My Day in the State Capitol

On October 16, State Representative Kristin Phillips-Hill offered me an opportunity to shadow her for a day in the state capitol. This experience helped me to determine whether I wanted to pursue a career in politics.

The day started at 9:15 a.m. when I started trying to park near the state capitol building. The State Representative issues me a parking pass that allowed me to park specifically in spot 53 of area six. It turned out that finding that was not nearly as easy as had I expected, and I ended up driving in circles for about twenty minutes before finding it.

I went through a security line which included having all of my items scanned, and I was sent through a metal detector. Once I was admitted through, I made my way into Representative Phillip-Hill’s office;  upon entering,her secretary gave me an agenda for the day and my pass to enter onto the floor where the Representatives would be voting later that day.

Following this I entered into Representative Phillips-Hill’s personal office, where I sat as she discussed the plans for the day. Our first meeting was to take place at 10:00 a.m. where a non-profit presented us a bill on the education of sexual exploitation of minors. This specifically was an amendment to a bill that had already been passed, and it would allow independent groups to fund school districts so that they can educate minors about what sexual exploitation looks like. The purpose of this meeting was for the non-profit to pitch their bill to Representative Phillips-Hill, so she could make an educated decision on whether to support it or not.

After this meeting, we headed to an education committee meeting since Representative Phillips-Hill sits on the education committee. On this particular day, Representative Phillips-Hill had a bill that she wrote going through committee, which amended the bands of certification for teachers in Pennsylvania.

Representative Phillips-Hill’s bill passed after an intense speech made by one of her opponents who claimed that changing such a thing again was something that should be brought to the eye of the public first, and that more input should be sought. After his rant, though, the committee voted, and on a vote of 24-1, the bill passed through committee with no problem.

The education committee concluded shortly after, and we headed over to the Whip’s office in order to have lunch with him and all the other deputy Whips. Here we had pizza, and the Whips decided on how they were going to proceed with budget negotiations, as well as conversations on the state of each district, making sure that there were no cause for concern.

At 1:00 p.m. we headed went to the actual floor for the House of Representatives, where I was seated to the left of the Speaker’s podium. The Speaker is the leader of the entire House of Representative’s, and since the House has a Republican majority, he is a Republican. It opens with roll-call, along with stating the Pledge of Allegiance.

Once the pledge concluded, the Speaker recognized those of us in the visitors section were recognized by name, and he asked us to stand when our name was called. Shortly after this a Congressman called up a series of Pennsylvania little league baseball teams to the podium and he recognized them for their success at the state, national, and international levels.

After the congressman completed his recognition, the House separated into their caucasus, which means that the Republicans go into a room and the Democrats into another, and they argue out their differences intraparty, so that they can all vote accordingly. Unfortunately, I was not allowed into the caucus meeting, so I sat in Representative Phillips-Hill’s office for an hour and a half (during this time I took a nap).

Once the caucus meetings concluded, everyone was reassembled onto the floor so that voting could commence. It is during this time that I was shocked at the way that floor proceedings actually take place. The best way to describe the setting of the floor would be organized chaos. The Representatives basically do whatever they please, and no one listens to whomever is speaking on behalf of the current vote.

That being said, as soon as the Speaker of the House announces that a bill is ready to be voted on, everyone rushes to their seat and presses the little button on their consoles that say whether or not they’d like to support the bill with a yes or deny it with a nay. Other than voting, the Representatives basically do whatever they please while on the floor. The Representative’s play on their phones, get out of their seats and walk around, and they talk, a lot.

Voting continues to take place until the agenda is exhausted, at which point the Speaker adjourned the session is adjourned.

Overall, this experience helped me to really understand the way that politics actually works, versus the way that everyone expects it to operate. I imagined a calm and serene room with everyone paying attention, versus the “organized” chaos that took place. I am still interested in pursuing a career in politics, but I am more wary of it than I was before. If anyone is even remotely interested in pursuing a career in politics, I would recommended contacting your State Representative about doing a shadow day, seeing as it is a very rewarding experience.