The coming week...

As usual, all info gathered from the websites of the relevent political bodies/agencies, except where noted, and subject to change without notice...

This will be a brief post due to other pressing matters, but I'll try to hit the high points.


In the U.S. House of Representatives, they'll be reconvening after their holiday recess on Tuesday. Much of the week's agenda will be taken up with post office namings and the like, but one highlight will be consideration of H.R. 4154, the Permanent Estate Tax Relief for Families, Farmers, and Small Businesses Act of 2009. From the CRS summary -

Repeals provisions of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA) eliminating the tax on estates and generation-skipping transfers and the step-up in basis provisions for property acquired from a decedent for estates of decedents dying after 2009. Declares that the sunset provision (general terminating date of December 10, 2010) of EGTRRA shall not apply to title V of such Act (Estate, Gift, and Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax Provisions).

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a $3.5 million estate tax exclusion and a reduction in the maximum estate and gift tax rate to 45% after 2009.

Yup, there will be serious controversy over this one.

Oh yeah...

...The most interesting week should be in the U.S. Senate - they'll be holding floor debate on health care reform. Because of the cloture vote taken on November 21, there will be limits on the debate (though there will still be a lot of it). As such, expect Republican obstructionists to whine that there won't be "enough time" to properly consider all of the ramifications of health care reform.

That's crap.

The Senate's committee schedule is here.

...The Arizona Corporation Commission will hold a securities meeting on Monday; the ACC's hearing schedule is here.

...The Arizona Board of Regents will meet on Thursday and Friday at U of A. The agenda is here.

...The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors will meet in "informal" session on Monday and *formal* session on Wednesday.

...The Board of Directors of the Central Arizona Project will hold a regular meeting on Thursday.

...The Tempe City Council isn't scheduled to meet this week, but the Council Calendar is here.

...The Scottsdale City Council is scheduled to meet on Tuesday. At 2 p.m., they will hold an executive session to interview three candidates for the vacant City Attorney job. At 5 p.m., they will hold a regular meeting. The City's Community Meeting Notice is here.

Later...

North Indian Bend Wash Superfund Site update: small spill

From an email from Rachel Loftin, the EPA's Project Manager -

Dear NIBW Community Involvement Group -

I am sending this to let you know of a release of untreated water which occurred on Monday, November 23rd, from a drain pipe which is connected to the groundwater extraction and treatment system of the Central Groundwater Treatment Facility (CGTF).

Here's what EPA has learned from the City of Scottsdale:

First, and most importantly, we want you to know that the release did not impact the drinking water supplied by the Central Groundwater Treatment Facility (CGTF).

On Monday, November 23rd, a release of untreated water was noticed within 10 minutes of turning on well 75. The well and CGTF were shut down as quickly as possible. The release originated at a drain pipe. Between 500-1000 gallons of water was released resulting in an overflow into a retention basin at the adjacent park. The City cordoned off the spill area in the park and collected a soil and groundwater sample. Preliminary groundwater results are 9 micrograms per liter (ug/l) of TCE and 1 ug/l of PCE. These concentrations are quite low.

Because of the short duration of the spill, low volume of water released, and the low detections of TCE and PCE in the spill area, the preliminary data indicates that the public was not impacted by the release.


What happens next?

The City is gathering additional facts and sampling results, and will provide them to EPA early next week. In turn, I will provide the additional information to all of you early next week as well. The City is also developing an incident report with recommendations for next steps which I will pass on to all of you when I receive it.

Please contact me at 415/972-3253 or by e-mail if you should have any questions. In the meantime, I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Best,

Rachel
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rachel Loftin
Remedial Project Manager
U.S. EPA, Region 9 Superfund Division, SFD-6-2
75 Hawthorne Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
E-mail: Loftin.Rachel@epa.gov
Phone: 415/972-3253
Fax: 415/947-3528

Because the email came through so late on a Friday, I won't be able to follow up on this until Monday at the earliest, and since I have stuff on my schedule already, perhaps not even then.

Anyway, have a good weekend...

The political prognostication thing is easy...

Earlier today, I posted about how Sen. Chuck Gray (R-Pearce's saddle partner) was going to forego a re-election run next year in favor of pursuing "business opportunities."

Contained in that post was the prediction that Republican Rich Crandall, one of LD19's state reps, would pursue the spot in the Senate.

Turns out that prediction was spot on.

From the AZ Rep's Political Insider -

Rep. Rich Crandall is likely to contend for the state Senate seat from east Mesa that Chuck Gray is vacating.

Crandall announced a Senate exploratory committee, noting that Gray does not intend to seek re-election.

{snip}

Crandall is in his second term in the House and chairs the House Education Committee. A move to the Senate is tempting, especially since the Senate Education Committee chairmanship will be open after 2010, as current chairman John Huppenthal is term-limited.

As of this writing, the AZSOS' office hasn't posted any info regarding a Crandall exploratory committee, and Gray's committee is still official "active" (according to his most recent financial report, which is a year old, , he still has over $14K in the committee's treasury). Expect those facts to change within a week or so.

Chuck Gray (R-LD19) not seeking reelection next year

Chuck Gray, the winger state senator from East Mesa (with Russell Pearce covering West Mesa, Mesa is represented in the State Senate by all sorts of nutty), has announced that he won't be running for re-election next year in order to pursue as yet unspecified "business opportunities."

Not being a Republican, much less an East Mesa Republican, I don't have any insight into who is going to step forward as candidates to replace Gray as the third member of the R slate in LD19. However, my best guess is that they will be contending for a House seat, as State Rep. Rich Crandall will probably try to move over to the Senate.

He was rumored to be interested in the Superintendent of Public Instruction spot, but that primary is already a cattle call on the Republican side (five candidate committees and counting). In addition to that, Crandall's seatmate in the House is Republican Kirk Adams, the Speaker of the House.

Something tells me that Adams isn't likely to want to go from the top position in one chamber to a rank-and-file position in the other (OK, assuming he successfully made the transition, he'd probably rate at least a committee chair). At least, not until he is forced to do so by term limits.

As such, Crandall seems likely to be the one to try to move to the Senate, possibly to help set up a statewide run of some sort in 2014.

Look for more such announcements, from both sides of the aisle and in both chambers, as the turn of the year approaches.

Later...

Barnes: the transcript

Well, apparently the staff at the lege was in a hurry to wrap up before the holiday, so the video archives from yesterday's session of the House is already posted on the website. Click on the "video" link for "11/23/2009 - House Third Reading - Special Session 11/23/09".

Here's the "unofficial" transcript, "unofficial" meaning "transcribed by a blogger with a newfound respect for court reporters" (note: it's not perfect, I left out a lot of the umms and pauses and the like) (Note2: "B" = Barnes, "A" = House Speaker Kirk Adams, and "S" = Representative Kyrsten Sinema):

[37:35 mark]

B: My light is lit, sir.

A: Please explain your vote.

Thank you mr. speaker. there's a couple of things...when I walked in here the first thing that I heard was that there weren't any Republicans that were against this thing...and..umm...I think maybe the other side should learn to count, Maybe it will help them with their budget problems.

As far as I could see, all the Republicans were there. The second thing that bothered me was when Mr. Ableser said that there was no bipartisanship here. I guess he forgot that he's a member of the Environment Committee and that I've helped push his bills through...I've helped push Representative McGuire's bills through and it has nothing to do with the fact that they're Democrats that I did it and it has nothing to do with the fact that other people are Republicans that I do that.

If it's a good bill, it goes, if it's not a good bill it doesn't go.

And this is the same thing with this. If it's good, it goes.

Now is this the best? No, it's far from the best.

[Start of the juicy stuff at the 38:45 mark]

And you say that "well you can't touch education".

When I went to school, we had the superintendant of schools and that was it. and then, for the school itself, it was the principal and the assistant principal was the English teacher, and when the principal wasn't there a substitute came in and took the English teacher's place and she became the principal.

[volume rising]

Now, you have the superintendant, the deputy superintendant, the superintendant of communications, the superintendant of sports, the superintendant of government affairs.

Ya got the principal, the assistant principal, the assistant to the assistant principal, the principal of recess, the principal of discipline, the principal of sports, and I'm sure unless we got a bisexual teacher somewhere, there's probably a principal of the girls restrooms and a principal of the boys restrooms.

[39:38]

And that bothers me, because I'm telling you that's not...[muffled]...padding the books...

