Biggs and Gosar: The next knock on their doors may be FBI agents with arrest warrants

Anyone want to speculate on the over/under on how long before they face subpoenas from the January 6th committee?

If so, I will now claim the first week of January 2021, maybe January 6th of 2021 in commemoration of the one year anniversary of Trump's insurrection.

From KJZZ -

Rep. Raul Grijalva says evidence shows coordination behind Jan. 6th insurrection

Arizona Congressman Raul Grijalva said the committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol has evidence that the Trump White House coordinated with members of Congress to overturn election results.

Grijalva said his fellow Arizona congressmen, Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs, were involved.

Update: Campaign Committees

There have been a few developments on the 2012 campaign committee front since the last update.


...In the race for US Senate, Don Bivens, attorney and former chair of the Arizona Democratic Party, has formed a committee.  According to Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post's The Fix, the committee is an exploratory one, and Bivens has said that he will make a final decision on running around Labor Day.

...In legislative developments -

- Former state legislator David Bradley has formed an exploratory committee for a run for the Democratic nomination for LD28 state senate.

- Martin Quezada has formed an exploratory committee for a run for the Democratic nomination for LD13 state representative.

- Lorenzo Sierra Jr. has formed an exploratory committee for a run for the Democratic nomination for LD13 state representative.

- Michael Snitz has formed a committee for a run for the Democratic nomination for LD14 state representative.

Note:  all of the districts listed will change once the Independent Redistricting Commission puts together the new maps.

Active Congressional committee fundraising totals (April thru June) (incumbents italicized):

Raul Grijalva (D) - $88233 raised, $70724 on hand
Chuck Gray (R) - $3359 raised, $16443 on hand
Trent Franks (R) - $59507 raised, $41068 on hand, $372477 in debt
David Schweikert (R) - $2230 raised, $17881 on hand, $501800 in debt
David Schweikert (R) (2nd committee) - $250777 raised, $336262 on hand
Gabrielle Giffords (D) - $281177 raised, $787949 on hand
Travis Grantham (R) - $13300 raised, $13240 on hand
Kirk Adams (R) - $230525 raised, $209225 on hand
Ann Kirkpatrick (D) - $221289 raised, $215723 on hand
Paul Gosar (R) - $166544 raised, $138392 on hand
Ed Pastor (D) - $93158 raised, $1391488 on hand
Ben Quayle (R) - $282964 raised, $370277 on hand, $7487 in debt
Matt Salmon (R) - $162289 raised, $155744 on hand, $16889 in debt
Gabriela Saucedo Mercer (R) - $22397 raised, $21351 on hand, $485 in debt
Wenona Benally Baldenegro (D) - $8446 raised, $4603 on hand

Note: because incumbent US Representative Jeff Flake is now running for US Senate, his fundraising reports are not available online.

Note2: All numbers rounded to the nearest dollar.

Note3: I didn't list the district of the Congressional committees because those are going to change in a few months.

Observation:  Aren't the Republicans the ones who campaign on their opposition to debt?  Just sayin'...

- No changes in municipal campaign committees in Tempe and Scottsdale, though that should change soon - sources report that there is a poll in the field regarding the Tempe mayor's race. Some say it's a push poll, others say it's legit. I'm not a Tempe resident, so I didn't get the calls and cannot evaluate it directly.

Later...

Another Veterans' Group Grades Harry Mitchell - A+, of course

The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) Action Fund has given out its grades to Congress in its 2010 Congressional Report Card.

The grades for the AZ delegation can be found here.

Summary:

Harry Mitchell - A+ (whooo hoooo!)

Ann Kirkpatrick - A+

Ed Pastor - A

Gabrielle Giffords - B

Raul Grijalva - C

Jon Kyl - D

John McCain - D

Trent Franks - D

Jeff Flake - F

John Shaddegg - F


The interesting part?  The lowest-graded Democrat in Arizona, Raul Grijalva, still out-paced the highest-graded Republicans from our state, Franks, McCain, and Kyl.

Apparently "anti-war" isn't synonymous with "anti-warrior" and "pro-war" isn't synonymous with "pro-warrior."

No matter how much the Rs protest to the contrary.

Health care vote coming up in Congress

Later this week, or perhaps early next week, the US House will vote on a health care reform bill. Its passage (assuming it passes, a likely occurrence but far from a guaranteed one) won't signal the end of the HCR debate - the Senate will still have to deal with it.

However, now is the time to help ensure HCR's passage through the House - contact your Congressional representative and urge them to support it.

My brief letter to Congressman Harry Mitchell, doing just that -

Dear Congressman Mitchell,

Within the next week or so, Congress will be voting on a health care reform bill.

Last year, you supported an HCR bill with a strong public option (Thank you!), and I am writing to you to urge you to continue to do so.

The current system of health insurance caters to the whims and desires of corporate bigwigs and lobbyists, while denying care for the patients who need it.

Throughout your political career, you have been known for standing up for the needs of your constituents. Right now, thousands of your constituents need you to stand strong one more time, this time against against the falsehoods and smears of those who are profiting from the current dysfunctional system of health insurance.

Congressman Mitchell, thank you for all that you have done for the people of your district.

Regards,

[cpmaz]

At this point, I expect that long and involved missives aren't necessary, but short notes to let our Congressmen and -women know that people are still watching and care about HCR are definitely in order this week.

Congressman Mitchell's online contact/email form is here.

For those who live in districts other than CD5...

Ann Kirkpatrick (CD1) can be contacted here
Ed Pastor (CD4) can be contacted here
Raul Grijalva (CD7) can be contacted here
Gabrielle Giffords (CD8) can be contacted here

If you live in CDs 2, 3, and 6, you are represented by hardcore Republicans who are opposed to any kind of health care reform, no matter how much their constituents urgently need it to pass. Whether you support or oppose HCR, those reps don't care - they made up their minds before it was even proposed.

Later...

Health care reform: It's not time to get out the tar and feathers...yet

Desert Beacon in Nevada puts it far better than I can here...but that's not going to stop me from trying anyway. :)

Most of the recent developments regarding health care reform in the Senate have been disheartening to those of us who support substantive reform.

Between Joe Lieberman behaving as if he is relevant, the death of a single-payer plan, and the way that the Senate plan has morphed from a plan to "reform" health care to a plan to "enhance" insurance industry profits, it's easy to be discouraged.

Don't be, not yet anyway.

This whole mess still has to go to conference committee to be merged with the bill that passed the House.

What is more important than the Senate bill is the final bill, the one that reaches the President's desk.

Many people in the center and on the left may not understand that, but you can be sure that the Republicans understand it all too well. They are less interested in seeing that a "bad" bill passes the Senate than in seeing *no* bill pass the Senate.

They know that it is easier to fix the shortcomings in a bad program than to start one from scratch (witness the months-long kerfluffle over health care reform).

Now is the time for all of us to contact our representatives in Congress again (I know a couple of office staffers who aren't going to be happy about that line :)) ) and let them know that the only acceptable reform is real reform, not an insurance industry wish list. Let them know that their constituents need them to stand strong in supporting substantive reform.

We've given up on single-payer (with all due respect to Senator Sanders, his amendment was never going to pass even if he hadn't withdrawn it). but a non-mandatory public option is a must, and it's a reasonable compromise.

