Breaking News: Andrew Thomas still under investigation

...OK, so the fact that Andrew Thomas is being investigated doesn't exactly shock any observer of AZ or Maricopa County politics... :)

The AZ Bar Association has dismissed a couple of complaints against Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas (he of "pissing off judges he thinks treat immigrants like human beings," "investigates and jails reporters who write and publish articles he doesn't like," and "funnels taxpayer money to former employers" fame). (AZCentral.com's Political Insider)

Thomas and his echo chamber in the right wing blogosphere have, of course, seized upon this development to declare his canonization and ascension into the pantheon of saints among us. (IC Arizona for the Goldwater Institute)

...OK, not quite. His press release was an exercise in self-worship however.

The headline of IC Arizona's post on the matter was a little misleading.

Final bar investigations dismissed Against County Attorney Thomas: Freedom of Speech wins

There's just a couple of problems with that -

1. Thomas now has received a free pass for investigating and ordering the arrest of two New Times' journalists for daring to publish uncomplimentary articles about him and his saddle partner/political mentor, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. That's hardly a victory for freedom of speech.

2. "Final" is the wrong word to use when describing investigations of Andrew Thomas. To whit:

From the EV Tribune -

The state Bar of Arizona has launched a new ethics investigation against Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas over his prosecution of county supervisor Don Stapley.

The Tribune confirmed the new investigation Monday — the same day the bar dropped the last of two old complaints brought against Thomas and his office.

Pat Giallanza, director of communications for the bar association, confirmed a new complaint has been lodged against Thomas regarding allegations he has a conflict of interest in his handling of the case against Stapley, a Mesa Republican.

More as this story develops...

Bob Burns: Don't let the voters decide, because they might not make the decision I want them to make

Bob Burns, the Republican State Senate President, has announced that he is hesitant to put any proposal for a tax increase to fund public services to the ballot because he is worried that the voters might approve it.

From a Howard Fischer story in the EV Tribune -

The top Senate Republican is shying away from putting two measures on a special ballot this spring, at least in part because he fears voters will not decide the issues the way he wants.

Senate President Bob Burns, R-Peoria, said Monday he has a “gut feeling” that a proposal for a temporary tax hike would turn into a one-sided campaign, with his personal position against the increase on the losing side.

In addition, he is opposed to letting the voters decide whether or not to open up voter-protected mandates (both spending and taxes) to legislative "re-appropriation,"

From the same article -

Burns also is balking at putting any plan to let lawmakers tinker with measures previously approved by voters on the same ballot, for the same reason: It might actually fail, which he does not want.

The right wing blogosphere is all over this one, siding with Burns in their open contempt for voters. (Sonoran Alliance)

My prediction is still that the Reps will hem, haw, scream, breast-beat, pull their hair out (OK, so it's too late for that in Burns' case there - see the pic at the Trib article :) ), and all other kinds of showboating before "reluctantly" giving their approval of referring a sales tax increase to the ballot.

And, citing the state's dire fiscal situation, not so reluctantly referring an override of the Voter Protection Act to the ballot.

Oh, and don't be surprised if they look for a way to tie the enactment of a tax hike, even a regressive one, to the lifting of Prop 105 protections on education funding, healthcare for the poorest Arizonans, and Clean Elections public financing for campaigns.

Other notes, but definitely related:

This weekend I was talking to a friend and regular reader who observed that I haven't been picking on State Senator Jack Harper (R-Surprise) as much as I have in the past. I responded by saying that there are too many targets this year to devote much time to Harper, and that he seems to have toned down his "shoot from the lip" brand of lunacy this year, probably because he is running statewide next year.

What a difference a day makes.

Tedski at R-Cubed has an email that Harper sent out to supporters that contained part of a commentary that Harper wrote for the AZ Capitol Times.

Quoting Harper from Ted's post (I don't subscribe to the Cap Times, and their website is subscriber-only access) -

I do not speak for the entire Republican caucus, and certainly not the minority party, but I hope to summarize this with a broad view of what to expect in the next budget for the under-employed or over-expectant.

If you are relying on any services from the state that are not mandated by the federal government, I advise you that those services may end June 30, 2009.

If you have children that require expensive experimental treatment or therapy that is not provided by the federal government, I advise that the state will not have the money for it after June 30.

If you have been laid off from your job and are not willing to take a job that is available, unemployment benefits, food stamps and AHCCCS for health care are going to fall short of what you could make by being employed.

Arizona will not follow the country into socialism. If you feel you need greater assistance and are not able to move to another state, please turn to your local churches and give them the opportunity to show their generosity and love.

It seems that Harper (and Burns, and the rest of the AZ chapter of the Flat Earth Society) are actually gleeful at the near-bankruptcy of the state and the prospect of ending all but federally-mandated public services for the people of Arizona.

