Six of us from the LWV Comal Area experienced something we may never forget: Lobby Days 2023. These are the impressions that still tumble through my mind: gazing up at the beautiful rotunda ceiling; making our way through swarms of constituents converging on the Capitol from all over the state; getting lost among the maze of corridors and five floors of the building as we hurried from one appointment to another; taking a shortcut through the House (or was it the Senate?) chamber in session and gawking at the spectacle; gazing at impeccably dressed and groomed men and women striding through the corridors with young aides scurrying behind; noticing the subtle but unmistakable perception of energy and power infusing those corridors and people. For example, when Sen. Judith Zaffirini emerged from her office to greet us, she commanded attention. In that moment, I wondered how this small woman evoked that sense of presence, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. It was just there.
But let’s begin at the beginning. On Monday, Board President Jerrie Champlin; Board members Sheila Pattison, Kristin Coppock, and I; and members Joyce Doyle and Marilyn Aden carpooled to Austin. We checked into the hotel, and with scarcely a moment to spare, headed down to the session headed by the Texas LWV to listen to speakers discuss the League’s four main issues: voting rights, women’s health, public education, and gun safety. The meeting was ably chaired by State Vice President for Advocacy Elisabeth MacNamara. Members ate a provided lunch, took notes, and asked questions at the end of each presentation. It was helpful to learn specifics about House and Senate bills filed on the issues. At the break some of us scurried off to find some caffeine, and finding the hotel did not provide coffee or tea, some of us headed to our rooms to brew some emergency coffee. Unfortunately, my encounter with the Keurig in my room was unsuccessful. I fought back the urge to beg someone at our table to let me finish off the dregs of their coffee. Sometimes dignity has to trump physical need.
Next was the Women Power Texas dinner at the UT Alumni Center. Despite navigation devices we drove right past the Center. After asking directions of a passing student, we backtracked in time to find seats and browse the auction items before the meeting began. The speaker was Rochelle Garza, President of the Texas Civil Rights Project, civil rights attorney and former candidate for Texas Attorney General. In her talk she discussed her background coming up from poverty in South Texas to earn a law degree and throw her energies into working on social issues in and out of politics.
After dinner, we six gathered to discuss strategy for meeting our legislators the following day. Kristin had the unenviable job of lining up the interviews with five legislators, the work of several weeks preceding Lobby Days. She also did a great job researching information on each of the legislators for us to have at hand. We divided the League’s four main issues among ourselves, and added our local priority issue related to conserving land and water. Then we brainstormed the streamlining of each presentation to just a couple of main points each, and discussed how to tie each presentation to the interests of each legislator, taking into account the committees they serve on and bills they have sponsored. I thought we did a great job of planning, considering the limited time we had and the lateness of the hour. We straggled to our rooms at about 11:30 pm and I doubt anyone went to bed before midnight. I reluctantly set my alarm for 6:15 am.
The next morning we met at breakfast to go over last minute details. Then off to the capitol in an Uber van. As we paused to discuss whether we were at the right entrance and how long it would take to go through security, a nattily dressed Congressman invited us to accompany him through the nearby legislators’ entrance sparing us the long walk to and long line at the public entrance. I have forgotten his name [Editors note: it was Rep. Justin Holland from District 33, Collin County] but may never forget what he was wearing: a suit that combined the colors maroon and burnt orange in a checked jacket, solid burnt orange pants with coordinating tie. Maybe he was paying homage to both UT and A&M. I saw many other legislators in beautifully tailored suits that day, but none as memorable as his.
Senators Gutierrez and Zaffirini, and Rep. Kuempel met with us in person. Our two Comal County representatives, Rep. Carrie Isaac and Sen. Donna Campbell, were not able to meet with us in person but their chiefs of staff ably represented them. We budgeted 15 minutes to present issues (with five issues, that comes to three minutes each), five minutes to take a group photo, and ten minutes to scurry to our next appointment. Jerrie introduced us and kept things on track, while Kristin took on the chore of herding us from one office to another, navigating floors and corridors with map in hand. We managed to mention most of our issues at each meeting, playing it by ear when time ran short.
I recall two pleasant surprises. Sen. Campbell’s Chief of Staff Carrie Smith let us know that Campbell had several projects going for purchasing land for the conservation of land and water resources. Another nice surprise was finding out from Rep. Kuempel that he is firmly on the side of public education and therefore against vouchers. But perhaps most memorable to me was the meeting with Sen. Gutierrez, who represents Uvalde. He has been personally involved with the relatives of the children who were gunned down at Robb Elementary (“maybe too personally involved,” he said). When we left his office I saw that several of the grieving Uvalde relatives were already waiting outside his office. They were recognizable by their solemn faces and the portraits of children they hugged to their chests.
After our scheduled meetings we gathered at the rotunda for a group photo of all the Texas League attendees. After some confusion, we found we arrived too late for that. Exhausted and hungry, we abandoned any ideas of hanging around to observe all the demonstrations scheduled at noon on the Capitol grounds and instead headed back to the hotel to collect our luggage and head home. Did I mention we were exhausted? Back at home, I fell into a two-hour nap, and now, two days later, finally have time and energy to unpack my memories of an unforgettable trip.