Well, "reasonable" to most anyone who doesn't work for the insurance industry, like Jon Kyl, John McCain, and Joe Lieberman (ok, so it's Lieberman''s wife who works for the industry. He works for her.)

We can get that in conference, but first, we have to *get* to a conference committee.

For that, we need the Senate to pass *something.*


Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (CD8) can be contacted via this online form.

Congressman Raul Grijalva (CD7) can be contacted here.

Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick (CD1) can be reached here.

Congressman Harry Mitchell (CD5) has a contact form here.

Congressman Ed Pastor (CD4) can be reached via this generic House contact form.

I'm not bothering to list the contact info for any of the Arizona Republicans in the House or Senate. They've all made it clear that they are opposed to any form of health care reform, or at least any that isn't structured to increase insurance company profits and reduce choice for average Americans. If you want to contact them, then use a search engine to find their official websites and work from there.

H.R. 3962 passes - YESSSSSS!

After more than 12 hours of debate on a Saturday, and nearly 100 years of delay, dallying, and outright obstruction, the House passed a significant health care reform measure.

With a tally of 220 in favor, 215 against, and none voting present or not voting, H.R. 3962 passed the House of Representatives. 39 Democrats crossed over and voted with the Republicans, while 1 Republican, Joseph Cao of Louisiana, voted with the majority Democrats.

All of AZ's Democrats voted in favor of health care reform; all of AZ's Republican opposed health care reform.

Harry Mitchell's statement of support (pre-vote) is here.
Gabrielle Giffords statement of support (pre-vote) here.
Ann Kirkpatrick's statement on her vote is here.
Jeff Flake's statement about his vote here.
Trent Franks' statement on the vote here.

The others, Pastor, Grijalva, and Shadegg, didn't have relevent statements up on their House websites as of the writing of this post.

Biggest disappointment: By a vote of 240 to 194, with 1 voting present (AZ's John Shadegg...more on that in a moment), the House amended H.R. 3962 with language proposed by Bart Stupak (D-MI) to ban payments for abortions under the public option.

Shadegg's plan behind the "present" vote was that by voting that way, he could help defeat the amendment without actually voting against it. He thought that would be a good tactic to defeat the underlying bill. He thought that the anti-choice amendment made the bill palatable for some reluctant Dems.

As for AZ's delegation, the five Democrats voted against the Stupak amendment while Republicans Franks and Flake voted in support. [Thanks to commenter Eli Blake for spotting the typo here. This is the corrected version.]

As was noted by most of the speakers who opposed the amendment, funding for abortions was already pretty much banned anyway (Section 222, or page 110 of this .pdf, courtesy of the House Rules Committee). Stupak's amendment was actually a ploy to whittle away at private access to a legal medical procedure.

One ray of hope here: The amendment could still be stripped out in conference committee, which will be needed because the Senate's version of health care reform is *somewhat* different than the House's.


There's a lot more to say on this, but my cold is kicking my butt, so let me close with this:

Thank you, Congresswomen Giffords, Congresswoman Kirkpatrick, Congressman Pastor, Congressman Grijalva, and especially (because he is my representative) Congressman Mitchell.

Your votes today to support the interests of your constituents ahead of the interests of big insurance companies illustrates why your constituents elected you in the first place.

And why they'll continue to elect you for as long as want to serve as their representatives.


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.


...Over in the U.S. House of Representatives, they have Monday off (except for a pro forma session at 4 p.m. EDT), The agenda for the rest of the week includes -

- H.R. 3548, Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2009, heard under suspension of the rules (2/3 majority required for passage);

- As-yet-unnumbered, "To provide for an additional temporary extension of programs under the Small Business Act and the Small Business Investment Act of 1958" under suspension of the rules;

- As-yet-unnumbered, "Fiscal Year 2010 Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act" under suspension of the rules;

- As-yet-unnumbered, "Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2009" under suspension of the rules;

- H.R. 324, "Santa Cruz Valley National Heritage Area Act". This one is a bill sponsored by AZ's Raul Grijalva (D-CD7) that was heard under suspension of the rules a couple of weeks ago. It gained majority support at that time, but enough Republicans voted against it that it didn't gain the 2/3 support to pass under suspension. This time it will be heard "under a rule," meaning that a simple majority will be required for passage.

- As-yet-unnumbered, "Making Continuing Appropriations for the Fiscal Year 2010, and for other purposes." Heard under a rule.

Yippee, a budget CR. Apparently the Democratic leadership in Congress hasn't learned any lessons from 8 years of Republican mismanagement. Just pass a budget already.

...Over in the Senate, they'll continue consideration of Interior appropriations (aka - the budget). On Tuesday, the Senate Finance Committee will consider Max Baucus' health insurer lobbyist-written "reform" of health insurance in the U.S.

In other committee business, on Tuesday, a subcommittee of Senate Judiciary will hold a hearing on "Comprehensive Immigration Reform: How the Current Immigration Law Negatively Impacts America's Agricultural Industry and Food Security." Nativists should bring their own bedsheets and crosses (Reminder: Senate galleries are a "no burn" zone, so you folks should keep your kerosene in your trailers.)

Full list of committee hearings here.

...The Arizona Legislature still hasn't balanced the budget and still isn't in session, but there *is* some activity at the Capitol this week.

- On Monday at 10 a.m., the Bipartisan Task Force on the Private School Tuition Tax Credits program will hold its first meeting in HHR3.

- The Joint Legislative Budget Committee is meeting on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. in HHR4. Agenda here.

- The Joint Committee on Capital Review is meeting on Tuesday at 1 p.m. in SHR109. Agenda here.

...The Arizona Corporation Commission will hold regularly scheduled open meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday. The agenda is here. The highlight looks to be item #20, "Application for a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility (CEC) for the Vail to Valencia 115 kV to138 kV Transmission Line Upgrade Project..."

Complete hearing schedule here.

...The Arizona Board of Regents will be meeting on Thursday and Friday at NAU. Agenda here. Executive session agenda here. That one includes discussion of a project to privatize some University housing at NAU. Committee and other meeting schedule here.

...The Board of Directors of the Maricopa Integrated Health System have two meetings scheduled this week. On Monday, they'll hold a Special meeting at noon. The agenda is vague at this point, with what looks to be a motion to recess into executive session and a legislative report later.

On Wednesday at 1 p.m., they'll meet in a regularly scheduled open meeting. Agenda here.

...On Tuesday, the Governing Board of the Maricopa County Community College District will meet. An executive session is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. and a regular meeting is scheduled for 6:30. Agenda here. The agenda looks to be pretty non-controversial thus far, but there may be some fireworks over the revelation earlier this month that Board President Colleen Clark was arrested for DUI earlier this summer.

...The Board of Directors of the Central Arizona Project will be holding a "strategic planning retreat" in Tucson on Thursday. The schedule of events includes a meeting of the Strategic Plan Task Force to discuss the strategic planning retreat process.

...The Scottsdale City Council has a meeting scheduled for Tuesday. Items include a another shot across the bow discussion of the job performance of the City Manager and the possible appointment of an interim City Attorney, Clifford Mattice. Mayor Jim Lane originally wanted to give the interim appointment to one William Sims, but a majority of the Council balked at having only one candidate to consider (August 25, 2009)

Not scheduled to meet this week: Citizens Clean Elections Commission, Maricopa County Board of Supervisors (though a short-notice Executive Session wouldn't exactly be unheard-of with this bunch) and the Tempe City Council.

