The coming week - legislative edition

Edit on 6/22 to add info about a JLBC meeting...

As usual, all info gathered from the website of the Arizona legislature and subject to change without notice. And given the mad rush going on down on West Washington, changes should be expected.

Due to the large number of bills scheduled to be heard in committee and on the floor of both chambers this week, linking will be kept to a minimum. Also, I won't be able to go into much depth this week.

If there is something that piques your interest, I suggest visiting the lege's website and perusing the committee agendas (House here, Senate here) and the floor calendars here. If you see a bill that sounds interesting (or to be less tactful, one that sounds putrid), go to "Bill Info" and look up the specific bill you are interested in researching. If a committee agenda lists a bill, but shows that a "strike everything" amendment to the bill will be considered, the text of the amendment may be found here if the sponsor of the amendment has already submitted the language. No guarantees, though.

On to the guts of the post...

Over in the House, the only floor schedule that has been posted is a short COW agenda for Monday. Three bad bills, includeing HB2171, which has been amended into a scheme to funnel the retirement funds of state employees into the science foundation that the lege thought was a waste of money.

On Monday, House Ways and Means is meeting at 2 p.m. (or upon adjournment of the House floor session) in HHR1 for consideration of a short agenda (two items thus far).

Also at 2 on Monday:

House Natural Resources will meet in HHR4. Some pro-mining company/anti-environment bills here.

House Education will meet in HHR3. Some anti-public education and pro-charter schools bills on this agenda.

House Banking will meet in HHR5. One item on the agenda so far.

Tuesday, the Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC) will meet at 8 a.m. in HHR4. The agenda is mostly about fund transfers.

On Tuesday, House Government will meet at 2 p.m. in HHR4. Nuggets here include a striker to SB1375 from Russell Pearce, Pam Gorman, Chuck Gray and more concerning "parents' rights; discipline; education; health" and SCR1004 from Jack Harper concerning "American Sovereignty Restoration Act."

On Wednesday, House Commerce will meet at 9 a.m. in HHR5. The agenda includes a striker from Rep. John Kavanagh defining the authority of various elected county officials. Also known as the "Hey! Maricopa County Board of Supervisors! Leave Arpaio and Thomas alone! They can do *whatever* they want" bill.

That's all that's posted for the House side of the lege so far, but it is reasonable to expect updates and changes. Check back frequently during the week.


Over on the Senate side, no floor schedules have been posted yet. Which is a good thing, considering that some of the committee agendas literally have dozens of measures up for consideration.

On Monday at 1:30, Senate Natural Resources will meet in SHR109. Most of the agenda looks OK, but Sen. Steve Pierce (R-Rancher) has a couple of srikers related to state trust land reform. Probably not a good thing.

Also at 1:30 on Monday, Senate Judiciary will meet in SHR1. This agenda is loaded will a wide variety of ugly. It includes HB2331 (prohibits sanctuary city policies), HB2474 (employers can't ban guns in locked vehicles on their premises), and HB2533 (targeting day laborers for seeking employment by the side of the road).

On Tuesday at 1:30 p.m., Senate Commerce will meet in SHR1. The lowlight here is consideration of HCM2004, the anti-Employee Free Choice Act memorial.

Also at 1:30 on Tuesday, Senate Appropriations will meet in SHR109. The agenda includes a striker to HB2280 relating to "illegal aliens; trespassing; enforcement," HB2369 (allowing the lege to take non-custodial federal monies from their recipients and reappropriate them), and a striker to SB1038 to change the way that the state shares revenues with Native American tribes (another Pearce special).

On Wednesday at 1:30 p.m., Senate Veterans will meet in SHR2. Short agenda so far.

On Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. Senate Public Safety will meet in SHR3. This one includes HCM2009, a memorial to Congress opposing firearms regulations.

On Wednesday at 9:00 a.m., Senate Health will meet in SHR1. Looks OK so far.

At 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Senate Finance will meet in SHR3. I don't understand most of this stuff, but HB2346 is clear - it will grant a property tax exemption to charter schools.

Also at 1:30 on Wednesday, Senate Education will meet in SHR1. Some good bills (HB2495, Rep. Pat Flemings bill to grant in-state tuition status to veterans) but most bad (like SB1172, Russell Pearce's bid to compel schools to collect and report information on students' immigrations status).

On Thursday at 9:00 a.m., Senate Retirement will meet in SHR3. This agenda includes SCR1037 (property tax rollback) and HCM2009 (again, the memorial to Congress opposing federal firearms regulations).

On Thursday at 8:30 a.m., Senate Government will meet in SHR1. So far, the agenda looks pretty mild, but Jack Harper chairs this committee. Ugliness is always a threat with him.


Time to head to bed...Getting up *early* tomorrow.