![\"Killer](\"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/atMicLeg2.jpg\")
<\/a>Killer amendments in disguise<\/p><\/div>\n
Of course, on the House Floor, I just explained the \u201cmakes the bill better for the little guys\u201d part, and, as I hoped, the author of the bill didn\u2019t recognize their killer nature. Great! The amendments pass even though I\u2019m just a freshman legislator going up against a seasoned veteran. Then I rise to speak again and tell my colleagues that even with these amendments, it\u2019s still a bad bill and should be voted down \u2013 which is what happened. When the afternoon floor session ends, as I\u2019m walking out the Chambers door, there\u2019s the lobbyist for the loan industry really mad: \u201cYou G\u2014Damn S.O.B.\u201d he says, \u201cYou killed my bill and made it impossible for any of your poor constituents to ever get a loan again!\u201d \u201cWell Joe,\u201d I said, \u201cyou know I told you I didn\u2019t like your bill, but you never came to visit me about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
That night the Housing Conference Committee which I am on (5 Senators and 5 Reps.) met for the last time and \u201cbuttoned-up\u201d the Housing Bill which had my million dollars in it. (To \u201cbutton-up\u201d means to take the last committee vote and nothing is suppose to change between then and the floor votes.) I am in TOTAL JUBLIATION for the day\u2019s successes! and go to the Holiday Inn next to the Capitol to hoist a cold one with any other legislators who happen to be around. After an hour I go back to the Capitol wanting to prolong the euphoria by soaking up the action in the other conference committees that hadn\u2019t buttoned-up yet. I run into the Chairman of the Housing Conference Committee: \u201cSay, I\u2019ve got some bad news for you, the Senate Majority Leader needed a million dollars for a program in his district, and since you\u2019re just a freshman, we took your million and gave it to him.\u201d \u201cYou can\u2019t do that!\u201d I protested, \u201cThe bill\u2019s been buttoned-up.\u201d But apparently they can.<\/p>\n
Tomorrow: Things Get Worse<\/p>\n
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Well, just a couple days before the session is over, I see that the bill is on the \u201cspecial orders calendar\u201d scheduled for a floor vote and I race over to the Majority Leader to see what\u2019s up. She … Continue reading