Anyone wanna start a pool?

Giddy from this week's passage of the anti-immigrant police state bill and today's passage of the birther bill, one of the loons in the lege - perhaps "old guard" loons such as Pearce, Gould, or Harper, or perhaps new guard hatchlings like Antenori, Seel, or Montenegro - will have the bright idea of swearing out a complaint against President Obama under the new anti-immigrant law.

God knows Arpaio would trip over himself trying to get to the airport to serve such a complaint the next time the President visits Arizona. Of course, he wouldn't be worried about tripping, as long as there were TV cameras around.

The pool could be people predicting the time that elapses from the moment the bills become law until a complaint is filed, and who will be out in front of it.

Whaddya think?

:)


Note - To all nativist-friendly law enforcement officers/officials/agencies: The above is a metaphor only, used to make a political point. No actual wagering will take place as a result of the above proposal.

The Nation's Attention Focused On The Arizona Governor's Office

Observers from all over the country (and the world) have focused on the 9th Floor of the Executive Tower at the Arizona Capitol. Governor Jan Brewer is hunkered down there, trying to ride out the political firestorm that has erupted over the AZ Senate's final passage of SB1070, Russell Pearce's police state bill.

- The Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese in Los Angeles likened the bill to "Nazi and Soviet-style" techniques of oppression.

- Congressional lawmakers, including Arizona's Raul Grijalva (D-CD7), have publicly urged Brewer to veto the measure.

- Across the nation and world, newspaper editorials and op-eds, including some from outlets that aren't exactly noted as bastions of liberalism (i.e. - The Christian Science Monitor), have weighed in against the bill.

- The Governor's office has been inundated with phone calls, faxes, and emails on the bill, with messages opposing the bill outnumbering messages of support by an almost 9 - 1 margin (11931 opposing, 1356 favoring, and counting).

She has until Saturday to make a decision. After that, the bill becomes law without her signature. Expect the protests, letters, and editorials to continue until she does make a decision (or makes one by *not* making one).

Russell Pearce can't shut up about his bill or the people opposing it. From the AZRep article linked to "inundated" above -

Pearce called Tuesday's protesters "anarchists." He said he has not heard of any planned rallies in favor of the bill but said that is because supporters trust their state leaders.

"They are working jobs and raising families and expect us to do the right thing," he said.

"Anarchists"??

This from a man who wants to arm amateurs and vigilantes and send them to the border?

It's a compliment when someone who is as hypocritical and evil as Pearce doesn't like you.

As for his professed regard for people who are "working jobs and raising families", it seems that he only accords respect to working folk and their families if they don't have brown skin. The people who will be most affected are just trying to put a roof over their families' heads.

They just have the flaw ("flaw" by the standards of Pearce and his ilk, anyway) of having ancestors who were born of the wrong side of a line on a map.

Prediction: Brewer signs it. Doing so will probably guarantee a win for her in the Republican primary. It may cost her the general election, but that won't matter to her if she doesn't get through the primary.

Tea leaf reading time: The Governor's schedule for the week has her speaking at a dinner for the Center for Arizona Theocracy Policy on Saturday night. With Republican demagogue (and McCainiac) Sarah Palin.

Brewer is going to want a hero's welcome there.

Put it all together and it seems that Brewer has more to gain from signing it than vetoing it.

She is going to sign the bill.

Quick summary of a day at the lege

Things I learned at the lege today -

- Most of the talk of sine die (end of the legislative session) centers on next Thursday, April 29. According to House Democratic Leader Rep. David Lujan, the Speaker of the House is really focusing on that day (the 29th), so expect a lot of activity over the next week and a half.

Some folks are more pessimistic - Jeremy Browning, an associate at Ziemba Waid Public Affairs and seasoned Capitol watcher believes that they'll try hard for that date but will end up spilling over into the following week. On the other hand, he's a wide-eyed optimist compared to D17 Rep. Ed Ableser, who predicted a sine die date of May 11.

- Andrew Thomas may have left the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, but he hasn't left the nativist crazy train. In a press conference at the Capitol today, he announced that if he is elected as AZ Attorney General, his office will take over all human smuggling prosecutions in the state, including those against the smugglees themselves. In addition, his assistant AGs will be cross-deputized at the county level in order to handle prosecutions at that level.

And if any county dares to decline his offer of "help", he'll ask his allies in the lege to pass a law requiring them to do so.

