In AZ, old politicians don't go away, the just swap seats

From Arizona Agenda, written by Nicole Ludden and Hank Stephenson

Chandler’s Freaky Friday

As we continue to reel from the 2024 elections, Arizona’s politicians are already eyeing their 2026 prospects.

While most of Arizona’s lawmakers are running for reelection, the three spots opening up in one district have turned into a game of musical chairs.

In fact, by the time 2027 rolls around, none of the state legislators representing the Chandler-based Legislative District 13 will hold their current offices.

Instead, Republican Rep. Jeff Weninger is running to be the next Chandler mayor. Chandler Mayor Kevin Hartke is running for Weninger's seat at the Capitol. And LD13’s other legislators are leaving the office or switching chambers.

As of this writing, neither Hartke (with the AZSOS) nor Weninger (with the City of Chandler) have formed committees for their run, however, Hartke has filed a Statement of Interest with the AZSOS for a run at LD13 State Representative -

Actually, the only person who has formed a committee for LD13 State Rep is Democratic candidate Raquel Armstrong.

It's still very early, though.

LD13 is considered to be "competitive" but leaning R - the district's current legislative delegation is all R.

The concept of swapping seat is not new, but is usually limited to changing chambers at the lege to avoid running afoul of term limits and to extend their time at the Capitol.

For instance, John Kavanagh, a Republican from Fountain Hills and member of the Arizona State Senate, is on his third district at the lege (LDs 8, 23, and 3), even though he hasn't actually moved.  He's been in both the house and the senate representing north Scottsdale, Fountain Hills, and Rio Verde since 2007.

Legislative schedule - week starting 4/20/2025 UPDATE

There's been an addition to this week's schedule of committee meetings at the state legislature.

Senate Director Nominations meets at 9:30 a.m. in SHR109.  On the agenda: no bills; one executive nomination - Kathryn Ptak as Director of the Department of Child Safety.

She seems to well liked by Rs in general...but none of them are on this committee.

One person who is?

State Sen. John Kavanagh, sponsor of SB1734, a bill that infamously reduces benefits/compensation for parents caring for their children with developmental disabilities.

While Ptak's nomination isn't for an agency  that covers that area, it may be close enough for Kavanagh et. al.

I expect some verbal fireworks from the Rs on the committee before they tank her nomination.

However, Ptak is a trained attorney.  Not only does she know how to fence with words, she may use words that are bigger than Kavanagh et. al. have heard.

Legislative schedule - week starting 1/12/2025

Well. the Arizona lege will be back in session...so it will be necessary to hide the children and small animals.

And to protect democracy from their depredations.

While most agendas are just about introducing committee members and staff, some very bad bills will be under consideration.

Note: HHR refers to a hearing room in the House building; SHR refers to one in the Senate building.

Note2: Generally, I'll only specify bills that look to spread propaganda.  Other bills may be more conventionally bad (think: corrupt or other misuses of public monies and/or authority).  My recommendation is that if an agenda covers an area of interest to you, read the entire agenda.

Note3: Each chamber's respective Rules Committee meets on Monday, the House's in HHR4, generally at 1 p.m. and the Senate's in Senate Caucus Room 1, generally also at 1 p.m.  Both committees serve as rubber stamps for bills leadership wants to be advanced and gatekeepers for measures that leadership wants stopped.

Note4: Meeting start times may be listed, but are flexible.  Before journeying to the Capitol or viewing the meeting online, verify the start time.

Note5: Watch for strikers, or strike everything amendments.  Those involve inserting language that replaces the entirety of a bill.  Those can be introduced at any time and can make a previously harmless bill into a very bad one. 

On Monday, 1/13 

-

House Health & Human Service is on the calendar at 2 p.m. in HHR4, but their agenda states the committee won't be meeting.

House Public Safety & Law Enforcement is on the calendar at 2 p.m. in HHR1, but their agenda states the committee won't be meeting.

On Tuesday, 1/14 

-

House Commerce meets at 2 p.m. in HHR5.  On the agenda: no bills; they'll be acting as the Commerce Committee of Reference and conducting a couple of sunset reviews of a couple of executive departments.

House Education meets at 2 p.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda: four bills after they act as the Education Committee of Reference and conduct a sunset review and an audit review.  The bills: HB2022. a guns in schools bill; HB2029, requiring schools to teach internet security/safety practices to students; plus a couple of bills related to the reviews that they are conducting.