Later...

The coming week...

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


Well, for the first time in weeks, the U.S. Congress will be in session, and for the first time in months, the Arizona Legislature will *not* be. That sounds significant, but somehow, I'm not sure that it is.

Congress probably won't be doing much this week (in terms of "official business" anyway) and the lege has plenty of unfinished business that they should be dealing with, but won't be.

In short, not much has changed since last week. :)


...In the U.S. House, the action gets underway Tuesday afternoon. It looks to be a relatively quiet week as far as floor action goes. The agenda includes:

H.R. 324 - Santa Cruz Valley National Heritage Area Act, sponsored by Raul Grijalva (D-AZ7) and cosponsored by Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ8).

The posted agenda is light on issues of national interest, and that looks to be the only one of direct interest to Arizonans.

However, both behind the scenes and in front of cameras, there will be a lot of talk about health care reform.

The President is scheduled to address a joint session of Congress on Wednesday evening on the subject. I'd say I'm "waiting with bated breath" for the speech, but he seems more likely to give up on a public option when he should be throwing an elbow (more on that later.)

Congressman Harry Mitchell's (D-AZ5) responses to questions (about health care reform) posed by readers of the Arizona Republic can be found here; Congressman Jeff Flake's (R-AZ6) responses can be found here.

...The U.S. Senate looks to have an equally low-key "official business" week, with a lot of back office focus on health care reform.

...The Arizona Legislature is out of session, with no special sessions officially scheduled at this point, though given that the budget is still out-of-balance, expect one soon. Just probably not this week, as I previously expected would happen.

...The Arizona Corporation Commission has a securities and utilities meeting scheduled for Wednesday. The agenda is here. There are a couple of APS-related items and a couple of securities "cease and desist" related items, including one against JP Morgan Chase & Co. More details here.

The ACC's hearing schedule for the week is available here.

...The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors has a light week - no regular meetings, just a Special/Executive meeting on tap for Wednesday morning. Why don't they drop the "special" moniker, since they seem to have one almost every week?

...The Board of Directors of the Central Arizona Project will be holding a meeting of its Project ADD Water group on Wednesday and Thursday.

...The Tempe City Council has a meeting scheduled for Thursday. The agenda is here. It looks to be mostly mundane, but even that can be interesting on occasion. On *this* occasion, item A-3 includes a name that is familiar to most D17'ers.

It just goes to show that even high-flying legislative stars are subject to the drudgery of normal life in the not-so-big city. :)

...The Scottsdale City Council has a regular meeting scheduled for Tuesday. Items of interest on the agenda include consideration of the process of appointing an interim City Attorney, a new City Treasurer, possibly creating a Scottsdale City Lobbyist ordinance, and enacting some recommendations regarding the operations and oversight of City Cable 11,

They've also scheduled an executive session to "[d]iscuss and consider international or interstate negotiations with representatives of the public body regarding ongoing negotiations with the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community (a domestic sovereign nation) for intergovernmental agreements related to Pima Road and drainage improvements; and discuss and/or consult with the City attorney(s) for legal advice regarding the same."

That meeting is also scheduled for Tuesday. The executive session is scheduled for 4 p.m., the regular meeting is scheduled for 5.

...Not scheduled to meet this week: Arizona Board of Regents, the Governing Board of the Maricopa County Community College District, the Board of Directors of the Maricopa Integrated Health System and the Citizens Clean Elections Commission (though CCEC has scheduled candidate workshops for September 16, October 21, November 18, and December 2. Sign up here.)

Later...

Could Raul Grijalva consider running for McCain's Senate seat next year? Please???

...and maybe Lynn Woolsey or Barbara Lee could move to North Dakota and challenge health insurance industry hack Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) (or to Montana to run against fellow industry hack Max Baucus when his Senate seat is up for election in 2012.)

Reps. Grijalva and Woolsey are co-chairs of the Congressional Progressive Caucus while Rep. Lee is chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.

On Monday, they joined forces to send a letter to Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services, advising her that at least 60 members of their caucuses stand united in their unwavering support for a public option in any health care reform package.

From the letter linked above (EMPHASIS THEIRS, FOR ONCE) -

We have attached, for your review, a letter from 60 Members of Congress who are
firm in their Position that any legislation that moves forward through both chambers, and into a final proposal for the President's signature, MUST contain a public option.

It's nice to see some of our elected officials actually standing up for the people of their districts and the country and not just for corporate interests.

Maybe if those officials who have sold out started facing challenges because of their betrayals of their constituents, there would be fewer sell outs.

...Wow!! That last sentence has an amazing amount of cynicism and idealism for only one sentence. :)

Congressman Harry Mitchell on Health Care Reform

Courtesy an email sent today -

Dear [cpmaz],

As you may be aware, Congress has begun to debate health insurance reform and may have a vote on a reform bill as early as the end of July. Currently, there is a bill being processed in the U.S. House of Representatives, H.R. 3200, the America’s Affordable Health Choices Act, and there are two bills making their way through the U.S. Senate. While I continue to review these proposals, you, too, can read these bills in their current forms here.

As I meet with people throughout the district, it seems that everyone has a personal story about health care. Like most Americans, I believe that rising costs and the threat of losing coverage is cause for great concern. There are too many examples of folks being denied the care their doctor prescribes because their insurance company says no, or of businesses being unable to create more jobs because the cost of health insurance will bust their budget, or of parents who cannot afford to pay for routine medical treatment to keep themselves and their children healthy.

Those conversations, along with recommendations received from doctors, nurses, patients, and health care providers in Arizona have convinced me that our system needs reform. In fact, since 2000, health care premiums have more than doubled and small businesses have faced a 129 percent increase in health care costs.

Let me be clear, I believe reform needs to protect what works and fix what doesn't. Reform should not only improve access to affordable and quality care for all Americans, but it also needs to preserve individual choice and protect competition in the marketplace. Reform should not leave individuals with fewer options, should not add to the national deficit, and should not leave doctors with inconsistent and low reimbursement rates as is often the case with Medicare.

While content of H.R. 3200, the America’s Affordable Choices Act, continues to be amended in committee, I will be reviewing and monitoring changes before I decide whether I will support this legislation. However, there are important benchmarks that should be met in order to gain my support:

• Choice: Reform must preserve patient choice. You should be able to choose your own coverage and doctors. If you like them you should be able to keep them, even if you change or lose your job or move to a new state. And you should be free to change coverage as you see fit.

• Competition: Reform should encourage competition and should not leave individuals with fewer options. In its current form, H.R. 3200 contains a public alternative that is funded at the same rate of Medicare which is troubling for patients, doctors, and hospitals alike. For example, in 2008, Scottsdale Healthcare lost $56 million in Medicare underpayments. While a public alternative, if designed carefully and properly, may help increase competition, one that reimburses according to Medicare rates could undercut private plans, weaken the financial stability of local hospitals and potentially leave individuals with fewer options.

• Small business: Reform must not overburden small businesses that create jobs that are essential in jump starting Arizona’s economy. According to The Arizona Republic, while small businesses make up 73 percent of Arizona businesses, only 32 percent of Arizona small businesses provided health coverage benefits in 2006, down from 50 percent in 2000. Health care reform should not exacerbate the problems small businesses are currently facing.

