Yesterday I wrote about how sometimes lobbyists have slow days where most of the day seems to be spent waiting for representatives and senators to have a free moment. Today was the opposite, with the day being so busy that my lunch had to be held off until around 3:00. My day began again at 9:15 where I met Ms. Devivo and Ms. Sams at the Legislative Building. Ms. Devivo briefly explained to me that her company had acquired another client and we soon found ourselves in a meeting with someone related to this clients business. Then we left for a Judiciary Committee hearing regarding fantasy sports and gambling. The bill which was up for debated was designed to designate any sort of fantasy sports activity as specifically not gambling but instead as a game of skill. I watched with fascination as both conservatives who were morally opposed to gambling and liberals who were concerned with poorer constituents bluntly stated their objections to the bill. Ms. Sams quietly explained to me that this was a rare occurrence as the most liberal democrats and the most conservative republicans were lumped together in opposition of the bill while generally everyone more moderate was theoretically in favor of the bill. After about an hour of discussion the sponsors of the bill pulled the legislation from debate in fear that it would likely be killed by the committee’s vote. Then, we visited a committee meeting focused on HB 512 – a bill designed to allow Mecklenburg County to establish a series of charter school in its municipalities. To be honest this debate seemed a little less intriguing to me but it had greater implications to the work of Ms. Sams and Ms. Devivo. Afterwards we talked with another lobbyist who appeared to be implicated with the new client. My most memorable moment came next as Ms. Devivo and I crammed ourselves into a callbox to talk with the new client. It was so interesting to me as I got to hear the client explain the company, issue, and what they needed to Ms. Devivo. The call lasted around 45 minutes and the box we were stuffed into measured to be 34 inches wide and 40 inches deep… It was cozy to say the least.
