LD17 Legislators in the news...

In case anybody noticed (and based on the lack of comments on the subject, no one did notice :) ), I skipped last week's compilation post because there was nothing to compile.

This week, there is.

Rep. Ed Ableser -

...On Friday, the AZ Capitol Times had a story about a deal in the lege over a bill to restrict payday lending operations. Ableser was quoted in the Capitol Times article -

Ed Ableser, D-17, said. “If we can protect the individuals who use these services…and make sure no one capitalizes on their hard [financial] times," {courtesy Google}

As is standard for the AZ Capitol Times, the article is behind their firewall; subscribers can log in.

An accessible article from the AZ Daily Star is here. No quotes from Rep. Ableser, though.

...On Thursday, KTAR.com posted a piece with quotes from various legislators regarding their opinions of mandatory jail time for extreme DUI offenders.

From the piece -

Tempe's Ed Ableser thinks the House should get smart about crime prevention. "I believe it's time we stop going down this road of being big, bad and dumb on crime and start taking a smart approach to crime."

Sen. Meg Burton-Cahill - a quiet week as far as MSM coverage went.

Rep. David Schapira -

...He was featured in Sunday's AZ Rep "Political Insider" column.

Rep. David Schapira, D-Tempe, had uttered only four words about a bill on teacher certification fees Thursday when Speaker Pro Tempore Rep. Bob Robson cut him off from the speaker's seat:

"This bill is terrible," Schapira said.

Apparently, calling a bill "terrible" while Robson is at the helm crosses the line.

"We need to stick to terms of collegiality here," he said, chastising the young Democrat for impugning the sponsor of the bill and his motives.

The article went on to describe an example of Rep. Robson treating Steve Gallardo, Democratic Whip, in a manner that was something other than "collegial."

On that note, we'd like to point out that the best zinger delivered during the heated debate over the immigration measure earlier Thursday was delivered by Robson himself from the floor. In a back and forth with Rep. Steve Gallardo, Robson said in his velvety baritone: "Mr. Gallardo, I don't suppose you know what truth or fiction is in certain respects."

Gotta love shameless hypocrisy.

...His latest column for the Tempe community edition of the AZ Rep was published on Saturday.

It focused on education in Arizona and the need for the state to retain its best teachers.

The closing paragraph -

I have committed as the defining principle of my work at the Legislature to make Arizona one of the greatest states in our nation. If we continue to lose the best and brightest minds to other states and other professions, we will have failed. To be the greatest state in the greatest nation, we must focus our energy on education.

Later!