[interrupted for a point of order from Rep. Sinema]

A: Mr. Barnes, point of order. Ms.Sinema, your point.

S: Impugning. I think, lack of decorum. Something inappropriate. Please keep your comments to the bill and not to people's orientation. Thank you.

B: I'm sorry, I didn't hear what she said sir.

A: Mr. Barnes, she would like you to keep your comments to the bill. Please proceed.

B: She wanted me to keep what?

A: Your comments to the bill.

B: I think this IS THE COMMENTS TO THE BILL! IS THERE NOT ANYTHING IN THERE ABOUT EDUCATION CUTS?!? WHAT'S THE MATTER? DON'T YOU READ THE BILLS BEFORE YOU START VOTING ON THEM?!?

It is a part of the bill. And now I'll tell you something, it's gonna happen again and it's gonna happen again and it's gonna happen again and I don't know where it's gonna stop. But you think it's in trouble now, you wait! Because if we don't solve all of the problems this year, which I doubt if we will, we got three times as many next year.

Somewhere, somewhere down the line, that thing is going to break. and then...I tell ya, one of the school districts came in and talked to me and said {mocking tone} "you can't vote against the school problems because we need the budgets, we can't solve them."

And I says "lookit", I says "quit putting pressure on me, I got enough pressure, I'm not against education. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for education."

And he says "but we can't take any cuts." I says "now wait a minute." I says
"I tell you what". "why don't we just let the state go bankrupt and let a trustee come in that's not...you can't vote on a trustee...the trustee comes in and he decides who's gonna take the cuts.

"Oh no no no, you can't do that!"

I says "yes we can, and maybe we should."

The transcript doesn't really capture the nuance and flavor of Barnes' rant. I heartily recommend that those who are interested view the video for themselves.

Those that don't live in AZ's LD7 will find themselves laughing their butts off and having something to be grateful for this Thanksgiving holiday; those that live in Barnes' district will find themselves crying this holiday.

BTW - Le Templar at the EV Tribune points out here that Barnes' bankruptcy scheme isn't feasible or even legal here.

Update - The AZ Capitol Times has posted the video on YouTube.

Ray Barnes: making Sylvia Allen look like an intellectual stalwart

The video isn't up yet, but the reports are (Tedski at R-Cubed here; Jen at Mindless Mumblings of a Martyr Mom here).

State Representative Ray Barnes (R-LD7) had a meltdown of epic proportions during Monday's meeting of the House of Representatives.

He started by talking about how during the good ol' days when he went to school and there was just a principal, with an English teacher serving as assistant principal. Now, there are vice prinicipals of discipline and gym class and whatever, including separate vice principals for the boys and girls' restrooms, separate unless they've found a bisexual principal, then that person could supervise both restrooms.

None of this is an exact quote (and won't be until the video of the meeting is posted), but I'm not making this up.

Barnes' rant was jaw-droppingly ignorant to the point of embarassing me as an Arizonan.

He actually has made State Senator Sylvia Allen of "the Earth is 6000 years old" fame look like a member of the intellectual elites.

A somewhat surprising accomplishment for someone heretofore best known for some rather Neanderthal attitudes toward women.

Live blogging the House special session

3:17 - House sets up sine die committee to inform Senate that its work is done. House in recess.

3:16 - Bill passes 51 -4.

3:16 - Barnes going now. He may be what Antenori looks like in 30 years or so.

3:15 - Antenori still going.

3:13 - Antenori going after the Tucson City Council over Rio Nuevo. What does this have to do with anything?

3:09 - Getting Democratic support on this one. The few "no" votes seem to be from Rs.

3:07 - SB1003 up.

3:06 - Farley says Dems ready to negotiate and work with Rs, just as soon as Rs are actually ready to work with the Ds.

3:05 - Speaker Adams criticizes Dems for not supporting "cuts-only." Bill passes 35 - 20.

3:02 - Carl Seel offers to "re-educate" the House on how much money K-12 has to spare. Nice choice of words there, Comrade Carl. (Sorry, I couldn't resist. :)) )

3:01 - They're still at it on SB1002.

2:49 - SB1002 up.

2:47 - Barnes states that unless there is a bisexual teacher somewhere, schools now have separate principals for both the boys restrooms and the girls restrooms.

He's yelling now.

I seriously believe that he may have had a beer or two at lunch. Or maybe three or four. :)

OK, I think that he's sloshed.

Drunk or sober though, he's definitely the most entertaining member of the House today.

2:45 -Passes with 35 votes. Ray Barnes excoriates Ed Ableser for saying that bipartisanship doesn't exist in the lege.

2;43 - Murphy states that tax cuts aren't the problem, and fewer tax cuts would have made the deficit worse. Newspeak, Republican-style.

2:42 - Still at it.

2:33 - Blathering still continuing. Antenori at bat now. Wants to cut taxes on business to raise revenue.

2:28 - Rep. Lesko is bemoaning the fact that Dems haven't supported any budget cuts, blaming them the lack of bipartisanship.

2:25 - OK, he's covering it at length. :)

2:23 - Now Rep. Farley is covering the same ground.

2:20 - Rep. Sinema calls "cuts-only" approach "foolhardy".

2:18 - SB1001 substituted for HB2001. Not going to be unanimous.

2:17 - Passes 53 - 0. Bill conveyed back to the Senate.

2:16 - This is going to pass unanimously, but they are still gabbing.

2:14 - Approps chair Kavanagh says that the fix will come up during the next regular session.

2:11 - Had to step away for a few minutes. Substituting the measures that the Senate passed for the identical House measures. Currently on SB1004, repealing the anti-deficiency statutes. (An actual fix is tentatively planned for the next special session.)

Live blogging the Senate's special session

1:48 - Senate recessed.

1:47 - Passes with 16 votes. Over to the House.

1:46 - Sylvia Allen says that a tax hike was imposed because the state equalization tax was permanently repealed.

1:45 - Cheuvront argues against the "cuts-only" mentality of the Rs in the lege.

1:44 - Gould voting no because agencies can raise fees.

1:42 - States that AZ lost over 13000 jobs from Motorola because of taxes. As a former Motorolan, I can state that is utter BS. For over 15 years, Motorola has been run by people who would rather buy or rent other people's tech R&D and license out the manufacture of their products. Actual development and manufacturing is too "old school" for the MBA types who have supplanted the engineers at the top of MOT.

Which is a big reason why MOT nothing more than a marketing company these days.

Taxes in AZ had nothing to do with it.

Not that I'm still a little ticked off by it all. :)

1:40 - Gray still talking. Criticizing an ASU research project, as well as a U of A project, both funded with stimulus funds.

1:30 - SB1002. Linda Gray explaining her vote. Using time to criticize the federal stimulus.

1:37 - Voting on SB1001. Verschoor explaining his "concerns" over agency fee hikes, but will support the bill. Passes with 16 votes.

1:35 - Gould complaining about ADOT buying cones to block off rest areas. That money would buy a lot of toilet paper.

Verschoor apologizes for not being present Thursday, and more importantly, not letting his colleagues know why.

1:33 - Attendance. 27 present, 1 absent, 2 excused.

1:32 - Session starting. Prayer and pledge time.

1:30 - The mic is open. Burns says they are waiting for Sylvia Allen. Oops.

1:28 - Senate President Bob Burns makes an appearance.

1:27 - There's some activity on the floor of the Senate, activity that even includes actual senators milling around. The meeting should start shortly.

The Arizona State Senate: The cameras are on, but no one is at work

Kind of like "the lights are on, but nobody's home," only applied to an entire caucus instead of just one person.

It's 11:24 a.m. Do you know where your senators are? Cuz they sure ain't working on the budget...

According to one source (info more than an hour old at this point), Bob Burns had been working on Albert Hale to get him to cross over, but given the absences today, odds are the Rs are going to need the support of one Dem.

Blowing sands, blowing smoke - the lege's schedule for today

OK - the tentative schedule for the day at the lege is a Senate floor session starting at 10 a.m. (and given that it is after 10 now and there's no sign of activity, it's probably not going to start on time, if at all.

Then, assuming success of some sort in the Senate (and the standards for "success" are getting pretty loose there), there is a House session scheduled for 1 p.m.

Tedski at Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion reports that the Senate Rs will be down a couple of more votes as the holiday approaches and senators have other things to attend to that may be more interesting than the never-ending budget mess.

Like, ya know, family and stuff.