• Affordability, wellness, technology and best practices: Reform should ensure that our health care system is affordable and covers pre-existing conditions. To ensure the highest quality of care for all Americans, reform should reward healthy lifestyles and personal responsibility, and take full advantage of technological advances and best practices that will help reduce costs for doctors, hospitals, and insurance companies.

Finally, I also believe that in the long term reform should not add to the national deficit. I believe that much of the cost of instituting reform should come from savings within the current system, by eliminating waste and inefficiencies, yet there may likely be the need find additional revenue sources to pay for it. As a member of Congress with a strong record of opposing tax increases, I will closely watch the debate on paying for reform.

As the debate in Congress continues, I value your input and ideas. I encourage you to visit my healthcare resource page on my website to receive more information about the health care reform process and invite you to contact my office to share your story and opinion.

Sincerely,

Harry

Let me translate this into English -

Those of you reading this who support health care reform should contact Harry and let him know (politely) that you support a public option in any health care reform package, and urge him to support it too.


And for those of you who live in other CDs -

CD1 - Ann Kirkpatrick's contact page is here; she can use the encouragement too.

CD2 - Trent Franks' page is here; I don't expect it to help, but why not let him know that there are more than Kool Aid drinkers in his district?

CD3 - John Shadegg's page is here; ditto.

CD4 - Ed Pastor's contact page is here; I expect him to support a decent bill if one makes it to the floor, but I'm sure a "Thank You, Congressman Pastor" would be appreciated.

CD6 - Jeff Flake's contact page is here; Franks or Shadegg are more likely to vote for health care reform than Flake (and there isn't a snowball's chance in Phoenix of either of them voting for it), but whatthehell...

CD7 - Raul Grijalva's contact page is here; like Pastor, he is probably going to vote for it when it reaches the House floor, but a word of thanks would be appreciated.

CD8 - Gabrielle Giffords' contact page is here; as with Ann Kirkpatrick and Harry Mitchell, she can probably use a little encouragement.

Later...

AZ U.S. House members' budgets

Info courtesy Politico.

The linked article is dated June 19, so for the sake of easy math, I'm assuming the numbers are current as of June 15. The presumption is that the amount spent represents the amount spent through 5.5 months of a 12-month year, 0r 45.83% of the year.

That might not be perfectly accurate (I don't know for sure what Politico's cut-off date was), but since everyone is subject to the same assumption, it works for comparison's sake.

Representative
2009 Allotment ($)
Total Spent ($)
% of budget spent

Jeff Flake (R-AZ6.)
1,559,332.00
301,492.87
19.33%

Trent Franks (R-AZ2)
1,604,247.00
278,691.39
17.37%

Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ8)
1,527,622.00
270,642.79
17.72%

Raul Grijalva (D-AZ7)
1,508,218.00
276,943.30
18.36%

Ann Kirkpatrick (D-AZ1)
1,515,010.00
135,196.04
8.92%

Harry Mitchell (D-AZ5)
1,515,410.00
264,989.60
17.49%

Ed Pastor (D-AZ4)
1,483,786.00
268,599.51
18.1%

John Shadegg (R-AZ3)
1,512,691.00
298,370.28
19.72%

Other than a few outliers (like Kirkpatrick's <9%), the AZ delegation and Congress as a whole is pretty consistent. At nearly the halfway point of the year, most House members have spent 17 - 21% of their budgets, leading me to believe that either -

1. Some of their bigger expenses are yet to come; or

2. Their office budgets are incredibly inflated, perhaps so that members can generate good press in December with press releases touting their frugality as evidenced by how much money they are returning at the end of the year.

The coming week...

As usual, on info gathered from the websites of the relevant agencies and political bodies, and subject to change without notice...

...In the U.S. House, the agenda is getting back to normal. They've got post office namings to attend to. :)

Of course, as important as such namings are to our national well-being, there are other issues that they'll be considering this week too.

- H.R. 325, the Avra/Black Wash Reclamation and Riparian Restoration Project, sponsored by Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ7).

The CRS summary for H.R. 325 -

Avra/Black Wash Reclamation and Riparian Restoration Project - Amends the Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior, in cooperation with Pima County, Arizona, to participate in the planning, design, and construction of water recycling facilities and to enhance and restore riparian habitat in the Black Wash Sonoran Desert ecosystem in Avra Valley west of the metropolitan Pima County area. Limits the federal share of the project's cost to 25%. Authorizes appropriations. Permits federal funds provided by this Act to be used only for the design, planning, and construction of water-related infrastructure.

The bill is on the suspension calendar, which means that the leadership expects to get the 2/3 support for the bill needed to pass it under a suspension of the rules.

- H.R. 2200, the Transportation Security Administration Authorization Act. This one has a lot of money tied to it, so there will be a lot of debate over it. Jeff Flake has proposed an anti-earmark amendment to the bill.

- H.R. 626, the Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act of 2009. CRS summary here. Expect some serious Republican bloviating over this one.

- Possible consideration of a conference report on H.R. 2346, the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2009. $$$ = arguments. 'Nuff said.

- And in the "keep in mind for future reference" category, the House Committee on Veterans Affairs' Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, chaired by AZ5's Rep. Harry Mitchell, will be holding a hearing on VA hospital mistakes that led to veterans becoming infected with diseases like HIV and hepatitis. The hearing is scheduled for June 16 in Washington.

From AP -

A congressional panel will question Department of Veterans Affairs officials about mistakes that put patients at risk of possible exposure to HIV and other infectious body fluids at three VA hospitals.

The VA recommended more than 10,000 former VA patients in Miami, Murfreesboro, Tenn., and Augusta, Ga., get follow-up blood checks. Five have tested positive for HIV and 43 have tested positive for hepatitis, according to an update on the VA Web site Friday.

{snip}

The subcommittee chairman, U.S. Rep. Harry Mitchell D-Arizona, said Thursday in a phone interview that veterans who are testing positive for HIV and hepatitis, "whether it came from these improper procedures or not, the VA has a responsibility to take care of these patients."

The VA's webpage on the issue is here.


...Back in AZ in the legislature, most of the *really* interesting action is budget-related and is taking place behind closed doors.

There is some public activity, though.

The House has what looks to be a fairly non-controversial Third Read calendar posted for Monday and a somewhat more controversial Committee of the Whole (COW) calendar posted for Tuesday.

The COW calendar includes HB2198, a bill to create a "full and final settlement of claims" provision in AZ law regarding workers' comp cases. Provisions in the bill shift the liability for long-term medical expenses from the insurance carrier to the injured workers.

Also on the COW calendar is HB2628, the bill name by the sponsors as "the Parents' Bill Of Rights Act." While there are a few reasonable clauses in this one, those clauses exist to serve as concealment for a bunch of "my rules are better than society's rules" clauses.

- In committee action, House Rules is meeting on Monday (1 p.m., HHR4) to consider a couple of very controversial bills including HB2099, which would make charter schools subject to the same zoning laws as public schools (in other words, make it much easier for the charter school operators to shoehorn their businesses into neighborhoods over residents' objections) and HB2203, which seriously harshens the penalties faced by recipients of TANF, or Temporary Assistance For Needy Families. Any sort of non-compliance with any of the rules of TANF, including simple paperwork glitches by parents, would result in an escalating series of suspensions of benefits received by the children. Brought to you by the same Nancy Barto who is soooo dedicated to protecting the profits of private health insurers.

