As usual, all info gathered from online sources such as the website of the Arizona Legislature, and subject to change without notice.
This is likely the last week with a full committee schedule, though committees will still meet on occasion with permission of the leadership of the appropriate chamber. Strke-everything amendments, or "strikers" are running wild as legislators try to keep favored pieces of legislation alive.
While a number of very ugly bills are facing committee consideration this week, and others are expected to reach the floor later in the week, the worst item could be a presentation before Sylvia Allen's committee in the Senate on Thursday.
All posted full floor calendars can be found here.
House committee agendas can be found here.
Senate committee agendas can be found here.
All legislative bills/proposals can be found here
.
On the Senate side of the Capitol -
- Natural Resources and Transportation will meet on Monday at 2 p.m. in SHR109. Looks quiet so far.
- Judiciary will meet on Monday at 2 p.m. in SHR1. Something other than quiet. On the agenda: HB2006, allowing firearms within game refuges (sorta defeats the whole "refuge" thing, but I digress); HB2102, requiring proof of citizenship/"lawful presence" before a license or fingerprint clearance card can be issued to a person; HB2484, taking the power of county supervisors to make appointments to fill legislative vacancies and giving it to the precinct committeemen (PCs) of the same party and district as the vacating legislator; a proposed striker to HB2064, solving the nonexistent "problem" of Arizona's courts using the laws of other countries when handing down decisions. Interestingly, the language of the striker exempts corporations and other business entities from its restrictions.
- Education will meet on Monday at 2 p.m. in SHR3. On the agenda: HB2301, mandating how school districts spend education money, but "allowing" them to take money away from books and other classroom material needs to cover shortfalls in other areas; HB2706, enacting school vouchers under the name "Arizona empowerment accounts." There is a proposed amendment for this bill, but it doesn't actually seem relevent to the bill. Not sure what is going on there.
- Banking and Insurance will meet on Tuesday at 2 p.m. in SHR3. There are two bills on the agenda, both regarding workers' comp. I don't understand them, but if they are coming from this legislature, they're probably bad news for working people.
- Appropriations will meet on Tuesday at 2 p.m. in SHR109. The agenda is short, but bad. On the agenda: HB2154, relating to the privatization of correctional health services; HB2707, a "TABOR" type of bill, lowering the state's expenditure limit; and HB2718, the lege's $5 million gift to Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu (maybe leading to a new state motto - "Millions for Babeu, but not one penny for transplants!!").
- Public Safety and Human Services will meet on Wednesday at 9 a.m. in SHR3. On the agenda: HB2675, adding to the list of acts that qualify as unlawful use of food stamps. Used to be much worse - as crafted by sponsor Rep. Jeff Dial, it also would have required that food stamp cards be made in a bright orange color with the words "Government Food Stamp Card" in large black lettering. That part was amended out in the House.
- Government Reform will meet on Wednesday at 9 a.m. in SHR1. On the agenda: HB2002, barring school districts from spending money to join an association that attempts to influence an election; a striker to HB2064, relating to barring the use of laws from other countries when courts hand down decisions (may not be considered - this hasn't been assigned to this committee yet, and may not be. It is on the agenda for Judiciary earlier in the week); a striker to HB2177, relating to "presidential election; birth certificate," (no text available as yet, but that sounds like a birther bill); HB2501, mandating that rules, laws, and ordinances related to zoning, permits, and licenses be interpreted in the manner most beneficial to applicants in zoning, permit, or license matters; HB2644, barring municipalities and counties from accepting federal money for projects if that money is conditioned giving preference to union labor in the project; and a striker to HB2701 relating to "elections registration," no text available as yet, but when this bunch starts messing with elections, Arizona ends up on the losing end of an expensive lawsuit.
- Commerce and Energy will meet on Wednesday at 9 a.m. in SHR109. Looks long, but relatively quiet.
- Water, Land Use, and Rural Development will meet on Wednesday at 2 p.m in SHR3. Looks quiet thus far.
- Healthcare and Medical Liability Reform will meet on Wednesday at 2 p.m. in SHR1. Looks quiet thus far.
- Economic Development and Jobs Creation will meet on Wednesday at 2 p.m. in SHR109. Looks quiet thus far.