House Natural Resources, Energy & Water meets at 2 p.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: no bills, just some presentations.

Senate Appropriations meets at 2 p.m. is SHR109.  On the agenda: no bills, just a presentation from JLBC.

Senate Natural Resources meets at 2 p.m. in SHR1. On the agenda: no bills, just multiple presentations, mostly from industry lobbyists.

On Wednesday, 1/15 

-

House Judiciary meets at 9 a.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: no bills; it's meeting as the Committee of Reference and conducting a couple of sunset reviews.

Senate Government meets at 9 a.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: three bills.  SB1013 would impose a requirement on municipalities and counties that would mandate that the council/board overseeing that entity pass a fee increase by a 2/3 majority.  The bill was proposed by Senate President Warren Petersen, so it'll pass. SB1015, from Wendy Rogers (R-bigot), would bar municipalities and counties from placing a tax or fee on blockchain technology.  SB1039 is John Kavanagh's annual effort to put a minimum time limit bon how long HOA's have to keep a recording of a meeting.

Senate Regulatory Affairs and Government Efficiency meets at 9 a.m. in SHR109.  On the agenda: no bills.

Senate Regulatory Affairs and Government Efficiency Committee of Reference meets at 9:10 a.m. (or upon the adjournment of the regular committee) in SHR109.  On the agenda:  no bills; a couple of sunset reviews.

House Ad Hoc Committee on Election Integrity and Florida-Style Voting Systems meets at 1 p.m.in HHR4.  On the agenda: no bills, just a discussion of inflicting Florida-style election practices on Arizona.

Senate Education meets at 3 p.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: Two bills and some presentations about education funding in AZ.  The bills - SB1021, Wendy Rogers' move to have ROTC students classified as "in-state" students and SB1028, John Kavanagh's proposal relating to high scool graduation requirements.

Senate Judiciary and Elections meets at 3 p.m. in SHR2.  On the agenda: one bill, and it's BAD.  SB1011 from Warren Petersen (and co-sponsored by most of the Rs in the state senate) is the latest anti-democracy effort to place restrictions on early voting.  My guess is that Petersen plans to run for Congress as a MAGA candidate or is angling for a spot in the Trump administration.

Senate Public Safety meets at 3 p.m. in SHR109.  On the agenda: no bills, just a presentation.

On Thursday, 1/16 

-

House Land, Agriculture & Rural Affairs Committee of Reference meets at 11 a.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: no bills, just a sunset review (interestingly, both this committee and Senate RAGE.COR will be conducting a sunset review of the Arizona Exposition and State Fair Board). 

On Friday, 1/17 

-

Senate Health and Human Services and House Health & Human Services Joint Committee of Reference meets at 9 a.m.in HHR1.  On the agenda: no bills, just five sunset reviews and one special audit.

Apparently, I touched a nerve...

...but while they may have ruffled certain sensibilities, my statements are still true.

A couple of days ago, I wrote a post criticizing the content of a two proposals to be considered by the state legislature.

This roused the ire of the author of the two proposals, State Sen. John Kavanagh.

Actually, the bill's language *does* add more than animal control officers and elected officials to statute -

He still hasn't refuted my actual criticism of his proposal.

Are "poison pill" clauses issued to all AZ legislators, or does John Kavanagh keep some in his desk drawer?

He sure seems to put them into any bill that he proposes that might otherwise be considered decent.

For example, he's proposed SCR1005, which, if approved by the voters, would index compensation for legislators to inflation.  The biggest issue with that?  He specifically exempts other state-level officials from that.

His phasing - "B. The salaries of those holding elective state offices OTHER THAN THE OFFICE OF STATE LEGISLATOR..."

Note - ALL CAPS is his proposed new language.

Still, while bad, that pales next to the depravity of his SB1038.

That includes language that would classify assaults of certain public transit employee, railway workers, airport workers, employees of law enforcement agencies, animal control officers, and all elected officials as aggravated assaults (not the "depraved" part).

