Perhaps they were intoxicated by the nearness of King...errr...President George "No Steenkin' Rules Apply To Me" Bush, but the Republican leadership of the Arizona State Senate spent Wednesday feeling their "debate suppression" oats.
The following details of the Senate floor activity are courtesy Rep. Steve Farley (D-LD28). He sends out weekly "Farley Reports From Phoenix". Most readers, however, refer to them as "Farley-grams" and we look forward to each issue's arrival in our inboxes. I strongly recommend signing up for it here.
The background info about the bills mentioned in today's post is available on the lege's website.
Note: 'COW' refers to "Committee of the Whole", a session of the Senate where amendments are allowed and actual debate can take place. During a regular session, no amendments are allowed and debate consists of members "rising to explain" their votes.
Anyway, back to our regularly scheduled post... :)
Turns out that the Senate was supposed to consider an amendment to HB2049 that would ban texting while driving (TWD).
The amendment was authored by Rep. Farley, a Democrat, and was brought forward in the Senate by Sen. Charlene Pesquiera of Oro Valley, another Democrat. However, while this amendment (and HB2396, Farley's original attempt to ban texting while driving) has overwhelming support among the state's voters and rare bipartisan support in the lege, the leadership of the Senate, including Senate President Tim Bee, is loathe to give it an open and fair hearing.
The original bill was killed early in the legislative session when Rep. Andy Biggs (R - LD22), chairman of the House Transportation Committee, refused to allow it to be heard in his committee. It was sponsored by a Democrat, after all.
On Tuesday, the Senate leadership used every trick in the book, and a few that aren't in any book that the Senate's members, staffers, or lawyers know about, to block Farley's amendment from passage.
First up was Sen. Ron Gould and his attempt to block the amendment from being heard, by moving to have the bill "retained on the calendar". When that failed, he began offering substitute amendments to the amendment.
After those all failed, Senate Majority Leader Thayer Verschoor (R-Gilbert) moved again to have the bill retained on the calendar, a move that was against the rules of the Senate, as debate on the bill had already started. The chair of the COW session, and my favorite senator, Jack Harper (R-Surprise!) ruled that Verschoor's motion was in order. The senate voted to overturn his ruling.
After more failed attempts to amend the amendment, Sen. Pam Gorman moved to have the COW session rise, postponing further debate until later in the day. After some confusion (and the disregarding of a vote that didn't fit the desires of the Senate leadership), the Senate did rise from its COW session.
At that point, most of the Senate's Republican caucus bugged out to go attend the McCain fundraiser/public appearance with Bush at a defense contractor in Mesa.
More than five hours later, the Senate reconvened, but before any action could be taken, Thayer Verschoor moved to have the Senate adjourn. While Tim Bee tried to call the voice vote on that motion as "ayes have it" but there were only 3 Republicans in the chamber. A headcount was taken, and the motion failed 3 - 10.
At that point, things really started getting out of hand.
Next up, Bee said that with 13 votes cast on the adjournment motion, a quorum wasn't present (the Senate cannot conduct business unless a quorum, or a majority of members, is present - 16 is that magic number).
Bee tried to conduct an electronic roll call (senators push a button on their desks indicating their presence), but ran into problems with that when Sen. Meg Burton-Cahill (D-Tempe) refused to press her button unless Bee allowed her to speak. Bee then switched to a manual roll call where each Senator's name was called out and they had to respond to indicate their presence.
After that, Senate Minority Leader Jorge Luis Garcia of Tucson tried to move for a "Call to the Senate" which would have had DPS officers out tracking down the wayward (and mostly Republican) legislators.
Bee looked directly at him and then gaveled the session to adjournment at 7:40 p.m.
And so ended a breathtaking day marked by Tim Bee's shameless abuse of his power as Senate President to prevent passage of a bill that he doesn't like.
The actual status of the bill, amendment, and the COW session is unclear, as the Senate actually had to re-enter it's COW session for the motion to adjourn to be a legal one, and they never actually re-entered COW.
Rep. Farley promises that this isn't the end of the effort to ban texting while driving, so stay tuned.
Two comments -
1. If they put as much effort into passing a budget as they did into killing the TWD amendment, a balanced budget would have passed weeks ago, the lege would already be adjourned for the year, and this amendment never would have come up for consideration. All of today's arm- and rule-twisting would have been unnecessary.
2. Does anyone else think that Bee really, REALLY screwed up when he decided that he shouldn't have resigned from the State Senate to run for Gabrielle Giffords' seat in Congress? Instead of being home in Tucson meeting constituents and raising money (and 'tsk-tsking' at the antics of the lege), he's now stuck in a partisan quagmire of his own making.
And partisan quagmires aren't the best place to find support from Independent voters, support he will need to unseat the popular Giffords.
AZCentral.com coverage here.
Eventually, the video of the COW session will be available on the lege's website here; however, when that will be is anyone's guess.
Later...
Showing posts with label Farley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Farley. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Ten and ten
Sunday, the AZ Republic ran a story highlighting 10 of the more interesting bills before the Arizona Legislature. It was a decent enough story, if a little light on real substance or usable information.
The story, while it did have its good points, was also a very shallow one. 10 bills out of over 1100 filed? That's less than 1%, and the brief blurbs that the Rep wrote about the bills didn't even include basic info such as the name of the sponsor or whether or not the bill has been assigned to a committee.
So, with that serving as inspiration, here's my list of ten and ten - ten bad bills to watch, and ten good bills to watch. These aren't the only 10 bad bills, or the only 10 good bills; there's plenty more of both.
Note: in the interests of minimizing repetitiveness, no anti-immigrant or "let's balance the budget by cutting revenue" bills will be included. Those were covered pretty well in the Legislative Loon p0sts.
Ten bad bills -
...HB2096, a bill to create parental educational choice grants. Introduced by Reps. Biggs, Burges, and Murphy, and Sens. Gorman, Harper and Johnson.
