A picture that is worth more than a 1000 words...

Normally, I don't post press releases from the DCCC, but this one has the perfect response when one encounters someone (like a teabagger or other Republican) who is screaming that President Obama and the Democrats in Congress haven't done anything to address America's deep economic crisis.

From Stakeholder, the DCCC's blog -

Today's Department of Labor jobs report showed that our economy shed 20,000 jobs last month -- down 97 percent from the 779,000 January job losses a year ago. There is still much work ahead, but today's numbers make clear that President Obama's economic policies have brought us back from the brink of disaster and are putting America on the road to economic recovery.

Of course, that paragraph could just be "fun with statistics", cherry-picking a number that can be spun in a particular way.



Then we come to the bar chart that puts the numbers into context, a month-by-month visual comparison of the last 26 months' job loss numbers - the last 14 months of the Bush administration and the first 12 of the Obama administration.

Congress called on account of weather

From an announcement from Steny Hoyer, House Majority Leader -

House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (MD) released the following statement today on the schedule for the U.S. House of Representatives:

“As a result of the inclement weather affecting Members’ ability to travel to Washington, DC this week, there will be no votes in the House for the remainder of the week. The change this week means that we will add two days to the schedule as we look to take action on a jobs bill and other critical measures. Therefore, the House will reconvene on Monday, February 22, one day earlier than previously scheduled. The House will now also be in session on Friday, February 26th.”

Congress will be spending next week in their districts.

Personally, I think that they are just wimping out in the face of a little light snow. :)

GOP: "Bipartisanship"? We don' need no stinkin' bipartisanship!

Apparently, the GOPers in DC, much like the GOPers at the AZ Capitol, consider "bipartisanship" to be short for "Democrats doing exactly what we want."

From The Hill, last September 9th -

The ball is in President Obama's court to reach out to Republicans if he wants a bipartisan bill on healthcare reform, House GOP Leader John Boehner (Ohio) said Monday morning.

Boehner told reporters that the president has not invited House GOP leaders to the White House for meetings on healthcare reform since the end of April.

From the LA Times, February 6, 2010 -

Reporting from Washington - In a high-stakes bid to revive his healthcare overhaul, President Obama announced during a pre-Super Bowl television interview that he would convene a bipartisan summit in which Republicans and Democrats would try to forge a compromise while a national TV audience watched.

So, the GOPers are getting exactly what they asked for, so the legislative logjam in DC is loosening, right?

Not so much -

From the Washington Post, today (February 9, 2010) -

Leading House Republicans raised the prospect Monday night that they might refuse to participate in President Obama's proposed health care summit if the White House chooses not to scrap the existing reform bills and start over.

No word if the "prospect raising" was accompanied by the GOPers stamping their feet and shouting "waahhhh! I can't hear you!" with their fingers in their ears...

2010 Congressional Candidate Committee update

It's getting toward crunch time, the point where most serious* candidates for office have to gear up for this fall's elections or decide to pass on a run during this cycle.

* "serious" means "really going to try to win though many have a snowball's chance in Phoenix - in July - of actually winning."

...New Congressional committees, some of which have been talked about for a while, and some which are rather surprising (i.e. - somebody thinks Trent Franks isn't conservative enough) -


- Steve Mehta, committee address in Show Low, has filed for the Republican nomination in CD1.

- Pam Gorman, committee address in Phoenix (though I think she lives in Anthem), has filed for the R nod in CD3. Gorman is the former state senator from LD6.

- Vernon Parker, committee address in Paradise Valley, has also filed for the R nod in CD3. He's the mayor of PV.

- Jim Waring, committee address in Phoenix, has also filed in CD3's Republican primary. He is the former state senator from LD7.

- Mark Spinks, committee address in Phoenix, has filed for the R nomination in CD5.

- Janet Contreras, committee address in Phoenix, has filed for the R nomination in CD4.

- Charles Black, committee address in Kingman, has filed for the R nomination in CD2. Yes, a Tea Party-type is running against Trent Franks (Trent Franks!) from the right.