AZRep columnist E.J. Montini offers his take on Thomas' announcement here.

- The House passed HCR2068, proclaiming April 20, 2010 as "Jack Brown Western Day" in honor of Rep. Brown's decades of public service to Arizona. There was a video tribute to Rep. Brown featuring a bipartisan roster of current and former denizens of West Washington, including (former) Governor Jane Hull, (former) House Democratic leader Art Hamilton, (former) Democratic gubernortorial candidate Eddie Basha, House Speaker Kirk Adams, Representative Olivia Cajero Bedford, and more. In addition, a number of members of the House rose to speak of their appreciation for Brown's civility, wisdom, and humor. Even folks who had gone on to greater things like current Congressman Harry Mitchell and former U.S. Senator Dennis DeConcini sent letters of appreciation which were read to the Brown, the rest of the House, and the public in the gallery.

It was a show of genuine affection and respect from all sides of the aisle of the sort that is usually missing from the Capitol these days.

- Weird fact department: Today was the first time I have visited the lege while they were considering "death resolutions" (not as macabre as it sounds - they're resolutions honoring a recently passed luminary). Turns out that out of respect to the honorees and their families, they close the public gallery. If you are in it when the session starts, you can stay, but you can't enter the gallery until the consideration of the resolutions has been completed.

Other updates for the rest of the week:

- Senate Government will meet on Thursday at 10:45 in SHR1 to consider the appointment of three people to the Arizona State Retirement System Board. Pretty mundane, but the names are interesting -

Thomas Manos, former Deputy Chief of Staff for Finance for the Brewer Administration

Kevin McCarthy, President of the Arizona Tax Research Association (his organization advocated sweeping money from K-12 to balance the state's budget last year. Perhaps the retired employees from the state should plan for dog food diets in the near future.)

Dennis Hoffman, an economics professor from ASU (OK, he looks like he may be qualified for this post in ways that go beyond political connections.)

- Floor calendars for tomorrow (April 21) are here.

- On Thursday, the House will be the location of the AZ Capitol's first-ever naturalization ceremony for three active-duty service members. Reps. Lynne Pancrazi and David Lujan will speak. Festivities start at 10:30 a.m.

Later...

Pics from the lege - SB1070 protests

I'll do a more complete write up later, but here are a few pics (apologies for the formatting, but for some reason, Blogger doesn't like multiple pics)

Beginning of the presser/prayer session urging the Governor to veto SB1070

Somebody chained to the doors of the Old Capitol, shortly before the chains were cut and arrests were made (there was large police presence at the Capitol today. Not sure if it was larger than during any of the Tea Party rallies there)

The counter protestors (all 15 or so) leaving in their air-conditioned coach-style bus, shortly after the beginning of the press conference

Quotes from a Day That Will Live In Infamy

The Arizona Daily Sun (Flagstaff) has a piece up with some quotes from the AZ Senate's debate on Monday regarding the final passage of SB1070, Russell Pearce's police state bill.

From the article (with a little commentary added...call it "blogger's privilege" :) ) -

"We've been celebration Holocaust Remembrance Week. And folks were remembering that a lot of the tactics that will now be employed because of this piece of legislation were the tactics that were used in Nazi Germany." -- Sen. Paula Aboud, D-Tucson (Spot on. Period.)

"Let me assure you, you don't have to have a brown skin to be the victim of officer error, police enforcement error. Undoubtedly there is. There's a proper role for the media to cover that." -- Sen. John Huppenthal, R-Chandler, saying the legislation will not lead to racial profiling (I'm not sure, but I think he is saying that it is OK for the lege to pass horrible laws that institutionalize bigotry and abuse of power, because the media can talk about it. Ahhh, yes - this from the man who would be in charge of AZ's education system. )

"I get concerned when you start questioning people (about their immigration status). Chances are that you're going to run across U.S. citizens that you're going to end up detaining at some point." -- Yuma County Sheriff Ralph Ogden

"Part of his fear is political because he's weak-kneed, like many other folks, about enforcing the law. Enforce the law. You have an oath of office. That's your job." -- Sen. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, in response. ("Weak-kneed" is just Pearce's verbal shorthand for "I'm not visiting Yuma County any time soon". He might want to avoid talking about oaths of office, since he so clearly violates his every day, though.)

Look for more gems to come out of today's press conferences, as advocates from both sides work to convince Jan Brewer to sign or veto the bill.

