"All those opposed..."--4/5/17

Hi everyone! I actually didn't go to the legislature this Monday, so there will only be two blog posts for this week (I know, you all must be devastated). Today I watched the House floor, where they actually went through the bills very quickly, despite some of the bills on the calendar. For example, bills about textbook reviews that received a lot of resistance in committee passed through the House Committee of the Whole without any discussion, despite some votes "nay". Which brings me to my quote of the day! I know, this post is kinda short, but it was a kinda short day (I went home early because the Appropriations committee was cancelled). Whenever they do a vocal vote, whoever chairs asks for all those in favor to say "aye" and those opposed to say "nay", and though often times legislators will be against a bill, they may not choose to discuss it thoroughly on the floor. Really, for these legislators (which are 99% the Democrats), it is more of a pick-your-battles situation, especially when in some circumstances they know that they won't be able to convince anyone to vote against it. For many, the opportunity to discuss and debate is futile, because not often does a legislator walk onto the floor unsure of his/her position on an issue and debating on how he/she will vote. Instead, these discussions are more of an opportunity to (if not slow down) express opposition or to rally public support or as a way to prove the validity of their opposition and to force the other side to listen. Of course, this isn't to say fighting is useless. Debate can always be constructive, and can sometimes illustrate priorities and focus conversation, especially when you need to pick your battles. I know I've been painting a fairly rosy image of government so far in my blog (and maybe because I just have warm fuzzy feelings about the place), so I wanted to begin to show the other side of that in my posts, especially as things begin to wrap up and I am reflecting on my time here at the Arizona House of Representatives.