After over 200 words rationalizing the need for such grants, and proclaiming that the bill's purposes are secular, the bill goes on to create a program that awards grants in the amounts of $3500 and $4500 per year payable to the "custodians" of pupils enrolled at private schools.
Undermining public education is bad enough to warrant inclusion on this list, but the language in the bill that states that schools "shall not be required to alter its creed, practices or curriculum in order to redeem grants issued pursuant to this article" is a very thinly-veiled way to funnel public funds to religious schools, notwithstanding the "secular" proclamation a the beginning of the bill.
...HB2477, a bill relating to employees of the state treasurer's office. Sponsored by Rep. Adams. Would authorize the state treasurer (currently Dean Martin) to randomly drug test employees and prospective employees, and to periodically snoop into employees' credit reports.
If Mr. Martin and his water-carrier Rep. Adams believe that there is a drug use problem in the treasurer's office, there are provisions in existing state law that would allow for drug testing in departments where there is evidence of a problem. Even if those provisions don't apply to the treasurer's office, why not change the law so that those provisions *do* apply?
Unless, of course, the underlying purpose of the program would be to control and intimidate office employees, some of whom may have spoken up over the crimes committed by previous treasurer David Petersen, who resigned in disgrace.
Something tells me that the ethically-challenged Martin wants to discourage whistle-blowers with this.
...SB1054, a bill relating to the state treasurer and independent legal counsel. Introduced by Sen. Chuck Gray. Would allow the State Treasurer's office to bypass the Attorney General and contract for outside legal counsel. The bill also exempts such contracts from the state's procurement code with its attendent oversights.
Related: SB1097, a bill from Sen. Burns to exempt the State Treasurer's office from the Government Information Technology Agency's (GITA) requirements.
Can you say "building an independent fiefdom"?
...HB2678, a bill related to welfare recipients and applicants, and drug testing. Sponsored or cosponsored by a cast of thousands (actually, a cast of 31, 30 of whom are Republicans.) Would mandate drug testing of all applicants and recipients of public assistance.
...HB2713, a bill relating to students' expression of religion. Sponsored by Reps. Clark and Anderson. Would bar a school from discriminating against a student or group of students on the basis of religion. The bill includes interesting phrasing - "If an assignment requires a student's viewpoint to be expressed in coursework, artwork or other written or oral assignments, A public educational institution shall not penalize or reward a student on the basis of religious content or a religious viewpoint." I'm not sure of this (I'm most definitely not a lawyer), but I think this might really mess up grading in science classes.
This bill may be related to conflicts like this one in the Deer Valley Unified School District, chronicled in the AZ Republic.
...HCR2041, an amendment to the state constitution barring preferential treatment based on "race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education or public contracting." Sponsored by Reps. Pearce, Barnes, Mason, Murphy, and Nelson and Senators Harper and Johnson. Basically, this is Ward Connerly's scheme to end affirmative action policies.
...SB1064, a bill relating to presidential preference elections. Sponsored by Sens. Harper and Waring. This is the one that opens up presidential primaries for everyone but Democrats. I've written about this one before.
SB1332, a bill relating to DNA testing. Sponsored by Sen. Chuck Gray. The Senator was all people who are arrested to submit to DNA testing. Compliance would be a condition of bail or "own recognizance" release - failure to comply would result in revocation of bail.
Just think - if this was in force when Joe Arpaio and Andrew Thomas tried to intimidate the New Times into silence, not only would the two journalists they arrested have had to submit DNA samples, it would now be incumbent on them to petition a court to have their DNA info removed from the state's database (as opposed to Arpaio and Thomas having to justify keeping it.)
If the esteemed members of the lege think bills like this one and the 'drug tests for welfare' one from above are such great ideas that would benefit the public, why don't they ever propose bills mandating drug and DNA testing for elected officials?
...SB1400, a bill relating to 'gun-free' zones. Sponsored by Sen. Johnson and Reps. Barnes, Burges, and Pearce. The State or "any agency or political subdivision of this state or any person, organization or entity that establishes a gun-free zone" would be held liable for damages if someone is injured or otherwise hurt as a result of criminal conduct in that 'gun-free' zone and that possession of a gun would have helped the victim defend him/herself.
Brought to you by some of the same crew responsible for the 'guns in schools' bill (and the 'guns in bars' bill before it.)
...SB1493, a bill related to early ballots and voter identification. Sponsored by Sens. Gorman and Blendu and Reps. Clark and Pearce. Would mandate that when returning an early ballot, voters must include "a legible photocopy of identification."
How does a photocopy prove anything? Also, what about the expense incurred by voters, as most folks don't have copy machines at home?
Ten good bills...
...HB2114, a bill relating to unattended children in motor vehicles. Introduced by Rep. McClure. Makes the act of leaving a child unattended in a vehicle (subject to a few criteria, such as age) a Class 3 misdemeanor. Repeat offenses are Class 2 misdemeanors.
...HB2141, a bill relating to the disclosure of water supply status during the sale of residential property. Introduced by Rep. Ableser. The bill requires that licensed real estate brokers to "notice of the water supply status of that property as designated by the director of water resources." Related: HB2142, which provides for similar requirements for general sellers (i.e. - non-licensed types.)
...HB2145, a bill related to health insurance and mental health coverage parity. Sponsored by Rep. Ableser, Chabin, Farley, Desimone, and Chad Campbell. Requires that health insurance providers not place greater limitations on mental health services and coverage than they do on physical health services and coverage.
...HB2217, a bill relating to yearly limitations on tuition and fee increases at the state's public universities. Introduced by Reps. Ableser and Schapira. Mandates that any approved fee and tuition hikes not take effect until the academic year following approval.
...HB2293, a bill relating to the sentence imposed on juveniles convicted of first-degree murder. Introduced by Rep. Sinema. Bars imposition of capital punishment upon juveniles. Capital punishment should be abandoned; this bill would be a good first step.
