Winding down...

The most important thing that I have learned this summer is the legislative process. I started out the summer by shadowing meetings with lobbyists to discuss language of bills, and from there I saw those amendments with my daily task of updating our office's bill tracking list. Through attending several utility committee hearings, I got to witness the bills our office has been working with be discussed and voted upon. From there, many bills were sent to appropriations. I never attended appropriation hearings, but through our email updates, I got to see some of those bills get sent to the floor and then to the Governor's desk. It has been a really interesting process to get exposed to; I never really had a sense of state politics until interning at a state office.

This experience has definitely made me more interested in a future in politics. This is not to say I would ever run for a legislative office, but the aspect of dealing with language particularly interests me. I find it completely fascinating how many ways different words can be interpreted and how particular words may make a huge difference in whether a bill be supported or opposed.

To all those soon to be interns out there -- don't be afraid to ask to shadow your supervisor's during their meetings. Although I was given a lot to read to give me a background of what our office does, shadowing meetings is where I learned the most.

The best part of my job was definitely getting to dip my hands in a little bit of everything that the office does. I had the oppurtunity to help staff a bill, do some research on different programs the the PUC regulates, update the office's bill tracking, etc. I feel as though I have a pretty good sense about the PUC and what the office does for the consumers.

I'm not sure if I would change anything; I feel as though this has been an amazing learning process and all of the things I know now required time for it all to really absorb.

Time sure does fly! We're almost done! :O

Pessimism at its Finest

Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up, and shake off the existing government, and form a new one that suits them better. This is a most valuable - a most sacred right - a right, which we hope and believe, is to liberate the world.
-Abraham Lincoln

I think that this quote by Abraham Lincoln is really interesting... Interesting because although this theory may have worked back in the day when, for instance, America was gaining it's independence from England, I'm not sure if this theory would necessarily be applicable in today's America. This is not to say this theory wouldn't work in other modern countries in the world -- to all those countries who are living under terrible conditions due to their government, more power to you. However, America is an interesting case because it has become such a superpower in the world that it is hard to see the government going through a substantial change; to us, it's a big deal when the opposing party gains majority! Even if changing the party majority can be interpretted as change to the government, I'm not sure if this would necessarily "liberate the world" as well. America more or less has faced the same problems due to bipartisanship. I know this sounds really pessimistic, but I feel like this (in terms of America) is more of an idealogy.. It's seems to be a lot more difficult when practiced. I'm speaking, however, in terms of America as a whole; local governments and issue specific groups (like enviromental groups) might be a lot better at changing the world through changing the government because they know the needs of their community.

I am not sure as to whether this quote really applies to what I particularly am doing in Sacramento; because the PUC primarily works with regulating utilities, I'm not quite sure if this is to say that we are trying to bring substantial change to the government. The PUC does work with the policy that affects the consumers, so in that sense, the PUC is ensuring the government adopts the right measures that will be most beneficial for consumers.

Cooling down...

I suppose the weather gods saw my complaint last week regarding the really hot weather and have let it cool down. Thank goodness! It's beautiful here now! Not too hot and not too cold.

Life at the PUC has been cooling down a bit as well as it nears the time for the legislature to go on recess. Today, we're going to be wrapping up talking to the legislative director for the bill I'm working on in order to figure out amendments for the bill. I'm not quite sure what the office works on when the legislature goes to recess, so it'll be interesting to see how the future weeks will pan out. Although the office has been slowing down substantially this past week, I've been working on a lot of smaller projects to get a few things organized, like creating checklist spreadsheets so we know who we sent our memos to and who we still need to send them too.

Something that I have found to be really helpful in working at the PUC is learning about all of the programs for low income households. I had no idea thatnthere were so many programs out there that people could apply for to get discounts on utility bills. I learned about these programs through an earlier project that I was assigned. It's really helpful to be aware of such programs because as a college student who will be living off campus, my roommates and I would love to save every dollar that we can! I researched three programs that most college students would more than likely qualify for! :)

Have a lovely weekend everyone. Bye!
Jaimie

Things Sure Are Heating Up...

Literally. The part I was admittedly most afraid of (this extremely unbearable heat) has officially hit! I do believe my new best friend is the AC... & the pool, when it has not been infested by mosquitos and bees!

Anywho...

Although I am not sure as to whether this tidbit of information about the Capital would count as history, I want to share it anyways. In the door to the staircase next to the Director of Finance's office, the hall that the door opens up into doesn't have windows! It is extremely muggy in that tiny hall, and it is filled with bugs. The hall leads to the door to the actual staircase, and the staircase smells really strange and is filled with a ton of dead bugs. I just thought that it was really strange to design to the Capital building in that manner, to have a hallway that has no windows. Check it out sometime, it's kind've gross. :)

I was at the Senate Energy, Utilities, & Communications Committee Hearing yesterday (7/05), and I must admit that Senator Wright (who is a member on the committee) was the most interesting person I have observed this week, as he evidently likes to use humor to make a point. From saying things such as "evidence my foot" and making a reference to Ray Charles (and how even Ray Charles could see his point), I found his comments to be an admittedly unconventional way to strike down points of views of other people. Although it makes no difference whether I agree or disagree with his tactics, he did bring a bit of laughter in the room (because of the "oh my goodness, did he just really say that" shock factor) which definitely helped because the Senate room had been packed with people and overbearingly hot with body heat. I found him to be interesting because during orientation week, some people had made it a point to tell us that you should not take yourself too seriously, and Senator Wright definitely seemed to embody that yesterday.

Unfortunately, I haven't worked on much thus far. I was in committee hearings all day Tuesday and had to leave early for class. Today will probably prove to become a little more interesting, we have our legislative subcommittee with the San Francisco office later today, and we will establish our office's recommended position on several bills, including the bill that I have been working on!

Adjusting to full-time, office life has been a different experience. I will not say that is has been easy adjusting to such a change, but being exposed to it has definitely been an necessary eyeopener. What has admittedly proven itself to be the most challenging aspect of working full-time is the times when I am waiting: waiting for someone to respond to an email so that I can continue a project, waiting for the next meeting to come, or simply waiting for a new project to be assigned to me. Because it's very quiet in this office, waiting can grow quite tiresome. However, with that aside, there are many beneficial aspects of working as a full time intern. Although this may seem a bit strange, I think that it is so cool that I have my own cubicle, computer, and load of office supplies in my little space. It makes me feel like I'm actually part of this office! Another cool aspect of being a full-time intern is the fact that I have the oppurtunity to attend all of the lobbyist meetings and committee hearings with the rest of the OGA staff; I get to experience all aspects of this office and the work they do here.

Until next time!

Jaimie