Meetings with Legislators

This week another intern and I attended meetings for the first time without Causa's Executive Director or the lead Policy Organizer. We had been going to many meetings before with both or one of them but because they have multiple duties within the organization there have been times when they cannot be with us. At first I was very nervous to be on my own in these meetings because I have not yet learned everything about the process of getting a bill to pass in the legislature. Some legislators ask where the bill is going to be "dropped" (introduced in the House or Senate), what is the LC number (legislative concept), what committee is it going to be under, who is going to sponsor it, etc. Not to mention having to answer questions about the particular language of the bill or giving answers as to what would best work for the 160,000 Oregonians that would benefit from this bill we are lobbying for. It is a lot of pressure to say the right things to persuade key legislators to support a bill! I must say though that I am extremely proud of myself for my performance on Friday during a meeting with a Representative that I was warned about prior to the appointment. I was told he was not moveable on this issue and that he would likely not be willing to hear us, but the meeting turned out to be okay. I was able to bring 6 of his constituents that I met when I attended a luncheon for a county political party gathering. The Representative was very attentive to his constituents' concerns and was very transparent about his position on the issue. Being in as many meetings as I have been in so far, being direct is a very respectable trait for a person in public office. Even though he was not initially supportive of the issue, I was glad he took my recommendation of talking to other Representatives in his caucus about the issue. Hopefully, his caucus members are able to persuade him into being more open-minded.