Harper, Burns, et. al. have made it clear that they have no intention of doing their jobs of serving their constituents unless their arms are twisted.

The two main ways of twisting their arms are federal law and the Voter Protection Act.

And they want us to override the Voter Protection Act.

As painful as the 20 months are going to be here in AZ, we're better off leaving the VPA alone and waiting until November 2010 to kick the nihilist ideologues to the curb.

Later...

Both of AZ's U.S. Senators are in the top 10. That's a good thing, right???

Well...it depends what category's "top 10" we are talking about...

From ConsumerWatchdog.org -

WASHINGTON D.C. -- Health insurers and pharmaceutical manufacturers contributed $5.5 million to the top 10 recipients in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives during the last two election cycles - a period in which health care reform dominated political discourse, according to the nonprofit, nonpartisan Consumer Watchdog.

Health insurers contributed $2.2 million to the top 10 members of the U.S. Senate and House. Drug manufacturers contributed $3.3 million to the top 10 recipients in each legislative body. In all, health insurers and drug manufacturers contributed $24,220,976 to the current members of Congress in the last two election cycles.

The top 1o Senate recipients of Health Insurer Money (note: due to formatting issues, a direct copy and paste wasn't possible here) (emphasis mine) -

John McCain (R-AZ) - $251,834
Mitch McConnell (R-KY) - $200,200
Max Baucus (D-MT) - $183,750
Joe Lieberman (I-CT) - $101,400
Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) - $98,600
Susan Collins (R-ME) - $96,500
Jon Kyl (R-AZ) - $90,450
Mark Warner (D-VA) - $89,700
Orrin Hatch (R-UT) - $85,903
Ben Nelson (D-NE) - $83,300

Top 10 Senate recipients of Drug Co. Money -

John McCain - $294,603
Max Baucus - $229,020
Mitch McConnell - $225,200
Joe Lieberman - $196,540
Arlen Specter (R-PA) - $179,650
Robert Mendez (D-NJ) - $147,243
Mike Enzi (R-WY) - $134,500
Jon Kyl - $118,350
John Cornyn (R-TX) - $115,900

So should we be proud that AZ is the only state where both members of our delegation to the U.S. Senate are in the "top 10"??

BTW, and this is certain to tick off commenter Thane and a few other folks - data like this, data that shows the bipartisan impact of industry legalized bribes "campaign contributions" have on public policy only serves to strengthen the argument in favor of taking Arizona's system of publicly financed elections to the next level.

Later...

Upcoming in the AZ Lege

Most of the action this week will be on the House side, though there is a rumor that the Senate may start considering real (aka - "non-budget") bills soon.

Note: all committee agenda info drawn from the lege's website and is subject to change without notice.

On Monday, the House Rules Committee (1 p.m., House Hearing Room 4) has a full agenda with 25 items on it. Highlights include consideration of HB2103, which would give the State Treasurer the authority to bypass the Attorney General's office and hire outside legal counsel (aka "The Dean Martin doesn't like Terry Goddard Act"), HB2467, to bar the state from having anything to do with the Western Climate Initiative, HB2628, the so-called "Parents Bill Of Rights", HCM2004, expressing the Republican caucus' disapproval of the federal Employee Free Choice Act, HCM2006, telling the U.S. Congress not to pass laws affecting public lands in AZ (the "protect mining and ranching on public lands" Act), and strikers on HB2396 (privatizing transportation projects) and HB2278 (relating to tires and abandoned mines).

On Tuesday, the Joint Appropriations committees of the House and the Senate will meet (2 p.m., HHR1) to conduct budget hearings for a number of state agencies; at 3 p.m. (or after the end of the joint meeting), the House Appropriations Committee will meet to conduct budget hearings for even more agencies.

On Wednesday, the House Ways and Means Committee will meet (9 a.m., HHR1) to do, you know, ways and means stuff.

At the same time on Wednesday in HHR3, the House Military Affairs and Public Safety Committee will meet ("with the permission of the Speaker") to discuss MAPS stuff. The highlight there seems to be HB2610, a move to limit civil liability awards by adding to the list of affirmative defenses against civil liability (the "those poor, deprived corporations need to be protected from responsibility for their own bad products" Act).

At 2 p.m., House Appropriations will be meeting in HHR1 to discuss a number of bills. Highlights include strikers to HB2369 ( to restrict the state government's authority to accept federal funds for other than some specific purposes) and HB2050 relating to false medical claims (text not available on the lege's website as of this writing).

Over on the Senate side, most of the committee hearings that will take place will be discussing the federal stimulus package.