More later...

10;22 - There's some activity on the Senate floor, but no Senators yet. Perhaps there will be something definite to report by 10;45...

Time for a certain classless coward to step up and take responsibility for his action

No, this isn't a political post, unless you consider anonymous violence and utter thuggishness to be valid forms of political expression.

And while I've got a pretty low opinion of the AZGOP (as any regular reader already knows :) ), but even I don't think they are quite this bad.

Last night's football game between U of A and the University of Oregon was an exciting one that took two overtimes to determine a winner.

One fan took umbrage at the Ducks' victory, and instead of heckling a player (you know, one of the people who at least were involved in the outcome) he chose to vent his ire on a random victim, in this case, a cheerleader.

From the Arizona Daily Star -

University of Arizona police are still searching for the person who hit a University of Oregon cheerleader in the head with a water bottle at the end of last night's football game.

The Oregon cheerleader, Katelynn Johnson, a senior, was taken to an area hospital for minor injuries and was scheduled to be released this morning, Sgt. Juan Alvarez of the UA Police Department said.

If the person who threw the bottle that hit Ms. Johnson has even a shred of class (and given the events that form the basis of this post, that seems unlikely), he will step forward and accept responsibility for his actions.

According to the article, any criminal charges could range from disorderly conduct to aggravated assault, though it would seem likely that if the bottle thrower steps up, it will work in his favor (as would the fact that Ms. Johnson's injuries are minor ones).

Until such time as he *does* step up, however, all of the people of U of A, Tucson, and even the entire state will (deservedly) wear the "classless boors" designation because one person was upset of the outcome of a game.


Boo freakin' hoo. Get over it; it's only a game.


P.S. - while I criticized the thrower for anonymously going after a cheerleader instead of directly confronting one of the players, that would still be wholly inappropriate (and pretty stupid, too).

It would, however, be less cowardly.

Bob Burns admitting that Democrats actually exist?

And that maybe they matter?

Next, you'll be telling me that Russell Pearce is going to resign his position, convert to Catholicism and become a priest so that he can minister to the poorest of the poor in Mexico. All as penance for the bile that he has spewed and the pain that he has caused in his career as a politician.

So you say that those two things will never come to pass - Russell "National Alliance" Pearce will never change his nativist ways, and Marszałek Senatu Bob Burns (thanks Tedski!) will never move beyond his partisan nature?

Well, you are half right - Pearce isn't changing any time soon...or probably any time ever.

On the other hand, Bob Burns has cracked open the door of bipartisanship.

From AZCentral.com -

Senate President Bob Burns said he was seeking Democratic votes as he tries to wrap up a special legislative session that went into unexpected overtime last week.

"We need at least four members of the Democratic caucus," Burns, R-Peoria, said late last week, after discussing the state budget at the annual tax watchdog luncheon of the Arizona Tax Research Association. He said he and other legislative leaders planned to spend the weekend looking for those votes.

I have no specific info regarding which Dems Burns is targeting, much less what, if anything, he is offering in return, but I've got a couple of phone calls out.

My off the cuff guesses:

Targeting - Richard Miranda, Jorge Luis Garcia, Ken Cheuvront, and Albert Hale.

- They targeted Miranda before, Garcia has indicated in the past that he has been interested in dealing, Cheuvront is actually pretty conservative for someone who is a gay Democrat (OK, if he wasn't gay he'd probably be a leader of the Chamber of Commerce wing of the AZGOP, but the AZGOP hates gay people nearly as much as they hate Mexicans), and what Hale wants (see the linked article) isn't going to cost the state anything (the R's are against it because it benefits Native Americans, and for no other reason).

Offering - Not a hell of a lot. Burns has too much political capital invested in his previous plan of passing a budget with only R votes. In addition, too many members of the R caucuses in the House and the Senate have made the same investment, and they will be loathe to sign off on any real compromises.

It'll be interesting to see if enough of the Dems are willing to sell their souls in exchange for the equivalent of meaningless but shiny baubles and trinkets.

If not, and right now I'm betting on "not," it will be even more interesting to see if Burns and Adams can convince enough of their caucuses that a little bipartisanship beats holding a special session meeting on the Friday after Thanksgiving.

Later...

The coming week...

As usual, all info gathered from the websites of the relevent political bodies/agencies, except where noted, and subject to change without notice...


This week's schedule is pretty sparse due to the holiday on Thursday, though there will be some excitement at the Arizona legislature early in the week.


...The U.S. House and Senate are in recess this week. I was going to offer a quip about the turkeys having some turkey this week (or something else equally trite), but since the Senate Dems held together long enough to break a Republican filibuster on health care reform, I'll be nice. :)


...The Arizona legislature will meet again on Monday to attempt to pass the latest budget patch. They may get something done, or they may not. I'm not betting on this one. If it doesn't get done this week, a patch may have to wait until the next special session, rumored to be taking place early next month.

It's already looking like the next regular session of the lege (starting in January) will see the ideologues of the Arizona chapter of the Flat Earth Society running roughshod over pragmatism - the first two House bill proposals are already posted on the lege's website. HB2001 would establish the "I didn't pay enough fund" for taxpayers to voluntarily pay more in taxes; HCR2001 would proclaim Arizona's sovereignty from federal laws under the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (aka the "we're going to ignore any federal law that we want to" Act).

Those measures are sponsored or cosponsored by 46 and 47 of the most extreme members of the lege GOP caucus.

Of course, given that there are only 53 GOPers in the lege, that should tell you something about how nutty this bunch is.


...The Arizona Corporation Commission doesn't have any full meetings scheduled this week, but they do have an abbreviated hearing schedule (nothing on Thursday, Friday, or next Monday).


...The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors has a special meeting on tap for Monday at 1 p.m. The highlight looks to be a settlement/surrender in the case of the lawsuits (here and here) brought by County Treasurer Charles Hoskins. Some background from AZCentral.com here. No word on if the results of the latest audit of the Treasurer's office played a part in the settlement.


...On Monday, the Board of Directors of the Maricopa Integrated Health System has two meetings on tap - an executive session at noon and a regular meeting at 1 p.m. The exec session will focus mostly on employment issues.


...On Tuesday, the Governing Board of the Maricopa County Community College District will hold a regular meeting. The agenda is light. There is an executive session (contracts and compensation) followed by an open meeting that is almost entirely consent agenda stuff.

In short, they should be adjourned by 7:30 p.m. And given that it is a holiday week and there is another meeting scheduled for early December, they may just make it on this one.


...The Tempe City Council isn't scheduled to meet this week, but their brief Council Calendar is available here.


...The Scottsdale City Council isn't scheduled to meet this week either, but their Community Meeting Notice is here.


Not scheduled to meet this week: Arizona Board of Regents, Citizens Clean Elections Commission, Board of Directors of the Central Arizona Project.

Rodney Glassman getting closer to a Senate seat

...A nativist winger knocking off McCain in the Republican primary would immediately make Democrat Rodney Glassman a serious threat to win next year's race for the U.S. Senate, if not the outright favorite.

According to the latest Rasmussen Reports poll -

Senator John McCain’s future in the U.S. Senate may be a little less assured than previously thought.

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely 2010 Republican Primary voters in Arizona finds the longtime incumbent in a virtual tie with potential challenger J.D. Hayworth. McCain earns 45% of the vote, while Hayworth picks up 43%.

Rasmussen's toplines are here.

A third candidate, Chris Simcox (founder of the anti-immigrant vigilante group The Minutemen) is polling at 4%. That would seem to help Hayworth, as it is probably safe to presume that in the event he drops out, his supporters would gravitate to Hayworth, but Simcox' 4% is within the margin of error. In other words, he could help Hayworth...or he could have no support at all.

While the comments on the AZ Republic's website and in the Republican blogosphere are somewhat jubilant at the thought of the nativist Hayworth unseating McCain, they should note -

The poll surveyed likely voters in the Republican primary, not in the general election.

John McCain has proven all but untouchable in general elections thus far (though Tucson City Councilman Glassman could do well enough to make McCain actually work this time around), Hayworth is anything but untouchable in a general election, as Tempe's Harry Mitchell proved in 2006.

To the GOP's "more conservative than thou" types -


Be careful what you wish for. You just might get it.


Yeah, I know it's a cliche, but it works here. :)

Time to negotiate *for* the lege's Republicans

Yup, time to contact some local hospitals and see if we can get a group rate for 53 admissions for "cranio-rectal dislodgement surgery."

