Treasurer's Office, March 1-12

The last two weeks in the office have been very busy so I am finally getting around to posting what has been going on here for the last couple of weeks. It looks like the entire month of March will be busy. The General Assembly begins spring break at the end of the month and there are several deadlines before then so everyone seems to be working overtime to get as much accomplished as possible.

Monday, March 1st, started the week off on a slower note but it did not last long. I doubled checked all of the committee hearing postings for the coming week to ensure that we were not missing any important bills and generally just prepared for the busy week ahead. Tuesday morning started off slower as well, but both the House and Senate began session at 12 that day and it was busy from then on out. Between session and running to committee hearings all afternoon, it was 6 o'clock before I knew it and I left the office sometime after that.

Wednesday once again proved to be the busiest day of the week in the Capitol. Committee hearings started at 8 and ran all day for both the House and the Senate, except for when the were in session. I came in early in an attempt to catch Senators before the went to committees to speak with them about our bills that were in committees. There were so many of our bills in committee that week in the Senate that it was almost hard to keep track of what bill I was speaking to who about. I fortunately talked to 2 senators before they went into committee and caught one between committee hearings, all who said they would vote positively in committee for the bills. After running around after Senators, (Brittany and I often joke that we stalk legislators because it is almost impossible to catch them in their office on busy days. You really do have to track them down by checking with their secretaries, checking committee hearing times, etc.) I went to the House Judiciary I committee (Civil Law; Judiciary II is criminal law) which lasted almost 2 hours, right up until the time session began. While I often enjoy listening to the committees, those that run for 2 hours can sometimes seem to drag on. I then came back to the office to listen to the House in session and catch up on all of the emails that had accumulated in my inbox while I was out almost all morning. Session started late and ended late, throwing off all of the committee hearing times for the rest of the afternoon. Eventually everthing got back on schedule though. The Senate was a different story however. Committees were up to two hours behind and one of the Treasurer's staff based in Chicago was in town to testify about a bill in committee (one of the several I had been lobbying prior to the hearing). The bill was finally called around 5:45 that evening and fortunately passed out of the committee with no issues.

Thursday mornings are typically very busy and this one was no different. Because legislators often drive home after session on Thursday afternoon, they try to squeeze in as much as possible in the morning. I was in by 8 and went to several committee hearings, followed by listening to the full House for over two hours in the afternoon. Thursday afternoons are often quiet after legislators leave, but the Senate stayed later than usual. Because of this, I ended up in a Senate appropriations hearing for 2 and a half hours. With the financial crisis the state is facing, one proposed budget would cut funding to all state agencies and constitutional officers by 10%. Colleen asked me to go to the committee to listen to who was testifying, what they were saying, etc. However, 8 state agencies were slated to testify before they even got to constitutional officers. In the time I was in committee only 6 agencies testified before the committee recessed for the night. While appropriations hearings are not the most thrilling way to spend a couple hours, it was extremely informative. It is amazing what money is spent on and how much by certain agencies.

I often like Friday mornings because the building is quiet after a busy couple of days and preparing for the next week keeps me occupied for all of the morning and part of the afternoon. Colleen was also nice enough to let Brittany and I leave earlier that day because we had put in extra hours throughout the week. Great way to end the week!


Monday the 8th was a slower beginning to what turned out to be another very busy week. Friday the 12th was the deadline for the House to get bills out of committee so hearings ran long all week as legislators tried to get their bills out. Barring an extension being granted to get a bill out, any bills not making it out of committee by the deadline are dead. This also made committee hearings rushed, in addition to running longer. The GA was not in until Tuesday though, which allowed everyone to get ready for the rest of the week. While the day was slower, I found out that the Senator I lobbied to co-sponsor one of the Treasurer's bills had in fact signed on to the bill. This development wasn't anything of great importance in the grand scheme of things, but it was the highlight of my day to know that I was successful in speaking with the Senator and I had been an asset to the office in a more tangible way.

Tuesday started quickly, as I had a meeting right away in the morning to meet with a representative about Treasurer's bills. Three of our bills were in House committees that week so our team was kept busy trying to track down Reps. The representative I spoke with would hear all 3 of the bills (one in one committee and two in another) so I spent a decent amount of time speaking with him. He promised to vote favorably on two of the bills, but would not guarantee anything about the third (A bill that would regulate Debt Settlement companies in Illinois), saying he wanted to hear both sides testify in committee before making a decision. I was a little surprised to hear this, as he supported the legislation when I originally spoke with him about it. As it turns out though, all of the Republican committee members (including this Rep.) turned out to be in opposition of the bill even though we had spoken with all of them. After leaving his office, I once again began my stalking measures to track down other Reps. that would be hearing our bills. I managed to speak with one of the phone before caucus began at 11 and then Session began again at 12. Tuesday afternoon is always busy with hearings so I went to several. The debt settlement bill is in the Consumer Protection committee that afternoon, but because I had to attend another hearing I was not able to listen to that particular committee. Testimony and questioning of our bill lasted over an hour and a half. I was nervously waiting back in the office to hear what happend. Sheleda was texting me updates and because testimony was taking that long it did not look good. Even though we recieved assurances from almost everyone on the committee that they were supportive of the bill, there were enough no votes to defeat the legislation, much to our disappointment. Our office worked really hard to ensure the bill's passage but it simply wasn't enough.

Wednesday started off early again with committees beginning at 8. I went to committee at 8 and then went to Judiciary I again at 9, which lasted until 11:30 when session began. Again, deadlines to get bills out equaled very long committees all week. The House was in session only briefly because the Governor was set to give his budget address at 12. Brittany and I attended the address along with Paul, the deputy Treasurer (the Treasurer attended as well, but he sat on the floor- our seats were in the gallery). Compared to the State of the State address, the budget address was almost an hour shorter. Gov. Quinn got right to the point and then made a quick exit. The third floor was packed with media trying to get interviews with people coming off the floor, so Brittany and I went back to the deserted second floor to avoid some of the traffic. Because of this, we actually ran into the Governor surrounded by media and state police as he was doing his best to make it back to his office quickly. A small scuffle occured between a reporter and an officer who was trying to push the reporters out of the way. With the address being so short, the House went back into session until committees began at 2 again. The Treasurer testified in front of two House committees that afternoon while he was in town- an appropriations hearing and the State Government committee hearing. The state government hearing heard the other 2 bills our team had been lobbying earlier in the week and thankfully both passed out of committee with no problems. I left the office around 6:30 that night which was actually much earlier than I had expected.

Thursday was busy again (surprise, surprise). I thought I would have to be in early for committee hearings, but everything was pushed back until 9 so it was nice to not be in early. After being in another 2+ hours hearing, the House went into session for over 4 hours. I usually find listening somewhat entertaining (House members seem much more prone to lively debate than the Senate- at least in my experiences so far) but after listening for over 4 hours I was getting a little tired/bored/worn out. There were more committee hearings for both the House and the Senate after session but everything wrapped up pretty early and I left around 6.

Friday are normally quiet- except for days when there is a deadline. Our office spoke with the sponsor of our Debt Settlement legislation and after working out a few concessions on our part we managed to get the bill in front of committee again. The hearing lasted long again, almost an hour, and would have gone longer had the Reps. not had session to get to. The bill passed out of committee, but with the agreement that bill would not move any further until an amendment was drafted and brought back in front of the committee. There is still a long road ahead to get the bill passed. Both the House and the Senate were in session until about 1 that afternoon so listening kept me busy. The rest of the afternoon was very quiet!