Monday, August 10, 2009

Coming up Tuesday at the lege - AZ thrown under the bus

...and it turns out that there may be a couple of Democratic hands getting dirty right along with the Republican caucus'...


As expected, the Senate adjourned after the two tax bills passed committee (one bill kills the state equalization property tax and cuts corporate income tax rates; the other bill refers a sales tax increase to the ballot, a sales tax that disproportionately impacts working and middle class families).

The bills are expected to reach the Senate floor tomorrow.

A number of sources, including Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (via her Facebook page) and Tedski at Rum, Romanism, Rebellion, are reporting that Senate President Burns is attempting to peel off a couple of Democratic votes by with all sorts of blandishments.

The names that are circulating are Sens. Richard Miranda and Albert Hale.

I wish I could say that I think that the info is wrong, but I heard similar rumors in the back halls of the Senate building today, with the same names attached to them.

Rep. Sinema, Tedski, and now I, am recommending that every one who reads this and cares about the future of Arizona to contact them, and their own Senators, and to urge them to stand firm against the Reps' profoundly irresponsible budget.

Hale's and Miranda's contact info:

Richard Miranda
rmiranda@azleg.gov
O: 602/926-5911
F: 602/417-3271

Albert Hale
ahale@azleg.gov
O: 602/926-4323
F: 602/417-3160

The contact info for the other Senators is here.

No guarantees here, but I'll try to be at the lege tomorrow, other committments permitting...

2 comments:

Unknown said...

just curious, any word on what they are being offered?

Craig said...

I'm not sure of the details, but it involves spending $$$ in their districts.

My only question is where is the money for this spending coming from? A few years ago, a couple of Dem state reps voted to support a Jim Weiers budget for similar enticements, but all of the money for "their" programs came from other programs that Democrats supported and Weiers hated.

The move failed, and apparently the House Dems learned a lesson that the Senate Dems haven't learned yet - if you're going to sell your soul to the Devil (Weiers then, Burns now), at least make sure the Devil is the one paying the price.

Something tells me that Miranda and Hale (assuming that the rumors are true) definitely haven't learned that lesson, though we'll find out for sure on Tuesday.