By Alianna Jones
Today, I embarked on a journey to find out more about the Lobbyists and how exactly dynamic legislature works. My hunt for Lobbyists led me to White House, where I found Avery Gill and Bailey Marshall, who were on a search of their own. I was unsure of what I was in for—I had very little idea of what the Lobbyist even did (aside from, well, lobbying).
I spoke with Bailey Marshall about what the component had been working on the last couple of days, to which she answered: “We have spent most of our time yesterday writing technical questions and speeches for the bills.” Then, to give me a better idea of the component overall, Avery Gill added that they “write bills throughout the conference that support the interests of the Governor and Head Lobbyist,” as well as connecting with others to fix “ problems in promising bills to make them better fit our goals and budget.”
They trekked across the conference—from the capitol building to Cordell Hull to the capitol building again—in search of well-spoken delegates to present their dynamic legislative bill to end book bans in Tennessee. I sat with them ask they observed the delegates of the blue house and blue senate, and they found the perfect groups to present their bill in Senate, with hopes that it will make its way to the House. They also had several quick meetings with officers to get opinions on the potential presenters.
Avery Gill and Bailey Marshall looking for candidates to represent their dynamic bill.
I also learned that even Lobbyists, with all of their knowledge and power over the passing or failing of bills, slip up sometimes. I stood by as an impromptu meeting was held in response to the lobbyist duo asking the wrong person to present their bill — life lesson: make sure that the person recommending a delegate actually knows what that delegate is wearing. But all turned out well in the end, so keep an eye out for Gill and Marshall’s dynamic bill.
Currently, there are two bills on the docket for dynamic legislature: one for legally defining Munchausen’s Syndrome as not a mental illness in the court of law, and another requiring a multicultural education course to be taken before one can receive an education degree. More bills will surely follow these, as the Lobbyists push forward in assembling their teams and writing their new bills into existence.
Department of Public Information 