Nope.  The depraved parts (and *yes*, I said "parts")  -

"D. IF A PERSON IS CONVICTED OF COMMITTING AGGRAVATED ASSAULT ON A PEACE OFFICER PURSUANT TO THIS SECTION AND THE TRIER OF FACT DETERMINES THAT SECTION 13-701, SUBSECTION D, PARAGRAPH 17 APPLIES, THE PERSON SHALL BE SENTENCED TO TWO YEARS MORE THAN WOULD OTHERWISE BE IMPOSED FOR THE OFFENSE. THE ADDITIONAL SENTENCE IMPOSED UNDER THIS SUBSECTION IS IN ADDITION TO ANY ENHANCED PUNISHMENT THAT MAY BE APPLICABLE UNDER THIS SECTION OR CHAPTER 7 OF THIS TITLE. THE PERSON IS NOT ELIGIBLE FOR SUSPENSION OF SENTENCE, COMMUTATION OR RELEASE FROM CONFINEMENT ON ANY BASIS, EXCEPT AS SPECIFICALLY AUTHORIZED BY SECTION 31-233, SUBSECTION A OR B, UNTIL THE SENTENCE IMPOSED IS SERVED THE PERSON IS ELIGIBLE FOR RELEASE PURSUANT TO SECTION 41-1604.07 OR THE SENTENCE IS COMMUTED."

This seems to be the "all animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others" part.

"H. AGGRAVATED ASSAULT PURSUANT TO SUBSECTION A, PARAGRAPH 1 OR 2 OF THIS SECTION COMMITTED ON AN EMPLOYEE OF A LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY IS A CLASS 2 FELONY...."

Class 2 felonies include (but aren't limited to) things like manslaughter, rape, sex trafficking, and child molestation, and Kavanagh wants to equate some assaults of police officers to those acts.

My guess is that if this one is approved by the legislature (possible, given the composition of the state legislature), and makes it past the governor's veto pen (unlikely, but she could have a bad day), this one may run into Constitutional issues.

Something that Kavanagh has run into before with his pro-police/anti-society legislation.

Short Attention Span Musing - Wahhh!!! Edition

I could have named this one the "Snowflake Edition", but individual snowflakes are unique, and there's a certain similarity here.

....Maybe, just maybe, it's not a good thing to lie about others...and dressing up as a mythical character will not change that.

From MSNBC -

Giuliani, who has said he’s broke, dresses as Santa to hawk coffee

Rudy Giuliani, who has said that he cannot afford to pay his bills in protracted court proceedings over his assets handover to two former Georgia election workers, has turned to his self-branded coffee line to make some money during the Christmas season.

This week on X, the former New York City mayor has shared multiple Christmas-themed ads touting Rudy Coffee, some of which feature him dressed in a Santa Claus costume and handing it out.

From CBS News -

Rudy Giuliani files for bankruptcy following $146 million defamation suit judgment

Former New York City mayor and Donald Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani filed for bankruptcy Thursday, according to a court filing. 

Giuliani filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy less than a week after a jury ordered him to pay $146 million in damages to Fulton County election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, who sued him for defamation. He estimates his liabilities are between about $100 million and $500 million. The damage award was originally set at $148 million, but the federal judge presiding over the case later reduced it to $145,969,000.

"This maneuver is unsurprising, and it will not succeed in discharging Mr. Giuliani's debt to Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss," Michael Gottleib, a lawyer for the two women, said in a statement.

On Wednesday, Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, ordered Giuliani to compensate the pair of election workers immediately, expressing concern that he may have been dishonest about his finances and that he might not comply with the judgment.

...Don't say something negative about the Fuhrer-elect - he might sue you.

From AP -

Trump sues Des Moines Register, pollster for ‘election interference’ after pre-election poll

President-elect Donald Trump sued the Des Moines Register and its pollster for “brazen election interference” in publishing a survey the weekend before the election that showed Democrat Kamala Harris with a surprising lead of three percentage points in the state.

The Register’s parent Gannett Co. on Tuesday dismissed the lawsuit as meritless and said it would vigorously defend its First Amendment rights.

...The tendency of having easily-ruffled tender sensibilities displayed by certain public figures isn't limited to national ones - there are Arizona politicos with similarly tender sensibilities.

From the Fountain Hills Times Independent, written by Howard Fischer, dated 12/19 -

Fountain Hills legislator holding up funds for UofA over Palestinian painting

The head of the Senate Appropriations Committee is holding up the ability of the University of Arizona to borrow millions of dollars over a painting on display supporting Palestinians that he contends is offensive.

But it may end up being a big fuss over nothing: the University of Arizona Museum of Art where the picture is located will be shutting down anyway at the end of the week.

Maybe Cheeto and his acolytes should eschew a limousine when traveling to his inauguration and just travel by Wahhmbulance.