- Jonathan Paton, committee address in Tucson, has filed for the Republican nomination in CD8. He is a state senator, but is expected to resign soon.


There haven't been any significant new filings for state races. Yes, there are new candidates who are significant within their districts, but other than the Goldwater Institute/Bolick filing in LD11 mentioned in an earlier post, none of the new filings look to be significant to a general audience.

A complete listing of candidates (so far) can be found at Blog for Arizona here.

Later...

The coming week - everybody else edition

After a one-week hiatus due to other things needing my attention, it's time for another one of these. A separate post on the activities of the AZ legislature is here.

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

First up: Congress, where they have a short week with nothing scheduled for Monday or expected on Friday, followed by a week of district work next week.

In the U.S. House, the agenda seems to be short, but colorful.

- H.R. 2701, Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010. This act involves money (even though it is only an "authorization", not an "appropriation") which always means arguments. What is curious is that not only are we well into FY2010 already (and trust me, they've been spending $$$ on "Intelligence" activities), but this bill was introduced last June and not acted upon since then.

Why are they just getting to it now?

- Also on the agenda is an as-yet-unnumbered bill titled the "Health Insurance Industry Fair Competition Act." I don't have any details on the bill, but if it in any way lives up to the title, expect some serious screaming from the Republicans in the House.

...The Senate's hearing schedule is here. Nothing seems to be specific to Arizona, though hearings on Don't Ask, Don't Tell and global warming (Thursday, though no link is available as of this writing) may generate some interest.

...Back here in AZ, the Arizona Corporation Commission isn't holding any formal meetings this week, but their hearing schedule is here.

...The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors has two regularly scheduled meetings this week.

- Monday at 9 a.m., they'll be holding their "informal meeting." The agenda includes the appointment of a state senator for LD6, budget presentations from the various county officials and the judicial branch.

Oh yeah - there's an executive session component, too. No, I'm not shocked by that either.

- Wednesday at 9 a.m., they'll be holding their "formal meeting." Looks pretty mundane so far, but things are sort of fluid with the supes and the Sheriff and County Attorney. Changes to the agenda could happen anytime.

...The Tempe City Council isn't meeting this week, but their Council Calendar is here.

...On Tuesday at 5 p.m., the Scottsdale City Council has a joint meeting with the McDowell Corridor/South Scottsdale Economic Development Task Force, followed by a short agenda Special Meeting. The City's Community Meeting Notice is here.

...Not scheduled to meet this week: Arizona Board of Regents, Citizens Clean Elections Commission, the Boards of Directors of the Central Arizona Project and the Maricopa Integrated Health System, and the Governing Board of the Maricopa County Community College District.

...Later...

The coming week...legislative edition

As usual, all info gathered from the website of the Arizona legislature, except where noted, and subject to change without notice...

A busy week ahead, marked by proposed encroachments on the availability of safe and legal abortion services, messing with teachers' ability to plan for their professional future, requiring the federal government to prove the constitutionality of its mandates before the state will accept them, a move to shield Joe Arpaio and Andy Thomas from any sort of fiscal oversight and accountability, and more.


In special session activity, there is a House COW calendar posted for Monday, as is a Third Read calendar. Neither calendar includes SB1002 or SB1003, so my guess is that there is still some arm-twisting going on by the House leadership to try to "encourage" Senate President Bob Burns to push thru their corporate tax cut bill before a balanced budget is passed.

In non-Capitol based lege activity this week, on Monday, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to appoint a replacement for the recently-resigned Sen. Pam Gorman (R-LD6). Not scheduled as yet but likely to come this week will be a meeting to appoint someone to fill the LD-7 Senate seat vacated by Jim Waring, who like Gorman has resigned to run for Congress. Monday evening, the Rep PCs of LD6 will be meeting to nominate three candidates to fill Sam Crump's seat in the House, who also vacated it in order to run for Congress. The supes could fill that seat this week or early next week.


On to the regular session of the lege -

In House committee activities this week...

