Lilly Ann Brown –
“The Lobbyists are the most sneaky and secretly powerful component in the whole conference” – Lobbyist Grace Harris
This year at YIG there was one component that stirred up tumultuous and dynamic action unlike any other: the Lobbyists. I’ve been following the Lobbyists closely, and from undercover operations to a drama-filled luncheon, to passing all of their dynamic legislation bills, the Lobbyists have truly changed the atmosphere of the conference this year.
My journey with the Lobby started on Friday. I conducted an interview with Grace Harris and Drew Hogan to get to know the component and what they had been up to on their first day. When asked to explain the role of the Lobbyist component, Hogan and Harris stated, “We go around to different chambers, we talk to senators, we talk to representatives, we talk to delegates, and ultimately we try to gather support for bills we particularly enjoy. If we have an issue with a bill, we can pull those sponsors aside and work to amend the bill and then help them gain passage and get them moved up the docket.”
Looking back, I think they were understating their influence, or maybe they didn’t even know yet. Here are a few events spearheaded by the Lobbyists that have shaped our conference.
Dynamic Legislation
One main focus of the Lobbyists this year has been dynamic legislation. Essentially, they take bills written outside the conference and work to strengthen them. Cases of this are Senator Phoenix Caruthers’ bill on solitary confinement and Simon Lewis and Preston Selby’s bill on TCAP. This serves to make our conference more dynamic (it’s in the name) and reactive. These bills evolve to fill holes in the legislature we have, and they use observations of what works and what doesn’t to make a strong case.
Lobbyist Luncheon
Another big Lobbyist-endorsed event was the Lobbyist Luncheon. This year’s luncheon followed some controversy with Gov. Markwei’s veto and a pending budget meeting, so it was a little heated. Rep. Cherry and Sen. Caruthers argued in strict opposition of the budget, while some insiders who wish to remain nameless gave me a play-by-play of White Senate and the veto.
Moving Forward
As we move toward the final budget meeting and the culmination of the conference, the Lobbyists gave me a very vague tip that they have something planned, so look forward to that. When we examine the events of our conference, there’s always a Lobbyist pulling the strings behind the scenes.
Lobbyists like Drew Hogan, Grace Harris, Cade Miller, and Rowan Felton have been doing excellent work and their influence over the controversy and conversation of the conference is profound. Moving forward, I predict the Lobbyist component growing exponentially, and in the short term, I think they have something up their sleeve no one can see coming.
Department of Public Information 