Nice priorities there, Rep. Barto. Remind me again - whose interests were you elected to represent?

House Health and Human Services is meeting on Tuesday at 10:30 in HHR4.

Over in the Senate, no committees are scheduled to meet at this time.


...The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors is going to have a busy week.

- On Monday at 10 a.m., they will be holding their "informal" meeting. It looks to be pretty simple and mundane, except for item #4, yet another executive session.

- On Wednesday at 9 a.m., they will be holding their "formal" meeting. It also looks pretty mundane, but *long*. Of course, there will be an executive session following this one, too. (According to the posting notice, anyway.)


...The Board of Directors of the Central Arizona Project will be meeting on Thursday, June 4 at 10 a.m. The agenda includes a number of items related to tax rates and other stuff to prepare for the coming fiscal year.


...The Scottsdale City Council will be meeting on Tuesday night at 5, and they have a very full agenda. Included items include the appointment of a new City Auditor (Sharron Walker), a Truth-In-Taxation hearing on the property tax levy for the coming fiscal year (city property tax rate: $0.79, unchanged from last year), and a second and final hearing on the city's FY2010 budget.


...The Governing Board of the Maricopa County Community College District, the Board of Directors of the Maricopa Integrated Health System, the Citizens Clean Elections Commission, and the Tempe City Council are not scheduled to meet this week.

Later...

Looking ahead at the coming week...

Note: all info culled from the appropriate body's website, and subject to change without notice...

...In the U.S. House, the highlight looks to be H.R. 1388, the Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act (GIVE Act). House Education and Labor Committee report here. The intent of the bill is to encourage volunteer service. AZ Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-CD7) is a cosponsor. John McCain is a cosponsor of S. 277, the Serve America Act, the Senate bill most analogous to H.R. 1388. S. 277 faces a committee hearing this week.


...In the AZ lege, most House committees will not be meeting this week (House committee schedule here). However, on Monday afternoon, House Rules will be meeting with 28 items currently on the agenda. Across the way at the Senate (Senate committee schedule here), the committees that do meet aren't scheduled to do more than listen to presentations. The highlight here (for partisan wiseasses like me, anyway :) ) will be the Senate Judiciary's meeting concerning domestic violence and domestic violence services and laws in AZ (Monday, March 16 at 1:30 p.m. in SHR 1).

State Sen. Russell Pearce (R-National Alliance) sits on that committee. The same Russell Pearce with a "colorful" history regarding domestic violence.

At 2 p.m. on Tuesday, the Joint Appropriations Committees from both chambers will be meeting in HHR 1 for budget hearings on the state's Judiciary, Department of Corrections, and Department of Health Services.

Note: House and Senate floor calendars haven't been posted yet, and all committee agendas are subject (and likely!) to change.

...The Arizona Corporation Commission will hold a number of hearings this week, but the only "formal" meeting will be a securities meeting. The majority of hearings will be utility-related, and most of them concern rate increases requested by Arizona American Water.

...The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors will be busy this week.

At Monday's "informal" meeting, they'll be considering a number of budget-balancing moves as well as the creation of a General Litigation Department, institutionalizing the removal of civil duties from the County Attorney.

Oh, and they want to fund the new department by taking away some of the CA's funding for outside legal services.

There's an executive session planned as part of this agenda, but even with the doors closed, expect to hear the screaming loud and clear. :))

At Wednesday's "formal" meeting, they have a 33-page agenda to go through.

Then on Thursday, the supes will be holding a "special" meeting. Not sure what the topic of that meeting will be as yet.

...The Board of Directors of the Central Arizona Project will be all over the place this week, visiting the University Club, the offices of the Arizona Power Authority, attending the WRRC Annual Conference at U of A in Tucson, as well as doing some work at their HQ in north Phoenix.

...The Tempe City Council doesn't have any Council meetings on this week's schedule, though some subcommittees will meet.

...As with Tempe's city council, the Scottsdale City Council doesn't have any formal meetings this week, though a number of the City's boards and commissions will be meeting.

...On Thursday, ValleyMetro's Board of Directors will have a fare hike on its agenda.

Arizona's Congressional delegation and the stimulus bill...

On Friday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a compromise version of H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The final vote was 246-183, with one answering 'present.' All House Republicans voted against the bill, and all but seven Democrats voted for the bill. All of AZ's Democratic representatives voted for it.

Later on Friday over in the Senate, the same compromise version was passed by a 60 - 38 vote. All Democrats present voted for the bill (Ted Kennedy was out, and Al Franken hasn't been seated yet), as well as Republicans Olympia Snow, Susan Collins (both from Maine) and Arlen Specter (PA). Both of AZ's Republican senators, Jon Kyl and John McCain, voted against the economic stimulus package.

AZ's delegation on the stimulus bill, in their own words (from news coverage, press releases, and the Congressional Record) -

Rep. Harry Mitchell (D-CD5), from a press release, courtesy Arizona Congress Watch - “Arizona’s job losses last year were worse than every other state but one. People are facing foreclosure and struggling to make ends meet,” said Mitchell. “The risk of inaction is too great. This bill will create and maintain jobs and we must take this step to get people back to work and get the economy back on track.”

Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-CD7), from a press release - “I voted to support today’s Recovery Act, a bill that is far from perfect, but opens up possibilities for many...The State of Arizona is in a budget crisis that it is translating to cuts in the Department of Economic Security, slashed departments at our public universities and colleges, money taken from our children in elementary, junior high, and high schools, and increases in hunger, poverty, and the ranks of the uninsured. The Recovery Act will help stop this kind of hemorrhaging, which is why I support it."

Rep. John Shadegg (R-CD3), from a press release -

"But one of the bill’s worst provisions has gone almost unnoticed, dangerously lurking below the radar of those exposing the bill’s flaws.

“Comparative Effectiveness Research,” sounds innocuous, but big-government programs always do. The $1.1 billion of the stimulus package earmarked for this project is a significant step toward government-run healthcare

Shadegg from a post in The Hill's CongressBlog, titled "Friday The 13th Horror" - "But of course the greatest horror is not the process – it is the product. At the end of the day we have an economic stimulus without economic stimulus."

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-CD8), as quoted in the Arizona Daily Star - 'The legislation will create or save 3.5 million jobs nationally over the next two years. Approximately 70,000 of those jobs will be in Arizona," she said in a press statement.'

The same article goes on to list a series of informational forums that Giffords will be part of, including one on Tuesday at ASU from noon - 1:30 p.m with CD5's Representative Harry Mitchell. (Pima Room in the Memorial Union)

More info on the forums, courtesy Congresswoman Giffords' website here.

Rep. Jeff Flake (R-CD6), from the Congressional Record - "We know enough about this legislation to know that it is bad legislation. First and foremost, the process is bad, but it’s bad legislation...I doubt that John Maynard Keynes would believe that $50 million for the
National Endowment for the Arts would be stimulative. All that it stimulates is more spending later."

Sen. Jon Kyl (R), from the Congressional Record - ...His speech is too long to find one good quote, so I recommend reading it in its entirety at the link. He opposed the bill for a litany of reasons, including ACORN, Filipino veterans, a maglev rail line from L.A. to Las Vegas, money for small shipyards (and not enough $ for big shipyards), and the Davis-Bacon Act (prevailing wage).

