The end of the session.

Tonight is the last night of the 45-day 2010 Utah legislative session. Until tonight, I hadn't been down to watch any of the proceedings. I pulled up a folding chair next to Ben's desk. Then, I sat next to his empty chair for the better part of two hours. Ben told me his A.D.D. really comes out during floor time. He can't seem to stay in his seat for more than a five minute period. Admittedly, he's not the only one walking about and in and out. Everyone gets notes requesting that they meet with a lobbyist in the hall or with a House or fellow Senate member. All of them are up and about at various times. But Ben outdoes them all in this respect. Way to stand out, Ben!

Now, a bit of seriousness. I was only there a short period of time. During that time, I watched Ben present one of his bills in a new form following amendments from the House. Another Senator asked Ben some questions regarding the bill and Ben did an outstanding job responding to the questions and defending bill. That same Senator, who ultimately voted against the bill, included in his comments lavish compliments on Ben's hard work to negotiate the language of the bill and his integrity in working through some unexpected complications. While Ben was defending his bill, a fellow Democratic Senator passed me a post-it note that said: "See how bright he is!!"

After the bill passed (Yea! Congrats!) and some other business was done, the Senate went into recess. I was out in the hall and Ben introduced me to a few people. Then he was off. No surprise. A lobbyist came up to me and went on and on about how impressed he and several others have been with Ben's Freshman performance. Then another lobbyist conveyed the same sentiments, specifically noting how effective Ben was in getting a difficult bill to pass. He said no one thought it could pass and Ben had surprised a lot of people. One of the things the first lobbyist mentioned was that he was telling me all of this information because he knew Ben was too humble to tell me this stuff himself. He's not. Last night, Ben told me he was a genius. And it wasn't the first time.

Well, anyway, good job, Genius! I'll see you sometime after midnight when you legislative geeks finally wind-up the session and come home to your families. I'm glad you've had fun and also enjoyed some success.