AZ Chief Justice McGregor to retire

During and address to a joint session of the legislature today, Chief Justice Ruth McGregor announced to the assembled legislators, staff, and guests that earlier today, she had notified the Governor's office that she would retire from the Arizona Supreme Court at the end of June.

She spoke of her good fortune to have had the wonderful colleagues and staff to work with as they've addressed the challenges facing the Judiciary.

Note: This was a bit of a bombshell (only a bit - her retirement has been rumored for a while) dropped at the end of a regularly scheduled address to the lege on the state of the judiciary. As such, I was there mostly because I've never attended a joint session of the lege before and thought it would be interesting in a "political geek" sort of way.

It's nice to scoop the MSM once in a while. :))

On to the Senate Judiciary hearing on felony warrant service (the start of which is running late, so there was time for this post.)

More later...

Edit to add -

Pic of Chief Justice McGregor addressing a slightly more than half-full House chamber (and it was that full only due to the presence of guests on the floor; most legislators were no-shows.)

Coming up this week...

Note: all agenda info drawn from online sources and subject to change without notice. In fact, expect changes in state legislative committee and floor schedule agendas...

...In the U.S. House (courtesy The Weekly Leader from the office of Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) -

Lots of Post Office building namings and the like this week, but there will be a couple of interesting bills up for consideration.

- S. 383, Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program Act of 2009. As can be deduced from the title, the bill that grants the "Special Inspector General (SIG) authority to conduct, supervise, and coordinate an audit or investigation of any action taken with regard to the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) that the SIG deems appropriate." (Congressional Research Service summary).

In addition, the bill would give the SIG almost-police-like powers (carrying guns, power to arrest without a warrant, operating without the direct supervision of the AG).

The bill is being brought forward under a suspension of the normal rules of the House, so it will take a 2/3 vote in favor for the bill to pass.

- The House will also be considering Senate amendments to H.R. 146, the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009. The Senate amendments are here.

This bill will be "subject to a rule," meaning that the House will first pass a motion governing debate and other procedures applied to the measure.

- Also subject to a rule is H.R. 1404, the Federal Land Assistance, Management and Enhancement Act (FLAME Act). CRS summary here. Lots of money involved here, so expect a lot of Republican showboating, especially from Jeff Flake.

...In the AZ legislature, it's going to be a fairly quiet week on the committee front. That whole "no bills other than budget bills until the budget has been passed" thing has kept bills from moving through the Senate at all and has stalled bills that have passed the House.

However, there are a few signs of life.

On Monday, the House Rules Committee will be considering over 40 bills in HHR4 at 1:45 p.m. or when the House floor session adjourns, whichever is later. There are a number of controversial bills on that agenda, which should make for some colorful floor sessions later in the week.

On Wednesday at 10 a.m., House Health and Human Services will be hearing a presentation from AHCCCS concering Graduate Medical Education (GME) and Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) payments. Location: HHR4.

Over in the Senate, on Monday...

- The Senate's Natural Resources, Infrastructure, and Public Debt Committee will hear presentations on the Central Arizona Project and Salt River Project. Upon adjournment of the Senate's floor session in SHR 109.

- At roughly the same time, the Senate's Judiciary Committee will hear presentations regarding the service of felony warrants in SHR 1.

On Wednesday at 9 a.m., the Senate's Healthcare and Medical Liability Reform Committee will hear a presentation on Arizona Health-e Connection and hold budget-related discussions on health professional boards.

- At 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday in SHR 3, Senate Finance will hear a staff presentation on urban revenue sharing.

- On Thursday at 11 a.m., the Senate Government Institutions Committee will discuss the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and its transparency requirements and its effects on emergency food and shelter.

Floor session schedules aren't totally available as yet, but there are COW (Committee Of the Whole) agendas available for Tuesday here and here.

...The Governing Board of the Maricopa County Community College District will be meeting on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. (executive session) and 6:30 p.m. at the District Support Services Center, 2411 West 14th Street, Tempe. The agenda includes consideration and likely passage of a tuition and fee hike and a presentation on the proposed budget for FY 2009/2010.

Apparently not on this month's agenda? A move to stifle any freedom of the District's campus-based newspapers.

...In Scottsdale, the Scottsdale City Council will be meeting on Tuesday night at 5 p.m. in the City Hall Kiva (3939 N. Drinkwater in Scottsdale).

On the agenda for Tuesday night - liquor licenses, Conditional Use Permits, lawsuit settlements and, perhaps, a little territory marking.