- Rules will meet on Monday at 1 p.m. in HHR4. Long agenda, but they have the rubber stamp big enough to cover it.

- Ways and Means is meeting on Monday at 2 p.m. in HHR1. Highlights/lowlights: There are five bills on this agenda, all of which are significant - HB2160 (tax credit review committee recommendations, summary here); HB2496 (changing which tax year school tuition tax credits can be taken); HB2512 (barring municipalities from using third parties to collect municipal sales taxes); HB2663 (changing STOs' corporate tax credit requirements, summary here); and HB2664 (changing STOs/tax credit requirements in general, summary here.)

- Education is meeting on Monday at 2 p.m. in HHR3. The agenda is long, and every bill on it is written by a Republican. There may be some real gold mixed in with the iron pyrite, but most of the bills are like HB2227, cutting the amount of time teachers have to accept a contract for the next school year from 30 days to 10.

- Banking and Insurance will meet on Monday at 2 p.m. in HHR5. Looks quiet so far.

- Public Employees, Retirement, and Entitlement Reform will meet on Tuesday at 2 p.m. in HHR3. Quiet so far.

- Government is meeting on Tuesday at 2 p.m. in HHR4. Winger election year posturing alert: HB2538.

From the bill -

The legislature shall not enact any statute that appropriates state monies pursuant to a federal mandate or that complies with a federal mandate unless the federal mandate contains a report or document prescribing reasonable and logical arguments based on United States constitutional law that the federal mandate is a function of the federal government and will pass a constitutional challenge if contested in a court of law.

Yeah....



- Environment will meet on Tuesday at 2 p.m. in HHR5. Looks quiet so far.

- Military Affairs and Public Safety is meeting on Wednesday at 9 a.m. in HHR3. Looks pretty quiet so far, though HB2526, exempting from taxation trap and skeet shooting clubs that are "educational" in purpose and use, definitely has a whiff of "winger special" wafting from it.

- Health and Human Services is meeting on Wednesday at 9 a.m. in HHR4. This one has globs of ugly awaiting Arizona.

HB2649 seeks to inhibit the accessibility of legal abortions by burying medical providers under overly onerous reporting requirements.


HB2650 would enact a six-month waiting period for getting a divorce (current requirement: 60 days) and adds an unfunded mandate on the state's court system by requiring that the courts establish an "educational" program on the effects of divorce.

- Commerce will meet on Wednesday at 9 a.m. in HHR5. Looks quiet thus far, but I don't understand some of this stuff.

- Water and Energy is scheduled to meet on Thursday at 9 a.m. in HHR5. Quiet thus far.

- Transportation and Infrastructure will meet Thursday at 9 a.m. in HHR3. Also quiet thus far.

- Judiciary will meet on Thursday at 9 a.m. in HHR4. Looks quiet thus far, though a striker may be offered regarding "guardianship of foreign citizens." No text available yet.



Over on the Senate side...

- Rules will meet on Monday upon adjournment of the Senate's floor session in Caucus Room 1 (aka the old press room). Rubber stamp time.

- Natural Resources, Infrastructure, and Public Debt will meet on Monday at 1:30 p.m. in SHR109. Quiet thus far.

- Judiciary is meeting on Monday at 1:30 p.m. The agenda includes SB1362, increasing the fees that may be assessed by courts in eminent domain cases; and SB1365, expanding notification requirements in eminent domain condemnation cases and deleting a clause that specifies how juries assess damages that included consideration of the benefits to uncondemned property from the underlying project.


- Commerce and Economic Development is meeting on Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. in SHR1. The nugget of really ugly here is SB1242, enacting all sorts of restrictions on labor unions during work actions and giving special protections to employers during the same.

- Appropriations is meeting on Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. in SHR109. As might be expected, the agenda of this committee chaired by Russell Pearce is possibly the worst of the week. It has -

SB1017, requiring that county boards of supervisors appropriate budget money to other county officers in lump sums and removes any kind of fiscal oversight of those officers' operations. AKA the "don't mess with mah man Joe [Arpaio]" bill.

