Convention of States Minnesota volunteers held their surge day on February 7 at the Capitol in St. Paul. We tried a slightly different approach this year, especially because our House of Representatives was still not allowing people to visit individual offices without a scheduled appointment.
Prior to the event the surge document was dropped into the mailbox of each Representative and Senator, along with an invitation to meet with constituents and COS volunteers on February 7 in a room at the Capitol (see below). We called this “Coffee and Conversation.” We had also sent emails to all legislators.
We reserved a room, provided refreshments, and asked legislators to stop by to hear more about how to return the power to the state legislators with Convention of States. We were happy to see several freshman legislators visit our room and chat with our volunteers and legislative liaisons about how a convention would work.
As is typical, we heard some of the usual questions come up such as “what about a runaway convention" and “why would our federal government bother to respect any new amendments?” We had one freshman legislator--who also happened to be a history teacher--ask how the commissioners were selected.
We had some great conversations, forged new relationships, and further solidified connections with our sponsors and co-sponsors. It is such great practice and experience for volunteers to get to talk with legislators one-on-one like this.
There is nothing better than teaching others to strengthen your own understanding of the topic!