Maybe they can turn up the radio loud enough so that they aren't bothered by any dissent.

Legislative schedule - week starting 12/15/2024

 Well, the election is over, so activity at the Capitol is picking up.

Admittedly, there's only three meetings scheduled at this point, and they're all scheduled for Wednesday, but that's three more than are on the schedule for Christmas week.

However, that's subject to change.  It's best to keep an eye out for changes.

On Monday 12/16, Tuesday, 12/17, and Thursday, 12/19 - nada.

On Wednesday, 12/18 -

Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC) meets at 9:30 a.m. in SHR109. On the agenda: 12 items, eight of will be considered en masse as part of consent agenda item.  The four items that they will actually consider: reviews of items involving the AZ SOS and AZ AG.  As both offices are headed by Democrats and the "reviews" will take place in executive session (fewer witnesses that way), I'm guessing that there will be less considering and more "raking over the coals" going on. The other two item will be public and involve DEQ and AHCCCS/DES.  As John Kavanagh chairs this committee, he will probably focus making sure no trans people are helped by these agencies.

Joint Committee on Capital Review (JCCR) meets at 9:45 a.m. or upon adjournment of the JLBC meeting in SHR109.  On the agenda:  six items, five and half of which will be considered en masse as part of consent agenda item.  What will be considered in public are a couple buildings under construction as U of A.  Kavanagh chairs this one too, so trans people will probably be mentioned here, too.

House Committee on International Trade meets at 10:30 a.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda: this looks to be a pro forma meeting.

If it's December, it must be vehicle bill time at the AZ legislature

In lege-speak, a "vehicle bill" that exists basically to serve a shell for a strike-everything amendment ("striker") that's usually far more insidious and detrimental to society than the underlying bill.

Normally, such bills have "technical correction" in the working title, but this year, they've gotten creative.  So far, none have that in the title.

Thus far, 14 actual bills have been introduced; of those, eight look to be vehicles for strikers.

Of the 14, nine were introduced by Ol' Reliable, John Kavanagh (R - CAP's Lapdog) (and he is listed as a co-sponsor of another); seven look to be strikers.

Some of the bills are about things like balloons, fair juries, and eyeglasses; not the sort of things that Republicans are known for giving a damn about.

One prediction: SB1007, working title "public school tax credit; purposes" will be turned into something to expand private school vouchers.

Got a new nickname for State Sen. John Kavanagh: Ol' Reliable

Ol' (bile-filled) Reliable, maybe.

Our John really dislikes trans people.

So when it came time to introduce legislation for the upcoming session, he had two choices - get his hate on or change his character and become ardently pro-public education.

Hint: He hasn't changed.

Instead, he has introduced SB1002 and SB1003.

SB1002 would bar people employed by a school system from using a student's preferred pronoun and SB1003 would bar students from using a restroom or "changing facility" (think: locker room) belonging to their preferred gender.

Not exactly schemes to benefit society, but they may make Kavanagh's handler at the Center for Arizona Policy happy - that person may actually hate trans people as much as our John, and public schools, particularly adequate funds for them, aren't as lucrative as school vouchers that siphon money away from public schools.

Is being utterly venal a prerequisite for being elected to the lege from N. Scottsdale/Fountain Hills?

That legislative district (LD3), like all LDs, elects three people to the state legislature, one state senator and two state representatives.

LD3 has sent Reps. Alexander Kolodin and Joe Chaplik and Sen. John Kavanagh to the state legislature.

Kolodin is an attorney, with an attorney's regard for the truth.

Kavanagh is a retired police officer with a PO's regard for the Constitution.

Chaplik was a rather unremarkable ideologue.  

Until this week.

Not he's catapulted right past Kolodin and into Kavanagh territory.  Kavanagh may still be the most craven member of the lege, but now part of his competition for that title is from his own LD.

From AZMirror, written by Jerod MacDonald-Evoy -

House Ethics Committee drops complaint against GOP Rep accused of signature fraud

An ethics complaint filed against Republican state Rep. Austin Smith, after he was accused of petition signature fraud, was dropped by the House Ethics Committee Friday. 

Smith dropped his reelection bid last month after he was accused of personally forging more than 100 petition signatures to get on the 2024 ballot. Now the lawmaker is facing a possible criminal investigation after state election officials forwarded his petition signatures to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. 

