Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Well, the special session has been called...

...now we have to wait and see if they can actually do anything, or even reach a quorum...

The Governor has issued the proclamation for a special session of the lege, planned start date of Thursday, December 17, 2009.

From the proclamation -
The subjects to be considered at the Special Session shall be:

1. Adjustments to address the fiscal year 2009-2010 state budget.

2. A referendum to voters to impose a temporary tax for the purpose of raising state revenues for primary and secondary education, health and human services and public safety expenditures.

3. A referendum to voters to temporarily suspend the provisions in Article IV, Part 1, Sections 6 and 14 of the Arizona Constitution.
The lege's website has a fifth special session up, but there aren't any bills or committee hearings posted yet.

Reports from The AZ Guardian (subscription required) are that the Governor is expressing confidence that they have the votes, including some from Democrats, to pass the measures on the agenda. However, other denizens of the Capitol aren't so sure.

From the Arizona Capitol Times -
Legislative Republicans and Democrats haven’t agreed on much this year, but both are puzzled by Gov. Jan Brewer’s proclamation earlier today that the two parties have set aside their differences and hashed out a deal that would allow a sales-tax increase she favors to be sent to the ballot in March.

{snip}

Earlier today, media outlets reported Brewer was saying she had been assured by Adams and Senate President Bob Burns that they have secured the necessary Democratic votes to send the temporary one-cent sales tax hike to the ballot.

But that came as news to Democratic leaders.

“She hasn’t asked for a single (vote). We haven’t gotten a call,” said House Assistant Minority Leader Kyrsten Sinema. “She hasn’t talked to anybody.”

This is just a guess, as I haven't talked to any legislators since last night, but it seems that this special session is more a hail mary pass from Brewer, hoping that she only has to call the play(special session), while praying for somebody else to step up to actually make it work (catch the pass), than any example of real leadership.

AZCentral.com coverage here.

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