And if you can't figure out what that's a euphemism for, you aren't enough of a wiseass to enjoy this blog. :)

From AZCentral.com -

What was expected to be a quick special session to cut $300 million from the state budget collapsed early Thursday afternoon when the Republicans fell one vote short of the needed majority.

The Senate adjourned until Monday, when it is expected there will be enough members present to pass the cuts.

The drama turned on Sen. Thayer Verschoor, R-Gilbert, who was missing as the vote neared on a bill that would cut $300 million from education and health and welfare spending. Verschoor was widely believed to support the cuts, but he objected to other policy shifts the Legislature was making in its special session.

Verschoor skipped the vote because of language that allows state agencies to raise fees to offset some of the lege's cuts.

Yay.

In other news, Republican Ron Gould voted against the budget, because he votes against everything, and Chuck Gray voted against it so that he could move to reconsider the vote. He did, the motion was approved, and they'll be back to "try, try again" on Monday.

The House didn't vote on anything on Thursday.

See you all Monday...

Joint Legislative Budget Committee analysis of 4th Special Session budget bills

Links courtesy the blog of the Arizona State Senate Democratic Caucus.

Bill summaries from the JLBC here; JLBC numbers here (final result: $452 million in cuts and savings measures, but that is before any Republican committee or floor amendments.)

Note: The Joint Committee on Capital Review is scheduled to meet tomorrow at 2 p.m in SHR109.

Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman announces that he isn't running for statewide office anytime soon

Of course, Hugh being Hugh, he didn't say it directly.

From AZCentral.com (emphasis mine) -

Four southeast Valley mayors challenged the Legislature on Tuesday to overhaul Arizona's tax system and think more creatively about how to solve the state's monumental budget problems.

In the process, they warned lawmakers not to pass down those problems to cities and towns, which have been largely successful in coping with their own fiscal issues.

{snip}

"Most of us . . . are funded by sales tax to a large degree," said Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman. "And that is a very volatile sector. . . . It's not going to get better, because the cities don't have the opportunity to change that model. It's going to have to be done at the state level."

Hallman said Arizona should rely less on sales taxes and more on property taxes.

Hallman is treading close to apostasy with that last, but before the the AZGOP or the Goldwater Institute dispatches a re-education squad to Tempe, they should rest assured - Hallman has been drinking your Kool-Aid for decades. He is no threat to join Ben Arredondo in the exodus from the GOP (hell, even he had ever considered it, he wouldn't do so after Arredondo did. Hallman despises Arredondo.)

Still, Hallman showed that he has a smidgen of intelligence remaining. As such, he'd never get through a GOP primary. He's going to wait at least two more years.

The coarsening of public discourse in Scottsdale

Tuesday's meeting of the Scottsdale City Council was notable for some of the actual work (appointing David Richert as acting City Manager).


However memorable as that may be, the meeting will be best remembered for the very snarky personal attacks from the floor on Council members and their families.


Michael Fernandez, owner of the Pottery Paradise business in Scottsdale, spoke during the public comment part of the agenda.

He used his three minutes to take continued shots at now-former City Manager John Little (whom he accused of "looting" the City's treasury). And those shots were used, in turn, to criticize the three members of the Council who most often oppose his friend, Mayor Jim Lane.

Now criticisms of public officials are an integral part of our system of governance, and any elected official who feels that they shouldn't have to at least listen to such criticisms shouldn't bother with running for elected office.

However, Fernandez' criticisms went far past the normal bounds of civility.

The snarky and sarcastic tone of his comments (awarding a "John Little Memorial Goldbrick Award"??) meant that they were less "honest criticisms" and more "petty insults".

Still, one must have a pretty thick skin when serving in public office.

Then Fernandez got unforgivably personal with his bestowing of his "Goldbrick Award" on "Wayneroo" (Councilman Wayne Ecton) and "Martha, too" (Councilman Ecton's wife, Martha.)

I've disagreed with each of the members of the Council, as well as elected officials at all levels, and frequently have used snark and sarcasm to do so.

Here.

Not in the Council Kiva, or a legislative hearing room, or any place where official business is conducted.

And I never have used this or any other forum to attack someone's family members simply because they were related to a public official.

Even in a venue as unregulated at the political blogosphere, anyone wishing to maintain their credibility doesn't go there.

When he did so, Mr. Fernandez demonstrated that credibility wasn't and isn't his objective.

Which is something that I wouldn't care about, except that his behavior and the fact that he wasn't called on it right then and there both undermines the credibility of other, more relevent, public speakers, and encourages further personal attacks.


Toward the end of the meeting, Councilman Ecton finally gave voice to his objections to the tone of the earlier comments. He understood that as an elected official, he was subject to criticisms, even unfair ones, but he was offended and outraged at the attack on his wife.

Mayor Lane hemmed and hawed a little bit at that, stating that it was difficult to know what people were going to say before they say it. He then promised to "be more sensitive to that" however.

Mayor Lane's credibility is lacking on this issue, however - he may not have known *exactly* what Fernandez was going to say, but Fernandez was one of his biggest supporters during Lane's mayoral campaign last year, doing a lot of his work through third-party hit pieces targeting then-Mayor Mary Manross and council candidates Ron McCullagh and Suzanne Klapp.

Add in the fact that the targets of Fernandez' invective were Lane critics McCullagh, Klapp, and Ecton (and that Ecton's seat on the Council is up for election next fall), Fernandez' "speech" has all of the hallmarks of a scripted salvo of a smear campaign for next year's elections.

The thing is that Lane and his cronies don't seem to understand is that by undermining the respect that folks have for their elected officials (even if that respect is of the "respect the office, if not the person" variety), they are undermining themselves.

If a "throw all of the bums out!" wave sweeps forth over the Scottsdale electorate next year, it won't be picky about which political careers are drowned.


Video of the meeting can be found on the City's website here. Fernandez' attack starts around the 12:00 mark; Ecton's response can be found at approximately the 3:53:00 point.

Some background on Fernandez' involvement in Lane's campaign here, here, here, here, and here. Info on his post-election ties to Lane here - Fernandez was one of Lane's appointments to the McDowell Corridor/South Scottsdale Economic Development Task Force.

Also, Fernandez' name can be found all over the City of Scottsdale's elections finance reports (start here) - treasurer of No More Manross In 08, treasurer of Republicans For A Bright New Day In Scottsdale, treasurer for No Light Rail For Scottsdale, and others, and financial contributor to those committees and a number of candidates.

Something tells me that this bit of bile won't be the last we hear from Mr. Fernandez and Lane's other surrogates.

It used to be that Mesa was the laughingstock of municipal politics in the Valley; that has changed, partly because Mesa's leaders have improved, and Scottsdale's leaders have degraded.

Arpaio defies court. Again.

Some things never change, do they? Even when one of his deputies is caught on video rummaging through an attorney's briefcase, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio doesn't think that the laws that govern the rest of us apply to him or his.

From AZCentral.com -

A Maricopa County Sheriff's detention officer was found in contempt of court Wednesday for his decision to remove a document from a defense attorney's file during a sentencing hearing last month.

The officer was ordered by a judge to hold a press conference to apologize for his actions - an order that Sheriff Joe Arpaio immediately said would be defied.

“My officer was doing his job and I will not stand by and allow him to be thrown to the wolves by the courts because they feel pressure from the media on this situation,” Arpaio said in a press release. He further said, "I decide who holds press conferences and when they are held regarding this Sheriff’s Office.”

Senate Approps meeting

They're meeting in SHR109. It's available via the lege's live streaming function, which is good, because I didn't visit the Capitol today.

The agenda is here.

Meeting begins at approximately 10:15 a.m.

SB1001, general appropriations - Cuts $144 million from K-12 Ed and $155 million from DES. No public speakers have signed up. Pearce amendment to strip 21st Century Fund funding from the bill (correcting a drafting error - they'll be putting it in SB1003).

Aguirre votes no, criticizing the "cuts only" attitude of the Senate.

Gould votes no, no explanation.

Rios criticizes the emphasis on cutting DES and Education, votes no.

Passes 5-4.


