Lauren Sandusky

Inside a courtroom in the Capitol building; Me with Liz Brater, Michigan Senator for Ann Arbor area

During the second half of my day with Sarah we sat in on an educational hearing for a panel of Senators, including Liz Brater. Representatives from the public colleges and universities in Michigan spoke to the panel about a variety of issues from state funding for the schools to enrollment trends. It was really interesting to hear each of the representatives talk about their position and purpose in the educational industry in Michigan. It definitely got me thinking about schools from a business and marketing perspective.

I also got to sit in on a conference call with the Department of Homeland Security in Washington D.C. The purpose of this conference call was to discuss pilot programs for RFID chips in cards that would allow travel between the United States and Canada. This program would limit the use of passports in transit between the two countries. I learned that the issue was important in Michigan government because Michigan wants to be a pilot for the program like Washington state will be soon. It was interesting to hear all of the different arguments for policy implementation between the different parties who participated in the phone conference.

The Capitol building in Lansing

My day with Sarah Hubbard, the Vice President of Public Affairs for the Detroit Regional Chamber was so awesome! I learned so much about state government and politics, as well as a lot about what a typical day is like for Sarah and what a lobbyist in state government does.

I was really excited when I first got to Lansing and finally met Sarah, as well as her assistant Dan. Sarah took me over to the Capitol building where we watched the Senate convene at 10am. It was really interesting to see how business was done on the Senate floor. Luckily, Sarah talked me through everything that was happening because it all occurred pretty quickly and was a little confusing at times. My favorite part was when one of the senators, Randy Richardville, introduced his first bill and was consequently "harrassed" by some of the older senators. Sarah introduced me to Randy after the session was over...he's really nice!

Sarah Hubbard and I in her office building

After we watched the Senate meeting, we sat in on an MDOT - transportation presentation that was being made for a committee made up of members of the House of Representatives. This was really interesting to me because it brought to life many concepts that I've learned about at Michigan. For example, the presenter gave a life-cycle cost analysis for Michigan roads to determine the useful life of each road and figure out at what point it is no longer beneficial to invest in the road. It was interesting to see him use this information to point out that the state was investing in repairs of roads that were at the end of their useful life, which means the money was wasted because they needed to be completely redone.

After sitting in meetings all morning, Sarah and I went to lunch with her assistant Dan. It was really interesting to hear Sarah talk about how a big part of her job is just going to the meetings and hearings like the ones we had just gone to to see the reactions of the state politicians to the issues. She said that even a lot of times it's enough to just be seen there, because if she shows up at a hearing, even if she does not necessarily have anything to say to any of the policitians, they know that she was there and know that the Detroit Regional Chamber cares about that issue.

A courtroom in the Capitol Building

That's all for now, I'll write about the second half of my day with Sarah in my next blog!!!