...HB2396, a bill relating to text messaging while driving. Introduced by Reps. Farley, Pancrazi, and Nelson, and Sens. Aboud and Aguirre. Bans the sending or receiving of text messages while operating a motor vehicle. Related: HB2397, banning the use of cell phones while driving, except with a hands-free device and HB2398, banning the use of cell phones while driving, specific to Class G-licensed drivers (aka - under 18 years old).
...HB2651, a bill relating to independent voters and presidential preference primary elections. Introduced by Reps. DeSimone, Farley, Thrasher and Sen. Rios. Would allow independent voters to cast a ballot in the presidential primary of their choice. This is the bill that Sen. Harper should have written, instead of SB1064.
...SB1046, a bill relating to the enactment date of the state's education budget. Sponsored by Sen. Pesquiera. Would mandate that the lege pass the following fiscal year budget for the Arizona Department of Education by April 15th.
So simple it's brilliant. Now to get them to pass the rest of the budget before it hits 100 in Phoenix...
...SB1247, a bill relating to employer communications regarding religion or politics. Sponsored by Sen. Burton-Cahill. Bars an employer from compelling an employee to participate in an activity or communication that has the "primary purpose of communicating the employer's opinion about religious or political matters." The bill has appropriate exemptions for activities mandated by law and also for religious, political, and educational organizations.
This is how a religious liberty bill *should* be written.
SB1010, a bill relating a cell phone users' bill of rights. Sponsored by Sen. Waring. This one was a good idea when Waring introduced it in November; it's a good idea now.
The story, while it did have its good points, was also a very shallow one. 10 bills out of over 1100 filed? That's less than 1%, and the brief blurbs that the Rep wrote about the bills didn't even include basic info such as the name of the sponsor or whether or not the bill has been assigned to a committee.
So, with that serving as inspiration, here's my list of ten and ten - ten bad bills to watch, and ten good bills to watch. These aren't the only 10 bad bills, or the only 10 good bills; there's plenty more of both.
Note: in the interests of minimizing repetitiveness, no anti-immigrant or "let's balance the budget by cutting revenue" bills will be included. Those were covered pretty well in the Legislative Loon p0sts.
Ten bad bills -
...HB2096, a bill to create parental educational choice grants. Introduced by Reps. Biggs, Burges, and Murphy, and Sens. Gorman, Harper and Johnson.
After over 200 words rationalizing the need for such grants, and proclaiming that the bill's purposes are secular, the bill goes on to create a program that awards grants in the amounts of $3500 and $4500 per year payable to the "custodians" of pupils enrolled at private schools.
Undermining public education is bad enough to warrant inclusion on this list, but the language in the bill that states that schools "shall not be required to alter its creed, practices or curriculum in order to redeem grants issued pursuant to this article" is a very thinly-veiled way to funnel public funds to religious schools, notwithstanding the "secular" proclamation a the beginning of the bill.
...HB2477, a bill relating to employees of the state treasurer's office. Sponsored by Rep. Adams. Would authorize the state treasurer (currently Dean Martin) to randomly drug test employees and prospective employees, and to periodically snoop into employees' credit reports.
If Mr. Martin and his water-carrier Rep. Adams believe that there is a drug use problem in the treasurer's office, there are provisions in existing state law that would allow for drug testing in departments where there is evidence of a problem. Even if those provisions don't apply to the treasurer's office, why not change the law so that those provisions *do* apply?
Unless, of course, the underlying purpose of the program would be to control and intimidate office employees, some of whom may have spoken up over the crimes committed by previous treasurer David Petersen, who resigned in disgrace.
Something tells me that the ethically-challenged Martin wants to discourage whistle-blowers with this.
...SB1054, a bill relating to the state treasurer and independent legal counsel. Introduced by Sen. Chuck Gray. Would allow the State Treasurer's office to bypass the Attorney General and contract for outside legal counsel. The bill also exempts such contracts from the state's procurement code with its attendent oversights.
Related: SB1097, a bill from Sen. Burns to exempt the State Treasurer's office from the Government Information Technology Agency's (GITA) requirements.
Can you say "building an independent fiefdom"?
...HB2678, a bill related to welfare recipients and applicants, and drug testing. Sponsored or cosponsored by a cast of thousands (actually, a cast of 31, 30 of whom are Republicans.) Would mandate drug testing of all applicants and recipients of public assistance.
...HB2713, a bill relating to students' expression of religion. Sponsored by Reps. Clark and Anderson. Would bar a school from discriminating against a student or group of students on the basis of religion. The bill includes interesting phrasing - "If an assignment requires a student's viewpoint to be expressed in coursework, artwork or other written or oral assignments, A public educational institution shall not penalize or reward a student on the basis of religious content or a religious viewpoint." I'm not sure of this (I'm most definitely not a lawyer), but I think this might really mess up grading in science classes.
This bill may be related to conflicts like this one in the Deer Valley Unified School District, chronicled in the AZ Republic.
...HCR2041, an amendment to the state constitution barring preferential treatment based on "race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education or public contracting." Sponsored by Reps. Pearce, Barnes, Mason, Murphy, and Nelson and Senators Harper and Johnson. Basically, this is Ward Connerly's scheme to end affirmative action policies.
...SB1064, a bill relating to presidential preference elections. Sponsored by Sens. Harper and Waring. This is the one that opens up presidential primaries for everyone but Democrats. I've written about this one before.
SB1332, a bill relating to DNA testing. Sponsored by Sen. Chuck Gray. The Senator was all people who are arrested to submit to DNA testing. Compliance would be a condition of bail or "own recognizance" release - failure to comply would result in revocation of bail.
Just think - if this was in force when Joe Arpaio and Andrew Thomas tried to intimidate the New Times into silence, not only would the two journalists they arrested have had to submit DNA samples, it would now be incumbent on them to petition a court to have their DNA info removed from the state's database (as opposed to Arpaio and Thomas having to justify keeping it.)