Agenda items 28 and 29 address Mayor Jim Lane's unilateral creation of a new citizen advisory board governing content on Scottsdale's CityCable11 government access cable channel. The items were added to the agenda at the request of Vice-Mayor Ron McCullagh.

It seems that McCullagh has become the leader of the faction on the Council that could best be described as the "opposition."

Arizona Republic coverage here.

Later...

Union Rally At State Capitol On Monday

Courtesy the website of the Arizona AFL-CIO -

UNION RALLY AT STATE CAPITOL TO FEATURE STATE EMPLOYEES LIFE-SAVING WORK THREATENED BY BUDGET CUTS

Legislators To Join State Employees Calling on Governor to “Let Us Vote”

State Employees and supporters will rally at the State Capitol and call on the Governor to “Let us Vote” for a formal union with the ability to meet and confer with management to improve the quality of state services, reduce costs, and improve agency efficiencies.

WHAT: A rally on the house lawn of the State Capitol will highlight testimony from state employees and legislators. After the rally state workers with the Arizona State Employee Association – CWA will break into groups and lobby their legislators.

WHEN: 11:00 a.m. – 12 noon, Monday, March 23, 2009

WHERE: State Capitol, 1700 W. Washington

WHO: State Employees affected by budget cuts, furloughs, layoffs and elimination of state childcare. Supportive legislators including Rep Steve Farley and Sen. Linda Gray.

WHY: “Governor Brewer is making broad cuts without knowing the grave consequences” said Stephanie Seigla of the Arizona State Hospital. “As a state employee of 4-years I see ways the state wastes money, and we should have a say in eliminating that waste. It’s time for Governor Brewer to let us vote and for us to meet and confer on these important issues.” Governor Napolitano first granted meet and confer to workers at the Department of Corrections. It was so successful that she extended it to all cabinet-level agencies via executive order, recognizing that those at the front line should be empowered to have a say in decision-making. Now Governor Brewer should honor this executive order and let employees vote whether or not they want a union in their workplace.

Political junkies should make a it a day at the lege - sometime in the early afternoon, the Senate Judiciary Committee will be holding a dog and pony showhearing on felony warrant service by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office (something for which they are criticized for ignoring in favor of conducting anti-immigrant witch-hunts). The first presenter is scheduled to be Paul Chagolla, former spokesman and current deputy chief of the MCSO.

The Committee is scheduled to meet "upon adjournment of the floor" (aka - when the Senate gets done with it normal daily agenda - pledge, prayer, personal privilege, and partisan lectures" in Senate Hearing Room 1.

Phoenix New Times coverage here.

Later...

Harry Mitchell on the AIG bonuses and 90% tax

From an email sent out by Congressman Mitchell on Friday -

Dear Friend,

Over the past few days, I’ve heard from many of you about the excessive bonuses received by AIG executives. I share your deep anger and believe it is a slap in the face to taxpayers who have been asked to shoulder the burden of our financial crisis while many are struggling themselves to make ends meet.

Earlier this week, I joined 50 other members of Congress in calling for the Treasury Secretary to stop coddling AIG, recoup the bonuses doled out on the backs of taxpayers, and require AIG to fully disclose how it was spending its taxpayer-funded bailout.

The lack of transparency and accountability for how these funds are being used is simply unacceptable.

In January, I voted against the release of the second half - $350 billion - in funds for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) because I didn’t believe the Treasury Department provided the level of transparency, accountability, and oversight required on the first $350 billion they received late last year.

I strongly believe that if taxpayers are going to be asked to continue shouldering the burden of this financial crisis, the Treasury Secretary must provide for the increased transparency, accountability, and oversight that is long overdue.

However, I believe that yesterday’s bill, H.R. 1586, which would impose a 90% tax on bonuses received by financial institutions who received TARP funds was a knee-jerk way for Congress to address this issue. We don't even know yet if this will work, especially if some of the recipients turn out to be former AIG employees who live in foreign countries, outside the reach of our nation's tax laws.

It’s like hastily throwing a band-aid on a deep wound that continues to bleed out the trust and confidence of individuals across our country.

I believe that we must do everything we can to recoup 100% of the bonuses disbursed. Yet, Congress and the Treasury Department continue to neglect the fundamental issue of oversight and accountability when it comes to the way the TARP funds are being used. There is still no system in place to review how funds will be used moving forward or to prevent these types of bonuses and other waste or abuse from happening again.

