State of the State

Today was my first day interning for the House Democrats in the Idaho legislature. It has already been a great experience, as I've been surrounded by impressive people doing impressive things. As you can see from the top two pictures of the rotunda, and from the other two, the capital building is a fantastic place to work (thouth I work in the less glamorous basement). I love how accessible everyone is and the opportunity I have to be where the action is (I can hear some of you on the East Coast smirking, wondering how much action there is in Idaho, but let me reassure you that there are a lot of important things going on). The third picture (sorry it's blurry) is where I was sitting in the gallery in the House chamber when the governor gave his State of the State address before a Joint session of the legislature. It was a good speech, and I appreciated the focus he gave to health care, emphasizing that Idaho has an opportunity to be a leader in Medicaid reform, fixing a broken system that costs too much and takes care of too few. The bottom picture is of the JFAC committee room (Joint Finance and Appropriations Comm.), arguably the most important committee as it has a huge role in influencing the development of the budget. Rep. Margaret Henbest, who I work most directly with, is a member of this committee, as well as the Health and Welfare Comm.