The highlight there could be Wednesday's meeting of the Senate Education Accountability and Reform Committee where they will receive a presentation from the State Auditor on "Arizona Public School Districts' Dollars Spent in the Classroom FY2008." (Full Report With District Pages available at the link)


So far, the House and Senate floor calendars for the week aren't available on line.

Brewer Lets Voters Know That They're #1...

....too bad for voters that wasn't her index finger pointed skyward...

I almost titled this post "Business as Usual," but I like the above line better. It's funnier...

When Governor Jan Brewer addressed a joint session of the lege on Wednesday, her speech discussed the fiscal crisis facing the state. In it, she assessed three main causes for the deficit -

1. Without naming names, she blamed the former governor Janet Napolitano for the deficit (emphasis mine) - "...we have inherited one of the largest budget deficits per capita of any state in the United States..." and criticized the use of short-term revenue enhancements to balance last year's budget.

2. The Voter Protection Act (aka Proposition 105), passed by the voters in 1998. She said that "permanent, inflexible spending and taxes" that are protected from legislative tampering by the provisions of the act paint "state government into a corner" during difficult times.

3. She blamed the state's tax structure for being too business-unfriendly.

Her solutions?

1. Enact "structural budget reforms" such as doubling the size of the state's "rainy day fund" and restrict its use. As part of the "structural budget reforms, she wants restrict "fund sweeps" from fee-based funds. Those are where users pay fees for government services. During the drive to balance the state's budget, many of the remaining balances in those accounts were "swept" up.

2. No new programs, and the Voter Protection Act should be relaxed to allow the lege to restrict or even end programs, taxes, and expenditures that the voters have approved.

3. She wants to "reform and modernize our state tax structure" to make it more business-friendly.

4. Raise taxes in an unspecified, but temporary, manner.

Ummm....where to start, where to start?

How about with some of the contradictions?

Let's see -

...When placing blame on Napolitano, she conveniently forgets to place any of the blame on the lege (you know, the group responsible under the state constitution for the budget) for its constant drive to cut taxes for corporations and the wealthy. It wasn't just spending that put the state into a structural deficit; it was permanently reducing revenue streams too. And let's not even get started on the almost-criminal over-reliance on the notoriously unstable revenue stream provided by the sales tax.

...She decries the voter-imposed restrictions and inflexibility in time of fiscal need on the legislature and executive that protect the programs that the voters approve of (like healthcare and education), yet wants to make the lege's ablility to expend money less flexible.

...Even though she was elected by the voters (as Secretary of State only, but that was still an election), her primary focus is on catering to big business. (More on that in a moment...)

...She *did* issue a call for a tax hike, but she left the specifics in the hands of the lege, an organization that has never met a tax that it liked...except for the most regressive tax of all, the sales tax. She was very specific in her call to override the will of the voters, but woefully unspecific in regard to her "plan" to bring in more revenue. Unspecific to the point of showing that she knows that it is all but certain that the lege won't even put the question to the voters.

Most, like Sen. Ron Gould (R-Hates Everything), have already said that they think it is a *very* bad idea. Of course, there don't seem to be any quotes anywhere from prominent AZ Republicans criticizing the idea of overriding the Voter Protection Act.

I predict that there will be special election with a sales tax increase proposal and a proposal to gut the Voter Protection Act on the ballot. The Reps will fight against the tax increase, but not cry too much if it passes (a sales tax is always the most acceptable to them), while fighting tooth and nail to crack the protections of the Voter Protection Act.

Of course, Brewer's repeated rhetorical caresses of that Republican touchstone, big business, was calculated, and for more than to garner support among the Rep caucus in the lege.

Big Business has been screaming for weeks about the fund sweeps, because some of those sweeps have interfered with business as usual. Some of those businesses are as "conflicted" as Brewer.

For instance, when the House Ways and Means Committee heard (and approved) a bill to repeal the state's equalization property tax on February 23, the owners of APS, Pinnacle West, had a representative there to argue in favor of the repeal.

Out of concern for their customers, of course - they didn't want to have to raise rates to pay for the tax. (audio available from the lege here)

Of course (again! :) ), that concern didn't stop Pinnacle West from criticizing the sweeping of a fund at the Arizona Corporation because the fund supported staff there that processed requests for rate hikes. The fund sweep made it more difficult (though far from impossible!) for APS to raise rates.

Note: This isn't meant to single out Pinnacle West; they're hardly only corp to dance this little two-step.

I'm sure that between the anti-voter and voter-mandated programs rhetoric on one side and the anti-tax, pro-business rhetoric on the other, Brewer and the legislative Republicans have made it clear to corporations that in Arizona the lights are on and the AZ government is open for business as usual.

