor session is opposite, if you've ever been to a session you've probably seen me. The Pages literally stand around the circumference of the floor during session and we often joke that we feel like Secret Security. Your position sounds amazing and I love that you include pictures which definitely makes your blog very personable. I look forward to reading more about your time with AZ AFL-CIO and if you ever see me around the Capitol don't be afraid to say hello! :)