For this reason, I co-sponsored H.R. 1577, bi-partisan legislation that would force the Treasury Department to present a plan within two weeks to recoup 100% of the bonus money paid out. Additionally, it will require the Treasury to approve any future bonuses or incentives, including any contract that includes any bonuses or incentives. Finally, and most importantly, it would prohibit any future taxpayer assistance until all the bonuses are paid back.

It is important to me to hear from you on this and I hope that this will help you have a better understanding of how I reached my decision.

Thank you for your continued input and support.

Harry Mitchell

For the record, I actually agree with this vote, and pretty much for the reasons laid out by Congressman Mitchell. I also think that there are other ways to address this issue - shareholder lawsuit (we own 80% of AIG) or criminal charges (even if the bonuses themselves are legal, people this completely motivated by greed always step over the line somewhere. Find out where and prosecute them.) No need to make new law targeting only the one group. Existing law is adequate.

Upcoming Democratic AZ budget forums

The Democratic caucus of the Arizona Legislature is continuing to travel across the state to hold a series of forums on the state's budget.

Upcoming dates/locations in Maricopa County (courtesy an email) -

Ahwatukee - Wednesday, March 25, 6:30-8:30 pm
Ahwatukee Pecos Community Center, Multipurpose Room
17010 S. 48th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85048

ASU West Campus - Monday, March 30, 6:30-8:30 pm
University Center Building (UCB), La Sala Room C
13590 N. 47th Avenue, Glendale, AZ 85069
Paid parking available in Visitor Parking Lot 12 - located on University Way North, just West of 47th Avenue

Maryvale/West Phoenix - Monday, April 6, 6:30-8:30 pm
Maryvale Church of the Nazarene
3201 N. 51st Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85031

Anthem - Wednesday, April 8, 6:30-8:30 pm
Anthem Community Center
41130 N. Freedom Way, Anthem, AZ 85086

Mesa - Thursday, April 16, 6:30-8:30 pm
Mesa Community College, Library and High Technology Center (Building 11), Room #145
1833 W. Southern Avenue, Mesa, AZ 85202
Free parking available at Northwest Parking Lot A - located on Southern Avenue & Dobson Road

Let's just proclaim March 18 "National Shameless Posturing Day"

...or maybe "National Triangulation Day"

Let's be clear - the posturing and triangulating wasn't confined to Republicans (though they did dominate in that department)...

Much of it stemmed from the U.S. House's vote on H.R. 1586 (to tax the AIG bonuses at 90%). The bill passed 328 - 93, with 6 Democrats (including CD5's Harry Mitchell) joining 87 Republicans in voting against it.

Everybody, and I mean everybody, who voted on this bill was posturing, since the bill itself doesn't stand a chance of actually becoming law.

It might fail to gain cloture in the Senate (it will only take a few Dems who aren't up for election next year to kill it, and AIG has given LOTS of campaign contributions over the years); if passed...

It might not get into law by President Obama; if enacted...

It won't survive a constitutional challenge (can you say "bill of attainder" or "ex post facto law", both of which are explicitly prohibited by the U.S. Constitution - Article One, Section Nine)

...Of course, the posturing and triangulation wasn't limited to the primary vote on the bill itself; once it became obvious that the bill was going to pass with or without their support, dozens of Republicans switched their votes from "no" to "yes".

...Over in the Senate, when Harry Reid tried to get the bill passed by unanimous consent, in spite of his (faux) criticisms of the bonuses, Jon Kyl objected (source: Countdown with Keith Olbermann)

...And in a move that would merit consideration for a Crappie Award for Kyl (if only he hadn't won one yesterday :)) ), Kyl joined fellow shameless hypocrite Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) in criticizing President Obama for taking time out of dealing with the economy and the AIG bonus scandal to fill out an NCAA Tournament bracket (his predicted winner: UNC; mine? Louisville. Sorry ASU. :)) ).

Besides the insult to Obama, that he was like his predecessor and can't handle more than one issue at a time without suffering from brainfreeze, Kyl and Alexander forgot to mention one thing.

Their friend and colleague John McCain did the same thing. He even selected UNC to win it all.

Just like the President.

Geez...a guy goes to work and all sorts of twisting with the wind, flip-floppery, and outright hypocrisy breaks out all over...

More tomorrow (maybe featuring the AZ lege...)

The John Sydney McCain Memorial Crappie Award

This one was easy...

Earlier today, I wrote a post concerning the finger-pointing going on in D.C. over the spectacle of AIG giving millions of dollars in bonuses to executives who were so good at their jobs that AIG needs billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded bailouts to remain open for business.