If the esteemed members of the lege think bills like this one and the 'drug tests for welfare' one from above are such great ideas that would benefit the public, why don't they ever propose bills mandating drug and DNA testing for elected officials?
...SB1400, a bill relating to 'gun-free' zones. Sponsored by Sen. Johnson and Reps. Barnes, Burges, and Pearce. The State or "any agency or political subdivision of this state or any person, organization or entity that establishes a gun-free zone" would be held liable for damages if someone is injured or otherwise hurt as a result of criminal conduct in that 'gun-free' zone and that possession of a gun would have helped the victim defend him/herself.
Brought to you by some of the same crew responsible for the 'guns in schools' bill (and the 'guns in bars' bill before it.)
...SB1493, a bill related to early ballots and voter identification. Sponsored by Sens. Gorman and Blendu and Reps. Clark and Pearce. Would mandate that when returning an early ballot, voters must include "a legible photocopy of identification."
How does a photocopy prove anything? Also, what about the expense incurred by voters, as most folks don't have copy machines at home?
Ten good bills...
...HB2114, a bill relating to unattended children in motor vehicles. Introduced by Rep. McClure. Makes the act of leaving a child unattended in a vehicle (subject to a few criteria, such as age) a Class 3 misdemeanor. Repeat offenses are Class 2 misdemeanors.
...HB2141, a bill relating to the disclosure of water supply status during the sale of residential property. Introduced by Rep. Ableser. The bill requires that licensed real estate brokers to "notice of the water supply status of that property as designated by the director of water resources." Related: HB2142, which provides for similar requirements for general sellers (i.e. - non-licensed types.)
...HB2145, a bill related to health insurance and mental health coverage parity. Sponsored by Rep. Ableser, Chabin, Farley, Desimone, and Chad Campbell. Requires that health insurance providers not place greater limitations on mental health services and coverage than they do on physical health services and coverage.
...HB2217, a bill relating to yearly limitations on tuition and fee increases at the state's public universities. Introduced by Reps. Ableser and Schapira. Mandates that any approved fee and tuition hikes not take effect until the academic year following approval.
...HB2293, a bill relating to the sentence imposed on juveniles convicted of first-degree murder. Introduced by Rep. Sinema. Bars imposition of capital punishment upon juveniles. Capital punishment should be abandoned; this bill would be a good first step.
...HB2396, a bill relating to text messaging while driving. Introduced by Reps. Farley, Pancrazi, and Nelson, and Sens. Aboud and Aguirre. Bans the sending or receiving of text messages while operating a motor vehicle. Related: HB2397, banning the use of cell phones while driving, except with a hands-free device and HB2398, banning the use of cell phones while driving, specific to Class G-licensed drivers (aka - under 18 years old).
...HB2651, a bill relating to independent voters and presidential preference primary elections. Introduced by Reps. DeSimone, Farley, Thrasher and Sen. Rios. Would allow independent voters to cast a ballot in the presidential primary of their choice. This is the bill that Sen. Harper should have written, instead of SB1064.
...SB1046, a bill relating to the enactment date of the state's education budget. Sponsored by Sen. Pesquiera. Would mandate that the lege pass the following fiscal year budget for the Arizona Department of Education by April 15th.
So simple it's brilliant. Now to get them to pass the rest of the budget before it hits 100 in Phoenix...
...SB1247, a bill relating to employer communications regarding religion or politics. Sponsored by Sen. Burton-Cahill. Bars an employer from compelling an employee to participate in an activity or communication that has the "primary purpose of communicating the employer's opinion about religious or political matters." The bill has appropriate exemptions for activities mandated by law and also for religious, political, and educational organizations.
This is how a religious liberty bill *should* be written.
SB1010, a bill relating a cell phone users' bill of rights. Sponsored by Sen. Waring. This one was a good idea when Waring introduced it in November; it's a good idea now.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
2008 Legislative Loon - 1st Runner Up
In a slight change from the previously announced format, instead of four posts announcing the three finalists for the 2008 Legislative Loon Award and the winner, there will be three posts listing the final results.
State Sen. Jack Harper (R-Surprise!), the subject of my previous post on this topic (and last year's winner), is 2nd Runner Up.
Tonight's subject, State Rep. John Kavanagh (R-LD8), is 1st Runner Up.
He's a real 'up-and-comer' - as an incoming freshman legislator a year ago, he was an almost totally unknown quantity and was unranked.
What we did know a year ago was that he came from a district (north Scottsdale) that is known for sending socially moderate, pro-business Republicans to the lege (i.e. -Sen. Carolyn Allen and Rep. Michele Reagan.) In addition, it was known that he was a retired police officer and current college program head (Scottsdale Community College.)
A year ago, expectations...hopes, anyway...were that while he was a loyal Republican, his careers as a public servant and educator would give him an understanding of the damage that blind ideology can wreak upon public service and infrastructure, and that he might pass that understanding on to a couple of his caucus-mates.
What a difference a year makes.
Let's look at his 'rabid ideologue' credentials -
He hates immigrants with the passion of a Pearce or Tancredo -
He is the sponsor or cosponsor of seven anti-immigrant bills (and counting), operates an anti-immigrant website called ProtectAZBorder.com (Google it if you want to look at it; I'm not going to link to it), and he has an anti-immigrant radio show on KFHX 1620 AM airing Fridays at 8 a.m. (I think it's a low power station based in Fountain Hills, but it streams its audio. Google it if interested.)
Coverage of some of his public expressions against immigrants here.
He's anti-public education -
He's sponsored or cosponsored seven bills that undermine public education, from a bill that makes permanent the corporate tax credit for donations school tuition organizations (STOs) for private and charter schools (HB2098) to barring the assessment of development fees to pay for school construction or maintenance (SB1138).
...He's not unusual in this regard - most of the Republican caucus in the lege works against public ed; however, very few actually work in public ed at the same time. Isn't it interesting that someone who works for a publicly-funded school (SCC) is dedicated to undermining the viability of public education?