- Finance will meet on Thursday at 9 a.m. in SHR1. On the agenda: a striker to HB2289, titled "county supervisorial district redistricting committee" (no text available as yet, but keep an eye out for this one - when the lege starts messing with county operations, somebody, maybe a LOT of somebodys, is about to get screwed over); and HB2636, creating a flat income tax by reducing the tax rate to the lowest rate, removing deductions and exemptions that tend to be used by the poor and middle class, and locking in deductions and exemptions that tend to be used by the wealthy.
- Border Security, Federalism, and States Sovereignty will meet on Thursday at 9 a.m. in SHR109. As far as bill consideration is concerned, it looks quiet thus far. However, there is one presentatiion on the agenda with the minimalist title of "Border Security." Last week, this same committee was supposed to hear from Glenn Spencer, the leader of the hate group "American Border Patrol." After some public criticism was brought to bear on the idea of the Arizona legislature lending a platform to such a group, Spencer was "uninvited."
I'm not sure, and it will take some phone calls to find out with any certainty, but this may be a move to bring him back in a low-profile way. One thing that I *am* certain of is that such a move wouldn't be surprising.
No Senate Third Read (final passage) calendar has been posted for Monday yet; their COW calendar for Monday is here
On the House side of the Capitol -
- Rules will meet on Monday at 12:45 p.m. in HHR4. Rubber stamp - no real discussion or debate will take place.
- Ways and Means will meet on Monday at 2 p.m. in HHR1. On the agenda: SB1166, exempting certain commercial leases from locally-imposed transaction privilege taxes (TPTs, or sales taxes to the rest of us) - a benefit to corporations that do business with themselves; SB1553, creating school vouchers under the pseudonym "Arizona empowerment accounts"; a striker to SB1585 relating to "revenue allocation districts; authorities," legislative summary here.
- Energy and Natural Resources will meet on Monday at 2 p.m. in HHR4. On the agenda: SCR1024, a postcard to D.C. asserting that the Arizona lege has supreme authority over water resources contained only within Arizona (I call it the "EPA GO AWAY!" resolution); a striker to SB1517, relating to "transmission lines; environmental compatability certificates."
- Education will meet on Monday at 2 p.m or upon adjournment or recess of the floor in HHR3. On the agenda: SB1141, requiring school districts to acquire and maintain proof of Arizona residency of their students; SB1453, a "parents' rights" measure relating to controlling their childrens' exposure to educational subject matter.
- Banking and Insurance will meet on Monday at 2 p.m. or upon adjournment or recess of the floor in HHR5. On the agenda: a striker to SB1567, halving the notice period that insurers must adhere to when unilaterally changing the conditions of a policy; SB1593, allowing out-of-state insurers to sell health insurance policies in Arizona.
- Government will meet on Tuesday at 2 p.m. in HHR4. On the agenda: a striker to SB1157, turning it into a "birther" bill, from Judy "Birther" Burges herself, of course; a same-subject striker to SB1188, giving preference to married couples in adoptions, in such a way that single people will need to jump through serious hoops to adopt and same-sex couples need not apply; SB1286, imposing upon municipalities and counties a 60-day limit to approve/disapprove permit applications, after 60 days, the permit is automatically considered to be approved; SB1322, mandating that Tucson and Phoenix put out to private bid any services provided by them that cost more than $75K; SB1379, limiting the ability of municipalities and counties to regulate the sale and use of fireworks within their jurisdictions; SB1525, restricting municipalities' ability to assess and collect development fees; SB1598, severely limiting municipalities' ability to regulate business or industrial activities within their jurisdictions; SB1282, exempting religious organizations that engage in political activity from having to register as political committees; and SB1610, addressing Arizona's most pressing need, the lack of an official state firearm.
- Environment will meet on Tuesday at 2 p.m. in HHR5. Looks quiet thus far.
- Employment and Regulatory Affairs will meet on Tuesday at 2 p.m. in HHR3. On the agenda: a striker to SB1169, relating to "scope of practice; nursing; abortion." The language of the striker bars the Board of Nursing from determining the "scope of practice" for nurse practioners relating to abortion; SB1609, the Senate's version of public employee pension "reform."