SB1002. K-12 budget reconciliation. Hale offers amendment to allow schools receiving federal "impact aid" to cover cuts from that aid. Hale explains the need, Steve Pierce explains that he supports the intent of the amendment, but will be voting against all amendments...except for those that he votes for, like the amendment of the previous bill. Russell Pearce thinks that it is unfair that the schools that receive the impact aid have money that the other schools in the state don't have. Hale points out that the money is given to districts that don't have the benefits of revenue from property taxes. Gould sounds like he might actually support this one, but I'm not sure. Rios points out that the amendment would have no fiscal impact on Arizona. Harper says that he won't be voting against the amendment out of spite or partisanship, but because he pledged to vote the budget package through without amendments. Even though there will be amendments added by Republican members.

Amendment fails via voice vote.

Shocking, ain't it?

Harper, talking about the underlying bill, gripes about "maintenance of effort" in fed stimulus and the restrictions of "citizens initiatives." Pearce admonishes people that the state is "on the verge of insolvency."

Voting -

Aguirre votes yes, because cuts are necessary though painful. Wants to address revenues.

Sylvia Allen wants to "reform" programs, better known as making the neediest members of society pay for any help they receive. Votes yes.

Rios talks about reining in tuition tax credits to cover cuts. Points to Allen's "reform" call, and recommends reforming STOs. Votes nay.

Passes 6-3.

SB1003, general revenues. Includes fee increase authorization and other stuff. Two amendments. Pearce amendment to add 21st Century Fund money, and to force counties to use all available money to transfer to state's general fund. This one is targeted to protecting the excess funds under the control of Joe Arpaio.

Harper gripes about "cash flow" issues, and suspending employer contributions to state employees' pension funds.

Steve Pierce announces he will vote against both amendments. Even though he supported the amendment stripping the funding from SB1001.

Russell Pearce says that law enforcement supports his county-related amendment.

Steve Pierce now announces that he will support the 21st Century Fund fix.

Gould criticizes the whole process for "opaqueness", calls it a "cocktail napkin plan."

Harper doesn't think that Science Foundation Arizona has the money "coming to them"...even though a judge says that they do.

Gould says that they should fight it, like they've fought funding for ELL.

Sylvia Allen - "It's hell if you do, hell if you don't" and then worries that she might have cursed or something.

Division called on amendment vote, by Gould. Amendment passes 6-2, 3 not voting.

Second Pearce amendment, to protect Arpaio.

Rios questions hypocrisy about the Rs opposing the Hale amendment on the previous bill that didn't affect state funds, but supporting this one, which would.

Pearce pontificates on the need to protect law enforcement. Calls his amendment a "fairness doctrine."

I thought the Rs were opposed to "fairness doctrines"??

Aguirre is backing up Rios.

A rep from Maricopa County is speaking in opposition to the amendment.

They're still blathering on about this...

Pearce gets a note from three unnamed members of the MCBOS, assuring him that they will be fair. Pearce withdraws amendment.

Harper, on the underlying bill, criticizes the "abandoned property" time reduction to three years on traveler's checks. Pearce promises that it will be addressed in the next special session.

SB1003 passes 7-2, Gould opposing, calls fees a tax on business.

SB1004, anti-deficiency statutes.

The realtors and bankers support this one; the homebuilders are hesitant about some of the language (spec sales).

Bill passes 9-0. Meeting adjourns.

On to Senate Rules, which I won't be covering. And probably wouldn't even if I was at the Capitol today - they're usually really boring.

Later...

Is Shadegg channelling his inner Hayworth?

We'll know for certain if Shadegg announces his retirement from Congress in order to start a career in talk radio (not that Hayworth had any real choice about the timing of his retirement from Congress :)) )...

From the Phoenix New Times -

Congressman John Shadegg's theatrics on the floor of the House of Representatives are becoming almost legendary. By legendary, we mean borderline insane.

Just over a week ago, the congressman brought a 7-month-old baby named Maddie to the floor with him to illustrate his outrage over the healthcare bill.

{snip}

While addressing members of Congress about the Justice Department's decision to try suspected 9/11 mastermind, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, and his Al Qaeda cronies in New York City, Shadegg had this to say:

"I saw the mayor of New York today. He said 'we're tough; we can do it.' Well mayor, how are you going to feel when it's your daughter that's kidnapped at school by a terrorist? How are you going to feel when it's some clerk -- some innocent clerk of the court -- whose daughter or son is kidnapped? Or the jailer's little brother or little sister?"

The passage in the Congressional Record can be found here (first column, second complete paragraph).

Video below -

Special session: summary thus far

They didn't actually do much today, so this recap will be brief -

1. The Governor finally issued the official call for a special session of the legislature. The paperwork authorizing the 3 p.m. opening made it over to the lege a little before 1 p.m.

2. Both chambers then met, recited a prayer, the pledge of allegiance, and then adjourned.

3, The Senate will return to session on Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. There are four bills to be considered - SB1001, SB1002, SB1003, and SB1004. No agenda for a meeting of the Senate's Appropriations Committee has been posted yet, but one is expected for tomorrow.

My guess regarding the ambiguity of the Senate's schedule has to do with gathering enough votes to pass anything - while the House bills all have sponsors like House Approps chair John Kavanagh and cosponsors from the ranks of the Republican leadership in the House, all of the Senate bills were dropped under the name of Bob Burns, the Senate President, and have no cosponsors listed.

The rumor circulating at the lege today was that the Senate did, in fact, have enough votes to pass the bills, but those may not be locked in.

We could be looking at another roller coaster ride type of week...

4. The House will return to session on Thursday at 10 a.m. House Approps will meet at 8 a.m. in HHR1. They will consider HB2001 (General Appropriations); HB2002 (K-12 Education Budget Reconciliation); HB2003 (General Revenues); and HB2004 (Anti-deficiency statutes; property).

Assuming that the Senate vote goes according to the plans of the Republican leadership, the bills should all pass on Thursday.

However, given the events of the past few months, that may be an overly ambitious assumption.

KTVK-TV coverage here; EV Tribune coverage here. I'd link to the AZ Rep's coverage, but it's all of three sentences.

Later...

Congratulations to Doug Mings! Again!

From an email from Ann Wallack, chair of the Maricopa County Democratic Party -

I have some good news to announce to all Maricopa Democratic PC's! Doug Mings, our stellar Executive Director for Maricopa County has been hired by Luis Heredia of the ADP to fill the position of Legislative Director for the state party. Although I will miss Doug's leadership and advice, I know that he will do a great job with our legislative candidates, (incumbents and challengers alike), and that he will be a great asset to our Arizona Democratic Party. And, after all, he will only be twenty feet away in the next office and he promises to help and collaborate with our MCDP efforts.

Doug, the former chair of the LD17 Democrats, was brought in as ED of the county party over a year ago and has done outstanding work in preparation for next year's elections. He's now moving over to the state party, where he will work with legislators and legislative candidates from all over the state as we work to turn the lege blue. His wide knowledge of Democratic grassroots activists, Party organizations, and candidates will help push Democratic candidates over the top.

The next time you see Doug, wish him well. However, when you see a Dem legislative candidate, celebrate with them. Their quests just became a lot easier.

Live blogging the start of the special session

3:21 - House adjourning until Thursday at 10 a.m. Approps to meet at 8 a.m. Thursday.

3:19 - Points of personal privilege, introduction of guests.

3:16 - Senate committee to announce that they are ready to conduct business. House back in session. House rules suspended regarding reading of bills on three separate days. Bills assigned to Approps.

3:10 - Bills posted on the House side of the lege's website.

3:08 - Proclamation for special session read. Recess.

3:05 - Pledge, Prayer, attendance - 47 present, 3 absent, 10 excused.

3:03 - Talk in the gallery is that the bills from the last post will go through Approps tomorrow.

3:00 - Over in the House. Reps gathering.

Special session notes

Well, the Governor finally sent over the proclamation so that they can actually hold the special session.

I arrived at the Capitol at roughly 12:40 p.m. for the D17 press conference. At that point, a little over two hours before the special session was scheduled to go off, the Governor and her staff hadn't sent over the paperwork that would allow the lege to meet in a special session.

However, now everything has been squared away (and deals made?) to allow official business to take place.

On the lege's website, 4 bills have been posted for the special session - SB1001, dealing with general appropriations; SB1002, K-12 budget reconciliation (cut $144 million and soft capital); SB1003, general revenues (taking all license and permit fees from agencies to the general fund, plus other stuff); and SB1004, fixing the problems they created with mortgages.

More later...