He's a fiscally irresponsible (but oh-so-fervent) anti-tax crusader -
He has sponsored or cosponsored five bills that would decrease the state's revenues when it's already laboring under a budget deficit that exceeds a billion dollars. Perhaps he believes that the state can balance its budget with a voluntary tax (HB2339).
31 other Republicans have signed on to HB2339; apparently, they hope that the average citizen will step in to pick up the revenue slack while not noticing that the state's revenue problems were exacerbated by those same Republicans when they forced through yet another huge tax cut for corporations.
Highlights of some of his recent utterings and press coverage -
He wants to balance the state's budget on the backs of needy students.
From the Sierra Vista Herald (January 10, 2008) -
And if you don't already see his plan as a carefully planned attack on financially-needy poor students (in the name of the state's own financial needs, of course), his proposal would exempt students on academic or athletic scholarships.
Or how about this gem, from the AZ Republic's Political Insider (aka - Plugged In) (the entry is quoted in its entirety because the entire entry *is* a quote) -
In case this isn't clear (somebody should take his thesaurus away, right now! :) ), let me clarify - he wants to use the state's budget problems to disenfranchise those who aren't Web users.
Why doesn't he just say what he really means? "Elderly folks who haven't adapted to an online world yet - you don't need to know about the ballot. You've already voted enough in your lifetimes. On election day, you just get in the way of busier, more useful people anyway. Poor people who can't afford web access - Just get to work and quit wasting time on civic niceties like informed voting."
What elevates Kavanagh about the rest of the Republican caucus (and above 2nd Runner Up Jack Harper) in the race for 2008 Legislative Loon isn't that he's a raving ideologue and frothing-at-the-mouth bigot (most of them are both).
It's the fact that he *is* well-spoken, well-educated, and highly intelligent, and quite capable of crafting and pushing well-thought out and responsible bills. He can even "work across the aisle" on some good bills (i.e. - HB2396, Steve Farley's ban on texting while driving, HB2557, a bill that specifies that schools cannot reduce or eliminate PE, music, or art instruction to meet academic standards in required subjects).
He's the 1st Runner Up because he's capable of being better. He could be a dedicated and hard-working legislator who could be disagreed with on policy issues (he *is* a Republican after all :) ), yet could be respected for at least trying to bring an air of intelligence and professionalism to his job.
Instead, he's just Loon in professional attire, nothing more than a polished Kool-Aid drinker.
...Next up - the Winner!
Of course, most regular readers can guess who that's going to be... :))
Hint: Even without the rest of his resume, the whole 'guns in schools' proposal (SB1214) put him over the top.
Not that he hasn't always been "over the top..."
Later!
State Sen. Jack Harper (R-Surprise!), the subject of my previous post on this topic (and last year's winner), is 2nd Runner Up.
Tonight's subject, State Rep. John Kavanagh (R-LD8), is 1st Runner Up.
He's a real 'up-and-comer' - as an incoming freshman legislator a year ago, he was an almost totally unknown quantity and was unranked.
What we did know a year ago was that he came from a district (north Scottsdale) that is known for sending socially moderate, pro-business Republicans to the lege (i.e. -Sen. Carolyn Allen and Rep. Michele Reagan.) In addition, it was known that he was a retired police officer and current college program head (Scottsdale Community College.)
A year ago, expectations...hopes, anyway...were that while he was a loyal Republican, his careers as a public servant and educator would give him an understanding of the damage that blind ideology can wreak upon public service and infrastructure, and that he might pass that understanding on to a couple of his caucus-mates.
What a difference a year makes.
Let's look at his 'rabid ideologue' credentials -
He hates immigrants with the passion of a Pearce or Tancredo -
He is the sponsor or cosponsor of seven anti-immigrant bills (and counting), operates an anti-immigrant website called ProtectAZBorder.com (Google it if you want to look at it; I'm not going to link to it), and he has an anti-immigrant radio show on KFHX 1620 AM airing Fridays at 8 a.m. (I think it's a low power station based in Fountain Hills, but it streams its audio. Google it if interested.)
Coverage of some of his public expressions against immigrants here.
He's anti-public education -
He's sponsored or cosponsored seven bills that undermine public education, from a bill that makes permanent the corporate tax credit for donations school tuition organizations (STOs) for private and charter schools (HB2098) to barring the assessment of development fees to pay for school construction or maintenance (SB1138).
...He's not unusual in this regard - most of the Republican caucus in the lege works against public ed; however, very few actually work in public ed at the same time. Isn't it interesting that someone who works for a publicly-funded school (SCC) is dedicated to undermining the viability of public education?
He's a fiscally irresponsible (but oh-so-fervent) anti-tax crusader -
He has sponsored or cosponsored five bills that would decrease the state's revenues when it's already laboring under a budget deficit that exceeds a billion dollars. Perhaps he believes that the state can balance its budget with a voluntary tax (HB2339).
31 other Republicans have signed on to HB2339; apparently, they hope that the average citizen will step in to pick up the revenue slack while not noticing that the state's revenue problems were exacerbated by those same Republicans when they forced through yet another huge tax cut for corporations.
Highlights of some of his recent utterings and press coverage -
He wants to balance the state's budget on the backs of needy students.
From the Sierra Vista Herald (January 10, 2008) -
The proposal Wednesday by Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, would require universities to charge students at least 40 percent of what it costs to attend the schools. Now, some students can get fullride scholarships, including room and board, while others get a major percentage of their tab picked up. Kavanagh said the current policy essentially amounts to those without a college degree subsidizing the education of those who will get one.
And if you don't already see his plan as a carefully planned attack on financially-needy poor students (in the name of the state's own financial needs, of course), his proposal would exempt students on academic or athletic scholarships.
