By GALEO Student Intern, Brenda Lopez
To be honest, coming into this internship I was under the impression that lawmaking in Georgia went on year round. I was not aware that there is a forty-day session for bill introductions and lawmaking, but it seems that I chose the right time to apply for the internship since it was during this year’s legislative session. This gave me an opportunity to learn more about Georgia: the way things function within the capitol, the amount of people it takes to intimidate a senator from coming to a committee hearing, and the importance of lobbyist and non-profit organizations like GALEO.
My first experience at the capitol was at a committee hearing and there I was exposed to two completely different realms of necessity in Georgia. During this committee one representative proposed a bill to help non-profit organizations, and the other proposed a bill to make the official dog of Georgia the “adoptable dog.” The voting was unanimously in favor of the “adoptable dog” by the way; I mean what a great idea! Now, the lady’s proposal was more complicated, I suppose, since there was more deliberation that even involved a law book. This is where a lobbyist came in and made me realize how important and impactful their work is in the capitol. The lobbyist gave real life examples and stories to help the case of the representative and to attempt to sway the votes in their favor, which makes them a huge part of the decision-making process. Unfortunately, this day was a bust for GALEO because the representative who was going to present his anti-immigrant bill did not show. On the other hand, it was a win for me, because I got to sit through the other hearings and experience the voting process at this level.
It was also very interesting to experience the legislative session during an election year; I learned that people at the capitol tend to act differently during this time. It seems to be more important to do what it takes to get re-elected than to do what is genuinely right. This is just another valuable lesson learned that I found hard to believe as a young college student. This is also what makes organizations like GALEO (Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials), LAA (Latin American Association), and AAAJ (Asian Americans Advancing Justice) so important. I had the opportunity to observe these organizations working together for a common goal, and lobby against discriminatory legislature. These organizations represent minorities and groups that are not well represented by the majority of lawmakers in the capitol, and it is refreshing to know there are people who dedicate their lives to representing others.
In this legislative session there were a number of anti immigrant legislation that GALEO had to keep track of to keep the community informed and engaged. For GALEO, there is an imperative to keep up with dates, at times hearing dates suddenly changed, preventing GALEO from speaking out against various proposed bills. This made it vital that GALEO be at two places at once. For example, there was a committee hearing which proposed making English the official language of Georgia in one room while simultaneously there was another hearing for defunding sanctuary cities in a different room. Both of these bills would affect the immigrant community in Georgia; therefore, we needed to make sure that all the information was gathered and that we received the date of the next hearing. Days at the capitol included waiting, sitting, listening and hoping to persuade voters. Often GALEO had to call for backup, this came in the form of volunteers directly affected protesting the proposed changes. These volunteers were able to humanize the bill and remind senators that immigrants are humans too.
It is not an easy task to be a GALEO employee, but it is certainly rewarding. This forty-day session ended successfully without the passage of any anti-immigrant legislation. So, if you were wondering what GALEO does for the Hispanic community, the answer: demasiado.
NOTE: The opinions express in this blog are the opinions of the author only. It is not to be assumed that the opinions are those of GALEO or the GALEO Latino Community Development Fund. For the official position on any issue for GALEO, please contact Jerry Gonzalez, Executive Director of GALEO atjerry@2014old.galeo.org