- Military Affairs and Public Safety will meet on Wednesday at 8 a.m. in HHR3. On the agenda: a striker to SB1373, relating to "military affairs; families; funds; omnibus," no text available as yet; SB1495, establish a military force answerable only to the governor and funded with monies siphoned from the Arizona National Guard, which answers to the President of the United States.
- Higher Education, Innovation, and Reform will meet on Wednesday at 9 a.m in HHR2. On the agenda: SCR1005, professing the legislature's adoration of the utter wonderfulness that is private sector post-secondary educational business entitities in Arizona.
- Health and Human Services will meet on Wednesday at 9 a.m. in HHR4. On the agenda: SB1214, an interstate compact/new Confederacy bill for uniting with other states that reject federal health care reform.
- Commerce will meet on Wednesday at 9:15 a.m. in HHR5. On the agenda: SB1365, barring, in the absence of annual written permission, payroll deductions for political purposes aimed at unions in general and teachers' unions in particular.
- Appropriations will meet on Wednesday at 2 p.m in HHR1. On the agenda: a striker to SB1398, relating to "moving violations; assessment; equipment; enforcement," no text available as yet; SB1561, allowing the lege to take and reappropriate, as it sees fit, "non-custodial" federal monies such as community block grants; and SCM1005, a postcard to D.C. asking that Congress pass a Constitutional amendment requiring that the federal budget be balanced.
- Transportation will meet on Thursday at 9 a.m. in HHR3. On the agenda: a striker to SB1200. relating to "driving under the influence;interlock," no text available as yet, but almost certainly intended to weaken the statute regarding ignition interlock devices for those convicted of DUI; and SB1402, establishing a slew of new "special" license plates, including a tea party plate. It also establishes and funds a "tea party committee" that will give grants of money to groups that support tea party "principles." May violate Article 4, Part 2, Section 13 of the Arizona Constitution which requires that pieces of legislation pertain to one subject only. Ask a lawyer about that possiblity.
- Technology and Infrastructure will meet on Thursday at 9 a.m. in HHR1. Placeholder agenda right now with no items on it.
- Judiciary will meet on Thursday at 9 a.m. in HHR4. On the agenda: SB1201, a firearrms omnibus bill, with all sorts of nasty provisions, most recent lege summary sheet here.
- Agriculture and Water will meet on Thursday at 9 a.m. in HHR5. On the agenda: SB1522, relating to harvested rainwater (rainwater that is captured for future use prior to it reaches a ground channel. Pushed by former state senator Carol Springer, lobbying for Yavapai County (she's a county supervisor there), which is looking for a way to supplement its dwindling groundwater supply and opposed by water management professionals.
Monday's House Third Read calendar is posted here.
Other events:
The legislature's "Capitol Events" schedule is here.
The Arizona Capitol Times' Capitol Calendar is here.
Whew! Starting next week, this post shouldn't be so long. :)
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Arizona Legislature week in review -
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...
OK, so that's a little overwrought, and more than a little unoriginal. :)
It was definitely a "mixed bag" sort of week, with some genuinely horrible legislation moving forward while some equally horrible legislation was (surprisingly) defeated.
Oh, and the Senate majority leader lost his position as leader, though not his seat, due to a domestic violence incident.
On the bad side, in fact, the UGLY side, of the ledger:
- The Republicans in the Arizona Senate, led by Senate President Russell Pearce, gathered behind closed doors and crafted a draconian budget proposal. Once that was done, they suspended all rules regarding public notice and railroaded it through the entire Senate process in a single day.
The package of bills -
SB1612, general appropriations - passed by a party line vote, 21 - 9
SB1613, capital outlay - party line vote
SB1614, state budget procedures - party line vote
SB1615, consolidation of certain state agencies
SB1616, revenue budget reconciliation bill, or BRB (making changes to law to make the budget work) - party line vote
SB1617, K - 12 Education BRB - passed 20 - 10, 1 R crossing over
SB1618, higher education BRB - passed 20 - 10, 1 R crossing over
SB1619, health BRB - party line vote
SB1620, welfare BRB - party line vote
SB1621, criminal justice BRB - passed 19 - 11, 2 Rs crossing over
SB1622, general government BRB - party line vote
SB1623, regulation BRB - party line vote
SB1624, environment BRB - party line vote
The Democratic caucus of the Arizona Senate has a statement on the passage of the package of bills here.