Sen. John McCain (R), was quoted as calling the bill "generational theft" on CNN and elsewhere. (NY Times)

President Obama is expected to sign the bill on Tuesday in Denver, and will be in Phoenix on Wednesday to announce a plan to fight home foreclosures. Details as they become available.

Note: In the future, I expect to leave this sort of post to Stacy at AZ Congress Watch - it took longer just to set up the links than to write the rest of the post.

Here comes the stimulus package...

Edit later on 1/27 to add the results of Tuesday's House Rules Committee hearing...

I am *such* a geek sometimes.

As I type this, the House is debating H. Res. 88. the resolution governing the rules of debate for H. R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Being somewhat bored with the debate points that are meeting stereotypical expectations ("the economy sucks, government action is needed" vs. "the economy sucks, the free market and tax cuts for corporations will cure all"), I decided to check out some of the amendments proposed for H. R. 1.

I don't have time to go into all of them (over 200 were submitted!), but here are the AZ delegation highlights -

From the ever-reliable CD6 Republican Jeff Flake ('ever-reliable' = consistently opposes pretty near everything that might benefit average citizens) -

Amendment 128, "Would indicate that Members shall not influence discretionary funding by agencies or state and local officials on behalf of campaign contributors."

That actually sounded almost reasonable, until I read the actual text of his proposal.

From the .pdf linked above -

Members of Congress shall not provide executive agencies or State and local officials with recommendations, either directly or indirectly, concerning agency decisions to commit, obligate, or expend funds made available pursuant to this Act for a specific project on behalf of a potential funding recipient that is associated with a contribution to a Member's principal campaign committee or leadership political action committee.

Ummm...that language is broad enough to bar Congressfolk from talking to other government agencies and officials about projects that benefit Americans because some of those who benefit may have given to one or another campaign. For instance, I can personally testify to the fact that at least one contributor to Harry Mitchell's campaigns has utilized the light rail system in Tempe and Phoenix.

Would that fact then bar Congressman Mitchell (and his staffers) from discussing the allocation and use of some stimulus money with Valley Metro and local and county officials? That lack of communication would make for a lousy planning process.

Now, I admit that I'm not a lawyer and may be reading too much into this, but Jeff Flake has consistently opposed the idea of the public benefitting from the expenditure of public funds.

Just something to keep in mind if Flake decides to make official his long-rumored interest in the AZ governor's office.

Other Flake amendment highlights (with my comments) -

#129 would "prohibit funds from being used for any duck pond, museum, skate park, equestrian center, dog park, ski hill, historic home, ice rink, splash playground, or speaker system" (even I don't think that stuff belongs in an emergency stimulus package),

#130 would "strike funding in the bill for the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts" (Flake is consistent - he goes after anything resembling arts funding whenever an opportunity presents itself),

#131 would "strike $6 billion in funding for construction, alteration or repair of federal buildings to improve energy efficiency and conservation" (why is the "fiscal hawk" Flake opposing short term spending with long-term benefits??),

#132 would "strike funding for Amtrak" (sacrifice the already woefully inadequate support for public transit? Go after something that benefits non-corporate-jet-owning Americans? Classic Flake...),

#133 would "strike funding for the National Mall Revitalization Fund" (there's a reason that the Reps have latched onto this one as they attack the stimulus package - it's a waste of money. How does giving Congressfolk a prettier walk to work help the country as a whole?),

#134 would "strike funding for Americorps" (Cutting Americorps, an organization that fights illiteracy, helps build affordable housing, cleans parks and streams, provides disaster relief, and more? Maybe Flake would leave it alone if it agreed to help build opulent office buildings or set up training programs for minimum wage janitorial jobs.)

Jeff Flake was not the only member of the AZ delegation to submit an amendment for consideration.

Gabrielle Giffords (D-CD8) submitted #167, which would "extend the eligibility through 2012 of Section 1011(a)(1) of the Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003." In English, this would extend federal reimbursement of emergency health services provided to undocumented aliens. (A decent idea that would help keep many AZ hospitals solvent, but I'm not sure that it's stimulus package-worthy) and #75, which would "revise the grant program for eligible renewable energy property so that projects would be eligible for grants based on when they commence construction, rather than when they are placed in service" (not quite sure what this one does, other than to possibly get some reimbursement funds back into circulation quickly.)

Raul Grijalva (D-CD7) submitted #96, which would "increase Workforce Investment Act funding from $4 billion to $4.1 billion; increase funding for youth literacy under Title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act by $500 million; and provide $250 million for the Adult Education State Grants under the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act" (while this isn't the infrastructure spending that I tend to prefer, it is spending "now" that has long-term benefits.)

Harry Mitchell (D-CD5) submitted #60 which would "make current capital gains and estate tax cuts permanent" (OK, Harry and I disagree on this one, but more importantly, it seems unlikely that Congress will approve a measure that almost exclusively benefits the wealthiest 1% of Americans when the working and middle classes in this country are suffering so much) and #61, which would "prevent the automatic pay adjustment for Members of Congress from going into effect in 2010" (a great idea that probably wouldn't have a snowball's chance in Phoenix of passing as a stand-alone measure. It may have a chance here though.)

Note: Mitchell's press release on the anti-pay raise amendment is here.

Now there's no guarantee that all or even any of these or the other proposed amendments to H.R. 1 will be considered by the full House. The House's Rules Committee will meet in less than an hour (3:30 p.m. Eastern, 1:30 p.m. AZ time) to determine which amendments will be in order.

BTW - looking at the amendments and the underlying bill, there's a *lot* of pork attached to this bill that doesn't seem to be "stimulating", and before you ask, it's from both parties.

It would be nice if these folks could focus on the task at hand; "business as usual" (as much as that itself should be changed) can wait until after the heavy lifting of addressing the economic crisis is done.

...In other Mitchell-related news, The Arizona Guardian reports that Seth Scott, Harry Mitchell's spokesman since his first run for Congress, is moving on and will announce his future plans shortly.

I've known Seth since 2006 when I first walked in to the Mitchell campaign office to volunteer. His intelligence, friendliness and calm perspective will be missed, and I wish him well (and expect him to *do* well) in his future career wherever that may take him.

Later!

Edit to add -

Well, I was right - most of the proposed amendments weren't found to be in order (only 11 out of over 200 were so found, in fact). The only AZ delegation submittal that will receive floor consideration was Flake's anti-Amtrak one.

A number of the other amendments were simply added to the bill by the Rules Committee, including Flake's move to strike funding for the National Mall Revitalization Fund.

Expect a Flake press release touting that one. :)

I'm pretty sure (though not absolutely sure, given the disregard for public and mass transit by the bill's authors) that Flake's anti-Amtrak amendment won't pass, but the underlying bill will pass. The only question will be how many Dem members representing Rep-leaning districts will be released by the Majority Whip to vote against the measure.

End edit...

Arizona's week in Congress...

Just passed and upcoming...


In floor votes -

- The House passed H. J. Res. 3, " Relating to the disapproval of obligations under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008" by a vote of 270 - 155. Among Arizona's delegation, Flake, Franks, Kirkpatrick, Mitchell, and Shadegg voted yes, Grijalva, Giffords, and Pastor voted no. (According to the CRS summary for the proposal, the resolution "Declares that Congress disapproves the obligation of any funds that exceed specified amounts authorized for the purchase of troubled assets by the Secretary of the Treasury under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.")

