Author: ivanp685

No. I’m not a lobbyist now. lol. But it was a whole lot of fun learning how lobbyists operate and what I have learned will definitely help me later on in many different facets. After the day started with a hangout in the telephone room the gang headed over to representative Justin Burr’s office for a chat and some help with the car bill they’ve been working on. Then we talked with Senator Ralph Hise on the same issue and afterwards we met with a man from the NC Automotive Dealers Association. Before I left for good Ms. Devivo and Ms. Sams were kind enough to show me the floor of the Senate. Because the Senate was about to be in session I had to have an official invite me in and take my photo. The whole experience was awesome. Then I had a fun talk with Senator Milton Fitch, Jr.  A little bit after I exchanged goodbyes with both of my bosses and left for good. 

 

Thank you guys! I promise I’ll be around the legislature to see y’all 🙂

 

My day began in the call room as Ms. Devivo and I again crammed into a telephone box to make another call to the car clients. However, we only occupied that 34 x 40 in room for around 12 minutes this time. Then Ms. Sams. entered the box with both of us for a quick conversation. I almost felt the need to hold my breath as it seemed like the oxygen levels in the call box were plummeting. A lot of the work that these two have regarding their car client involve changing one sentence in the bill which appears to possibly have a different function than intended. Multiple meetings involving several lobbyists and members of the industry were interspersed into the day. A little before lunch Ms. Devivo walked into a pop-up dermatology clinic at the legislature to have her skin checked for free. While Ms. Devivo was away Ms. Sams told me that often times medical practitioners will offer free services to everyone in the legislature in order to promote their cause. Thankfully, as stated by Ms. Devivo these doctors “found nothing, but looked hard.” After lunch we went to a meeting held by the NC Board of Education in order to check up on charter school issue. Ms. Devivo explained to me that they represent a charter school company with three schools specifically intended for drop-out students. The State must grade every charter school however these schools are subject to an unfair standard given their student population. Thus added provisions needed to be added in order to set a fair standard for these schools. Luckily no board members contested this provision. 

Today was a somewhat slow day again for Devivo and Sams Policy Partners. However, it began in opposite fashion as early in the morning we had a short meeting regarding our car-clients from last week. Then we had a short meeting with some more new clients. They were chiropractors who needed some sort of representation within the legislature, but I couldn’t glean any more than this. Afterwards our day consisted of several short meetings with different lobbyists and representatives regarding a car-software bill set to be voted on this week by both houses of the legislature. In between these meetings we killed a lot of time in various hallways, in the building’s cafeteria, and with two very sweet old ladies in the building’s  telephone center. Our day ended with a short meeting with Representative William Brawley. 

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^Paco does like food but not when his girlfriends are stealing it

Today my day began with a visit to Mecklenburg Representative William Brawley, the author of the bill designed to allow the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School System to establish a series of charter schools. This meeting was very brief yet I watched Ms. Devivo talk about two provisions that her clients would like to see in the bill. Mr. Brawley complemented me on my professionalism but Ms. Devivo told me not to make note of it as ‘he likes to mentor everyone.’ But it was a highlight of my day so I guess I’ll just make note of it here. Then we talked to Representative Craig Horn for a little while regarding the same subject. Afterwards we watched the full Senate debate the charter school bill. I had a great time watching senators get contentious about this bill, and, falling almost along party lines, the bill passed 30 for and 20 against. Afterwards we talked with another lobbyist for a little while regarding our new client.

Ms. Devivo and Ms. Sams acknowledged that today was a rather brief day and that I wouldn’t have that much to write about, so I guess I’ll just write about how cool they are as bosses. I am doing this for two reasons – 1. I gave them the link to this blog and so they can see what I say about them (Hi Ms. Devivo! Hi Ms. Sams! You guys are blog-worthy!) and 2. They are actually really cool bosses. They are especially funny and friendly to me which sometimes makes the days go by a little too quickly. As well they have no problem including me in all of their conversations with all of their clients, legislators, and other lobbyists, which I especially appreciate as it assists me in grasping their complex jobs. Today, even, they both gave me advice on how I should approach my stay at the DOT and after we were done with work Ms. Devivo showed me around the Lieutenant Governor’s Mansion. Thanks y’all!

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. 

To be honest, going into my work experience I was uncertain about whether or not I agreed with the practice of lobbying. Like many others, in my mind the practice of lobbying consisted of secret meetings involving large sums of money being transferred to achieve a desired ends. After the first hour or so I realized that lobbying revolves so much more around the actual relationships created between lobbyist and representative.

My day began as I entered the Legislative Building at 9:15 A.M. where I met with Ms. Laura Devivo and Ms. Angel Sams of Devivo and Sams Policy Partners. Soon I found myself following these two to the office of Senator Ralph Hise. The focus of this trip and, as I found out, the entire day was on establishing hospitals in areas where constituents found themselves far away from adequate medical treatment. As explained to me current legislation greatly impedes these areas from effectively presenting a demonstrated need for such hospitals, and our goal was to add a provision in some sort of bill which would counteract and nullify such legislation. Senator Hise was not at his office so we sat in on joint committee targeted at adjusting the NC budget in expectation that he would also be there. He did show up and I was able to watch as Ms. Devivo and Ms. Sams took him off to the side to have a quick conversation with him explaining the need to have the hospital provision in some sort of legislation. These short conversations soon became a motif of my early lobbying experience. Throughout the day we would meet with other representatives such as Representatives Josh Dobson and Justin Burr to have these quick meetings regarding the hospital issue. 

However, as I also learned, representatives and senators tend to be very tied up at the legislature building in various meetings and other commitments, so often times a lobbyist has to spend his or her time waiting for these legislators in order to have a brief, sometimes very brief, conversation. This naturally results in downtime when waiting for legislators. Often we spent this time talking with the staff of legislators, other unaffiliated legislators, or even other lobbyists. Today we spent a bit of time talking to Justin Burr’s secretary while waiting for him and at lunch we had a very fascinating conversation with Senator Jerry Tillman. 

What a day! Ms. Devivo and Ms. Sams promised me that today was a rather ‘slow’ day for business but I still found their work so intriguing. I can’t wait for what’s to come!