Quick update to the lege's schedule for the week

A couple of new committee agendas have been posted for this week.

House Health and Human Services will meet on Wednesday at 9 a.m. in HHR4. The agenda has one item on it, a striker to SB1043 that would restore KidsCare, the state's Children's Health Insurance Program. The KidsCare program was ended and removed from state statute in next year's budget, passed during the lege's special session in March.

House Judiciary will meet on Wednesday at 9:01 a.m. (or upon adjournment of HHS) in HHR4. That agenda also includes but a single item, a striker to SCR1009 that, if passed by the voters, would repeal Clean Elections in Arizona. As the measure is currently written, it would ban the use of public money for Clean Elections.

In other words, the striker is just as bad as the original, but it's a cleaner, more direct, kind of "bad."

Lastly, there will be a prayer session and press conference in the Capitol's rose garden by the interfaith community, urging the Governor to veto SB1170, Russell Pearce's police state bill. Proceedings start at 11 a.m. on Tuesday.

AZ Senate passes Pearce's police state bill, sends it to Jan Brewer for her signature

I can understand disagreeing with most of what comes out of the AZ lege, most of the time, it's just politics.

What I can't stand is being ashamed of what comes out of the lege.

Tonight, I'm profoundly embarrassed to be an Arizonan.


From Reuters (yes, this is getting worldwide coverage) -

Arizona lawmakers passed a controversial immigration bill on Monday requiring police in the state that borders Mexico to determine if people are in the United States illegally, a measure critics say is open to racial profiling.

Lawmakers in the Arizona Senate voted 17 to 11 to approve the bill, widely regarded as the toughest measure yet taken by any U.S. state to curb illegal immigration.

And the money quote from the article -

"I believe handcuffs are a wonderful tool when they're on the right people," said Russell Pearce, the Republican state senator who wrote the bill.

We want to "get them off law enforcement and get them on the bad guys," he told Reuters.

For those of you who aren't familiar with our Sen. Pearce, when he says "bad guys" and "the right people" for handcuffs, he's referring to people with skin that is a color other than white, reserving a special contempt for people of Mexican descent (remember his proposal to restart "Operation Wetback" anyone?)

As noted in the article, the vote was 17-11, with the voting going almost completely along party lines. The only Democrats who didn't oppose the bill were Amanda Aguirre and Albert Hale, who were both absent.

The only Republican who had both enough humanity and spine to oppose the bill was Carolyn Allen.

All of the rest of the Rs in the Senate fall into one of two categories -


Pure evil

Craven cowards


Late last week, a friend of mine from work who is of Mexican descent but is a U.S. citizen by birth, as are her children and grandchildren, asked me about this bill and what she should do when she is pulled over by the police and they demand to see her papers.

All I had for her was a lame "be polite and give them over."

When she asked why the law was going to be passed, I told her that some of the people in the lege "simply don't like brown people", to which she replied that "brown people vote, too."

Unfortunately, not enough vote in the general election and almost none vote in the Republican primaries.

Which brings us to the question of whether or not Jan Brewer will sign the bill into law.

Rest assured, she will.

She's running in a Republican primary where every candidate is trying to out-right-wingnut her (and she was pretty much a far right ideologue even before the primary season started.) This bill is tailor-made for someone who is trying to get the Tea Party/nativist wing of the GOP on their side.

In other words, the real question isn't "will she sign it?" but "will she be doing the Snoopy dance on a copy of the Bill of Rights while she signs it, or will she just be grinning from ear-to-ear for the cameras?"

Community Action for Jobs at Sky Harbor Airport

Central Arizonans for a Sustainable Economy (CASE) will be holding a community meeting in support of workers at Sky Harbor whose jobs are in jeopardy because of contractor changes taking place there.

Concessionaire contracts are re-awarded periodically, which isn't a problem. What is a problem is that most of the workers in the typically low-wage concession jobs lose those jobs when the airport changes concessionaires. The new concessionaires tend to immediately focusing on cutting expenses, including the labors costs associated with their most experienced workers. This tendency costs those workers their jobs and and ends up costing Phoenix experienced people at the place the most visitors form their first impressions of Arizona.

Info on the airport, its workers, and the economic impact is here.

An official economic impact analysis, courtesy the City of Phoenix, here.

Visitor statistics here (for February 2010) and here (historical data, through 2004), also courtesy the City of Phoenix.