- The House passed H.R. 58, "Commending the University of Florida Gators for winning the Bowl Championship Series National Championship Game." Normally this sort of motion is passed by voice vote or unanimously, but for this one, five Congressmen, including AZ's Jeff Flake, voted against it.

- The House passed H.R. 384, the TARP Reform and Accountability Act of 2009, by a vote of 260 - 166. AZ delegation: Giffords, Grijalva, Mitchell, and Pastor voted in favor; Flake, Franks, Kirkpatrick, and Shadegg opposed.

...In an almost unheard-of development, a Jeff Flake-sponsored amendment was actually added to H.R. 384, by voice vote of all things. The amendment clarified "that the TARP Special Inspector General has oversight power over any actions taken by Treasury under this legislation that he deems appropriate, with certain exceptions."


Floor speeches -

- Jeff Flake spoke in favor of H.J.Res. 3 and in favor of his amendment to H.R. 384 (yes, he later voted against the underlying bill, but let's not quibble - Jeff Flake got an amendment passed!

- Trent Franks was one of a number of Republican Congressmen who took 40 minutes of floor time to reminsce about the recently ended presidential administration of George W. Bush.

-Raul Grijalva participated in a "special order" speech on the Congressional Progressive Caucus.


Sponsorships -

- Jeff Flake (R-CD6) sponsored H.R. 640 ( To require the President to transmit to Congress a report on every program of the Federal Government that authorizes or requires the gathering of information on United States persons in the United States, established whether in whole or in part pursuant to the "all necessary and appropriate force" clause contained in the Authorization for Use of Military Force (Public Law 107-40) ), H.R. 641 (To limit the authority of the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior to acquire land located in a State in which 25 percent or more of all land in the State is already owned by the United States, aka the No Net Loss of Private Land Act) and H.R. 642 (To provide opportunities for continued recreational shooting on certain Federal public land, aka the Recreational Shooting Protection Act ).

- Gabrielle Giffords (D-CD8) sponsored H.R. 662 (To evaluate and extend the basic pilot program for employment eligibility confirmation and to ensure the protection of Social Security beneficiaries, aka Employee Verification Amendment Act of 2009).

- Raul Grijalva (D-CD7) sponsored H.R. 644 (To withdraw the Tusayan Ranger District and Federal land managed by the Bureau of Land Management in the vicinity of Kanab Creek and in House Rock Valley from location, entry, and patent under the mining laws, aka the Grand Canyon Watersheds Protection Act of 2009).


Upcoming week - The highlights of the coming week are the Senate version of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, S. 181, and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The last vote is expected on Wednesday due to the Republican Issues Conference on Thursday and Friday. There will also be votes on creating a "National Data Privacy Day" and "Honoring the heroic actions of the pilot, crew, and rescuers of US Airways Flight 1549" (aka - The Hudson River landing folks).


Stacy at AZ Congress Watch has been doing great work on the Congresscritters' press releases/media coverage, and those who want issue-specific quotes should check it out.

Later!

Arizona's week in the House in review

...Stacy over at AZ Congress Watch does a good job of keeping up with this stuff (though not this week :) ). This is just a summary.

This upcoming week will be a fairly short one, with the first half of the week being taken up with Inauguration activities and the MLK holiday and with the expectation that the House will finish its legislative business by Thursday evening.

Last week, however, had some activity of note -

Over in the House, work started on H.R. 384, a bill to reform the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP). A number of amendments were heard (some passed, some didn't), and more are scheduled for this coming week. The highlight for AZ'ers in that area is a proposal by Jeff Flake (R-CD6) to expand the powers of the TARP's Special Inspector General.

That one is expected to be heard on Wednesday or Thursday.

In other business, the House passed H.R. 2, the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 by a vote of 289 - 139. The AZ delegation voted along party lines - Democrats Giffords, Grijalva, Kirkpatrick, Mitchell, and Pastor in favor; Republicans Flake, Franks, and Shadegg against.


Bill sponsorships...

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-CD8) sponsored three bills - H.R. 551 (study of water augmentation alternatives in the Sierra Vista Subwatershed), H.R. 552 (to designate the Arizona National Scenic Trail), and H.R. 576 (a refundable investment credit, and 5-year depreciation, for property used to manufacture solar energy property). The text of the bills aren't available online yet.

Congressman Harry Mitchell sponsored H.R. 498, a bill to make permanent some capital gains and estate tax cuts.


Floor speech action...

...Giffords urged her colleagues to vote 'yes' in a 'one-minute' speech in support of H.R. 2. Her press release on the bill is here.

...During debate on H.R. 2, Congressman John Shadegg (R-CD3) spoke against passage of the bill.

...Mitchell also gave a 'one-minute' on H.R. 156, his bill to block Congress' automatic pay raise.


"Extensions of Remarks" (statements submitted for the record)...

...Mitchell gave his reasons for sponsoring H.R. 498, a bill to make permanent recent cap gains and estate tax cuts.

...Mitchell also lauded Dave Graybill and the Pink Heals Tour, an organization dedicated to raising breast cancer awareness.


Press releases (all from House websites)...

...Jeff Flake highlighted his "egregious earmark of the week" here and his bill to deport illegal immigrants convicted of DUI here.

...Trent Franks' (R-CD2) press secretary was prolific this week, producing releases on Franks' vote against H.R. 2, criticizing the New York Times' article blowing the whistle on some U.S. efforts against Iran and Israeli requests for specialized weapons to use against Iran, and commemorating the fourth anniversary of a peace agreement in Sudan.

...Raul Grijalva (D-CD7) expressed his support of the SCHIP renewal bill.

...Ann Kirkpatrick (D-CD1) may have had some press releases this week, but as a freshman Member of Congress, her House website is going to suck until spring. Possibly late spring.

Arizona's week in Congress

This past Tuesday, the 111th session of the United States Congress began with much of the normal procedural routine that occurs at the beginning of every session. Additionally, there were a few measures that passed that were definite slaps at the outgoing Bush administration.

And all in all, the votes of the AZ delegation broke along strictly partisan lines.

On Tuesday, the House convened and the first order of business was selection of the Speaker. As expected, incumbent Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) easily defeated Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), 255 - 174. (AZ: Democrats Giffords, Grijalva, Kirkpatrick, Mitchell, and Pastor voted for Pelosi; Republicans Flake, Franks, and Shadegg voted for Boehner) After that, the House debated and approved H. Res. 5, its rules for the new session by a vote of 242 - 181 (with Ed Pastor, of all people, crossing over to vote with the Republicans. Otherwise, the AZ delegation followed party lines - Democrats for, Republicans against.

On Wednesday, the House approved two "open government" measures related to Presidental records and Presidential libraries.

H.R. 35, an act that would override a Bush administration executive order that basically allowed former Presidents or their family members to stop the release of any Presidential records that they saw fit. It passed 359 - 58, with all of AZ's Democrats supporting the measure and all of AZ's Republicans opposing it.

H.R. 36, an act to require disclosure of info about contributors to Presidential library organizations. It passed 388 - 31, again with all of the Democrats in the AZ delegation supporting it and all of the Republicans opposing it.

On Thursday, there was a joint session of Congress with no votes cast, but it may have been the most important meeting of the session - it accepted the results of the Electoral College balloting that officially means that Barack Obama will be the next President of the United States.