Or how about this gem, from the AZ Republic's Political Insider (aka - Plugged In) (the entry is quoted in its entirety because the entire entry *is* a quote) -
"Can we do that to prevent the decimation of our forests, the herniation of our postal workers and the pillaging of our budget?" - Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, asking Secretary of State Jan Brewer if her office could save money by sending ballot information electronically, instead of through the U.S. mail.
In case this isn't clear (somebody should take his thesaurus away, right now! :) ), let me clarify - he wants to use the state's budget problems to disenfranchise those who aren't Web users.
Why doesn't he just say what he really means? "Elderly folks who haven't adapted to an online world yet - you don't need to know about the ballot. You've already voted enough in your lifetimes. On election day, you just get in the way of busier, more useful people anyway. Poor people who can't afford web access - Just get to work and quit wasting time on civic niceties like informed voting."
What elevates Kavanagh about the rest of the Republican caucus (and above 2nd Runner Up Jack Harper) in the race for 2008 Legislative Loon isn't that he's a raving ideologue and frothing-at-the-mouth bigot (most of them are both).
It's the fact that he *is* well-spoken, well-educated, and highly intelligent, and quite capable of crafting and pushing well-thought out and responsible bills. He can even "work across the aisle" on some good bills (i.e. - HB2396, Steve Farley's ban on texting while driving, HB2557, a bill that specifies that schools cannot reduce or eliminate PE, music, or art instruction to meet academic standards in required subjects).
He's the 1st Runner Up because he's capable of being better. He could be a dedicated and hard-working legislator who could be disagreed with on policy issues (he *is* a Republican after all :) ), yet could be respected for at least trying to bring an air of intelligence and professionalism to his job.
Instead, he's just Loon in professional attire, nothing more than a polished Kool-Aid drinker.
...Next up - the Winner!
Of course, most regular readers can guess who that's going to be... :))
Hint: Even without the rest of his resume, the whole 'guns in schools' proposal (SB1214) put him over the top.
Not that he hasn't always been "over the top..."
Later!
Saturday, July 21, 2007
And the 'green' grades are in...
Credit for the heads-up on this goes to the AZ Rep's Plugged In...
Congrats to LD17 State Reps. Ed Ableser and David Schapira for making the honor roll of the Arizona League of Conservation Voters and the Grand Canyon Chapter of the Sierra Club for their work during the 2007 session of the legislature.
Both scored 100% under the LCV's weighted grading guidelines!
Sen. Meg Burton-Cahill slacked off this session, weighing down the overall D17 score by coming in at only 97%.
If only she'd used 'green' crutches while recovering from foot surgery this winter. :))
It was also nice to see that many of the legislators that have received praise here and in other blogs for their fine work in the lege also scored well with the AzCLV (Steve Farley's 100%, for example), while others that have received criticism scored poorly with the AzCLV, too -
Sen. Ron 'Confederate Flag' Gould (R-LD3) .....18%
Rep. Trish 'DUI' Groe (R-LD3).....19%
Maybe it's something in the LD3 water, though if there is, expect Groe and Gould to be OK with that, particularly if some company is making money off of it.
Of course, the same might be said in LD18 -
Rep. Russell 'National Alliance' Pearce (R-LD18).....26%
Sen. Karen 'UFO Sighting' Johnson (R-LD18).....29%
And the district most likely to welcome a toxic waste dump?
LD22, with Sen. Thayer Vershoor (R) scoring 37%, Rep. Andy Biggs (R) scoring 23% and Rep. Eddie Farnsworth scoring 25%.
By comparison, my [least] favorite state senator, Jack Harper (R-Surprise!) did remarkably well, scoring a 48%!
His loyal constituents should take heart though; I have no doubt that Jack will see this score and use it as motivation for next session.
That score will be in single digits faster than you can say 'culture of corruption.'
:))
Note: The AzCLV's legislative scorecard is here; Sierra Club's press release is here.
Congrats to LD17 State Reps. Ed Ableser and David Schapira for making the honor roll of the Arizona League of Conservation Voters and the Grand Canyon Chapter of the Sierra Club for their work during the 2007 session of the legislature.
Both scored 100% under the LCV's weighted grading guidelines!
Sen. Meg Burton-Cahill slacked off this session, weighing down the overall D17 score by coming in at only 97%.
If only she'd used 'green' crutches while recovering from foot surgery this winter. :))
It was also nice to see that many of the legislators that have received praise here and in other blogs for their fine work in the lege also scored well with the AzCLV (Steve Farley's 100%, for example), while others that have received criticism scored poorly with the AzCLV, too -
Sen. Ron 'Confederate Flag' Gould (R-LD3) .....18%
Rep. Trish 'DUI' Groe (R-LD3).....19%
Maybe it's something in the LD3 water, though if there is, expect Groe and Gould to be OK with that, particularly if some company is making money off of it.
Of course, the same might be said in LD18 -
Rep. Russell 'National Alliance' Pearce (R-LD18).....26%
Sen. Karen 'UFO Sighting' Johnson (R-LD18).....29%
And the district most likely to welcome a toxic waste dump?
LD22, with Sen. Thayer Vershoor (R) scoring 37%, Rep. Andy Biggs (R) scoring 23% and Rep. Eddie Farnsworth scoring 25%.
By comparison, my [least] favorite state senator, Jack Harper (R-Surprise!) did remarkably well, scoring a 48%!
His loyal constituents should take heart though; I have no doubt that Jack will see this score and use it as motivation for next session.
That score will be in single digits faster than you can say 'culture of corruption.'
:))
Note: The AzCLV's legislative scorecard is here; Sierra Club's press release is here.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
State Rep. Steve Farley going national
Update: Well, it didn't happen at 10:30 a.m. AZ time. I'm not sure if the time in the email was incorrect, or if it just didn't go off.
Looking in to it.
End update.
Update2: Rep. Farley replied to an email asking about this. Apparently, the segment aired at approximately 10:45 (after pieces about a dead wrestler and strippers on a golf course.) I was in the middle of some maintenance at home and missed it. :((
He may be posting the clip on YouTube. I'll link to it if he does.