Anyway, on to the meeting -

When: Thursday, April 22, 5 p.m. - 7 p.m.
Where: Wilson Elementary School, 400 N. 30th St., Phoenix (parking across the street at St. Mark;s Church)

From a flyer on the meeting -

STAND up for the livelihoods of 1000 community members who work at Sky Harbor Airport

STAND in the footsteps of Golden Gate Barrio community members who fought 40 years ago for community integrity and a just airport policy

STAND up for a new social movement for jobs, justice, and government accountability in Metropolitan Phoenix.

Later...

The coming week - legislative edition

OK, so I said that last week's lege schedule post would probably be the last free-standing one of the year. I was wrong. :)

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

For the most part, committees other than each chamber's Rules committees won't be meeting this week.

- Over on the Senate side of the Capitol. its Rules committee will meet on Monday upon adjournment of the floor. All of the bills on the agenda will pass the committee, but that agenda serves as a good indicator of what will reach the Senate floor later in the week. The highlight here looks to be HB2663, relating to easing "reforming" requirements for corporate contributions to school tuition organizations (STOs).

Monday's Senate floor schedule has been posted.

On its Final Read calendar (approving changes made by the House before sending a bill on to the Governor for her signature): SB1070, Russell Pearce's police state bill, gussied up as a nativist's wet dream.

On its Third Read calendar: HB2442, barring ADEQ from regulating greenhouse gas emissions without express legislative approval.

On its COW calendar: HB2246, allowing the sale of certain "consumer fireworks." As originally written, this bill would have barred any local or county governments from regulating such fireworks within their jurisdictions. That has been modified to allow those levels of government to regulate permissible quanitities within their jurisdictions. Still a bad bill.


On the House side -

- Rules will meet on Monday at 1 p.m. in HHR4. On this one: SB1128, barring any level of government in this state from penalizing (i.e. - limiting or barring access to public facilities) the Boy Scouts for discriminating against others.

- Appropriations will meet Tuesday at 9 a.m. in HHR1. That one may have strikers to SB1238 (relating to "agriculture; pests; appropriation") and SCR1060 (relating to state debt, the current subject of the bill). Neither striker's text has been posted online as yet.

The House's floor schedule has been posted.

Its Final Read calendar is here.

Its Third Read calendar is here. On this one: SB1153, preempting local regulation of knives

Its COW calendars are here and here. Highlights: SB1398 (requiring that local governments demand that the federal government coordinate with them before enforcing federal laws, regulations or policies within the jurisdiction of the local government) and SB1274 (allowing STO contributions made by April 15th to be credited to the previous year's taxes).


Other events:

On Monday, there will be something called a "Freedom" Rally (quotes are theirs) on the Senate lawn from noon until 2 p.m. I think it is related to motorcyclists (Rep. Jerry Weiers will probably be involved if it is), but I can't really find much about this.

On Tuesday, and more details will be available Monday, there will be a rally at the Capitol to urge the Governor to veto SB1070 (assuming that it passes, as expected). I've seen times of 11 a.m and noon, so plan on 11. More details when they become available.

Turns out the reps of Joe Arpaio and Scottsdale both travel well

Had a bit of an ego boost this week.

A writer for Sun-Sentinel.com (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) linked to an old post of mine when writing about the city manager there. Turns out that George Gretsas, the city manager in question, is a finalist for the same job in Scottsdale.

After enjoying the ego boost of the link (and the increased site traffic), I read the article and the comments accompanying it.

Most of them were as expected ("Gretsas is great/lousy", "Scottsdale is lucky/screwed", etc.) and similar can be found on almost any MSM website with a similar story.

A couple of them were eye-openers, however.

From commenter Trudy -

Trust me Georgie will fit right in in Snotsdale. Toodles

"Snotsdale"? I think she may have visited AZ once or twice, because I've only heard that one from natives.

From commenter Robert Walsh (the typos/spelling errors and poor sentence construction are his) -

Scottsdale Arizonia is a beautiful City.Good luck Mr.Gretsas with this process.I have been to Scottsdale very wealthy community.Very pretty city and I.m sure you would be an assest to Scottsdale-Only one proplem if I come to visit that Sheriff out there if this is Maricopa County. that Sheriff is wacked-Anyways if he wants it I hope he gets it

"wacked"?

Be still my beating heart. I think he is talking about our own Joe Arpaio.

"Snotsdale" and "wacked", accurate criticisms from a state that can't design an understandable ballot or count ballots once they are cast.