A striker to SCR1032 that would permanently micromanage school districts with a requirement that they spend 70% of their budgets on "classroom instruction." The word "permanently" fits here because as an SCR it would have to be approved by the voters and then couldn't be adjusted by future legislatures unless the Reps succeed in their efforts to overturn the Voter Protection Act.

And this agenda could have been worse - the original agenda had a striker to SB1104 that referred to "taxpayer bill of rights." Know this now - Pearce et. al. will try to spring TABOR on the state this year, probably after the latest budget mess simmers down.


- Public Safety and Human Services will meet on Wednesday at 9 a.m. This one has some bills on photo radar (procedures, banning the use on freeways, more procedures.)

- Healthcare and Medical Liability Reform will meet Wednesday at 9 a.m. in SHR1. This one has SCM1004, a letter to Congress demanding that the federal government pay for any health care programs that are required for the states.

- Veterans and Military Affairs will meet on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. in SHR2. Quiet thus far.

- Finance meets on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. in SHR3. One item of interest here is SB1402, Russell Pearce's limits on the secondary property taxes imposed by special taxing districts (including fire districts, library districts, county jail districts, and/or county public health services districts). *Exactly* how it does that is a little unclear to me.

This bill should be an exhibit in the case showing why lawyers should never be allowed to write laws; English majors or journalists should.

The latter groups, by training and disposition, prefer to write sentences that actually clearly communicate information and ideas. The former?

Not so much. :)

- Education Accountability and Reform will meet on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. in SHR1. Whether it's through the huge gashes inflicted by the Reps' meat-cleaver approach during the budget process or through the nicks and papercuts inflicted by the bills on this agenda, the bleeding of the state's education system continues. Some of the agendized items include:

SB1175, expanding the membership of the Governing Board of the Maricopa County Community College District by adding two members who will be elected on a county-wide basis. Aka "the keep the MCCCD Board dominated by Republicans" bill.

SB1280, making sure that home-schooled students are notified of the scholarship requirements and criteria of the Arizona Board of Regents (actually, this one doesn't seem to be too bad, but I want to see what it looks like after going through the entire legislative process before being totally at ease with it).

SB1284, messing with school financing rules. One of the highlights: language that makes cuts to funding imposed during the year, such as those we've seen from the various special sessions of the lege this year, retroactive to the beginning of the fiscal year. In other words, cuts to state funding won't just impact school districts going forward, they'll force school districts to return money.

SB1286, changing the grading of schools from words like "excelling" and "highly performing" to letter grades (the traditional A thru F). Probably not a bad thing in itself, but the changes to the formula determining how that grade is arrived at may be. Somebody with more experience in this area should look at that (David Safier, that's you. :) )

- Government Institutions will meet on Thursday at 9:30 a.m. in SHR1.

Nuggets here include:

SB1143, creating the ability for counties to change their borders via "local initiative." Another bill I don't completely understand as yet, but it's from Jack Harper - it's presumed to be a bad one.

SB1348, Senate President Bob Burns' proposal to slow down new regulations of business, such as requirements that specific medical procedures/conditions be covered by health insurers, and to speed up the discard of older regulations. There are other similar clauses in this bill, enough for it to be named "The Bob Burns is setting up a run for Corporation Commission and wants to secure business financing for his run" bill.

...Check back on the lege's website later in the week for any changes to committee agendas.

Later!

Goldwater Institute: just cutting out the middle man

Edit on 2/7 to correct a factual error: An anonymous emailer, begged39704, alerted me to the fact that Clint Bolick is *not* listed as the candidate, his wife Shawnna is. Clint is the treasurer for her committee. I apologize to both Bolicks for the mistake.

Thank you, begged39704.

Apparently, using most of the Republican caucus of the legislature as surrogates is too slow - now they're going for spousal control (can't call it a "hostile" takeover since GI's operatives are so warmly welcomed at the Capitol now).