All of the bills have been transmitted to the House for consideration, but they haven't been assigned for committee consideration as yet.
- Sen. Lori Klein (R-Anthem) infuriated and insulted people from all over the state when she read an "anonymous" letter, purportedly from a substitute teacher, stating that Hispanic students only want to be gang members and gangsters.
The letter was a mish-mash of various nativist propaganda and stereotypes, and both reads and sounds like a desperate attempt by Pearce and his fellow travelers to salvage the nastiest of this session's anti-immigrant measures from defeat.
Blogger Three Sonorans of the Tucson Citizen has the video of the bigoted speech here.
Note: Senator Klein gained some notoriety early in this year's legislative session when news broke that she carried a pistol in her purse on the floor of the House during the governor's state of the state address.
On the good side of the ledger:
- Five of Pearce's most stridently nativist measures went down to defeat on Thursday -
SB1308, an interstate compact/new Confederacy bill "birther" bill went down 12 - 18, with all nine Democrats joined by nine Republicans in opposition. One of the Republican "no" votes is Sen. Frank Antenori, and given his heretofore absolute adherence to the Pearce line, I'm guessing that he is the R designated to "move to reconsider" the measure on Monday. In addition to Antenori, Rs Barto, McComish, Driggs, Crandall, Yarbrough, Reagan,, (Steve) Pierce, and Nelson voted against the measure -
SB1309, a birther bill, went down 11 - 19. Same list of Rs against the bill, with the addition of Bundgaard. Another designated reconsiderer?
SB1405, turning Arizona's hospitals into immigration checkpoints, went down 12 - 18, with pretty much the same list of Rs voting no, except Antenori voted for it, while Linda Gray voted no.
SB1407, similar to SB1405 above, except it would have turned school teachers and administrators into immigration enforcement agents, went down 14 - 16, Gray remaining a "no" vote, but Barto, Yarbrough, and Antenori voting "yes."
SB1611, Pearce's attempt to out-SB1070 last year's SB1070, went down 11 - 19, with Sylvia Allen joining the same list of "no" votes as for SB1405, above. She could be the designated "reconsiderer," but I think her "no" might be legit - she voted against the measure in committee, too.
While some are trying to portray the defeat as a triumph of moral and legal sense over extremism, the fact is that the Chamber of Commerce finally weighed in on Pearce's agenda, coming out in opposition.
Having spent a significant amount of time watching the denizens of 1700 West Washington in action, I feel safe in saying that issues of morality and legality have no importance to the majority there.
Money does.
Any or all of these bills could come back via a "move to reconsider" or as a strike-everything amendment to a previously harmless measure, so don't exhale yet.
- Glenn Spencer, the leader of a hate group who had been publicly invited to speak before a Senate committee was "uninvited" when the planned visit started to garner some harsh attention. However, the "powers-that-be" in the Senate seem to be aiming for "clever" and "sneaky" - next week's agenda for the same committee includes an uncredited item -
SB1322, requring cities with a population greater than 500K (read: Phoenix and Tucson) to put out to private bid any service that costs more than $75K, passed 18 - 10, 2 Rs crossing over, and 2 Ds not voting
SB1339, repealing ALL agency rules and requring that future rules be enacted as statutes by the legislature, FAILED 11 - 17, 10 Rs crossing over, 2 Ds not voting
SB1345, limiting the number of employees that Phoenix and Tucson may have, and how much they may conpensate those employees, FAILED 12 - 16, 9 Rs crossing over, 2 Ds not voting
SB1380, mandatory "random" drug testing for recipients of public assistance, party line vote (even if this one goes nowhere in the House, its clauses are part of the Senate's budget package)
SB1453, granting parents the right to pre-censor any school course material that they feel is objectionable or possibly "harmful" to their children, passed 22 - 6, 1 D crossing over, 2 Ds not voting
SB1467, barring educational institutions from enacting or enforcing a policy or rule against carrying a firearm in a "public right of way" (aka - most any place other than a building), party line vote
SCR1028, a proposed amendment to the Arizona constitution barring payroll deductions for political purposes without an annual written authorization, passed 22 - 6, 1 D crossing over and 2 Ds not voting. The one D crossover, Sen. Steve Gallardo, did so as part of a deal to gain support for his amendment to the measure adding "corporations" to the list of organizations barred from taking payroll deductions for political purposes.
