Whoopsie!

So I was in the Senate Insurance Committee this morning and there was a piece of legislation that came up that was a bad bill, but was pretty uneventful. Well, the Committee Chair had discussed the proposal with various parties and was told by the lobbyist representing the group primarily impacted by the proposal that they didn't mind it and wouldn't raise a fuss if the bill was heard.

Unfortunately, something must've happened between that original discussion and today's committee, because that lobbyist proceeded to get up and say how much their group opposed the proposal and that they were under the impression the bill wasn't going to be heard and just flat out didn't like it.

Now, I don't know if there will be any repercussions for that lobbyist's actions, but I just wanted to point that out as something that a lobbyist really shouldn't do. Telling a Committee Chairman that you have one position in private, then taking the exact opposite publicly probably won't endear you to that legislator (or their friends). I'll follow this one pretty closely.

Client meeting

So I've got a strategy meeting with my client today. Should be a pretty good meeting. We'll go over the piece of legislation they want. Fortunately, there are other interested parties and the bill is authored by the Committee chairman where the bill was assigned. Because of that fact, it's really about making sure the client's main interest points in the bill stay intact, and maybe see if there's other related language they'd like to try and insert.

The bill hasn't been scheduled yet, but I'll be meeting with the Committee Chairman on Thursday to discuss.

Cult of arrogance

I generally don't pay attention to the news, but this morning, I was watching our local NBC affiliate and it had a story about Gov. Blagojevich's impeachment trial. The gal questioning him asked him what he thought when he heard the news of the charges. He said he thought of his children and his wife, then he thought of "Nelson Mandela and MLK to keep it in perspective". Holy cripes! You, Governor are being threatened with being removed from office due to an "alleged" abuse of power for selfish purposes. MLK & Mandela were arrested for selfless acts for a greater cause. What arrogance to even mention those leaders when describing what you're going through. I feel sympathy for your children and wife, but mostly I am amazed you made it as long as you did...

Entertaining

So last night, I went with a couple of fellas to the Butler University Basketball game. How refreshing. These guys weren't pro athletes, but they put on one of the best basketball games I've seen in quite a while. Watching a game at Hinkle Fieldhouse is exciting in, and of itself, but to watch players of that caliber play the way basketball was intended, was pretty swell.

I believe there may be been two dunks the entire night, but quite a bit of passing and ball movement. Nice outside shooting and aggressive inside play made it fun to watch. I will definitely be heading back.

The best part was some kid in the student section who was a bit overweight with a blue wig on who was just having a blast. He got to out during one of the timeouts and take three shots from half-court for a restaurant gift-certificate. The poor guy hit the rim all three times, but just couldn't sink one. I think it was the wig.

Revolving doors

Yesterday, the House Insurance Committee met. Pretty normal meeting. There were three bills. One of them was a mandate for hearing aids. A couple of people from the general public testified and all were respectful. One of the ladies was pretty fired up, but did a nice job.

The best part of the meeting came when former State Rep. Mike Ripley testified on a bill. He was a member of the committee last year and now serves as the health lobbyist for the Indiana Chamber of Commerce. He got a good-natured ribbing from his former committee and was all in good fun.

Regardless of one's feelings on "revolving doors", Mike is a great guy and will be a great lobbyist. The public are told by the media that revolving doors are a bad thing and imply that there is something wrong with the practice. I've been at the Indiana Statehouse for over 10 years and while I obviously can't say it's never happened, but I can say that I've never seen a former legislator be given preferential votes for his or her issue.

They may be friendly with their former colleagues and they may have a more revealing conversation with their former colleagues, but legislators will continue to vote their conscience (or their caucus directives) regardless of the advocacy of a former legislator. Just my two cents.