Of course, that light is red, and the "business" involves screwing the average Arizonan, but hey -

Here, that *is* "business as usual."

Best sign of the day...

...and there were some good ones at the rally (what did you expect when you tick off a bunch of smart people? They sharpen their needles and start jabbing those that ticked them off :) )...

Just in case you forgot - 100% of Democrats in the lege voted to protect education; over 96% of Republicans in the lege voted to gut education.

During the day, I spoke to a number of people at the Capitol, some there for the rally and some not (including some tourists from Alberta..brrrr. :) ).

Most said that education shouldn't be a partisan issue, and I and most Democrats agree. There are many Republicans who agree with that sentiment, too.

Unfortunately for us, those Republicans aren't in the Arizona Legislature, with a couple of notable exceptions - thank you Senators Carolyn Allen and Jay Tibshraeny.

I may not agree with them on much else, but they were right when they voted against the budget "fix" that decimated education and human services in Arizona.

Education *shouldn't* be a partisan issue, but it is in Arizona.

I hope that the teachers, parents, and education supporters who were at today's rally remember that fact, and the "best sign of the day" in September and November of 2010 and vote in their children's and the state's long-term interests.

March4Schools Today at the State Capitol!

Just a reminder -

March4Schools

March 4

4 p.m.

Arizona Capitol

1700 West Washington

Somewhere near 10,000 people are expected to attend today to tell the legislature and the Governor who, coincidentally, chose the same time to address a joint session of the lege on the state's fiscal crisis (that's sarcasm folks - she and her handlers are trying to steal the thunder from the state's educators), so the best plan for getting here would be to car pool or take public transit.


And whether you travel here alone or in a group, arrive early - parking will be at a premium and some roads in the vicinity of the Capitol may be closed.

The rally will take place on the House lawn, immediately to the east of the House building, and will extend across the street into Wesley Bolin Plaza.


Students lining up to ask questions at a press conference of the Senate Democratic Caucus this morning...

















More later...

Harry Mitchell grills VA over shredded records - "A breach of trust"

On Tuesday, the House Veterans Affairs Committee's Subcommittees on Investigation and Oversight and Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs held a joint meeting looking into the shredding of VA claims forms and tampering with records at certain VA offices.

(Meeting info here, with opening statements and written testimonies and a link to a recording of the meeting's webcast; Rep. Mitchell's opening statement here.)

From an Army Times report on the meeting -

A new report about Veterans Affairs Department employees squirreling away tens of thousands of unopened letters related to benefits claims is sparking fresh concerns that veterans and their survivors are being cheated out of money.

VA officials acknowledge further credibility problems based on a new report of a previously undisclosed 2007 incident in which workers at a Detroit regional office turned in 16,000 pieces of unprocessed mail and 717 documents turned up in New York in December during amnesty periods in which workers were promised no one would be penalized.

{snip}

"It is impossible not to be shocked by the numbers from Detroit," said Rep. Harry Mitchell, D-Ariz., who chairs the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee’s oversight and investigations panel. "Shredding documents or burying them in the bottom drawer is a breach of trust. Whether that breach of trust comes as a consequence of inadequate training or negligent or deliberate behavior, Congress must not and will not tolerate it."

In his questions, Mitchell focused on what the VA's then-management knew of the problem (as evidenced by the amnesties) and if the root cause of the problem was due to mistraining of claims processors or due to a flaw in the organizational culture of the VA at the time. (Approximately 01:25:00 into the meeting

Nobody, least of all Congressman Mitchell, said the words "Bush Administration" but since the incident occurred in 2007...

Anyway, the meeting video is available on the committee's webpage. While the meeting is a little over 2 hours long, it is worth watching.

...Well, worth watching if you are looking for yet another reason to be ticked off at what the Bushies did to America and to America's servicemen and women for eight years.

Background on the issue can be found in an Army Times article here and from the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) here.

AZ Legislature Waging Open Warfare On Poor Children...

...and the opening salvo in the latest skirmish will be fired at tomorrow's meeting of the House Health and Human Services Committee...

This is a little late in the day, but an email from the Children's Action Alliance was forwarded to me, and it's worthy of some attention.

From the email -

On Wednesday, March 4, 2009, the House Health and Human Services Committee is meeting at 8am and their agenda includes significant bills that need your action. (You are getting this message because you live in the district of a committee member.)

PLEASE TAKE ACTION TODAY!