SB1222, requiring that applicants for public housing present proof of citizenship before public housing assistance can be offered to them, and requiring the public housing authorities evict any residents who allow any undocumented persons to live in their units, party line vote
SB1538, prohibiting texting while driving, PASSED 18 - 12, 9 Rs crossing over
SB1589, privatizing most ADOT/MVD functions, party line vote
SCR1035, a proposed amendment to the Arizona constitution expanding Arizona's "English is the official language" law. party line vote
SCR1016, calling for a constitutional convention to amend the US Constitution to require that Congress gain the approval of a majority of state legislatures before raising the federal debt limit, failed on a 15 - 15 tie, on reconsideration (it had failed once before). 6 very conservative Rs crossed over on this one
Other bills of interest that went before the House:
HB2154, relating to the privatization of correctional health services, passed with 3 Ds crossing overr
HB2636, creating a flat income tax rate for Arizona, including the repeal of certain "normal" exemptions and deductions for things like being blind, over 65, or a dependent, while permanently enacting certain deductions and exemptions for business and the wealthy (summary prepared by lege staff here), party line vote
HB2706, school vouchers, under the name "Arizona empowerment accounts," party line vote
HB2301, placing restrictions on the way that school districts can spend their budgets, but "makes up" for it by allowing districts to take money from "soft capital" (books, desks, etc.), party line
HB2313, stating that the state can use eminent domain to take federally-controlled land, party line vote
HB2070, creating an "Arizona State Guard" military force whose activation isn't contingent on the AZ National Guard being busy first. Rep. Ruben Gallego amended the measure to include a provision that members of the state guard take an "oath to uphold the United States' Constitution," party line vote
HB2089, banning, with certain exceptions transporting minors (<18 years old) in the open bed of a pickup truck, PASSED with 16 Rs crossing over to vote with all of the Ds
A preview of next week coming up tomorrow...
OK, so that's a little overwrought, and more than a little unoriginal. :)
It was definitely a "mixed bag" sort of week, with some genuinely horrible legislation moving forward while some equally horrible legislation was (surprisingly) defeated.
Oh, and the Senate majority leader lost his position as leader, though not his seat, due to a domestic violence incident.
On the bad side, in fact, the UGLY side, of the ledger:
- The Republicans in the Arizona Senate, led by Senate President Russell Pearce, gathered behind closed doors and crafted a draconian budget proposal. Once that was done, they suspended all rules regarding public notice and railroaded it through the entire Senate process in a single day.
The package of bills -
SB1612, general appropriations - passed by a party line vote, 21 - 9
SB1613, capital outlay - party line vote
SB1614, state budget procedures - party line vote
SB1615, consolidation of certain state agencies
SB1616, revenue budget reconciliation bill, or BRB (making changes to law to make the budget work) - party line vote
SB1617, K - 12 Education BRB - passed 20 - 10, 1 R crossing over
SB1618, higher education BRB - passed 20 - 10, 1 R crossing over
SB1619, health BRB - party line vote
SB1620, welfare BRB - party line vote
SB1621, criminal justice BRB - passed 19 - 11, 2 Rs crossing over
SB1622, general government BRB - party line vote
SB1623, regulation BRB - party line vote
SB1624, environment BRB - party line vote
The Democratic caucus of the Arizona Senate has a statement on the passage of the package of bills here.
All of the bills have been transmitted to the House for consideration, but they haven't been assigned for committee consideration as yet.
- Sen. Lori Klein (R-Anthem) infuriated and insulted people from all over the state when she read an "anonymous" letter, purportedly from a substitute teacher, stating that Hispanic students only want to be gang members and gangsters.
The letter was a mish-mash of various nativist propaganda and stereotypes, and both reads and sounds like a desperate attempt by Pearce and his fellow travelers to salvage the nastiest of this session's anti-immigrant measures from defeat.
Blogger Three Sonorans of the Tucson Citizen has the video of the bigoted speech here.
Note: Senator Klein gained some notoriety early in this year's legislative session when news broke that she carried a pistol in her purse on the floor of the House during the governor's state of the state address.