On February 5, 2010, one Shawnna Bolick registered a campaign committee (filer ID 201000453) to enter the Republican primary for State Representative in LD11. She joins Jon Altmann, Bev Kraft, Dusti Morris, and Kate McGee in that race. The incumbents are Dr. Eric Meyer (D) and Adam Driggs (R). Meyer has a reelection committee opened; Driggs is "exploring" a run for the Senate seat from LD11 and has been rumored to be eyeing the CD3 race.

Bolick is the spouse of Clint Bolick, a senior member of GI. He heads up their "constitutional litigation" arm, which basically means suing various levels of governments until they give him what he wants (school tuition tax credits) or stop what he doesn't want (Clean Elections - too numerous to link to just one. Google "Bolick" and "Clean Elections"). He also leads the charge against any government regulations of business that he considers unfairly burdensome.

Which is pretty much *all* regulation.

In short, he is already a member of the GOP caucus of the lege in everything but title. His wife winning an election will just be a formality, and losing one won't change the reality of the situation.

Though I have to wonder how their relationship will be affected if she wins - there are limits on how much lobbyists can spend on legislators.

Oh wait - GI isn't a "lobbying" group, it's a "non-partisan" small government advocacy group. And the fact that the issues that they advocate on behalf of almost invariably benefit their clients donors?

A fortuitous coincidence, nothing more.


If Bolick's run is successful, look for more GI operatives to try to take over government positions (i.e. - Mrs. Matthew Ladner as State Superintendent of Public Instruction, etc.).

Frying pan, get ready to meet fire.

Harry Mitchell on blocking the Congressional pay raise

From an email from Congressman Harry Mitchell (with minor changes to links to clean them up, but no changes to content) -

Each year since being elected to Congress, I’ve introduced legislation to block the annual raise for Members of Congress. With all the economic challenges our country is facing, and so many families struggling to make ends meet, I believe it would be simply unconscionable for members of Congress to raise their own pay.

Unfortunately, unless Congress takes action, all members of Congress will be receiving a pay raise next year. In 1989, Congress approved a process that provides lawmakers with an automatic pay raise every January unless they vote specifically to reject the raise.

That’s why I, along with my colleague Rep. Ron Paul, have again introduced legislation to prevent Members of Congress from receiving the next scheduled pay raise.

Last year, our efforts helped to successfully block the Fiscal Year 2010 pay raise and we saved taxpayers $2.5 million by blocking the Fiscal Year 2010 pay raise for members of Congress. In 2008 and 2009, when I received a pay raise over my objection, I donated those pay raises to Arizona charities, dividing the donations among 10 local non-profit organizations.

This year’s bill, H.R. 4255, the Stop the Automatic Pay Raise for Members of Congress in Fiscal Year 2011 Act, currently has support from more than 120 members of Congress. Our bill has also earned national endorsements from Citizens Against Government Waste and the National Taxpayers Union.

President Obama has frozen pay for senior White House employees, and U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts broke with tradition and did not request a pay raise for federal judges for Fiscal Year 2011. I believe that Congress should follow in their lead, and enacting my bill is an important first step.

Right now we need our focus to be on getting people back to work, shoring up the economy, and keeping our families and communities safe -- not on giving ourselves a raise.

As always, I look forward to being able to provide you with regular updates and continue our dialogue on fiscal responsibility in the future.

Sincerely,

Harry

Later...

Special session update3 - crossing palms....with shoulder blades

...that's a way of saying that there is some serious arm-twisting going on at the lege..

cross-posted at Blog for Arizona...

On Thursday, the Arizona House of Representatives approved the referral to the ballot of a temporary increase to the state's sales tax.

The vote was 34 - 25, with one vacancy (Sam Crump resigned on Monday). 12 Democrats and 22 Republicans voted for the referral, and 13 and 12 voted against it.

In an interesting twist, the House did *not* consider the rest of the budget-related bills. According to ever-vigilant (and snarky) correspondent Jen, the talk around the Capitol is that Speaker Kirk Adams is holding the special session bills in order to pressure Senate President Bob Burns into taking up the House's tax cuts for corporations bill (the Rs call it a "jobs" bill, but it would be better called a "jobs for soon-to-be-ex-legislators looking for a place to land after they get kicked out of office in November" bill.