In that post, I linked to a HuffPo post that quoted Jon Kyl on the bonuses. When appearing on Fred Thompson's radio show, Kyl opined -

"If the contracts are stupid contracts, if they committed them to do things that weren't right, or went way overboard, because taxpayers have put a bunch of money behind AIG, certainly we have the right to be asking those kinds of questions."

In other words, he was saying the even if the contracts were bad, they have to be honored.

Now journey back four months or so to his sentiments regarding the auto industry, from one of his weekly columns (advocating bankruptcy) -

Unfortunately, these companies can’t do that [adequately cut costs] voluntarily because they have labor union agreements and other contractual obligations. The unions are not going to make the concessions sufficient to enable these companies to compete. The only way to address their problems is under an existing code in our bankruptcy laws known as Chapter 11.

So for his shamelessly hypocritical reverse inward pike with a twist (wealthy corporate con artists should get a free pass; union workers should get screwed), Senator Jon Llewellyn Kyl will be providing gainful employment to the latest John Sydney McCain Memorial Crappie Award.

Leo Gerard, International President of the United Steelworkers summed it up best with the title of his blog post regarding Kyl's (and most Reps') sentiments regarding bail outs:

"Congress bails out those who shower before work, but not those who shower after work"

Turns out that not much has changed in Rep attitudes toward working class Americans in spite of the change in Presidential administrations (and the landslide losses in the Presidential and Congressional elections that precipitated the change in Presidents).

AIG: It may be Obama's mess to clean up, but it isn't his fault

Many people, including me, are royally ticked off over the over $165 million in bonuses that AIG has given out to executives at the unit of their business that most contributed to AIG's fall.

While AIG cratered under the Republicans' watch (or to be more accurate, their "not-watch") and AIG's bailouts began last year, every Republican has pointed fingers not at themselves, or at the Bush Administration's utter contempt for common-sense regulatory oversight, but instead at President Obama, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, and Democrats in general.

From the beginning of the Bush Administration until the end of his time in office eight years later, the Bushies, with the enthusiastic complicity of their Republican accomplices caucus in Congress, a concerted effort was made to undermine regulations and laws restricting business.

It was open season on the average working American's freedom and economic security while corporate executives and the already-wealthy to feather their own nests in ways that that socialized risk (witness the bailouts) and privatized profit (witness the bonuses paid out of taxpayer bailout money).

Now that the financial industry's house of cards has been blown down by the winds of economic reality, the Reps are attempting to affix the blame for it everywhere except where it belongs - to the executives themselves, the ones who allowed their inveterate greed to rule the day, and to their cheerleaders, the 43rd President of the United States, his Administration, and their lackeys in Congress.

Today's hearing of the House Financial Services Committee concerning the issue, featuring current AIG CEO Edward Liddy, highlighted the likes of Republican Reps. Hensarling, Royce, and more blaming the current Administration, especially Geithner, for the bonuses, while blithely ignoring the long history of not-so-benign neglect and actual malice on their own part that led up to the collapses of the financial industry and the American economy.

Let me make my point, and make it clearly -

Blaming Barack Obama and his Administration for a mess that they inherited is not only predictably partisan (something which I can frequently, and justifiably, be called :) ), but it's the sort of foolhardy revisionist thinking that will lead to history repeating itself.

It's time to cut through the BS, deal with the misuse of public funds (which the bonuses most certainly are), and ensure that it doesn't happen again. I don't even think that it is necessary to excoriate the Bushies (unless something criminal and actionable can be proven, then we should nuke 'em...figuratively speaking :) ). Affixing blame is less important than determining exact what went wrong, both with AIG and the bail out, and figuring out ways to prevent it from happening again.

Note:

Some Republicans, like AZ's own Sen. Jon Kyl, have even gone so far as to rationalize paying the bonuses while calling the elected officials who have criticized the bonuses as "demagogues." (Huffington Post)

When I see behavior from elected officials that seems unexpected (right now, criticizing AIG is about as politically safe a move as there is in America), I tend to think to myself "Follow the money." That inspired a little research on my part into AIG's political contributions.

Turns out that AIG is bipartisan in its largesse. According to OpenSecrets.org, they've given $9.3 million since 1989, evenly splitting that between the two major parties. They're not dumb about it, as during the last election cycle they gave roughly 2/3 of their contributions to Democratic candidates. Of course, that just means that when the Reps were in power, they were the recipients of more money (logic: if receiving 2/3 of the contributions during the last presidential cycle brought the Dems even with the Reps, that means that the Reps had a significant lead before 2008).