On the good side of the ledger:
- Five of Pearce's most stridently nativist measures went down to defeat on Thursday -
SB1308, an interstate compact/new Confederacy bill "birther" bill went down 12 - 18, with all nine Democrats joined by nine Republicans in opposition. One of the Republican "no" votes is Sen. Frank Antenori, and given his heretofore absolute adherence to the Pearce line, I'm guessing that he is the R designated to "move to reconsider" the measure on Monday. In addition to Antenori, Rs Barto, McComish, Driggs, Crandall, Yarbrough, Reagan,, (Steve) Pierce, and Nelson voted against the measure -
SB1309, a birther bill, went down 11 - 19. Same list of Rs against the bill, with the addition of Bundgaard. Another designated reconsiderer?
SB1405, turning Arizona's hospitals into immigration checkpoints, went down 12 - 18, with pretty much the same list of Rs voting no, except Antenori voted for it, while Linda Gray voted no.
SB1407, similar to SB1405 above, except it would have turned school teachers and administrators into immigration enforcement agents, went down 14 - 16, Gray remaining a "no" vote, but Barto, Yarbrough, and Antenori voting "yes."
SB1611, Pearce's attempt to out-SB1070 last year's SB1070, went down 11 - 19, with Sylvia Allen joining the same list of "no" votes as for SB1405, above. She could be the designated "reconsiderer," but I think her "no" might be legit - she voted against the measure in committee, too.
While some are trying to portray the defeat as a triumph of moral and legal sense over extremism, the fact is that the Chamber of Commerce finally weighed in on Pearce's agenda, coming out in opposition.
Having spent a significant amount of time watching the denizens of 1700 West Washington in action, I feel safe in saying that issues of morality and legality have no importance to the majority there.
Money does.
Any or all of these bills could come back via a "move to reconsider" or as a strike-everything amendment to a previously harmless measure, so don't exhale yet.
- Glenn Spencer, the leader of a hate group who had been publicly invited to speak before a Senate committee was "uninvited" when the planned visit started to garner some harsh attention. However, the "powers-that-be" in the Senate seem to be aiming for "clever" and "sneaky" - next week's agenda for the same committee includes an uncredited item -
4. PresentationOther bills of interest that went before the Senate ("party line vote" means that all members of a party voted the same way on a given measure, number not casting a vote noted only when there were crossovers):
Border Security
SB1322, requring cities with a population greater than 500K (read: Phoenix and Tucson) to put out to private bid any service that costs more than $75K, passed 18 - 10, 2 Rs crossing over, and 2 Ds not voting
SB1339, repealing ALL agency rules and requring that future rules be enacted as statutes by the legislature, FAILED 11 - 17, 10 Rs crossing over, 2 Ds not voting
SB1345, limiting the number of employees that Phoenix and Tucson may have, and how much they may conpensate those employees, FAILED 12 - 16, 9 Rs crossing over, 2 Ds not voting
SB1380, mandatory "random" drug testing for recipients of public assistance, party line vote (even if this one goes nowhere in the House, its clauses are part of the Senate's budget package)
SB1453, granting parents the right to pre-censor any school course material that they feel is objectionable or possibly "harmful" to their children, passed 22 - 6, 1 D crossing over, 2 Ds not voting
SB1467, barring educational institutions from enacting or enforcing a policy or rule against carrying a firearm in a "public right of way" (aka - most any place other than a building), party line vote
SCR1028, a proposed amendment to the Arizona constitution barring payroll deductions for political purposes without an annual written authorization, passed 22 - 6, 1 D crossing over and 2 Ds not voting. The one D crossover, Sen. Steve Gallardo, did so as part of a deal to gain support for his amendment to the measure adding "corporations" to the list of organizations barred from taking payroll deductions for political purposes.