End update2.
Steve Farley will be on national TV tomorrow...
From an email from Friends 0' Farley (aka - a 'Farley-gram') -
Later!
Looking in to it.
End update.
Update2: Rep. Farley replied to an email asking about this. Apparently, the segment aired at approximately 10:45 (after pieces about a dead wrestler and strippers on a golf course.) I was in the middle of some maintenance at home and missed it. :((
He may be posting the clip on YouTube. I'll link to it if he does.
End update2.
Steve Farley will be on national TV tomorrow...
From an email from Friends 0' Farley (aka - a 'Farley-gram') -
Howdy, Friends o'Farley...
I know I said I would give you a month off from Farley Reports now that session is over, but I just had to share some breaking news.
I will be live on MSNBC tomorrow morning at 10:30am Arizona time to debate Pat Buchanan about Russell Pearce's latest immigration bill.
I plan to talk about real immigration solutions, not the harmful posturing that Rep. Pearce bandies about recklessly.
I have been assured by the producers that Mr. Buchanan will be the most gracious of hosts.
Tune in if you can--it should be an interesting show.
Thanks again for your support!
Steve
Later!
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
BRBs - Conclusion
To summarize the rest of the interesting stuff in the AZ legislature's budget reconciliation bills -
HB2784, Tax Reduction Package - The big one here was language exempting admission to an NBA All-Star Game and related events from the Transaction Privilege Tax (sales tax). The exemption is conditional - the NBA must award a game to Phoenix and Phoenix must also grant an exemption from its municipal TPT before this takes effect.
D17's Rep. Ed Ableser objected strenuously to this provision (though he voted 'yes' on the overall bill), citing the fact that the extremely successful NBA doesn't need it. [I'm sure the screw job that the NBA pulled on the Suns in the playoffs had *nothing* to do with it. :)) ]
Defenders of the exemption cited the fact that it's not a giveaway to the NBA; the money just wouldn't be collected.
Ummm, one of the reasons that any city welcomes this kind of event, with all of the headaches that come with it, is the increased tax revenue.
Why is the legislature messing with that? Could it have anything to do with the fact that with ticket prices for this year's all star game in Las Vegas reaching five digits ($10,000+ !!), the people that will benefit most from the lege's largesse are the kind of people to make large campaign contributions?
HB2785, Budget Procedures - Adds language that "requires an officer in charge of any statewide, county or legislative election to provide for a live video recording of the custody of all ballots located in a counting center and to retain the recording as a public record."
While there may be some hiccups with the implementation of this, the core idea is a good one.
HB2791, Higher Education - In what is possibly the best nugget (new policy slipped into a budget reconciliation bill), this one contains language creating a "Math, Science and Special Education Teacher Student Loan Program."
This is very similar to Rep. David Schapira's Teacher Student Loan Program that was killed by the chair of the House Rules Committee (it was assigned to the committee but never heard).
HB2789, Health and Welfare - I missed something in yesterday's post on this BRB. While HealthCare Group wasn't completely killed, as some Republicans were trying to do, it was capped at the current enrollment. No new employer groups can be accepted into HCG. In addition, a study committee was created to determine whether or not HCG should be killed.
Note to out-of-state readers: HCG is a state-sponsored health plan that provides coverage to employees of small businesses ( <50 employees) that would otherwise go without healthcare insurance.
Most of the other BRBs seem to be pretty clean, though it's very possible (even likely) that I missed something in some of the more arcane language. If you have a few minutes, go to the lege's website and read the bills for yourself.
I should note here that the sources of much of this post, and the previous BRB posts, include:
the language of the bills themselves (available on the lege's website);
the 'fact sheets' prepared by legislative staffers (also on the website); and
the latest 'Farley-gram' (sign up for it. Trust me. :) ).
Whew!
Later!
HB2784, Tax Reduction Package - The big one here was language exempting admission to an NBA All-Star Game and related events from the Transaction Privilege Tax (sales tax). The exemption is conditional - the NBA must award a game to Phoenix and Phoenix must also grant an exemption from its municipal TPT before this takes effect.
D17's Rep. Ed Ableser objected strenuously to this provision (though he voted 'yes' on the overall bill), citing the fact that the extremely successful NBA doesn't need it. [I'm sure the screw job that the NBA pulled on the Suns in the playoffs had *nothing* to do with it. :)) ]
Defenders of the exemption cited the fact that it's not a giveaway to the NBA; the money just wouldn't be collected.
Ummm, one of the reasons that any city welcomes this kind of event, with all of the headaches that come with it, is the increased tax revenue.
Why is the legislature messing with that? Could it have anything to do with the fact that with ticket prices for this year's all star game in Las Vegas reaching five digits ($10,000+ !!), the people that will benefit most from the lege's largesse are the kind of people to make large campaign contributions?
HB2785, Budget Procedures - Adds language that "requires an officer in charge of any statewide, county or legislative election to provide for a live video recording of the custody of all ballots located in a counting center and to retain the recording as a public record."
While there may be some hiccups with the implementation of this, the core idea is a good one.
HB2791, Higher Education - In what is possibly the best nugget (new policy slipped into a budget reconciliation bill), this one contains language creating a "Math, Science and Special Education Teacher Student Loan Program."
This is very similar to Rep. David Schapira's Teacher Student Loan Program that was killed by the chair of the House Rules Committee (it was assigned to the committee but never heard).
HB2789, Health and Welfare - I missed something in yesterday's post on this BRB. While HealthCare Group wasn't completely killed, as some Republicans were trying to do, it was capped at the current enrollment. No new employer groups can be accepted into HCG. In addition, a study committee was created to determine whether or not HCG should be killed.
Note to out-of-state readers: HCG is a state-sponsored health plan that provides coverage to employees of small businesses ( <50 employees) that would otherwise go without healthcare insurance.