I'd say we've hit rock bottom, but the Rs in the lege might read this, view it as a challenge, and break out their shovels.

Later...

AZ lege's Republicans: "brown skin" equals "probable cause for arrest"

To the joy of nativists all over the country, the Arizona House of Representatives passed SB1070 on Tuesday, which if passed into law would bar sanctuary city policies, require local law enforcement officers to enforce federal immigration laws, radically lower the probable cause threshold for traffic stops, make it a crime for an immigrant to not present "their papers" to a law enforcement officer upon request (and make it grounds to detain anyone, even if they're citizens or legal residents, who doesn't have documentation until their identities are verified) and worse. (AZ Republic coverage here)

In short, Arizona is about to become the Mecca for nativists, Nazis, Klan types, and other vicious bigots who thrive on the demonization of "different."

Oh wait - they might be offended by the term "Mecca"...that's a place where some "durn furriners" hang out.

How about " Arizona is about to become the Ft. Lauderdale at spring break for nativists, with fewer babes in bikinis and more skinheads in jackboots"?

Anyway, it's hardly a new development in this country's history, though something of a disappointment.

Time for a repost of my very first post here; it's as relevent now as it was four years ago.

Unfortunately.

The post (a little rough around the edges, but it still works) -

Hi everyone! My first real post (i.e. – a post other than “test”) is inspired by something I found while doing research for a class that I am taking this semester. While what I found wasn’t useful for class, I still found it very illuminating.

I found a letter, at http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/americavotes/knownothing.html, that proves, at least in relation to anti-immigrant fervor, that not much has changed in the last 150+ years. The letter sets out the presidential campaign platform of the Know-Nothing Party, circa 1856. Here’s what it says (with the blank line at one word that I couldn’t make out):

1. Repeal of all naturalization laws

2. None but native Americans for office.
3. A pure American common school system.
4. War to the hilt, on political Romanism.
5. Opposition to the formation of military companies composed of foreigners.
6. The advocacy of a sound, healthy and safe nationality.
7. Hostility to all Papal influences, when brought to bear against the Republic.
8. American Institutions and American Sentiments.
9. More stringent and effective immigration laws.
10. The amplest protections to Protestant interests.
11. The doctrines of the revered Washington.
12. The sending back of all foreign _____.
13. Formation of societies to protect American interests.
14. Eternal enmity to all who attempt to carry out the principles of a foreign church on state.
15. Our country, our whole country, and nothing but our country.
16. Finally, American Laws, and American…..

Other than the blatantly anti-Catholic parts (haven’t heard any serious rants about ‘Papists’ since JFK was running for President), this could have been written today, with very little need to edit for modern language and concerns.

From the Minuteman Project’s website (http://www.minutemanproject.com/):

“We have seen defiance of the rule of law by foreign nationals. We have seen protests across America with disdain for American sovereignty. Defiance of the law supported by protest is outrageous to those who are lawful and proud of America.”

“It is now time to stop complaining and start reclaiming America!”

Found at http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?sid=174:

“The Mexican culture is based on deceit. Chicanos and Mexicanos lie as a means of
survival. Fabricating false IDs is just another extension of that culture ... [which] condones everything from the most lowly misdemeanor to murder in the highest levels of government." - VOICES OF CITIZENS TOGETHER
(I couldn’t find a link for a group by that name, though a Google search for that group did bring up a site for something called "Glenn Spencer’s American Patrol Report" that was full of writings in the same vein. I didn’t search the entire site for a direct quote. That stuff’ll stunt your growth, LOL.)

The parallels between the anti-Mexican rhetoric today and the anti-Irish (and, to a lesser extent, anti-German) rhetoric of the 1840s and 1850s are striking. The Mexican immigrant tends to take jobs that most Americans don’t want, particularly menial labor; the Irish immigrant did the same 150 years ago. Mexicans usually live in the same neighborhoods; so did the Irish. Both groups are/were proud of their history, and still have/had strong family ties to the “old country”. And so on… All of which is used by the anti-immigrant crowd to whip up sentiments against ‘them durn furriners’.

On the one hand, it’s scary that a country founded on immigration could harbor such hypocritically virulent bigotry toward immigrants (hey, it’s hypocritical because ALL of us have immigrants somewhere in our family tree), even today. (BTW – I’m the grandson and great-grandson of immigrants. Port of Boston, late 1800s, and the 1910s)

On the other hand, the Know-Nothings, while they had a bit of electoral success in the late 1850s, particularly at the state level, were pretty much a complete non-factor politically by the mid-1860s. Gives me a little hope that the hysteria will die down soon.