SB1222, requiring that applicants for public housing present proof of citizenship before public housing assistance can be offered to them, and requiring the public housing authorities evict any residents who allow any undocumented persons to live in their units, party line vote
SB1538, prohibiting texting while driving, PASSED 18 - 12, 9 Rs crossing over
SB1589, privatizing most ADOT/MVD functions, party line vote
SCR1035, a proposed amendment to the Arizona constitution expanding Arizona's "English is the official language" law. party line vote
SCR1016, calling for a constitutional convention to amend the US Constitution to require that Congress gain the approval of a majority of state legislatures before raising the federal debt limit, failed on a 15 - 15 tie, on reconsideration (it had failed once before). 6 very conservative Rs crossed over on this one
Other bills of interest that went before the House:
HB2154, relating to the privatization of correctional health services, passed with 3 Ds crossing overr
HB2636, creating a flat income tax rate for Arizona, including the repeal of certain "normal" exemptions and deductions for things like being blind, over 65, or a dependent, while permanently enacting certain deductions and exemptions for business and the wealthy (summary prepared by lege staff here), party line vote
HB2706, school vouchers, under the name "Arizona empowerment accounts," party line vote
HB2301, placing restrictions on the way that school districts can spend their budgets, but "makes up" for it by allowing districts to take money from "soft capital" (books, desks, etc.), party line
HB2313, stating that the state can use eminent domain to take federally-controlled land, party line vote
HB2070, creating an "Arizona State Guard" military force whose activation isn't contingent on the AZ National Guard being busy first. Rep. Ruben Gallego amended the measure to include a provision that members of the state guard take an "oath to uphold the United States' Constitution," party line vote
HB2089, banning, with certain exceptions transporting minors (<18 years old) in the open bed of a pickup truck, PASSED with 16 Rs crossing over to vote with all of the Ds
A preview of next week coming up tomorrow...
Thursday, March 17, 2011
A glimmer of sanity: Five nativist bills go down to defeat in the Arizona Senate
I really enjoy the idea of having a new job (and I really enjoy the job itself, but that's irrelevant to this post), but it does have one downside - I miss all the good stuff that happens during the day.
And today, there was some actual good stuff going down at the Senate.
Five, count 'em - FIVE - of Russell Pearce's pet nativist measures went down to defeat in the Senate today, Thursday, March 17, 2011 -
SB1308, an interstate compact/new Confederacy bill "birther" bill went down 12 - 18, with all nine Democrats joined by nine Republicans in opposition. One of the Republican "no" votes is Sen. Frank Antenori, and given his heretofore absolute adherence to the Pearce line, I'm guessing that he is the R designated to "move to reconsider" the measure on Monday. In addition to Antenori, Rs Barto, McComish, Driggs, Crandall, Yarbrough, Reagan,, (Steve) Pierce, and Nelson voted against the measure.
SB1309, a birther bill, went down 11 - 19. Same list of Rs against the bill, with the addition of Bundgaard. Another designated reconsiderer?
SB1405, turning Arizona's hospitals into immigration checkpoints, went down 12 - 18, with pretty much the same list of Rs voting no, except Antenori voted for it, while Linda Gray voted no.
SB1407, similar to SB1405 above, except it would have turned school teachers and administrators into immigration enforcement agents, went down 14 - 16, Gray remaining a "no" vote, but Barto, Yarbrough, and Antenori voting "yes."
SB1611, Pearce's attempt to out-SB1070 last year's SB1070, went down 11 - 19, with Sylvia Allen joining the same list of "no" votes as for SB1405, above. She could be the designated "reconsiderer," but I think her "no" might be legit - she voted against the measure in committee, too.
Many of the "no" votes may have been influenced not by morality or public opinion, but instead by the fact that one of the biggest GOP benefactors, the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, has *finally* weighed in on the goings-on at the Capitol, sending Pearce a letter advising him to cool it with the bigoted stuff - it's seriously cutting into their bottom lines.
There was other good news at the Senate today - Glenn Spencer, the leader of the hate group American Border Patrol, was "uninvited" from an appearance before the Senate Border Security, Federalism, and States Sovereignty Committee. I wrote about this scheduled appearance last week, and this week, a number of MSM outlets also shed some light on Mr. Spencer and his nativist and anti-semitic acts and rants.
Enough pressure finally mounted to force Pearce and his close friend, committee chair Sylvia Allen, to alter course.
Of course, these failed bills could come back as soon as Monday (move to reconsider) or could come back via a strike-everything amendment at any time before sine die (the end of the legislative session).
And Mr. Spencer could be invited back at any point in time when Pearce, Allen, and the others think that no one is paying attention.