Chaplik is the chair of the House Ethics Committee and while they have dropped consideration of the complaint against Smith for his (alleged) crime, he and they are continuing to look into the complaint lodged against Democratic State  Representatives Analise Ortiz and Oscar De Los Santos, who are accused of, wait for it, making Rs feel bad about themselves for their support of Arizona's pre-statehood near-total ban on abortion.

The House Ethics Committee is known for giving a free pass to Republican members, no matter how heinous their words or (alleged) crimes.

Note: The now-former member of the lege mentioned in the article, David Stringer, is running for County Attorney in Yavapai County.  Apparently, his campaign is utterly self-financed - 

It seems that Chaplik (and the other R members) feel that bringing disrepute to the body is acceptable...if the one behaving badly is a Republican.

He/they also believe that the bad behavior by a Republican shouldn't be criticized...if the one doing the criticizing is a Democrat.

The fix was in...

...to pass something that will just make things worse instead or fixing things.

At the state legislature, the Senate's Elections Committee and the House's Municipal Oversight and Elections Committee held a joint meeting to consider two Republican-proposed bills at 9 a.m.*

* = they have a verrryyyyy flexible concept of time at the legislature

They were meeting to consider SB1733 (introduced by Sen. Wendy Rogers) and HB2785 (Rep. Alexander Kolodin), identical bills that are supposed to address the state's elections calendar, which threatens to disenfranchise Arizona voters,

I spent 2 1/2+ hours watching it online.  I recommend doing so, unless you have something better to do.  Like taking out the trash.  Or washing your hair.  Or amputating one of your legs.

Primary takeaway: Both bills passed committee on party-line votes.  

Other takes on the meeting:

- The lege does have a rather flexible concept of time - the meeting was slated to start at 9 a.m. but wasn't gaveled in until 9:21 a.m..

Shortly after that,  one of the chairs (Sen. Wendy Rogers) noted that the meeting was going to take an hour.

Rogers observed at 10:17 that her hour had ended 15 minutes before.

Rogers and the other chair, Rep. Jaqueline Parker, recessed the meeting at 10:50, for "five" minutes.

The meeting reconvened 11:03.

It ended at 11:39.

...Apparently, both Rogers and Parker believe that "committee chair" is another way of saying "absolute dictator".

They had a dissenter ejected from the hearing.  He's ruffled tender legislative sensibilities before.

They tried to suppress dissent by limiting public testimony to four speakers.

...Rep Alexander Kolodin, sponsor of HB2785 and an attorney, like to hear himself talk.  One of the things that he said that he wasn't involved with litigation related to signature verification in Yavapai County.  That seemed to be a really specific denial, so I did a little research.  Turns out, that was true in a lawyer's sort of way.  Is there another case he's involved with?  Yup, in Mohave County.

He (and others) stated that they've been working on this for months.  So they sat on this until the situation became urgent and think that they can force their propaganda on the rest of the people of Arizona.

...There was a lot of lying and dissembling going on.  Mostly by the Republican members.  They all thought (and opined) that the extraneous signature verification clauses in the bill(s) were essential to changing election dates.

...Don't hire these folks to do your taxes.  They're without ability to do basic math.  They added two speakers and the Rep. Parker said that meant there were three in favor of the bill and three opposed.

I counted five in favor and one opposed.  They could only get to three and three by counting the last two speakers as "opposed" - they wanted the bill amended to make the signature verification portion harsher.

...Sen. Sonny Borrelli may not be the brightest light in the nighttime sky.  He tried to plant words in the mouth of the one speaker who was actually opposed to the measure(s), and when that speaker didn't go for it, Borrelli tried to do so again.

[Edited on 2/7 to add]:

...Certain members of the state legislature are still ticked off by the Red for Ed movement of a few years ago.  At least, they used the bills to get their "petty and vindictive" on -

[/End edit]

Pics from the video feed -

House members showed up before Senate members.

 

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse confer before the meeting (Center of the pic, L-R) -

Sens Rogers and Bennett, and Reps Parker and Kolodin.

In honor of the upcoming Super Bowl, it might be appropriate to refer to them as the Fearsome Foursome.

But that would be overrating them.

Sen. Sundareshan making a point

Sen. Hernandez making a point

Rep. Terech making a point

Rep. Kolodin with his mouth open.  Not an unusual occurrence

Quick!  Some lobbyist needs to give Sen, Kavanagh a comb!