Personally, I think that it will die down on November 8th, with a strong likelihood of resurrection as a polarizing/motivating issue if the Republicans feel that they will have their asses handed to them in the 2008 elections.

Not that I’m a cynic or anything.

Priorities

On Monday, a committee of the Arizona Senate approved a bill that, if passed by the entire lege and signed into law, would reduce state revenue by almost $650 million per year by 2017.

The bill would -

• phase out the state's equalization property tax (revenue from which is dedicated to funding education)
• cut corporate income taxes by ~30% (and no strings attached, like a requirement that the money then be turned around to create jobs in Arizona)
• cut corporate property taxes (forcing residential property owners to pick up the slack in local bond elections)

Just to reiterate some of the ways that that the Rs in the lege have "balanced" the budget -

• Ended KidsCare (Arizona's version of SCHIP), taking away the medical care for nearly 40,000 children in Arizona
• Proposed that the voters override themselves and take away funding from First Things First (eliminating early childhood development and health care funding) and give the money to the lege to appropriate
• Reduced eligibility for AHCCCS (Arizona's Medicaid program), taking away the health care for over 300,000 Arizonans
• Cut the pay of state employees by at least 5%
• Asked the voters to approve a temporary sales tax increase, threatening steeper cuts to education, health care, and infrastructure in Arizona

In short, they are provisionally* balancing the budget on the backs of Arizona's poorest residents, yet are turning around even before the ink has dried on those cuts and giving the money that has been save to corporations.

* = "provisionally" because the budget won't be balanced unless the voters approve some of the schemes put forward by the lege (sales tax hike, eliminate First Things First, etc.). If the answer from the voters is "no" on any of the many issues that the lege punted on, then the budget is totally out of whack.

Again.

Any question what the Rs' priorities are? Hint: looking after the long-term best interests of Arizonans (you know, the people who they swore an oath to) isn't on the list.

To reiterate a point I made a couple of posts ago -

The important election this year isn't the May special election concerning the sales tax hike, it's the general election in November.

If this isn't the year we make some serious inroads into the Republican control of the Capitol, the devastation of the last two years will be nothing compared to that of the next two.

The coming week - everybody else edition

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

...The post regarding the planned activities of the Arizona Legislature this week is here.

...In D.C., both chambers of Congress will be back in session this week, and should be until the week of Memorial Day at the end of May/beginning of June.

- The House's floor schedule is here. As might be expected during a week where they will be getting back up to speed after two weeks off (and most of a year devoted to health care reform), the schedule is kind of light. Only one bill looks like it might generate some serious controversy, H.R. 4715, the "Clean Estuaries Act of 2010." It amends the Clean Water Act, and the only "amendment" to that Act that the Rs will accept is a complete repeal. They aren't getting it with this.

- The Senate's website is unavailable at this writing, but they are expected to take up an extension of unemployment benefits, one that expired for hundreds of thousands of Americans due to Republican obstructionism.

...Back here in AZ -

- The Arizona Corporation Commission will hold a Securities, Safety, and Utilities meeting on Tuesday. They are holding "special" meetings on Wednesday and Thursday, and Thursday and Friday. Lastly, the ACC's regular hearing schedule is here.

- The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors has two regularly scheduled meetings on tap this week. Monday's "informal" session will be focusing on renewable energy contracts for the Jefferson St. Garage and the Downtown Justice Center. Wednesday's "formal" meeting looks to be longer but pretty mundane.

- The Governing Board of the Maricopa County Community College District is holding a "work session" on Tuesday evening. The scheduled topic of the meeting is "EFFECTIVE TEACHING & LEARNING – ON-LINE/IN-CLASS/HYBRID?"

- The Board of Directors of the Central Arizona Project will hold a rate setting workshop for its customers on Thursday. Preliminary rate schedule here.

- The Tempe City Council isn't scheduled to meet this week. The Council's Calendar is here.

- The Scottsdale City Council is scheduled to meet on Tuesday. Things look pretty mundane so far. The agenda has been revised to announced the appointment of John Washington to the Channel 11 Programming Commission by Councilman Tony Nelssen. Info on Washington is here. He was a write-in candidate for mayor in 2008 and is acting as the treasurer for Nelssen's reelection committee. The City's Community Meeting Notice is here.


