14 lessons about politics and power from my first year in the Iowa Senate
Fourteen Lessons Learned
My first session in the Iowa Senate lasted only about three and a half months, but I learned a huge amount. In the month since we wrapped up, I’ve been making some time to reflect on what I learned. Below are fourteen observations, surprises, and lessons from my first session as a Senator.
(If you’re looking for more of a recap of session, you can find that here.)
1. Learning “the basics” took longer than I thought it would.
I knew there would be a steep learning curve, but—as I probably should have expected—there were a lot of things I didn’t know I didn’t know. I spent most of my first couple weeks just trying to figure out the basics like where all the rooms are, where the coffee is, how to get things printed, etc. We had a helpful “New Member Orientation” session in December, but this is a difficult job to be fully prepared for.
Another part of the challenge is that because we are only in session for the first four months of the year, we have a series of aggressive deadlines known as “the funnels,” which dictate whether or not legislation can be considered after that date. The first and second funnels are responsible for keeping the…
