On Tuesday, I returned back to the State House for Day 2 of budget week. I began the morning going through newspapers from the Hamilton/Wenham and Ipswich areas. While going through the newspapers it is my job to look for any article or picture which highlights any accomplishment that a constituent has achieved. Each paper usually has about 4 or 5 good articles and or pictures. After finding good pictures I then write that constituent a letter congratulating them on their accomplishment. Every letter also ends with Rep. Hill’s contact information and encourages the constituent to contact his office with questions or issues. This is a very good way for Rep. Hill to get his name out to the communities and to also stay connected with the electorate. After finishing up the newspaper letters I returned back to the House floor for the ongoing budget debates. Today, the members debated about collective bargaining and illegal immigration. One interesting thing I learned about today was the roll call vote. A roll call vote occurs when enough members from each section of the chamber (four sections) decides the issue is important enough to vote on. When this happens a roll call vote is called and each rep. has 4 minutes to report to the chamber to vote (I also did not know that a rep. could leave the chamber when the debates were occurring). In closing, it was another interesting day on Beacon Hill. Little did I know that things would get a bit more interesting about 8 hours after I left the state house.