The email then urged recipients to contact their legislators on the committee to urge them to vote against HB2203, a measure that would cut off TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families) benefits to children whose guardians fall out of compliance with CPS requirements (paperwork, immunizations, etc.) and to vote for HB2622 (subject to a strike-everything amendment on the same subject), a measure that would "would require the parent of a child taken into CPS custody to inform CPS and the court within 30 days of relatives who might have an interest in caring for the child. "

Both are sponsored by the likes of wingers like Nancy Barto and Ray Barnes. The difference is that the harsh HB2203 is sponsored *only* by wingers where the sensible HB2622 has Democrat Tom Chabin as the original sponsor.

Anyway, the committee members include Reps. Ed Ableser (D-LD17), Frank Antenori (R-LD30), Nancy Barto (R-LD7), Tom Boone (R-LD4), David Bradley (D-LD28), Steve Court (R-LD18), Doris Goodale (R-LD3), Phil Lopes (D-LD27), and Rick Murphy (R-LD9).

If you live in one of those districts, contact your legislator and urge them to vote against HB2203 as it punishes children for the actions/inactions of adults and to vote for HB2622 because it increases the likelihood that children in home situations that call for CPS's removal of the children from the situation will end up in a stable home.

It might be too late to talk to them at the office tonight, but emails and voicemails will be read or listened to in the a.m. before the meeting.

Later...

Arpaio and Thomas: Still not playing well with others

Edit on 3/3 below to update...

I have to wonder how bad these two were in their schoolyards when they were kids, because now that they are (allegedly) mature adults, they still engage in wantonly selfish and anti-social behavior.

From AZCentral.com -

Arpaio, Thomas seek to stop board from raiding funds

Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas and Sheriff Joe Arpaio on Monday asked a Superior Court judge to issue a temporary restraining order to keep the county Board of Supervisors from raiding special funds set aside for law enforcement.

The supervisors were given one-time legislative authority to lift restrictions on special-revenue funds to make required payments to help balance the state budget. County budget officials believe they can tap $27 million from 26 such funds - including $11 million to $15 million in criminal-justice related accounts.

Let's see -

Schools are closing, state parks are being closed, teachers and other educators are being laid off, cities, counties, and the state are "furloughing" or completely cutting loose employees, human services in Arizona are being all but ended, but the Boris and Natasha of Arizona politics (and no, I'm not making a comment as to which one is most analogous to which cartoon character :) ) are still insisting that they should be exempted from any sort of budget-tightening.

Guess things like trips to Honduras and funnelling money to former employers are more important than balancing the state's and the county's budgets.

Anyway, the suit will be heard by Judge Andrew Klein on Wednesday in Maricopa County Superior Court. It names the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, the supes individually, the County, and Governor Jan Brewer as defendants.

The most interesting part of this, and it nearly generated a post of its own, is the name of the attorney representing Arpaio and Thomas in the lawsuit.

The court info linked above lists that attorney as "Kerry Martin."

Which happens to be the name of the wife of one of Thomas and Arpaio's main saddle partners, State Treasurer Dean Martin.

Which almost set me off on a riff on the incestuous nature of AZ politics, but since I don't ever remember hearing that Kerry Martin was an attorney, I thought I'd look a little deeper.

Apparently, my instinct for verification was a good one.

Turns out there is an attorney named Kerry Martin in the Phoenix office of the firm of Ogletree Deakins who specializes in employment law.

Now, I don't know for certain that he is the Kerry Martin who is repping the two would-be backwater despots that *are* our County Attorney and Sheriff (it's actually a rather common name), but it seems likely.

Would have been more fun if it was Dean Martin's wife. :)

Update: A phone call to Attorney Martin cleared this up - he *is* the attorney representing Thomas and Arpaio, and he is *not* the Kerry Martin who is married to State Treasurer Dean Martin. :)

End update...

Wednesday will be a busy day, what with the March4Schools rally for education at the State Capitol and the Governor addressing a joint session of the lege, so I won't be able to attend the hearing, but it will be worth checking the news for the outcome.

Later!

They're not even trying to be professional 2 - updated

Since I'll be attending Wednesday's rally for education at the State Capitol (details here), I decided to make a day of it.

Combing through the committee agendas for the meetings scheduled that day (House committees here; Senate committees here) while trying to plan out the most effective use of my time, I came across this item on one of the agendas -

HCR2034 repeal business personal property tax

Now, the fact that they are considering this bill is not a surprise. It's been well-documented here and elsewhere that when faced with AZ's massive budget deficit brought on by plummeting revenues, the Republicans' first instinct is to cut revenue further (actually, it's basically their *only* fiscal instinct).

What was surprising was the committee to which the measure has been assigned.

Not Ways and Means, which has jurisdiction over tax-related issues.

Not Commerce, which has jurisdiction over business-related issues.

Not even Appropriations, which would at least be affected by the measure if it was passed by the lege and the voters (less money to appropriate).

Nope. The Speaker of the House Kirk Adams saw fit to assign the measure to...