The LD17 team stays strong

In news that broke elsewhere (including R-Cubed and AZCentral.com), Meg Burton Cahill has announced that she will not seek another term in the Senate next year. For health reasons she is taking her public service career in another direction (her doctor advised her that a hostile work environment like the AZ lege is not conducive to good health. For this he needed to spend tens of thousands of dollars for years of medical school? LOL).

Her wisdom, insight, humor, and dedication to the people of D17 and the state will be sorely missed, but someone who has been found to step into the void that she is leaving, someone who is likely one of the few people capable of stepping in who may be as dedicated to the people of D17.

Long-time Tempe City Councilman Ben Arredondo has become a Democrat, moving away from the Republican Party that has moved away from him and all other elected officials who place a premium on community service over partisan ideology.

Councilman Arredondo will run for a House seat; Rep. Schapira will open an exploratory committee for the Senate seat.

More on this later, but I just wanted to write something while waiting for the "special" session to start (Today'stentative schedule - pledge, prayer, first read, adjourn, caucus, go home).

Left to right: Senator Meg Burton Cahill, Councilman Ben Arredondo, Representative Ed Ableser, Representative David Schapira

OK, now they say that a special session will happen this week

Apparently, the tea leaves that I was reading earlier today were actually just grass clippings...

Nothing has been posted on the websites of the lege or the governor, but according to the AZ Republic, there will be a special session of the lege starting this week. (The Rep is unclear on the day; the AZ Capitol Times says it will start tomorrow; the blog of the Senate Democratic caucus says 3 p.m. tomorrow.)

It's shaping up to be a "cuts-only" session (assuming they can even convene the special session) that again, involves no input from the Democratic members of the lege. Still, unless they can get every member of the Republican caucus in the Senate to show up, they may very well need to coax a couple of Dems to sell their souls cross over.

Current talk includes cuts of $144 million and "soft capital" (books, computers, and stuff that goes into classrooms) from K-12 education and $157 million from DES.

Turns out that planning on visiting the Capitol tomorrow was a good idea, even without the press conference mentioned in the previous post...

Big announcement regarding LD17 tomorrow at the lege

From a press release -

Sen. Burton Cahill to announce retirement; Reps. Schapira, Ableser to reveal who will vie for state Senate, House seats

PHOENIX - State Sen. Meg Burton Cahill and state Reps. David Schapira and Ed Ableser will hold a press conference 1 p.m. Tuesday at the State Capitol to announce their plans for the Democratic slate in District 17. The Tempe lawmakers will also introduce a new House candidate who is a well-established leader in the Valley.

Burton Cahill will announce her retirement from the Legislature after 10 years of service. Elected to the House of Representatives in 2000, she served three terms there and will finish her legislative service at the end of her second Senate term.

"I'm proud to have served the communities of Tempe and south Scottsdale in the Legislature," Burton Cahill said. "I went to the Capitol to represent the interests of my neighbors, and I am honored to have had their support for a decade."

At the press conference, Schapira and Ableser will announce which representative is filing an exploratory committee for Burton Cahill's Senate seat. They will be joined by another prominent Tempe leader who will announce a bid for the open House seat.

Sen. Burton Cahill has a long and storied career in public service, and it isn't over yet (else I would be far more effusive in my praise for her. Her story isn't over yet, not by a long shot). Only her legislative career is coming to a close, not her public service career.

As for the rest, I'll be at the Capitol on Tuesday. Coverage and pics of the seriously big announcement tomorrow...

Edward Woodward dies at 79

Most of the readers of this blog probably aren't familiar with the name, but Edward Woodward was the star of one of the most iconic 80s TV shows, The Equalizer.

Woodward was a highly-respected actor in England. Before accepting the role of Robert McCall, a retired and disillusioned Cold War-era spy who helped the helpless in the mean streets of New York as a way of paying penance for some of the sins he committed in the line of duty, he was probably best known in the U.S. for his role in the film Breaker Morant.

The show was gritty, human and had a GREAT opening theme from Police drummer Stewart Copeland.

The Washington Post has a full bio and obit here; the Indianapolis Star has a report on Woodward's passing, as well as the death of another, much younger, icon from the 1980s, Ken Ober. Ober was the host of MTV's first non-music program, Remote Control. Yes, at one point in time, the "M" in "MTV" stood for "Music." Shocking, I know...

Kevin at Exurban League sums it up thusly - "Great show. Fantastic intro. Gonna miss him."

The folks over at EL are usually spectacularly wrong on all issues political, but they've got some pretty good taste in movies, music, and TV. Though they lose serious points for the David Hasselhoff reference. I know it was the Berlin Wall, but Hasselhoff?

Special session tea leaf reading

Not much to update as yet, but here goes...

The latest rumors are A) that they will try to pull off a one day special session on Thursday, and B) that they'll try for next week before Thanksgiving.

There are obstacles to those potential plans.

As for possibility A, the Governor's public schedule for this week has been posted, and she plans to be in Austin, Texas for the Republican Governors Association annual conference on Wednesday and Thursday.

As for B, there are a number of legislators from both sides of the aisle who will be out of state, and a couple will be out of the country, after this week. Gaining a quorum next week will be difficult; gaining the 31 and 16 votes needed to pass anything will be nearly impossible.

Especially since the Republican Governor, Speaker, and President of the state senate are still adamant in their refusal to work with Democratic members of the lege.

BTW - none of this precludes a special session. The Governor could yet cancel her trip to Austin, or members of the lege could yet cancel their long-planned holiday plans.

Just don't hold your breath waiting for the Capitol leadership to get off of the butts any time soon.

Other lege-related notes:

- Sources report that the Reps had a caucus meeting today. The Governor attended, and when she showed up, the caucus meeting was then closed to the public.

The AZGOP, the party of transparency. Or not.

- Credit Russell Pearce, the State Senator from LD18, with the first bill proposal for the 2nd regular session of the 49th Arizona Legislature. His SB1001 is another attempt to limit the ability of elected officials to put their faces on/publicize themselves in general communications paid for out of public monies.

The only surprise here is that the first bill wasn't one of Pearce's patented anti-Mexican screeds masquerading as a public policy proposal.

On the other hand, it is still early.

- Officially clarifying what had long been expected, LD8 State Rep. John Kavanagh has formed a re-election committee with the AZ Secretary of State's office (filer ID 201000319). Kavanagh, the chair of the House Appropriations Committee, had been rumored (reported here and elsewhere) to be interested in the LD8 Senate seat, currently held by the termed-out-after-next-year Carolyn Allen. However, fellow LD8 Rep. Michelle Reagan is also interested, and she may have a stronger base of support in LD8. Kavanagh couldn't be sure he would prevail in a primary battle with her. On the other hand, he is a near-certain lock to retain his House seat, even in LD8's Republican cattle call in the state representative primary (six candidates and counting).

The coming week...

As usual, all info gathered from the websites of the relevent political bodies/agencies (except where noted) and subject to change without notice.

This is shaping up to be a busy week as most political entities try to clear as much work as possible off of their dockets before the holiday season hits full force.


...The U.S. House of Representatives is back in session this week, starting Monday afternoon. The official agenda doesn't list "health care reform politicking", but that activity is certain to grab most of the media's attention this week and every week until a final bill is passed by both chambers.

The House does have some regular work to do this week, and while none of the items at hand shape up to be as interesting or contentious as health care reform, this will still be a busy week for politics-watchers.

Of interest to Arizonans -

H.R. 1834, the Native American Business Development Enhancement Act of 2009, sponsored by AZ1's Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick. The purpose of the bill is to "..amend the Small Business Act to expand and improve the assistance provided to Indian tribe members, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians..." CRS summary here. Heard under suspension of the rules, so a 2/3 majority is required for passage.

H.R. 3791, the Fire Grants Reauthorization Act of 2009. The bill is sponsored by AZ5's Rep. Harry Mitchell. CRS summary is here. CBO analysis here (cost estimate: $2.7 billion thru 2014, $2.1 billion thereafter, assuming funds are appropriated. This is only an authorization bill). This bill will be the subject of a House Rules Committee hearing on Tuesday at 3 p.m. (EST).

- Of more general interest, but certain to generate some serious controvery -

H.R. 3961, the Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act of 2009. CRS summary here. CBO estimates here (expected to increase federal spending by $210 billion over 10 years).

Possible consideration of the conference report on H.R. 2847, the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010. CRS summary here. This one has some "interesting" provisions, like prohibiting the use of funds "to implement, administer, or enforce any EEOC guidelines covering harassment based on religion."