Paul Penzone not seeking a 3rd term and will resign in January

Let the political games of musical chairs and idle speculation begin.

From AZFamily -

Penzone won’t seek 3rd term as Maricopa County Sheriff, will step down in January

Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone says he will not seek a 3rd term and will be stepping down as Sheriff in January 2024.

“I have decided that I will not pursue a third term,” said Penzone during an emotional news conference Monday afternoon. “Not because I leave this office in any way, shape, or form disappointed; it has all been incredible. It is the greatest privilege and blessing that anyone could’ve asked for, especially in a profession like this.” Penzone said.

Penzone also announced he would be stepping down before his current term is up, "I think it’s appropriate for me to depart of the office in January and clear the way so during the last year of my term going into elections, there aren’t distractions. It gives me a chance to pursue some opportunities to serve the public in several ways and to do some things that present themselves as incredible options and opportunities."

I'm not much into musical chairs, but I can do idle speculation with the best of them.

Caveat: No actual humans were talked for this.

I have no idea who the Democratic nominee will be; the R nominee will (probably) be someone who should be in prison used to work for Joe Arpaio.

As for Penzone's next gig, if it's not elected, I could only guess - maybe he's going to be the commissioner of the World Pickleball Tour.

OK, that's probably not going to happen. :)

Some speculation is that he plans to run for an elected office, so I'll talk about that.

US Senate - could happen, but probably not, and for two reasons.  1. Ruben Gallego has been in the race for a while.  2. Kyrsten Sinema is still lurking; a Sinema candidacy is expected to give the race to the R nominee.

US House of Representatives - could happen, but that will depend on other chips falling in a way that's favorable to him.  

If he entered the race against R David Schweikert, he'd almost certainly cause at least two of the announced candidates in the crowded Democratic primary there to withdraw.  I don't think it will happen, but given his documented history of taking on entrenched office holders with ethics issues, this one isn't out of the realm of possibility.

If he entered the race to replace Gallego in Congress, he would lose in the primary there - the candidates there have been active since before the moment that Gallego announced his intent to run for Senate.

If he entered the race for the seat held by Greg Stanton, well, I suppose it *could* happen, but I expect that he wouldn't enter that race unless Stanton announces that he won't seek another term.

Arizona Corporation Commission - the only state-level seats on the 2024 ballot.  Seems too low profile for him.

City Council, School Board, Justice of the Peace, and Constable slots - Not only do I not know where he lives (eligibility for those is residency-specific), I think those are too low profile.

State Legislature - he's highly respected; why would he want to lose that?  In other words, not gonna happen...though if he were to join the lege, he could serve as a counterbalance to John Kavanagh.

What I think will happen is that he will accept a position with the Biden Administration.

If that happens, there will be a certain synchronicity to that - Penzone's predecessor was pardoned by Biden's predecessor.

Basically, one skell pardoned another.

If Biden hires Penzone, it will be a situation where one decent human being hires another.

Short Attention Span Musing

...Apparently, the U.S. Senate thinks it's better to look good than to be good.

From NPR -

The Senate's dress code just got more relaxed. Some insist on staying buttoned-up

There's a lot for lawmakers to be stressed about these days, from the looming threat of a government shutdown to debates over additional funding for Ukraine. But one of the most divisive issues on Capitol Hill suddenly seems to be what senators can wear to work.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer directed the Senate's sergeant-at-arms to stop enforcing its unwritten dress code — only for its 100 members — starting this week.

There may be much angst among Senators over their dress code, but some things don't bother them.

From USA Today -

Read the full indictment: Menendez faces second round of corruption charges

Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., is facing corruption charges after being indicted Friday in the Southern District of New York.

It marks the second time the New Jersey lawmaker has been indicted in the last 10 years − previously facing corruption charges in 2015.

They can wear tutus and propeller beanies or suit and ties or whatever.  It doesn't matter, as long as they don't take bribes.

Which is what Menendez (allegedly) did.

FWIW, this isn't a partisan thing - the political class in New York and New Jersey seem to believe that society's law or even standards of simple decency do apply to them, regardless of professed partisan affiliation.

We still have to claim Andrew Cuomo and Anthony Weiner as Democrats.

Of course, Republicans still have Chris Christie and, of course, Cheeto.

And Arizona State Senator John Kavanagh is from New Jersey, too.

...And speaking of Cheeto, it wasn't a good week for him.