Whoooo hoooo!!!

:)

Anyway, back to the boring stuff...

On Friday, the House started on actual legislative business.

It considered and passed H.R. 12, the Paycheck Fairness Act by a vote of 256 - 163. Giffords, Grijalva, Kirkpatrick, Mitchell, and Pastor voted in favor; Flake and Franks against; Shadegg not voting.

It also considered and passed H.R. 11, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, by a vote of 247 - 171. As with H.R. 12, Giffords, Grijalva, Kirkpatrick, Mitchell, and Pastor voted in favor; Flake and Franks against; Shadegg not voting.

Congressman Grijalva gave a floor speech on H.R. 11, available here.

Lastly, the House considered and passed H. Res. 34, a resolution "recognizing Israel's right to defend itself against attacks from Gaza, reaffirming the United States' strong support for Israel, and supporting the Israeli-Palestinian peace process." The resolution passed 390 - 5, with 22 answering 'present'. Among AZ's delegation, Flake, Franks, Giffords, Kirkpatrick, Mitchell, and Pastor voted in support, Grijalva was 'present', and Shadegg was still absent. Flake, Giffords, Kirkpatrick, Mitchell, and Shadegg are all cosponsors of H. Res. 34.

Congressman Mitchell submitted a statement for the record (called "Extensions of Remarks) on H. Res. 34, available here.

Congressman Franks gave a special order speech on the subject, available here.

Ummm...Harry Mitchell's statement was brief, positive, and reasonable (in a word: "statesman-like"); Trent Franks' was, well...not. In fact, it seemed to be as much 'anti-Muslim' as it was 'pro-Israel.'

In other Mitchell news, he sponsored H.R. 156, a bill to block Congress' automatic pay increase and submitted a statement regarding it to the Congressional Record, available here. The text of the measure isn't available online yet, though the list of cosponsors is: Flake, Giffords, and Kirkpatrick from Arizona are among those cosponsors.

In light of the cratering economy and skyrocketing unemployment, most people from across the political spectrum think that this is a brilliant idea, and that Congress should make at least a symbolic statement of standing with and supporting those Americans who are suffering from the effects of the economy. What remains to be seen is if a majority of Congress feels the same way.

Don't bet on it.

The Senate was fairly quiet - it had no recorded votes.

The House reconvenes on Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. (D.C. time)

Later...

Letter to Congressman Harry Mitchell

This one is rooted in the previous post, but while that was more of a rant, this one is more reasoned.

At least, I hope it comes across that way. :)

The contents of the letter that I just submitted to Congressman Harry Mitchell via his House website's contact form -

Dear Congressman Mitchell,

In the coming weeks and months, there will be much discussion (and some passage) by Congress of efforts to stabilize and stimulate America's economy.

Many of these efforts will include money for various infrastructure projects across the country.

I am writing today to ask you to work to minimize the portion of those funds that will be subject to whims of state legislators.

In our home state of Arizona, leaders in the legislature have already started to stated their intent to cut to the bone public services like education while pledging to set aside funds for activities they favor such as widespread roundups of immigrants. (http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/133701)

In a year when municipal, county, and agency revenue has plummeted and budgets have busted, funds that are targeted for projects such as public transit, rural broadband connectivity, alternative energy, schools, etc., shouldn't be subject to siphoning by irresponsible state legislators who are less interested in serving the public than in advancing their personal ideologies.

Please urge your colleagues, including all of the other members of Arizona's Congressional delegation, to pass stimulus packages that either send funds directly to the targeted end recipients or send the funds to the states but with serious strings attached to ensure that the funds are used properly.

Thank you for your consideration of this matter.

Sincerely,

[cpmaz]

While the Rep members of AZ's delegation (Flake, Franks, Shadegg) are sure to oppose any stimulus packages, it wouldn't be a stretch for them to oppose the packages (which are all but certain to pass) while working to ensure that any funds disbursed have the safeguards mentioned in my letter. As such, I recommend that everyone - Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and more - to contact their Congressional representatives and urge them to work to ensure that any funds disbursed end up where they are supposed to.

Our Congressfolks and their contact pages -

Jeff Flake (R-AZ6) - contact (no direct contact page)
Trent Franks (R-AZ2) - contact (no direct contact page)
Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ8) - contact page
Raul Grijalva (D-AZ7) - contact (no direct contact page)
Ann Kirkpatrick (D-AZ1) - contact page
Ed Pastor (D-AZ4) - contact (no direct contact page)
John Shadegg (R-AZ3) - contact form

Note: the four without a direct contact page utilize a zip code verification process to ensure that the online contact system is utilized by their constituents only. Follow the directions on their websites to contact them.

Note2: In a development that signifies how important I believe this issue is, I have linked to the Republicans' actual House websites, not their crAZyspace pages. You should be impressed. :)


Later!

The Southwest looks to be well-represented in the Obama cabinet

First came the news that AZ's own Governor Janet Napolitano has been tabbed to take over the Department of Homeland Security.

Then came the strong rumors that Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ7) will be selected as Secretary of the Interior.

Now today comes the news that New Mexico governor Bill Richardson has been tapped to be Secretary of Commerce.

While all of those selections (if they become official) are good ones, both for the desert Southwest and for the country as a whole, the most significant for the Southwest is that of longtime environmental and progressive activist Grijalva, not that of the higher-profile Napolitano or Richardson. Grijalva has long been involved with southwestern and national environmental issues, serving as a member of the House's Committee on Natural Resources and chairing that committee's National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Subcommittee. In short, he brings the right disposition and experience to the job once held by prominent Arizonans Bruce Babbitt (1993 - 2001) and Stewart Udall (1961 - 1969).

Over 50% of Arizona's land area is under federal control, as is Utah's, over 40% of New Mexico is federal land and over 80% of Nevada is. Colorado is slacking - a little over 30% of it is under federal jurisdiction.

Note: not all of the land areas mentioned above are under Interior's jurisdiction, such as that which is under military control. Still, a huge percentage of the Four Corners states and Nevada are federally-controlled.

In other words, there's definitely a need for a native of the southwest to be overseeing the Department of the Interior.

While both are longtime westerners and have served ably as governors of southwestern states, Napolitano and Richardson bring the sort of experience and temperment that lends itself to more generalization. In fact, both were rumored to have been considered for other posts before the proposed ones were settled on - Napolitano for Attorney General or White House Counsel and Richardson for Secretary of State (and with all due respect to Senator Clinton, Bill Richardson has way more qualifications for the job.)


On to consideration of more mundane ramifications...

Of the three seats, the Democratic Party is most likely to lose the AZ governorship. Not only would a Republican, Jan Brewer, ascend to the office upon Napolitano's move to D.C, but the Republicans have a registration advantage in AZ. That advantage will have to be overcome by the eventual Democratic nominee (Terry Goddard???) in 2010.

However, in AZCD7, the Democrats have an almost 2-1 registration advantage, so unless there's a brutal Democratic primary battle as part of a possible special election and the eventual winner is weakened significantly, the Dems will hold on to that seat.

In New Mexico, there are over 200,000 more registered Dems than Reps, so the Democratic Party *should* keep the NM governor's office. I say "*should*" because western Democrats are rather independent, which is why New Mexico is considered a battleground state during presidential elections.

Later...