What a crazy first week! From the audience view, here’s what happened: We passed several bills restructuring emergency and temporary power and procedures so that there are fewer possibilities for unilateral political manipulation. What really happened from backstage: after all the bills were introduced the first day, we had to check for needed amendments before they would be heard in committee the following morning. It was a scramble to sew up holes and fix typos that created new problems and generated a firestorm of blowback (e.g., giving all agencies statewide law enforcement power in SB 1). I got a few amendments worked into SB 1, the emergency powers bill, before it had to go to the floor. After it went to the House and came back, I was happy to discover language in their amendments that I had written last month in preparation for this day! That language would require the taking of property in an emergency to follow public use requirements of eminent domain and be compensated through the same process. As it stands now, the governor can pretty much take whatever he wants and pay however much he feels like. SB 1 is not written the way I wanted, but it does include some important things. According to Section 15 of the Constitution, we as the legislature hold 100 percent of the power to suspend statutes, so handing any of that away for emergency purposes or otherwise should be done with great caution. Current law hands everything over, including the kitchen sink. For those concerned about overreach, many of the actions considered overreach have been bad current law and loopholes. What we have passed with SB 1 will scale it back to a manageable roar. The other big bill this week was HB 1 to help businesses and schools opening. It didn’t look too bad at first, but got worse as I talked to more business people. By the time to vote, I voted no. Why? We were not protecting anything. Businesses and schools could have still been shut down. I worked all afternoon till about 10 p.m. to get a floor amendment for HB 1 and coordinate with House sponsor and counsel for concurrence. The next morning, we had a new version to add “in-person services” to the bill and protect against all types of orders, not just Governor’s orders. What makes my job worth it? A business owner’s long text to me after HB 1 passed, followed up with, “Sorry all the typos I’m just excited.” Yes! Excited! I love that! One hard day of work for me is a fantastic trade for months or years of income or education rebuilding for millions statewide.