So to sum up: The House passed a referendum that may or may not be approved by the voters (and if I were a betting man, I'd bet " not") and refused to do anything else to address the state's budget deficit unless their corporate patrons get a big gift from the lege.

Ummm...yeah.

It's obvious that the most of the Rs in the House don't give a damn about the state or about doing the jobs that they were hired to do - representing the best interests of the people in their districts and the state.

Special session update2 - whistling past the graveyard

Cross-posted at Blog for Arizona...

Since my work week has started, I'm trying to keep track of the goings-on at the lege via phone calls and an internet connection.

It now looks like that the House leadership is going to try to push through the latest budget bills without being certain that they have the votes necessary to pass them. One Democratic source that I spoke to thought it would be close, with approximately half the Dems in the House agreeing to vote for the package. If that is accurate, they'll still need 18 or 19 Rs to support the package.

However, the state's Shadow Governor (thanks Jen!), Grover Norquist, will be in town tomorrow. His presence may serve to fortify the faux courage of the Kool-Aid drinkers in the House, killing the package.

A possible indicator of movement is the fact that a Special Session agenda has been posted for House Appropriations with the package of Senate bills up for consideration (~11 a.m., HHR1). There is some question if the bills will pass the committee - John Kavanagh (R-LD8), the chair of the committee, has already stated that he will be voting no on the package (see the article linked in the previous paragraph).

As committee chairman, he has the authority to agendize/not agendize any bills, and could simply ignore them if they are assigned to his committee. The fact that the provisional agenda has been posted ("provisional" because the bills haven't yet been assigned to the Appropriations Committee) indicates that he is willing to allow the bills to be heard.

Whether that is to allow them to go forward over his objections or to very publicly kill them and thus embarrass R leadership in the House remains to be seen.

Stay tuned...

Summary of Tuesday's special session activities

and a preview of Wednesday's possible activity in the House...

...The Senate, with most but not all Democrats on board, passed a series of bills meant to address the current fiscal year's state budget deficit. This includes the referral of a temporary increase to the state's sales tax to the ballot in a special election in May.

...The bills have been introduced in the House and were immediately referred directly to the Rules Committee, bypassing the Appropriations Committee, where Chairman John Kavanagh (R-Russell Pearce with a New York Accent) lies in wait, ready to kill it.

...Of course, the package may be dead already - I've heard from Speaker Kirk Adams (second hand), a Democratic member (first hand) and the aforementioned Kavanagh (first hand) that they don't have the votes in the House to pass the sales tax referral, and the rest of the package won't come close to making a serious dent in the deficit.

Grover Norquist's organization has already weighed in - launching a broadside at the Senate Rs who voted for the referral.

As an aside, could someone tell me where in AZ Norquist is registered to vote? I mean, I can understand the three legislators from that district listening to him (not that I agree with what he has to say), but why aren't the rest of the Rs simply pointing him in the direction of his own legislators?

Anyway, it looks like the package, or at least the sale tax referral, is dead unless the Rs get some permanent tax cuts for big business which will remove any Democratic support for it. And if the package changes in any way, it has to go back to the Senate for approval of any changes.

And given that it passed with the minimun number of votes necessary, any changes would likely end its chances of passage in the Senate.

...No agenda has been posted for House Rules, but the package will probably be considered tomorrow, if Adams thinks he can pull together the floor votes to make Rules consideration worth the effort. In a twist, Adams has submittee three technical corrections bills (HB2001, HB2002, and HCR2001) over in the House that have also been assigned to Rules. Not sure what is going on there yet, but I expect that they will be used as "vehicle" bills for his efforts to salvage something out of the Sixth Special Session of the 49th Arizona Legislature.

Later...

Senate Approps - regular session

Sloppy post ahead, in "live blogging" style, but not with the constant updating. Done as one piece...