From Good Morning America, via Yahoo! -

'You were warned': Judge reprimands Trump's lawyers in New York AG's $250M fraud case

A judge in New York expressed frustration at Donald Trump's defense counsel while considering sanctioning the defendants and their lawyers for making frivolous arguments in the state's civil case against the former president and others.

"When I first heard those arguments, I thought that was a joke," said Judge Arthur Engoron, who added that he has repeatedly ruled on and been upheld on some of the arguments rehashed by defense.

"The rule on sanctions is if you've been warned, don't do it. You were warned," Engoron said.

Update to "If an R elected loses an R group. does that person stay elected?"

[start sarcasm}

I just LOVE dirty tricks.

[/end sarcasm]

On Sunday, I wrote a post about  State Sen. John Kavanagh and the Coalition Of Greater Scottsdale (COGS).

At 10:04 a.m. today, that post received a comment -

At 10:06 a.m. today, I received a rather interesting email -

Hmmm...Could these be related? :)

Two things:

A. The bill in question, SCR 1023, passed the Senate on a party line vote and John Kavanagh voted for it twice (it failed the first time, but was reconsidered, and after the sponsor allegedly made some promises to protect small charter cities that elect Rs, it passed).

As passed by the Senate, the proposal would affect all charter cities.

B. Is impersonating someone to alter their online preferences a crime?

A story from Howard Fischer of Capitol Media Services has a story on the measure here.

If an R elected loses an R group. does that person stay elected?

 If not, John Kavanagh has something to worry about.  

In 2022, he faced a primary challenge from the right, where there isn't much room.  Maybe in 2024, he'll be challenged on forsaking Scottsdale.

Earlier this week, The Coalition of Greater Scottsdale (COGS), an R-leaning group that focuses on Scottsdale, sent out an email.

From that email (emphasis added by me) -

Do you agree that LOCAL governments should NOT be controlled
by the Arizona state senate and house?
View this email in your browser

******************************************************************************************

ALERT: State of Arizona“representatives of the public” want to eliminate Charter cities
example? YOUR Scottsdale’s form of government.

:,
    What could change?

        If approved, the AZ legislature could decide

• to change the model of government for the Scottsdale such as the number of council members,
• whether council members are nonpartisan as we have now
• the disposition of any preserved land. Without Charter City protection, the legislature could require the city to sell the Scottsdale McDowell Sonoran Preserve thousands of acres for development.
• …and more state-level negative-impact decisions like they have done to us on Short Term Rentals!

STOP THIS FROM HAPPENING:

Immediately send an e-mail to State Senator, JOHN KAVANAGH jkavanagh@azleg.gov who has forgotten that he represents Scottsdale residents. His support of this (and some other recent local power-grabbing bills) is unforgivable! Tell him NO NO NO on Concurrent Resolution 1023. .

NO: Each city should decide its own unique characteristics as determined by the local residents
NO  Legislators who live in other parts of Arizona should not be making Scottsdale decisions.
NO  Senator Kavanaagh needs reminding WHO he is suppose to represent---PEOPLE not political party negative-impact  bills
 

Thank you for taking action NOW
Your COGS Board of Directors

Scottsdale Independent newspaper link for more information:
: https://www.yourvalley.net/scottsdale-independent/stories/city-officials-fire-back-at-legislatures-attempts-to-end-charter-status,373672

State Sen. John Kavanagh: Full of weasel words and hate

From Lowe's Home Improvement,
mostly because I don't want Kavanagh's preferred hate symbol to be the first image in this post.

John Kavanagh, doing AZ proud.  Again.

There's no doubt that John Kavanagh is a highly intelligent man.

There's also no doubt that high intelligence is often wasted on people with low character

This time, he's introduced SB1049, a bill that seemingly protects hate symbols like Confederate flags from homeowners and condo associations.

From his proposal -

A. Notwithstanding any provision in the condominium documents, an association shall not prohibit the outdoor display of any of the following: 

...

8. ANY HISTORIC VERSION OF THE AMERICAN FLAG, INCLUDING THE BETSY ROSS FLAG, WITHOUT REGARD TO HOW THE STARS AND STRIPES ARE ARRANGED ON THE FLAG. 

It's kind of impressive how he tries to hide his actual intent behind weasel words like "including the Betsy Ross flag".

OK, not really.  :)

Many words can be used to describe him.  "Subtle" is NOT one of them.

What Kavanagh wants to protect,
from JSTOR