Who wrote this stuff? Bush appointees?


...Over in the U. S. Senate, expect some serious arm-twisting over health care reform. The Senate's committee schedule is here.


...Back here in Arizona, the Arizona Legislature may or may not be holding a special session this week. And whether or not they do, in fact, hold a session this week, few Capitol watchers expect any significant progress toward a real fix for the budget mess until after the new year.

However, special session or no, the makework schedule continues unabated.

- The Ad Hoc Committee on Energy and Water Development will meet on Monday at 8:30 a.m. in SHR1.

- The Ad Hoc Committee on Mining Regulations will meet on Monday at 1 p.m. in HHR1. The meeting will be chaired by the mining industry's personal representative to the State Senate, Sylvia Allen. She will be asking mining industry lobbyists and executives what kind of government regulations they want for their business.

Look at the agenda (linked above). I'm not exaggerating.

- The Ad Hoc Committee on Agriculture Regulations will meet on Monday at 3 p.m. in HHR1. Agribusiness' personal rep in the State Senate, Steve Pierce, will be in the same place doing the same thing for his keepers that Sylvia Allen was doing for hers two hours earlier.

- The Ad Hoc Committee on Private School Tuition Tax Credit Review will meet on Monday at 1 p.m. in HHR5. It's already apparent that Speaker Adams' hand-picked committee to look into STOs and the tax credit program is less an "inquiry" and more a "pep rally."

One of the scheduled presenters at the hearing is Dr. Charles M. North, an economics professor from Baylor University.

I thought that Waco, Texas (home of Baylor U) was a *little* far to go in search of an economics expert who could discuss the economic impacts of STOs and tuition tax credits on Arizona. U of A, ASU, and NAU have economics faculty who are competent. Even renowned.

And UA, ASU, and NAU are a LOT closer.

Hmmm...I wonder who's paying for Dr. North's trip to AZ? I would love to get a look at the expense records of the lege and a couple of STOs to find out.

Anyway, a little quick research on Dr. North found he has authored publications like "Going to College, Getting a Job: What Happens when Mom and Dad Take Their Kids to Church," "Must the poor always be with us? What do we do?" and "Wrapped Around Your Finger? The Role of Vouchers in Regulating Private Schools."

And that was just stuff from his official bio at Baylor, linked above.

Instead of handing out copies of the agenda before this meeting, why don't they just hand out copies of the script, so everyone can follow along???

- The House Government and Senate Government Institutions Committee of Reference will meet on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. in HHR5. The meeting is for the sunset reviews of the Arizona Legislative Council, the Office of the Auditor General, and the Arizona State Library, Archive and Public Records.

- The Ad Hoc Legislative Committee on Agency Information Technology will meet on Thursday at 9 a.m. in HHR5.

...Anyway, I've got something else to do this afternoon, so I will complete this post later today...

Edit later on 11/15 to complete this post with info from county, local, and other state political bodies/agencies...

...The Arizona Corporation Commission is scheduled to meet Thursday and Friday. The agenda is a long one. Many of the items will impact readers all over the state (rate hikes and related items) but the one that could have the most direct impact on readers in my vicinity (LD17 and environs) is this one -

26. Arizona-American Water Company (W-01303A-08-0227 and SW-01303A-080227) – Application for a Determination of the Current Fair Value of its Utility
Plant and Property and for Increases in its Rates and Charges Based Thereon For Utility Service by its Agua Fria Water District, Havasu Water District, Mohave Water District, Paradise Valley Water District, Sun City West Water District and Tubac Water District; Application for a Determination of the Current Fair Value of its Utility Plant and Property and for Increases in its Rates and Charges Based
Thereon For Utility Service by its Mohave Wastewater District.

The ACC's full hearing schedule is here.


...The Citizens Clean Election Commission is scheduled to meet on Thursday at 9:30 a.m. No agenda posted online as of this writing.


...The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors has its normal schedule of meetings for the week - an "informal" meeting with an executive session component on Monday and a "formal" meeting scheduled for Wednesday. Both agendas look to be pretty mundane, but there is a *lot* of stuff here as they try to clear the decks in preparation for the holiday season.


...The Board of Directors of the Maricopa Integrated Health System has a special session on tap for Monday. It will primarily be an executive session discussing the contract of Betsey Bayless, the CEO of MIHS. On Wednesday, the Board has a "retreat" scheduled - discussion of objectives, best practices, and the like.


...The Board of Directors of the Central Arizona Project doesn't have a full board meeting scheduled this week, but it will still be active.

- On Wednesday, CAP's Systems Operations Advisory Group will meet at 9 a.m.

- On Thursday, their Public Policy Committee will meet at 10:30 a.m.

- On Thursday, the Board (or such members as show up) will hold a work/study session on Recovery Planning/Projects.


...The Tempe City Council will meet Thursday. The agenda looks pretty boring except for initial consideration of a resolution expressing support for a consolidation plan from the City Manager for Tempe city government.

The Council's Calendar is here.


...The Scottsdale City Council is scheduled to meet on Tuesday, and the agenda looks to be an interesting one.

- Item 10, on the consent agenda, covers the referral to a special election of charter amendments. Assuming approval, the election would be held on March 9, 2010.

- Items 13 and 14, also on the consent agenda, are related to lawsuits against the City. 13 is funding for the settlement of one suit, 14 is for paying an attorney to fight another one.

An AZ Republic article on the lawsuit behind #14 here.

- Item 23 relates to discussion and possible initiation of a Zoning Ordinance text amendment to update current regulations of live entertainment. This one was requested by Council member Lisa Borowsky.

- Item 24 concerns the appointment of an Acting City Manager (candidates David Ellison, David Richert, and Brent Stockwell, all current City employees) and the establishment of a process for finding a permanent City Manager (includes the creation of a Mayor-appointed "City Manager Recruitment Ad Hoc Committee). This one has a possible executive session component associated with it.

- Item 25 (no hyperlink available) is "requested" by Council member Borowsky but it looks like it is straight out of Mayor Jim Lane's "outsource everything" playbook.

Request: At the request of Vice Mayor Borowsky, discussion and possible action or direction to staff on reorganizing the Government Relations Department, including budgetary matters, possible initiation of the RFP process to use outside contractors to provide government relations services, and location of the Government Relations Department within the city organizational structure.

The City's Charter Review Task Force is scheduled to meet on Monday. Agenda here.

The City's Community Meetings notice is here.

Not scheduled to meet this week: Governing Board of the Maricopa County Community College District. The Arizona Board of Regents has *something* going on, but I'm not sure what.

Republicans behaving badly: STO meeting shenanigans

On Thursday, Rep. David Schapira (D-LD17) and the Bipartisan Task Force on the Private School Tuition Tax Credits Program held an open hearing on Thursday at the State Capitol to solicit public testimony on the state's troubled STO program.

A number of citizens, from all over the state, journeyed to Phoenix to hear a presentation from the Arizona Attorney General's Office as well as to give their input.

The meeting was well-attended and informative, but don't bother checking out the video archive on the lege's website - apparently, House Speaker Kirk Adams killed the lege's video coverage of the meeting. Perhaps he was trying to keep the AG's office from scoring any points ahead of next year's elections, perhaps he was trying to keep his own hand-picked sham committee from being overshadowed, or perhaps he was simply trying to protect his colleague Steve Yarbrough from some of the criticisms of the STO program (Yarbrough is the head of the largest and most lucrative STO, the Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization).

Whatever the motivation however, Adams' heavy-handed tactics have been garnering notice, even in his hometown paper, the East Valley Tribune (at least it is until it shuts down completely at the end of the year.)

From Saturday's "Cactus Needles" column -

We knew House Speaker Kirk Adams, R-Mesa, faced an uphill battle when he promised to inject more transparency into how his state chamber conducts business. But we certainly didn’t expect to see an Adams-run House turn off one of the best tools for outsiders to keep track of what the Legislature does.

House staff refused Thursday to use taxpayer-funded cameras during a meeting about tuition tax credits organized by legislative Democrats. Usually, far more people watch such meetings on the Legislature’s closed-circuit television, Web broadcasts and dedicated cable channels than attend in person.

Adams’ spokeswoman, Becky Blackburn, offered the lame excuse that the meeting was scheduled too late. But the lead organizer, Rep. David Schapira, D-Tempe, says he filed proper notice more than two weeks before. Besides, we know from past experience it only takes a few minutes to get the House cameras working. So the public could have watched most of the two-hour meeting anyway if Adams had kept his word.