Now they're on regular session stuff.

Most of the agenda was mundane, so I didn't post on that.

But now we are up to the good stuff.

SCR1015, with a Pearce striker to refer TABOR-like restrictions on state revenues to the ballot.

Pearce is talking about the bill as a way to prevent future budget crises. He's trying to present the bill as harmless. Aboud doesn't seem to be buying it.

Pearce says this would allow for growth but not "extreme spending."

Aguirre doesn't seem to be buying into Pearce's spiel either.

Pearces says the bill is not "TABOR," but specifies that TABOR is about spending caps and this bill is about revenue caps.

OK, this is degenerating into an ideological debate on tax cuts vs. rebates, and has nothing to do with the crisis facing the state. Yawn.

Pearce is complaining about how little of the budget that the lege controls. Apparently wants to use this as a backdoor around Prop 105 so he can cut voter-mandated programs (not sure of this, will need to read the specific language later...)

Gould says this isn't TABOR, and states that Colorado voters should have just suspended it instead of repealing it.

It's TABOR, folks.

An AARP lobbyist is now speaking. They are nervous about it.

Bill passes on a party-line vote.

SCR1033. a proposal to refer a repeal Prop 105 to the voters up next.

Aboud asks how much in appropriations is protected by Prop 105. Billions.

Pearce decries Prop 105 because is was rooted in a movement to decriminalize marijuana (only he called it "legalizing heroin"). Says a tax increase would not be on the table today if it wasn't for Prop 105.

Calls it "taking the handcuffs off of" the elected legislature.

Harper supports it, but doesn't think it will pass because of all the groups that have benefitted from it will fight it.

A lobbyist from Americans for Tax Reform, Barry Aarons, is speaking in favor of this measure. Says that Prop 105 removed the lege's ability to act as a check on the public.

He's right, but that was the point in the first place - the lege had abused its power and was slapped down for its trouble.

Sandy Bahr of the Sierra Club is signed in against but not speaking.

Sylvia Allen is voting yes, but blathering on about it, while John Kavanagh, Pearce's analog in the House, walks in with a huge smile on his face.

Pearce is now blaming George Soros for the troubles of the state. No joke.

Vote went as expected - party-line pass, Rios out of the room and not voting. Not sure why.

Meeting adjourned after about an hour and 20 minutes.

Special Session - Senate Floor Session

2:16 - Burton Cahill calls this a "very, very difficult" vote and is only for a band-aid. Votes yes, reluctantly. Bill passes 16 - 12. Senate adjourns.

2:15 - Aboud opposes because even if voters approve it, it won't balance the budget and that cuts are still coming.

2:13 - Gould opposes because he only wants to cut services. Cites pledge to Norquist, but says it is a pledge to the voters in his district. Votes no.

2:12 - Harper voting no because it isn't coupled with automatic tax cuts.

2:11 - Vote still open. Burton Cahill has been switching her vote back and forth. Gould still hasn't voted, and neither has Burns. As it stands, the measure needs one more "yes" vote.

2:08 - McCune Davis thinks that this isn't a workable solution and votes no.

2:07 - Sylvia Allen is "really ticked off at everybody" for placing them in such a tough place. Votes yes.

2:03 - SCR1001, sales tax hike referral. This one may fail, and kill the whole thing. Cheuvront argues that this is a tough one, but it still is only giving the voters the final say.

2:02 - Aboud calls it just closing a loophole. Votes aye. Bill passes 21 - 7.

2:00 - SB1005, standard deduction adjustment, needs a 2/3 vote. Gould opposes. Again.

1:59 - SB1004, Lottery reauthorization. This one could be very interesting. Or not. Passes 19 - 9.

1:58 - SB1003, Lottery revenue bonding and sale/leaseback of state assets. This one could be interesting, but it will pass. It does, 18 - 9 - 2 vacancies.

1:57 - SB1002, Education payments rollovers. Bill passes.

1:56 - Vote still open. Now closed, Passes with 2/3 majority.