Not meeting this week: Citizens Clean Elections Commission, Board of Directors of the Maricopa Integrated Health System, Arizona Board of Regents

Something to think about before casting your vote on Prop 100

...especially if the Rs pass their corporate tax cut bill before adjourning the 2010 session of the legislature.

Thanks goes to Taegan Goddard's Political Wire for the heads-up on this...

From Business Insider -

The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. Cliché, sure, but it's also more true than at any time since the Gilded Age.

The poor are getting poorer, wages are falling behind inflation, and social mobility is at an all-time low.

If you're in that top 1%, life is grand.

There are 15 slides detailing the ever-widening income and wealth gap in the United States. Each of the slides is eye-popping and the piece is worth checking out in its entirety, but I'll include one here -

The Prop 100 election (temporary sales tax increase) is very important. I'm not sold on it yet, not completely anyway, but there is no doubt that the state's education and social safety net infrastructures will be devastated further if it doesn't pass.

What is causing my hesitation, however, is my fear that people will come out for this one in May and think that the fight is over afterward. If the folks mobilizing in support of Prop 100 stay home in November, they'll just be winning one small battle but losing the overall war for Arizona's future.

Approving Prop 100 will just be delaying the inevitable if Arizonans don't kick the Kool-Aid gang to the curb.

It's time make some serious changes at the Capitol, and that can only happen in November. Not May.

More on these subjects (Prop 100 and the corporate tax cut) here and here, from AZBlueMeanie at Blog for Arizona.

A related story from Howard Fischer of Capitol Media Services, via the East Valley Tribune, here.

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...


This is probably the last free-standing legislative schedule post of the year. With the session winding down quickly - most legislators want to get on with campaigning, and those from the nether reaches of the state want to get out of Phoenix before it turns into hell with a zip code :) - almost all of the lege's committees have stopped meeting to consider bills.

On the House side, Rules is meeting on Monday at 1 p.m. in HHR4. Most of the bills on the agenda will probably be on a floor calendar later in the week. A couple of them are controversial (relating to limiting eminent domain, municipalities' ability to levy certain sales taxes, parents' "rights", etc.), but most passed through committee unanimously.

On the Senate side, there is a little more activity.

- Rules is meeting on Monday in Caucus Room 1 after floor adjournment. The agenda is a long one (71 items!) with some seriously bad bills, but they won't be killed in the Rules Committee - it's a rubber stamp. Look for many of the worst of the worst of the session to reach the floor later this week.

- Finance is meeting on Monday in SHR3 at 1:30 p.m. Its agenda balances the Rules agenda - there's only one item on it, but that one is a doozy. It will be considering a striker to HB2250, with an amendment proposed for the striker. Basically, it waters down the tax cuts proposed by the Kool-Aid drinkers (aka - the Republican caucus in the lege) so that instead of costing the state $941 billion per year by 2017, it will decrease revenue by "only" $650 million/year. (AZBlueMeanie at Blog for Arizona has coverage here.)

- As potentially ugly as that one may be, the expected winner of the "Worst Committee Agenda of the Week" should be the agenda for the Appropriations meeting on Tuesday (2:30 p.m., SHR1).

That agenda has no bills on it, just a presentation titled "Reclaiming Our Border." Presenters include:

- Patrick Bray (from the Arizona Cattlemen's Association)

-Louis Pope (who blames the U.S. government for the death of rancher Robert Krentz. Wonder if his anger at the U.S. Government will change his willingness to accept payouts from the feds?)

- John Ladd (a rancher/vigilante from the Douglas area)

- Gary Thrasher (a veterinarian and member of the AZ Grower's Association)

- Scott Arena (an activist with the AZ Cattlemen's Association)

Given the makeup of the presenters, this looks to be a propaganda session in support of Russell Pearce's amended version of HB2162, creating an "Arizona Border Security Commission" with a $200,000 appropriation to fund a "volunteer" vigilante force in Cochise County, where most of the presenters are based.

By the way, did I mention that Pearce is the chair of the committee hearing the presentation?


The House's Third Read Calendar for Monday is here. It's Monday COW calendars are here, here, and here. Tuesday's Caucus Calendar is here.

The Senate's Third Read Calendar for Monday is here.

Check the lege's website frequently for updates, as there probably will be significant calendars posted for each day this week.

Later...