Military Affairs and Public Safety.

Say what????

Military Affairs????

That's a bit too much of a stretch for credibility, even for an organization that's as independent (of reality) as the Arizona Legislature.


Anyway, the other Wednesday committee meetings include:

House Appropriations, meeting at 2 p.m. in House Hearing Room (HHR) 1. Meeting highlights will include state agency budget hearing for the Secretary of State, Office of Tourism, Arizona Department of Agriculture, Arizona State Lottery Commission, Government Information Technology Agency, Arizona Department of Revenue, and Arizona Department of Transportation.

House Commerce, meeting at 9 a.m. in HHR5. Meeting highlights include consideration of D17 Rep. Ed Ableser's HB2247, relating to home sales and disclosure of water supply.

House Health and Human Services, meeting at 8 a.m. in HHR4. Highlights of the very long agenda include a striker to HCR2014 to turn it into the Health Care Freedom Act. State Rep. Nancy Barto, the striker's author, describes her proposal thusly in her blog -

The referendum, if passed at the ballot box, will protect the rights of Arizonans to purchase private health care in the event the state or federal government mandates universal-style health care on its citizens. Wording will be similar to that voters very narrowly defeated last November (Prop. 101) but will address some concerns that were raised regarding current AHCCCS users.

Like the rest of the Republican caucus in the lege, she has no use for the voice of the voters unless that voice is agreeing with her.

House Military Affairs and Public Safety, meeting at 9 a.m. in HHR3. Discussed above.

Senate Public Safety and Human Services, meeting at 9 a.m. in Senate Hearing Room (SHR) 3. Like all Senate committees other than Appropriations, they won't be considering any bills. Like the other committees, they will hold informational hearings on the aspects of the recently-passed federal stimulus package that fall under each committee's purview. PSHS will be discussing the impact on Food Stamps, Foster Care and Adoption, Elderly Nutritions, and Child Care Subsidies.

Senate Healthcare and Medical Liability Reform, meeting at 9 a.m. in SHR1. They'll be reviewing the stimulus' FMAP Increase. FMAP is the acronym for Federal Matching Assistance Percentages. FMAPs are "used in determining the amount of Federal matching funds for State expenditures for assistance payments for certain social services, and State medical and medical insurance expenditures." (US HHS website)

Senate Finance, meeting at 1:30 p.m. in SHR3. They'll be discussing the stimulus package's the Federal Stimulus Package's Tax Relief Provisions including the "Making Work Pay" Tax Credit (Withholding Tax Reduction), Child Tax Credit, American Opportunity Tax Credit (Higher Education), First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit, Earned Income Tax Credit, Alternative Minimum Tax "Patch", Renewable Energy Tax Credit, and Bonus Depreciation.

Senate Education Accountability and Reform, meeting at 1:30 in SHR1. Their agenda includes -

4. Presentation on Teacher Quality by Andrew Morrill, AEA
5. Presentation on Teacher Quality by Department of Education
6. Progress on Federal Stimulus Funding for Education

Looking at numbers 4 and 5 brings a question to mind -

Gee, ya think that the AEA will have a different opinion of teacher quality than Tom "I'm a career lawyer" Horne's Department of Ed?

Note: All of the above meetings and times are subject to change, and in fact they probably will be - perhaps taking a cue from President Obama's successful visit to Congress, Governor Brewer will be addressing a joint session of the lege about "Arizona's fiscal future." (KOLD)

Look for Gov. Brewer to push her scheme for a special election to balance the state's budget by raising the state's sales tax and doing away with protections on voter-mandated spending and revenues.

Looks like Wednesday will be an interesting day to visit the lege.

More on the rally and other goings-on at the lege later....

Update on 3/2 to add:

According to the House and Senate weekly schedules, Governor Brewer's address to the lege is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. in the House chamber.

They're not even putting up a pretense of professional governance any more, are they?

Either the Reps don't have a clue as to how much they are crippling the state's ability to thrive in a modern society, or they've run the numbers and have figured out that they are screwed in next year's elections and have collectively decided to rampage through the tax code and social compact, wreaking as much havoc as they can before they are kicked to the electoral curb.

...Thus far, whether it's from the governor's office or from the back rooms of the lege, every idea hatched to help the state out of its fiscal mess is either short-sighted or places the burden squarely on the backs of the poor and working-class residents of Arizona.

The latest scheme from the governor - sell state assets and lease them back for continued use - would result in only a one-time benefit to the state's cash flow and a long-term degradation of the state's balance sheet (there was also talk of making the sale/lease-back into a sale/buy-back scheme, which just shifts the long-term pain back to the state's cash flow).