Most of the other BRBs seem to be pretty clean, though it's very possible (even likely) that I missed something in some of the more arcane language. If you have a few minutes, go to the lege's website and read the bills for yourself.
I should note here that the sources of much of this post, and the previous BRB posts, include:
the language of the bills themselves (available on the lege's website);
the 'fact sheets' prepared by legislative staffers (also on the website); and
the latest 'Farley-gram' (sign up for it. Trust me. :) ).
Whew!
Later!
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Short attention span musing...
...Is there anyone who truly believes that Paris Hilton's fame and wealth *didn't* impact the LA County Sheriff's decision to let her out of jail early?
Of course, her stay at home may not last long - the judge that originally sentenced her to jail specifically ordered that she NOT be allowed to serve her sentence at home under electronic surveillance. Since that is what the sheriff's department is letting her do, he's called a hearing on the issue for Friday morning.
...She may end up spending only five days in jail for her crime, but if some folks get their way, that 5 more days than Scooter Libby will spend in jail for his crimes.
From News Hounds:
Leave it to the Republican presidential candidates to make Paris Hilton look responsible, remorseful and reasonable.
...In a macabre milestone, the official U.S. death toll in Iraq passed 3500 today.
Wonder if the congresscritters who voted to continue funding the war without a timeline for withdrawal are hanging their heads in shame yet...
...From the "OK, so maybe things at the lege could be worse" department...
From AP, via Yahoo! News -
Well, it's a black eye on one legislator, anyway. :)
...From the "Well, even if they aren't slugging each other, things are still pretty bad at our lege" department" -
(Courtesy an emailed Farley-gram - sign up at the link) Russell Pearce (R-National Alliance) had a strike-everything amendment to SB1265 that, among other things, would make the fact that someone speaks Spanish as probable cause to believe that they are in the U.S. illegally. It passed on a voice vote in the House Committee of the Whole (COW) and should come up for third read next week. Rep. Farley (and I expect, many other legislators) hopes that the session runs out before this bill can pass the House, go back to the Senate, and then get through a conference committee to iron out the differences.
...In sports news, former D-Back and current Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling took a no-hitter to two out in the ninth inning before it was broken up by Oakland A's OF Shannon Stewart.
I caught part of this game on ESPN this afternoon (they cut into regular programming for the 9th inning), and while I was hoping that he would get the no hitter, one thought kept sneaking into my mind -
He's already an insufferably arrogant jerk; what will he be like if he ever gets a no-no on his resume?
...In other sports news, congrats to the U of A Wildcats softball team on winning the Women's College World Series yesterday in Oklahoma City.
Here's hoping the ASU baseball team can bookend that with a win in the men's College World Series...
Have a great weekend!
Of course, her stay at home may not last long - the judge that originally sentenced her to jail specifically ordered that she NOT be allowed to serve her sentence at home under electronic surveillance. Since that is what the sheriff's department is letting her do, he's called a hearing on the issue for Friday morning.
...She may end up spending only five days in jail for her crime, but if some folks get their way, that 5 more days than Scooter Libby will spend in jail for his crimes.
From News Hounds:
Yesterday (6-6-07) on Special Report, anchor Brit Hume reported on the groundswell of support among Republicans for a Presidential pardon for Scooter Libby. "Scooter Libby had barely left the courthouse yesterday when speculation began about whether President Bush might pardon him," Hume said. "...The subject even came up in last night's Presidential debate."
{snip}
During Tuesday night's debate GOP Presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani said he thought the sentence was "grossly excessive" and felt that what the judge did "argues more in favor of a pardon." Mitt Romney accused Patrick Fitzgerald of abusing "prosecutorial discretion." Sam Brownback indicated he would pardon Libby.
Leave it to the Republican presidential candidates to make Paris Hilton look responsible, remorseful and reasonable.
...In a macabre milestone, the official U.S. death toll in Iraq passed 3500 today.
Wonder if the congresscritters who voted to continue funding the war without a timeline for withdrawal are hanging their heads in shame yet...
...From the "OK, so maybe things at the lege could be worse" department...
From AP, via Yahoo! News -
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Simmering tensions in the Alabama Senate boiled over Thursday when a Republican lawmaker punched a Democratic colleague in the head before they were pulled apart.
Republican Sen. Charles Bishop claimed that Democratic Sen. Lowell Barron called him a "son of a (expletive)."
"I responded to his comment with my right hand," Bishop said. Alabama Public Television tape captured the punch.
{snip}
Members of the Alabama House said the incident makes the entire Legislature look bad.
"It's certainly a black eye on the Legislature and the Senate in particular," Republican Rep. Jay Love said.
Well, it's a black eye on one legislator, anyway. :)
...From the "Well, even if they aren't slugging each other, things are still pretty bad at our lege" department" -
(Courtesy an emailed Farley-gram - sign up at the link) Russell Pearce (R-National Alliance) had a strike-everything amendment to SB1265 that, among other things, would make the fact that someone speaks Spanish as probable cause to believe that they are in the U.S. illegally. It passed on a voice vote in the House Committee of the Whole (COW) and should come up for third read next week. Rep. Farley (and I expect, many other legislators) hopes that the session runs out before this bill can pass the House, go back to the Senate, and then get through a conference committee to iron out the differences.
...In sports news, former D-Back and current Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling took a no-hitter to two out in the ninth inning before it was broken up by Oakland A's OF Shannon Stewart.
I caught part of this game on ESPN this afternoon (they cut into regular programming for the 9th inning), and while I was hoping that he would get the no hitter, one thought kept sneaking into my mind -
He's already an insufferably arrogant jerk; what will he be like if he ever gets a no-no on his resume?
...In other sports news, congrats to the U of A Wildcats softball team on winning the Women's College World Series yesterday in Oklahoma City.
Here's hoping the ASU baseball team can bookend that with a win in the men's College World Series...
Have a great weekend!
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