1:54 - SB1001, special election call. Needs 2/3 to pass with an emergency clause.

1:53 - Gould being a jerk, calls division on a procedural motion. Motion passes.

1:52 - Chuck Gray looking for script. Finds it.

1:51 - Third Read session resumes.

1:50 - SCR1001 passes COW. COW session ends.

1:49 - Rios understands concerns that the amendment could place a burden on specific industries but also understands that the proposal would place a burden or Arizona's working families. Calls on corps to be good neighbors. Amendment fails.

1:45 - Sylvia Allen opposes amendment because it would hurt mining industry. Gould opposes too. As does Melvin.

1:42 - Chuck Gray opposes because housing and construction industries use gravel.

1:41 - Burns opposes amendment because there hasn't been enough time to talk about it. In plain English - "Hey! This railroad is running on time Rios! Quit trying to gum up the works!"

1:37 - Rios floor amendment offered to add in mining severance tax and sand and gravel TPT due to fairness issues - those industries were given a special break years ago, but now should be included in a tax hike that affects the rest of Arizona.

1:37 - SCR1001, sales tax referral to ballot.

1:35 - SB1005, standard deduction adjustment for out of state filers. Passes COW.

1:34 - Gould opposes because it is borrowing. No Harper amendment offered. Passes COW.

1:33 - SB1004, lottery reauthorization and bond repayment.

1:32 - Gould opposes bill on Constitutional grounds, claiming incurs state debt. Passes COW.

1:31 - SB1003, lottery revenue bonding and sale/leaseback. Passes.

1:31 - SB1002, education rollover, passes COW.

1:30 - COW passes SB1001, special election. No amendments or debate.

1:29 - First hiccup - a motion to limit debate to 2 minutes per senator per motion failed.

1:26 - Barbara Leff chairing Committee of the Whole.

1:26 - 2nd read and moving into Committee of the Whole (COW)

1:25 - 28 in attendance, 2 vacancies.

1:23 - Taking attendance

Senate Republican Caucus meeting on the Special Session budget bills

Caucus into order at 11:01.

SCR1001 - Sales tax hike referral to voters.

No comments

SB1005 - Deduction adjustment for out of state filers.

Gray wonders if this is ex post facto because it is retroactive to the beginning of the tax year. It isn't.

Gould says it is an ex post facto tax. Something tells me he will be voting against this one.

SB1001 - Special election.

Some questions, but no serious comments.

SB1002 - Education rollovers

No serious comments, though Sen. Leff wondered if there will be $ available to make the deferred payments.

SB1003 - Lottery revenue bonds and sale/leaseback of state assets.

Harper wonders if the general public will have the opportunity to buy the bonds. A: yes.

Gould thinks this violates the AZ Constitution provisions against state debt. Leff says it doesn't. Gould says it dees.

SB1004 - Lottery stuff.

Harper will run a floor amendment to oppose a Native casino in Glendale. It would allow cities to open casinos if a tribe opens a casino off of its reservation. Wants an "economic war" with the tribes.

Verschoor wonders if they let the lottery expire if that would force tribal casinos to shut down due to the language of the gaming compact. A: Not sure.

Sylvia Allen wonders if an off-reservation casino would allow the state to break the compact and more strongly regulate tribal gaming. A: No. Federal law trumps state law in this area.

Leff wonders if the amendment is germane to the proclamation calling for the special session and asks for a ruling from the Rules attorney.

Gould doesn't think Harper's amendment would work.

Pearce decries the possible spread of gambling and the potential effects.

All bills out of caucus.

Caucus adjourned at 11:29.

Overheard at the lege...

While waiting for the R caucus meeting...


1. Apparently, it may not matter what happens in the Senate this time - House Speaker Kirk Adams has told MSM types that he doesn't think they have enough votes in the House to pass the package.

2. Sen. Jack Harper (R-Surprise!) has said that he will vote against all of the measures except the education money rollovers when they reach the floor. That may change between now and that time, but that is what he said while BS-ing with a couple of folks in the gallery while waiting for the meeting to start.