This is just an apt follow-up to her plan to hold a special election for raising the state's sales tax and to crack open the Voter Protection Act measures that protect certain programs and initiatives from legislative interference. Programs and initiatives that include Clean Elections, a raise in the minimum wage, statewide smoking restrictions, increased Medicaid eligibility, and education funding.

Of course, the lege is trying to out-irresponsible the governor. In addition to the attempts to further cut revenue with attacks on the state's equalization property tax (dedicated to education) and others, they're now floating a plan to "reform" the state's tax structure.

In this context, "reform" is short for a strike-everything amendment to a bill that would "slash the state's corporate and business taxes and jack up the state's sales tax." (Fact sheet on the strike-everything amendment here)

The striker was proposed for the purpose of bringing the issue up for discussion during February 23rd's meeting of the House Ways and Means Committee (meeting audio available here).

During the discussion, the Republican chair of the committee, Rep. Rick Murphy, made it clear that the only tax increase that he would support would be an increase to the ever-regressive sales tax, *and* that any increase should be matched with equal cuts to corporate and business tax rates.

Even if one ignores the fact that sales taxes (sometimes known as consumption taxes) is perhaps the most regressive tax in use (a fact that the Reps usually ignore, gleefully), the sales tax is a notoriously unreliable source of revenue, and the over-reliance on it has contributed greatly to AZ's budget crisis.

It wouldn't be surprising if Brewer finds that the lege's price for signing off on a special election to raise the sales tax is Brewer's signature on a bill to cut business taxes.

If that is the situation, while there's no guarantee that any special election questions will pass, no matter what happens the state will be worse off.

That is *not* what any of them -Brewer or the lege - were hired for.

Actually, on review of the opening paragraph, there is a third option -

They know how much damage they are causing, are proud of it, and believe that their rampage is the ticket to remain in office.

That's truly scary.

Later...

David Safier's take on recent developments is available at Blog for Arizona here.

Join The Weekend Protest Against Arpaio

From a press release from the Arizona Advocacy Network -

Zack de la Rocha of Rage Against the Machine calls on fans to join him in marching against Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s human and civil rights violations

Will lead Noche Cultural/Open Mic on Fri. 2/27, March in Phoenix, AZ on Sat. 2/28

PHOENIX, AZ --Zack de la Rocha of the internationally renowned rock band Rage Against the Machine has gigs in Phoenix this Friday and Saturday. But instead of standing on a stage he will be marching with people from all over the country who are asking the federal government to revoke Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s 287(g) agreement and stop the raids of workplaces and immigrant neighborhoods. The 287(g) agreements allow local law enforcement to arrest people if they are suspected of being in the U.S. without proper documents.

"To witness what is happening in Arizona and remain neutral is to be implicated in human rights violations that are occurring right here on US soil against migrants. History will not be kind to Joe Arpaio,” de la Rocha said, “He will be remembered with other infamous sheriffs like Bull Connor who subjugated and terrorized communities for shortsighted political gain. I hope everyone will join me in protesting Sheriff Joe."

"Recently the nation witnessed the ritual humiliation of migrants in a spectacle evocative of some of the most horrific episodes of human history," explains Pablo Alvarado, Director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network. "People across the country are outraged at the shameful violations of human rights perpetrated by the Maricopa County Sheriffs and they are being moved to action."

In the last month Sheriff Joe Arpaio intensified his on-going escalation of attacks against Latinos by segregating the county jail and parading undocumented migrants shackled in a chain-gang into "tent city." He erected and surrounded the tent with an electric fence in a grotesque display of human degradation.

The march is being organized by the National Day Laborers Organizing Network, Puente, Somos America/We Are America Coalition of Arizona, Arizona Advocacy Network and others at the request of groups all over the country that want to publicly denounce Sheriff Arpaio’s actions.

To get marchers pumped up, de la Rocha will be headlining a Noche Cultural / open mic at Tonatierra, 802 N. 7th Street in Phoenix from 8pm to Midnight on Friday
2/27. For more information go to this Facebook page, or contact us at StopTheRaids@azadvocacy.org.

WHAT:- Noche Cultural / Open Mic with Zach de la Rocha of Rage Against the Machine, Fri. 2/27 8pm to Midnight at 802 N. 7th St.-

March with Zach from Steele Indian School Park at 9am on Sat. 2/28.

So how's that whole "lowering taxes creates jobs" thing working out?

On Monday evening, over 300 people met at ASU to speak to members of the Democratic caucus of the lege about the devastation caused by the Republican cuts to human services and education in Arizona. Cuts brought on by plummeting state revenue.