Further supporting Schapira and undercutting the Adams' Family party line story spin from Adams' flack are reports from meeting attendees. They document an interesting phenomenon.

Call it "The Case of The Disappearing Meeting."

When two of them went to sign up to speak at the meeting, the meeting appeared on the system's schedule when the first person signed in, but it disappeared, as if by magic, by the time the next person in line stepped up to sign in.

Hmmm...

Lest one thinks that only the Trib noticed the games Adams was playing, Thursday's meeting has garnered notice in the AZ Republic here. It also made the Arizona Guardian's Guardian Angel column (subscription required) -

Capitol censorship: The Winged One never figured Republican leaders would rule the House like the politburo. But that’s what some Angelinos are saying these days about their Glorious GOP Leaders after they ordered Arizona Capitol Television not to broadcast a Democratic task force that was meeting in one of the House hearing rooms. The crews were ready to roll Thursday morning when word came down that they were forbidden to televise the show because the Democrats didn’t, umm, book the room – at least that’s the official version coming from the Ministry of Information. The GA hears the real story is Republican leaders didn’t want to give Attorney General Terry Goddard’s folks an avenue to score political points on the boob-tube...

While Adams was successful in preventing the lege's own cameras from providing coverage of the meeting for the members of the public who were unable to attend it in person, he wasn't able to completely block all coverage - video of Rep. Schapira's post-meeting comments is available on the website of the Guardian, and a full piece in the East Valley Trib is here.

In addition to those sources, David Safier at Blog for Arizona has some great in-depth coverage here, here, and here.

And since she was there, and addressed the committee (brave woman, she), Jen at Mindless Mumblings of a Martyr Mom should eventually post her take on the meeting. Once she calms down enough to press the keys on her keyboard, as opposed to punching them through the desk underneath that keyboard. :))

Later...

When you outlaw laws, only outlaws will have laws

Tedski at Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion has covered this already, but it's worthy of more coverage.

Especially in light of the apparent fizzling out of next week's likely-to-remain-a-rumor special session of the lege to address the ongoing budget deficit...

Russell Pearce likes to tout himself as a "rule of law" type, but it seems that his enthusiasm for obedience to the laws of the state and country doesn't exactly apply to Pearce himself obeying the law.

From the Arizona Capitol Times -

Sen. Russell Pearce told our reporter yesterday he is advocating lawmakers "simply ignore" the maintenance of effort requirements for K-12, universities and healthcare funding that the state agreed to when it accepted the federal stimulus aid earlier this year.

{snip}

"Our economy is worse than theirs. We simply cannot do it," he said. "It’s time to tell the federal government, 'Sorry, we can’t do it.' I intend to balance the budget without tax increases."

Of course, federal law regarding budget matters is the least of the budget-related laws that Pearce ignores at will.

Consider the highest law in the state, the Arizona Constitution.

From Article 9, Section 3 (emphasis mine) -

The legislature shall provide by law for an annual tax sufficient, with other sources of revenue, to defray the necessary ordinary expenses of the state for each fiscal year. And for the purpose of paying the state debt, if there be any, the legislature shall provide for levying an annual tax sufficient to pay the annual interest and the principal of such debt within twenty-five years from the final passage of the law creating the debt.

No tax shall be levied except in pursuance of law, and every law imposing a tax shall state distinctly the object of the tax, to which object only it shall be applied.

All taxes levied and collected for state purposes shall be paid into the state treasury in money only.

From Article 9, Section 4 -

The fiscal year shall commence on the first day of July in each year. An accurate statement of the receipts and expenditures of the public money shall be published annually, in such manner as shall be provided by law. Whenever the expenses of any fiscal year shall exceed the income, the legislature may provide for levying a tax for the ensuing fiscal year sufficient, with other sources of income, to pay the deficiency, as well as the estimated expenses of the ensuing fiscal year.

Arizona - the place where the loudest lawmakers are also the loudest lawbreakers.


Note on the special session talk: if it does happen next week (and according to sources, it's not completely dead quite yet, though it's thisclose to being kaput), it may just be a one day session where the members show up, vote without reading what they are voting on, collect their per diem, and head back to the hills.

The original "plan" (such as it was) was for a three-day session from Monday to Wednesday.

Except that the Speaker of the House, Kirk Adams, will be out of town on Monday, and there are all sorts of events on Tuesday that will keep members away from the Capitol on Tuesday until mid to late afternoon, when they have another meeting scheduled.

And then other members will be heading out of town in preparation for the holidays later in the week.

Also, in all of the tentative budget patches/fixes that are being floated around unofficially (in other words, nothing available online yet), more massive cuts to K-12 education and DES are featured but nothing to address revenue has been included, including the Governor's proposed referendum on a sales tax hike. That was supposed to be considered, MAYBE, in a December special session that would have set up a March election on the matter.

While something *could* still happen next week, at this point I'd bet on nothing happening until January at the earliest.

Later...

A little light reading for a good cause...

A couple of books have hit the streets recently, and both are worthy of picking up.

- The first up is the cookbook "How To Roast An Elephant." It was put together by D20 Democratic activists Jean Cappello and Judy Wade with nearly 200 recipes submitted by Maricopa County Democrats. Whether to show your support for the Democratic Party's grassroots or just to put a great meal on the table (with a "Turning the County Blue cocktail as the libation ;) ), this book is a great idea for a holiday gift for your favorite Democrat...or your favorite Republican with a sense of humor (there *are* a few, ya know) and an appreciation for good food.

LD20's ActBlue page for the book is here; a copy can be ordered from the D17 Democrats here (approximately 1/3 of the way down the page).

- Second up is The Blue Pages 2nd Edition, from Angie Crouse and the Center for Responsive Politics. Angie is a political researcher, Vice-Chair of the LD17 Democrats, board member of EmergeArizona, and a friend.

The 2nd edition of The Blue Pages is a compilation of major corporations' political contributions, labor relations, lawsuits, and community and charitable involvement. And it comes in a handy pocket size.

This handy guide is the perfect stocking stuffer for all of your politically active friends, no matter where they fall on the political spectrum. Democrats will be able to find out which companies are good corporate citizens and spend their hard-earned money with those companies, while Republicans can find out which companies are good corporate citizens and avoid them.

:)

Later...

Not good news for Jan Brewer's nascent campaign

From AZCentral.com -

Pew report: Ariz. ranks among worst facing budget woes

Arizona lags only California in the magnitude of its state budget woes, according to a new report released today.

The state's high foreclosure rate, year-over-year drop in tax collections and yawning budget gap make it second-worst in the nation in term of budget problems, the Pew Center for the States concludes in a special report, "Beyond California, States in Fiscal Peril."

More details, and the entire report, can be found on the Pew Center's website here.

Brewer has increased her pace of "unofficial" campaigning, with nine items on this week's public schedule, compared to two items on the schedule from a mere five weeks ago.

However, all the campaigning in the world isn't going to erase the aroma of failed leadership wafting from the ninth floor (and the offices of the House Speaker and the Senate President) and surrounding the Capitol. Even if the rumored latest special session goes off next week (no guarantee that - rumors are that she and the lege leadership can't agree on the scope of the special session, and no one is sure that they will even get a quorum if they do actually call the special session), most efforts seem to be focused on kowtowing to pure ideologues (in AZ and DC) and "kicking the can down the road," not dealing with the state's situation responsibly and professionally.

The scary part is while they (Brewer and the lege leadership) have failed to address the worsening deficit in the current year's budget, next year's deficit is projected to be over $3 billion.

And that is an early projection; revenues are worsening and most of her caucus in the lege is dedicated to further cutting revenues. Plus every bit of this year's deficit that they don't deal with now will just be pushed into next year budget.

In short, she needs a miracle to look good enough to win election as an incumbent, and neither she nor the people around her seem to be the "miracle worker" type, nor do they even seem to be the "buckle down and work their way of the the mess" type.

Brewer will have enough trouble getting through the GOP primary; gaining enough support of independent voters to prevail in the general election will be nearly impossible.

Of course, most GOP governors-wannabe will face the same problems next year; many of the "big names" could take a look at the electoral landscape, and cede next year to the Democrats.

They'll wait for 2014 and hope the lege pulls its collective head out of its collective ass by then.