Word on the Street: Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth deftly handles all her responsibilities
04/17/2016
It was a memorable piece of legislation for Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth.
On the surface, it seems routine. House Bill 6321 was relatively noncontroversial legislation which would make it easier to receive tax credits for electronics recyclers that take old cathode ray tube televisions to recycle the glass inside after thoroughly filtering out the lead inside. Locally, it would help out not just Peoria Disposal Co., but also another local business that does a brisk trade in that work, Kuusakowski Recycling
It has broad support in the business community.
And earlier this month, Gordon-Booth was rising in the House chamber as the measure’s lead sponsor, set to advocate for its passage when there was a little distraction.
Gordon-Booth had brought her young daughter Jianna down with her for the day, something that happens every so often during session.
“I’m trying to wean her off her pacifier right now. I think she was insightful, and she knew that at that moment, if she wanted her pacifier, she could get it,” she said. “As soon as they said, ‘Rep. Gordon-Booth, for what reason do you rise?’ almost on cue, she starts screaming. I had to give her the pacifier.”
But the squirming wasn’t quite over.
“I thought she was going to be OK, but it wasn’t enough,” Gordon-Booth said. “She grabs the mic. So the attorney that’s standing next to me, she volunteers to hold her. Typically she goes to folks, but she wasn’t doing it then.”
That meant that the lawmaker ended up holding her daughter in her arms while arguing the merits of the bill to 113 colleagues, with facts and statistics at hand, preparing for any questions or unanticipated opposition. Certainly that’s not an image one sees every day on the chamber floor.
That’s something Gordon-Booth was conscious of, especially because legislators who are speaking are on camera, with their images projected onto a giant screen on the side of the chamber — think a stadium Jumbotron placed atop a vote-tally board with every legislator’s name. So preserving calm under fire was even more imperative.
Despite the unexpected distraction — her strongest reaction moments afterward was to call it “a little topsy-turvy” — the Peoria Democrat kept her poise and the bill passed unanimously.
It’s got bipartisan Peoria sponsorship in the Senate, where it awaits a hearing.
Source: www.pjstar.com
On the surface, it seems routine. House Bill 6321 was relatively noncontroversial legislation which would make it easier to receive tax credits for electronics recyclers that take old cathode ray tube televisions to recycle the glass inside after thoroughly filtering out the lead inside. Locally, it would help out not just Peoria Disposal Co., but also another local business that does a brisk trade in that work, Kuusakowski Recycling
It has broad support in the business community.
And earlier this month, Gordon-Booth was rising in the House chamber as the measure’s lead sponsor, set to advocate for its passage when there was a little distraction.
Gordon-Booth had brought her young daughter Jianna down with her for the day, something that happens every so often during session.
“I’m trying to wean her off her pacifier right now. I think she was insightful, and she knew that at that moment, if she wanted her pacifier, she could get it,” she said. “As soon as they said, ‘Rep. Gordon-Booth, for what reason do you rise?’ almost on cue, she starts screaming. I had to give her the pacifier.”
But the squirming wasn’t quite over.
“I thought she was going to be OK, but it wasn’t enough,” Gordon-Booth said. “She grabs the mic. So the attorney that’s standing next to me, she volunteers to hold her. Typically she goes to folks, but she wasn’t doing it then.”
That meant that the lawmaker ended up holding her daughter in her arms while arguing the merits of the bill to 113 colleagues, with facts and statistics at hand, preparing for any questions or unanticipated opposition. Certainly that’s not an image one sees every day on the chamber floor.
That’s something Gordon-Booth was conscious of, especially because legislators who are speaking are on camera, with their images projected onto a giant screen on the side of the chamber — think a stadium Jumbotron placed atop a vote-tally board with every legislator’s name. So preserving calm under fire was even more imperative.
Despite the unexpected distraction — her strongest reaction moments afterward was to call it “a little topsy-turvy” — the Peoria Democrat kept her poise and the bill passed unanimously.
It’s got bipartisan Peoria sponsorship in the Senate, where it awaits a hearing.
Source: www.pjstar.com
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