Coincidentally, earlier in the day, the House Ways and Means Committee considered further reducing revenue by passing HB2073, a proposal to repeal the state's equalization property tax, a source of revenue devoted to funding education. The committee passed the measure on a 5 - 3 party-line vote, with Reps voting to further cut revenue while the state is in a massive fiscal hole (Republican mantra - "There's no hole you can't make bigger").

Most of the big names in the Big Business Lobbyists - Arizona Chapter showed up to make certain their apologists on the committee (Reps. Andy Biggs, Debbie Lesko, Rick Murphy, Michelle Reagan, Steve Yarbrough) toed the party (and company!) line.

From the AZ Republic article linked above -

Joining the chamber in supporting House Bill 2073 were Pinnacle West Capital Corp., the National Federation of Independent Business, the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties and the Arizona Manufacturers Council. Representatives from the Arizona Tax Research Association and Americans for Tax Reform also supported the bill.

I listened to the recording of the meeting (available here; due to technical difficulties, no video is available). One of the most vocal supporters of HB2073 was Kevin McCarthy of the Arizona Tax Research Association. He (and Biggs, Yarbrough, and Murphy, his parrots on the committee) stressed that lowering taxes would create jobs.

{start tired cliche}

In fact, they shamelessly harped on that talking point many times, clinging to it as a drowning man clings to a life preserver.

{end tired cliche} :))

Anyway, their repeated pounding on that point made me wonder.

The equalization tax that they want to permanently repeal has been suspended for three years. Surely there's going to be some evidence by now of a direct correlation between "no equalization tax for education" and "increased employment."

Right?

A quick search of the website of federal Bureau of Labor Statistics provides an answer to that question. (Arizona summary page here.)

In December of 2006, immediately prior to the suspension of the equalization tax, there were
2,888,648 people employed in Arizona;

In December of 2008, that number had risen to 2,945,861, an increase of 57,213.

That proves McCarthy's point, and the point of every Rep in the lege, right?

Not so much.

What that simple comparison doesn't show is that over the same period, the employable workforce also increased, by 159,806. In other words 64% of new workers haven't found jobs, and that statistic bears out in the changes in the state's unemployment rate.

In December 2006, the unemployment rate in AZ was 3.9%; in December 2008, it was 6.9%.

Let's be clear - since the equalization tax was suspended, Arizona's unemployment rate has increased 77%.

Another figure that illustrates just how bad the economy has gotten since the suspension of the equalization tax is the increase in Mass Layoff Events (50+ people laid off from one employer) -

In December 2006, there were 4 MLEs in AZ; by December 2008, that number had risen to 13.

Additionally, last month, there were 24 Mass Layoffs in Arizona.

And there will be still more in February (I know this because my company just had one at the beginning of the month, and is almost certain to have another by the end of spring. If not sooner.)

I know that regular commenter Thane or perhaps somebody from ATRA will point out that I provided no evidence directly linking the suspension of the equalization tax and the increase in the state's unemployment rate.

To that I will respond "Perhaps not, but neither have you provided a evidence of a direct link between defunding public education and increased job opportunities."

Later...

Arpaio's mantra - "It's everybody else's fault"

A prisoner escapes from Superior Court while in the custody of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, so naturally, Joe Arpaio doesn't objectively assess the incident, he just blames the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.

From an AZ Republic story regarding the Court's efforts to examine what happened and to prevent future escapes (emphasis mine) -

The Maricopa County Superior Court has hired an outside consulting firm to investigate last week's escape of a convicted child rapist while he was on trial, court officials said.

Adrian Cruz was convicted in 2005 of sexually assaulting his girlfriend's 9-year-old daughter in his ice-cream truck. He was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 35 years. But he was back in court on trial for two unrelated rapes.

On Feb. 17, he slipped out of handcuffs during a lunchtime break and evaded the Maricopa County Sheriff's deputies who were supposed to be guarding him. His escape was captured by surveillance cameras as he walked unchallenged out of the downtown Phoenix court complex.

{snip}

"I smell some politics involved in this," Arpaio said of the consultants. "If they're not happy with the service, maybe they can hold the Board of Supervisors in contempt for not giving us the money for hiring the necessary deputies."

Arpaio has had run-ins with the courts in the past, at times refusing to transport prisoners to their court appearances (he was slapped down quickly for that one, since that's a basic part of any sheriff's job), so it isn't surprising that the court felt it was appropriate to seek an objective analysis of what went wrong last week to ensure the safety of the public and court personnel in the future.

It's unfortunate in this time of budget crises at all levels of government that Arpaio and his lack of professionalism is causing the expenditure of more scarce resources.

And despite claims that he needs more deputies for court security, Arpaio has the option of transferring some from his anti-immigrant putsch squads.

Of course, that'll never happen - he doesn't get enough of a media coverage fix for mundane things like doing his job right.