We met today… downtown… in an old theater behind the State Capital building. The old theater was dark with plywood floors and mix-matched seating. You could hear the hollowness beneath every step. As I walked into the double doors, I had to pause to let my eyes adjust to the heaviness of the dark. I was looking for an aroma… there should have been an aroma. Perhaps the aroma of aging plaster walls… perhaps the aroma of time and of the old sagging rafters that held back the Southern humidity. But there was none.
We all said our names and where we were from. Some were from the Upstate, some were from the Pee-Dee, others were from the Low Country and I was from the Midlands. I was surprised how my voice carried in this little theater… the walls fell upon my ears as I said my name out loud.
We were meeting in a strategy session… a grass roots get together. I don’t know much about the inner workings of the State Legislature, so this was my opportunity to observe. A young lady with two counterparts introduced herself as a lobbyist for the Solar Business Alliance. They are a group that is trying to lobby passage of a bill that would give consumers a tax credit for installing and using solar energy… the H.3346 SC Jobs Creation Bill.
Almost everyone else in the group had participated in a similar meeting in the past. I was taking notes as the lobbyists spoke. And suddenly I was lost in my note taking… I realized it was better to listen and just work my way through the process. They spoke of cabinet meetings and local Legislators, county officials, Senators and Representatives. There were the Senate floor and reform meetings to consider. She hurriedly spoke of sub committees and bills in the calendar… she mentioned committee chairmanship and who to look for. My pen went into my shirt pocket and I smiled into the dark.
We were to meet the Senators in the State House lobby. We were the faces behind the industry. We were showing the Senators that we needed there support in continuing the bill through the sub committee in the Senate Finance Committee… a baby step… but a step.
We made our way around the capital building… a beautiful blue granite building that held, for memorial, the gentle scars left by cannon fire from Sherman’s Army during the Civil War. The entry doors were narrow and led to a grand hallway with arched staircases that led up to the lobby. The Senators were meeting in the Senate chambers on the left and the Representatives were meeting in the House chambers on the right.
We were only a handful of people in the crowd. There were hundreds of us. Everyone had an issue to support… or not to support. I walked through the crowd… listening as I went. I heard the accents of the South. I heard the accents industries… some from other countries. A German gentleman felt confined as he tried to talk with his hands.
If they desired, a Senator would appear from within the chamber and approach a blue velvet rope. We were instructed not to cross the blue velvet rope… they didn’t look kindly upon that. The noise level remained constant. It wasn’t too loud, nor was it quiet… but it remained consistent. The sound of rehearsed laughter pierced the air on occasion and I thought about the sincerity of it all.
I shook hands with many. Some were on the Senate side and some I found on the Representative side. I had no business on right side of the building, but I was curious... all the time, keeping an eye on the blue velvet rope beneath the Senate Chamber Doors.
The Senators looked like Senators look everywhere. They were well dressed and had gray or graying hair. They had learned the art of leaning slightly back in their stance… I assumed it was to maintain their personal space within the crowd. There were abundant smiles and nods of approval and looks of concern. It seemed to be a vital part in the play… the play of politics.
As I made my way back to the staircase, I imagined myself in these chambers so many generations ago. The style of dress would have been different, but the lobby would have been much the same with its colorful marble floors… with the paintings of South Carolina Heroes on the walls and the chatter and conversation on the matters of State of the day. And I know just in front of the double doors that led into the inner chambers stood a boundary in which not to cross…
On the first floor of the State House stands a marble replica depicting the South Carolina Declaration of Secession. It is carved with the signatures of the men that held office in both chambers in those years. I took the time to read over the names… and was surprised to see the same sir names of the men who hold office today… behind the blue velvet rope.
Shannon R Killman
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