February 03rd, 2026

Last week was the first real week of hearing bills. I am on three committees Health & Human Services, Transportation & Infrastructure,  and Natural Resources, Energy, & Water. Each committee has a briefing by our expert policy advisor so we can learn information about each bill. In addition, bills are sponsored or championed by various groups and lobbyists who want our attention to explain and advocate for their legislation. I have appointments with these folks to learn more about the bills. So to just get to the committee meeting, not counting reading the actual legislation, I have already spent 5 to 6 hours to get ready for it!
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My week was long and tiring. Monday's committee ended at 8 p.m. Tuesday's committee ended at 7 p.m. And on Wednesday the committee ended at 6:30 p.m. In addition, I attended the HHS Committee of Reference (COR) hearing on Friday! COR meetings are for the House and Senate committees get together to hear the results of audits for various Boards and Agencies to determine if they should be continued. I thought the COR would take all day but because of a protest at the Capitol the Speaker closed the House at 12:30 p.m. That was my first full week of committees. Not too much good legislation to speak about this week. Mostly we voted on party lines. Hopefully legislation will get better as the session continues.