The coming week -- everybody but the lege edition

Edit on 6/8 to add link to Franks' resolution...

Yesterday's schedule post was for the lege alone; today's is for everybody else.

And while there is some interesting and important stuff going on, this one should still be shorter than the yesterday's post.


...In the U.S. House, the agenda is pretty full. While there are some "show" measures -memorials and congratulations and such,- there are also a number of "working" measures in the pipeline this week.

* H.R. 1709, the STEM Education Coordination Act of 2009 (Note: "STEM" is an acronym for "Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics")

* H.R. 885, the Improved Financial and Commodity Markets Oversight and Accountability Act

* H.R. 466, the Wounded Veteran Job Security Act

* H.R. 1741, the Witness Security and Protection Grant Program Act of 2009

* The conference report on H.R. 2346, the Supplemental Appropriations Act. $$$ = arguments

* H.R. 2410, the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011. Again, $$$ = arguments. If that wasn't enough, since this will indicate/guide the country's foreign relations priorities for the near future, expect the Reps to nitpick this one...loudly.

* H.R. 1886, the Pakistan Enduring Assistance and Cooperation Enhancement Act of 2009 (aka "PEACE Act"). Given the nature of our relationship with Pakistan, expect hesitation and even outright opposition to this one from both sides of the aisle.

Still, even the money bills may not generate as much controversy as one of the memorial bills.

The House will be considering Rep. Louise Slaughter's H.Res. 505, "Condemning the murder of Dr. George Tiller, who was shot to death at his church on May 31, 2009." While the Republicans could just give this one a pass, I expect at least a few of them to use this measure as a way to blame the victim.

AZ's Trent Franks (R-CD2) will be introducing a resolution (H. Res. 515) condemning "the murder of Army Private William Long and the wounding of Army Private Quinton Ezeagwula, who were shot outside the Army Navy Career Center in Little Rock, Arkansas on June 1, 2009." Privates Long and Ezeagwula were shot by another domestic terrorist the day after Dr. Tiller was assassinated; my guess is that Franks is trying to use this bill to deflect attention from Tiller's murder.

My only disappointment with this one (H.Res. 505) is that the only Arizona Representative who has seen fit to add his/her name to the list of cosponsors is Ann Kirkpatrick (D-CD1).

They should ALL be on record as condemning politically-motivated violence.


...Back here in AZ, the Arizona Corporation Commission has a busy week planned, including a Securities and Utilities open meeting on Thursday.


...The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors has a special meeting planned for Wednesday at 10 a.m. The agenda is a short one (thus far), with just two items on it - the first having to do with filing a notice of claim against the City of El Mirage and the second having to do with approval of the County Assessor representing the MCBOS regarding the matter of some property tax claim errors in the Buckeye Valley Fire District.


...The Governing Board of the Maricopa County Community College District will be meeting on Tuesday night at 6 p.m. for a Truth-in-Taxation hearing (2% hike proposed) and a special meeting to approve the district's FY2010 budget. Or maybe this one. The first version of the budget assumes approval of the 2% hike; the second version assumes disapproval.

Expect disapproval; the majority of the board is made up of Republican Kool-Aid drinkers who are only interested in undermining education in AZ, not supporting it.


...The Board of Directors of the Central Arizona Project will be holding Stakeholder Working Group Meetings on Friday and next Monday at the Mountain Preserve Reception Center, 1431 East Dunlap Ave. in Phoenix.


...The Directors of the Maricopa Integrated Health System and the Citizens Clean Elections Commission are not scheduled to meet this week.


...The Tempe City Council is scheduled to meet on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. The agenda looks pretty routine thus far, but somebody with a better knowledge of Tempe issues should take a look at the agenda; they might spot something I missed.

Of course, the Special Budget Meeting that's scheduled to follow the regular meeting will probably be less mundane - it's for final approval of the city's FY2009-2010 property tax rate.


...The Scottsdale City Council is holding a special meeting on Tuesday at 5 p.m. The agenda includes a Non-Major Amendment to the Downtown Character Area Plan, a Planned Unit Development Text Amendment, and a series of Text Amendments to R1-7 Zoning. R1-7 zoning is the City's primary residential zoning ordinance.

This sort of stuff would be boring almost anywhere else, but it brings out the long knives in a city like Scottsdale.

Later...