Looking into Kyl's support for AIG, I found that he has received at least $15K from AIG's PAC and employees since 1998, which sounded significant.

Then I found that John McCain has received over $150K for his various campaigns.

Imagine how loyal Kyl would be if they just paid him like they've paid McCain and a few others?

Note2: My search through FEC records was a cursory one. I didn't try tracking payments to non-AIG PACs that in turn gave money to Kyl or McCain, nor did I do ZIP code or address searches to figure out how much was given by AIG spouses or family members who don't show up as AIG employees.

Later...

AZ Senate doing its level best to protect us from...Themselves?

From the AZ Rep's Political Insider blog -

Senate President Bob Burns again issued his weekly "just say no bills" message. That is, no bills until the budget is done. Whenever that is.

Burns has issued an edict that the Senate won't hear any bills other than budget-related ones until the budget is done.

Until then, the worst of the anti-choice, anti-immigrant, and anti-poor and middle class Arizonan bills will just pass through the House and sit. Waiting for the Senate to get to work.

If Burns sticks to his announced plan, look for late June to be hell on the state as the Senate flushes out every bit of ugliness in the legislative pipeline.

I say June because either the lege will put some kind of tax increase/repeal of the Voter Protection Act out to a special election, hence delaying serious consideration of budget matters until after that, or they won't, and hence will spend the next three months fighting over where to cut human services, education, and corporate taxes in AZ the deepest.

So, unintended though it may be, Burns and the Senate are actually helping the people of AZ the most by doing nothing, and we should encourage them to continue along this path.

Later...

At least nobody got hurt. This time, anyway.

From AZCentral.com -

More than 700 students in Tempe spent an extra day on spring break after a roof collapse and flooding at C.I. Waggoner Elementary forced officials to close the school today while they assessed the damage.

Fortunately, the roof collapsed before school started and no students or staff were injured.

However, given the lege's unceasing drive to undermine public schools (as illustrated by the lege's suspension of the School Facilities Board's Building Renewal Fund in last year's budget and proposed for next year's budget by Russell Pearce and John Kavanagh, and the defeat of a move during last year's session of the lege to help out with Corona del Sol HS' air quality problems), it's just a matter of time.

Sacrificing long-term infrastructure maintenance, be it of schools, dams, bridges, or roads (or any of a hundred other examples), for a short-term political benefit or to appease a nihilist ideology, carries with it foolishly grave risks.

New Mexico Legislature: Proof that not all western legislators are nuts

This actually came out late last week, but it's definitely worth worth a mention -

From Reuters -

New Mexico state lawmakers voted on Friday to repeal the death penalty and replace it with a sentence of life imprisonment without parole.

The bill is HB 285. It passed the New Mexico House 40 -28 and it passed the NM Senate 24 - 18. It awaits the signature of Governor Bill Richardson, long a supporter of capital punishment.

How is it that the elected officials in a state that is very similar to AZ...just a few significant urban areas, lots of rural areas, large Native American population, a heavily Hispanic-influenced culture (both historically and present-day), a dry climate, a drier sense of humor, and more...how is it that a state legislature faced with many of the same issues as AZ's legislature can find the time to help move their state into modern society while ours offers up guns in restaurants?

BTW - in case you couldn't tell from the rest of the post, I oppose capital punishment. Our system of justice is good, but it is far from perfect. The death penalty is the one punishment in our society that cannot be undone if a mistake is made.

Anyway, kudos the the New Mexican state senators and representatives who voted for their HB 285. I hope that Governor Richardson sees fit to take his state out of the taxpayer-funded murder business.

See? Even elected officials that you've never heard of can make a difference.

Of course, this being AZ, that difference can be a negative one.

...Turns out that the Governing Board of the Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD) is a haven for anti-freedom and anti-education mischief-makers.

First, there was this New Times piece about attempts by the Board to take over direct control of the content of the student newspapers on the various campuses of the system. Their rationalization? They found that a cartoon published in the newspaper for Scottsdale Community College was offensive.

From the New Times article -

Controversy over an editorial cartoon that some say makes President Obama look like a monkey is blowing up into a fight over control of student newspapers at local community colleges.

At a Tuesday meeting of the Maricopa Community College District Governing Board, "all but one" member of the five-person panel "decided that all student newspapers in the district needed to allow the board to control content in the future," says an e-mail...by the journalism director of Scottsdale Community College.

The article goes on to print the email from Julie Knapp, faculty advisor to the Scottsdale Chronicle, that described a discussion at the Board's interest in the District and College administrations taking a more direct and controlling position regarding the student-published newspapers of the various campuses.

