The coming week - legislative edition

As usual, all info gathered from the website of the Arizona Legislature, except where noted, and subject to change without notice...


This is probably the last free-standing legislative schedule post of the year. With the session winding down quickly - most legislators want to get on with campaigning, and those from the nether reaches of the state want to get out of Phoenix before it turns into hell with a zip code :) - almost all of the lege's committees have stopped meeting to consider bills.

On the House side, Rules is meeting on Monday at 1 p.m. in HHR4. Most of the bills on the agenda will probably be on a floor calendar later in the week. A couple of them are controversial (relating to limiting eminent domain, municipalities' ability to levy certain sales taxes, parents' "rights", etc.), but most passed through committee unanimously.

On the Senate side, there is a little more activity.

- Rules is meeting on Monday in Caucus Room 1 after floor adjournment. The agenda is a long one (71 items!) with some seriously bad bills, but they won't be killed in the Rules Committee - it's a rubber stamp. Look for many of the worst of the worst of the session to reach the floor later this week.

- Finance is meeting on Monday in SHR3 at 1:30 p.m. Its agenda balances the Rules agenda - there's only one item on it, but that one is a doozy. It will be considering a striker to HB2250, with an amendment proposed for the striker. Basically, it waters down the tax cuts proposed by the Kool-Aid drinkers (aka - the Republican caucus in the lege) so that instead of costing the state $941 billion per year by 2017, it will decrease revenue by "only" $650 million/year. (AZBlueMeanie at Blog for Arizona has coverage here.)

- As potentially ugly as that one may be, the expected winner of the "Worst Committee Agenda of the Week" should be the agenda for the Appropriations meeting on Tuesday (2:30 p.m., SHR1).

That agenda has no bills on it, just a presentation titled "Reclaiming Our Border." Presenters include:

- Patrick Bray (from the Arizona Cattlemen's Association)

-Louis Pope (who blames the U.S. government for the death of rancher Robert Krentz. Wonder if his anger at the U.S. Government will change his willingness to accept payouts from the feds?)

- John Ladd (a rancher/vigilante from the Douglas area)

- Gary Thrasher (a veterinarian and member of the AZ Grower's Association)

- Scott Arena (an activist with the AZ Cattlemen's Association)

Given the makeup of the presenters, this looks to be a propaganda session in support of Russell Pearce's amended version of HB2162, creating an "Arizona Border Security Commission" with a $200,000 appropriation to fund a "volunteer" vigilante force in Cochise County, where most of the presenters are based.

By the way, did I mention that Pearce is the chair of the committee hearing the presentation?


The House's Third Read Calendar for Monday is here. It's Monday COW calendars are here, here, and here. Tuesday's Caucus Calendar is here.

The Senate's Third Read Calendar for Monday is here.

Check the lege's website frequently for updates, as there probably will be significant calendars posted for each day this week.

Later...