Social Work Advocacy Day

          March 3, 2011 was Social Work Advocacy Day at the 82^nd legislative session. We arrived at the Capitol that morning, and were a bit overwhelmed at how rushed and disorganized everything seemed to be. We signed in, were handed a packet of papers to look over, and were hurriedly briefed on what we, as participants, would be expected to do that day. The theme of the day was: “Social Workers are the Bootstraps of Texas!”

            As participants, we were expected to meet with legislators to speak about legislative issues, bills, etc... The event’s administrators had failed to mention to participants beforehand that these discussion sessions would be an important part of Social Work Advocacy Day. I had not researched the bills or issues that we were expected to discuss, and did not feel as if I had any authority to speak with a legislator on the subjects. I felt nervous and unprepared. Since Natalie was with me and we were both uncertain about how we were going to hold an intelligent discussion with a legislator, I dropped my own schedule and decided to tag along with her.

First, we went to meet with State Rep. John V. Garza (R). Two other girls had been assigned to speak with Rep. Garza, and we met with them outside of his office while we waited for him to return. When he did, we told him why we were there, and his surprise showed that he was clearly not expecting us. He welcomed us into his office, where the four of us sat in the lobby and spent the majority of our time speaking with his assistant. One of the other girls did most of the talking. I was silent – I had absolutely no idea what to say. I felt largely uninformed about the issues, and intimidated by the idea of speaking with a state representative who I assumed was very knowledgeable on these issues. We stayed in Mr. Garza’s office for fifteen minutes. The group spoke mostly about the Texas budget crisis, and House Bill 1 (LINK). We advocated for balancing the state’s budget by: 1) Using the Rainy Day Fund; 2) Exploring new sources of revenue, such as raising taxes on things like alcohol, cigarettes, and soda; 3) Expanding our sales tax base and eliminating exemptions in the tax code.

After the appointment with Rep. Garza, we headed to the house chambers to observe the House Resolution 177 to designate March as Professional Social Workers’ Month pass. We watched as several other House Resolutions were passed, and it was strange to notice how casual everything seemed to be. Most of the legislators on the floor of the chambers were holding discussions amongst themselves as resolutions were announced and proceedings took place. I had been under the impression that legislative sessions were formal and very professional – but this did not seem to be the case, at least during the session that I observed. After HR 177 passed, I did not stay for my next scheduled appointment with the legislator because I felt that I would simply be too unprepared.

Overall, Social Work Advocacy Day at the Capitol was disappointing. It might have been a better experience had I been informed ahead of time that I was to meet with legislators in small groups and that I would need to do some research on bills and issues relevant to social work. The idea of an advocacy day for social workers is wonderful! The execution needs some work for the next time around, though…