The New Times' follow-up piece has responses from a couple of members of the Board, Randolph Lumm, a substance abuse counselor and Bible study teacher, and Debra Pearson, the apparent ringleader of the anti-free press group of board members. Mrs. Pearson may be better known to some readers the name Debra Brimhall, former Republican legislator. In the lege, she was best known for her proposal to limit public employees and journalists to 12 years in their careers.

A takeover of the newspapers doesn't seem to be on the agenda for the next Board meeting on March 24, but that is subject to change. And there is a vague section on the agenda about an Executive Session starting at 5:30 p.m.

Stay tuned on this one.


Then, in Sunday's East Valley Tribune, there was a feature highlighting the, ummmm..."people skills" of a third member of the Board, Jerry Walker.

From the article -

Jerry Walker felt he was defending Arizona’s voters one day early last month as he heckled a college student through the halls of the U.S. Congress.

The Maricopa County Community College District student receiving his scorn felt threatened.

She broke into tears after Walker, a member of the district’s governing board, incessantly ridiculed her during her attempts to lobby for federal legislation to help illegal immigrant students.

{snip}

Walker is a Baptist minister-in-training who is active in East Valley politics, particularly in Republican circles.

Social issues, particularly his disapproval of homosexuality and illegal immigration, have caused him to clash with college employees and some board colleagues.

The incident in the Hart Senate Office Building was Walker’s first involving students.

The female victim of Walker's harassing behavior has filed a formal complaint about Walker's behavior, but because Walker is an elected official there may not be much that the Board can do about it.

However, the voters *can* do something about it - Walker's spot on the Board is up for election next year.

He represents Supervisor District 2, which includes much of Scottsdale and Mesa. I'd look into running against him, but I live in SD1.

I'm sure someone will be motivated to challenge Walker next year (perhaps someone from SCC's Journalism program??? Hmmm??? Wouldn't that be ironic??).

Regardless of the politics involved, Walkers' behavior is totally unacceptable from *any* public official.

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.

Reason 165 million that the financial industry bailout should have had strings attached...

...on second thought, maybe handcuffs would be better...

From AP via Yahoo! News -

Insurance giant paying out $165 million in bonuses

American International Group is giving its executives tens of millions of dollars in new bonuses even though it received a taxpayer bailout of more than $170 billion dollars.

AIG is paying out the executive bonuses to meet a Sunday deadline, but the troubled insurance giant has agreed to administration requests to restrain future payments.

What else needs to be said?

EFCA - A letter to Congressman Mitchell

Congress will soon be considering the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) (H.R. 1409 in the House; S.560 in the Senate).

It's been the subject of a massive anti-worker campaign funded by deep-pocketed corporate front groups. Many members of Congress, including CD5's Harry Mitchell, have been harassed by right-wing talk radio and inundated with a campaign of mass-produced postcards and phone calls to attempt to intimidate them into opposing the measure.

Perhaps the most galling aspect of the campaign has been the fact that some companies, particularly banks, that have received public bailouts from the American taxpayer, have used that money to fund anti-worker and anti-union activities. (Huffington Post)

It's time to let them, and Congress, know that the majority of Americans support unions and support EFCA.

On to the letter -

Congressman Mitchell,

Thank you for your past support of EFCA, the Employee Free Choice Act.

Tonight, I am writing to you to urge you to continue to support it, which will soon be before you in the form of H.R.1409. The proposal will provide workers much-needed protections from employer misconduct and intimidation when workers are considering whether to form a union.

Far too often, workers who are trying to form a union, or who even merely think about it, are fired (more than 20%), threatened with job loss (more than 50%), threatened with deportation in the case of immigrants (also more than 50%), forced into closed-door anti-union indoctrination sessions conducted by company management, usually with the assistance of professional union busters (90%!).

Among the lies that the anti-worker agitators and union-busters are putting out is the one that a vote for EFCA is a vote against the "American tradition of the secret ballot."

In fact, the bill places control of the choice of a secret ballot election in the hands of workers, not companies.

That lie is just a small part of the organized campaign against the bill, funded by corporate front groups.

Congressman, I understand that you are being attacked by the GOP and right-wing talk radio hosts over this issue, but they don't care about workers and working families in your district and across the country, only about using this as a wedge issue.

Please continue to stand strong for workers and working families as they strive to make a decent life.

Thank you for all of the work you have done for your constituents in CD5.

Sincerely,

[cpmaz]

Good night!