To start of my first day, I met Ms. DeVivo and Ms. Sams at the General Assembly. They together, created a lobbying firm that is currently thriving in the Triangle area. They are hired by a variety of clients and address issues ranging from education to healthcare to the environment.
Today, I followed them as they met with a Representative regarding a bill that addresses healthcare reform. They were able to use the Representative’s insight into the state of local hospitals and advocate for their client based of the insight that he had. Later, I followed them as they went to meet with another Representative regarding a bill that discusses the environmental concerns within the transportation and city planning sectors. They met with him to express their concerns regarding a specific bill and expressed their desire for his support to counteract the proposed bill. After this, they had a meeting with a group of people all involved in the process of both passing and counteracting the bill and tried to discuss means to compromise and find alternative solutions.
Overall , I felt that today was extremely eyeopening. Being involved in local government affairs allowed for me to see the all the little parts that helps our towns and cities afloat. While Ms. DeVivo and Ms. Sams were worried that today was going to be kind of a slow day for me, I found it to be pretty eventful and already such an incredible experience.