However, for now, we all get to enjoy one weekend this spring - ASU baseball has a three game set against Oral Roberts University on tap, and the Cactus League is in full swing (and this late in the spring, some of the regulars are playing almost 2/3 of a game! :) ). If baseball isn't your thing (for shame! :)) ), the Arizona Renaissance Festival is still going strong this weekend.
And if you just can't stay away from politics, at least do something that will let you enjoy the weather - volunteer to join the effort to Recall Russell Pearce in Mesa.
Monday will be here soon enough.
And today, there was some actual good stuff going down at the Senate.
Five, count 'em - FIVE - of Russell Pearce's pet nativist measures went down to defeat in the Senate today, Thursday, March 17, 2011 -
SB1308, an interstate compact/new Confederacy bill "birther" bill went down 12 - 18, with all nine Democrats joined by nine Republicans in opposition. One of the Republican "no" votes is Sen. Frank Antenori, and given his heretofore absolute adherence to the Pearce line, I'm guessing that he is the R designated to "move to reconsider" the measure on Monday. In addition to Antenori, Rs Barto, McComish, Driggs, Crandall, Yarbrough, Reagan,, (Steve) Pierce, and Nelson voted against the measure.
SB1309, a birther bill, went down 11 - 19. Same list of Rs against the bill, with the addition of Bundgaard. Another designated reconsiderer?
SB1405, turning Arizona's hospitals into immigration checkpoints, went down 12 - 18, with pretty much the same list of Rs voting no, except Antenori voted for it, while Linda Gray voted no.
SB1407, similar to SB1405 above, except it would have turned school teachers and administrators into immigration enforcement agents, went down 14 - 16, Gray remaining a "no" vote, but Barto, Yarbrough, and Antenori voting "yes."
SB1611, Pearce's attempt to out-SB1070 last year's SB1070, went down 11 - 19, with Sylvia Allen joining the same list of "no" votes as for SB1405, above. She could be the designated "reconsiderer," but I think her "no" might be legit - she voted against the measure in committee, too.
Many of the "no" votes may have been influenced not by morality or public opinion, but instead by the fact that one of the biggest GOP benefactors, the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, has *finally* weighed in on the goings-on at the Capitol, sending Pearce a letter advising him to cool it with the bigoted stuff - it's seriously cutting into their bottom lines.
There was other good news at the Senate today - Glenn Spencer, the leader of the hate group American Border Patrol, was "uninvited" from an appearance before the Senate Border Security, Federalism, and States Sovereignty Committee. I wrote about this scheduled appearance last week, and this week, a number of MSM outlets also shed some light on Mr. Spencer and his nativist and anti-semitic acts and rants.
Enough pressure finally mounted to force Pearce and his close friend, committee chair Sylvia Allen, to alter course.
Of course, these failed bills could come back as soon as Monday (move to reconsider) or could come back via a strike-everything amendment at any time before sine die (the end of the legislative session).
And Mr. Spencer could be invited back at any point in time when Pearce, Allen, and the others think that no one is paying attention.
However, for now, we all get to enjoy one weekend this spring - ASU baseball has a three game set against Oral Roberts University on tap, and the Cactus League is in full swing (and this late in the spring, some of the regulars are playing almost 2/3 of a game! :) ). If baseball isn't your thing (for shame! :)) ), the Arizona Renaissance Festival is still going strong this weekend.
And if you just can't stay away from politics, at least do something that will let you enjoy the weather - volunteer to join the effort to Recall Russell Pearce in Mesa.
Monday will be here soon enough.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
The Senate Railroad Is Chugging Right Along...
As we speak, the Senate is conducting floor consideration of Russell Pearce's "budget" bills.
The bills were introduced late on Tuesday (yesterday), received committee consideration this morning and afternoon, Caucus consideration this evening, and now is going into Committee of the Whole, or COW, to consider amendments.
The live stream of COW can be found here.
Chooooo, chooooooo....
The bills were introduced late on Tuesday (yesterday), received committee consideration this morning and afternoon, Caucus consideration this evening, and now is going into Committee of the Whole, or COW, to consider amendments.
The live stream of COW can be found here.
Chooooo, chooooooo....
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Pearce's budget proposal is up
As he threatened/promised, Senate President Russell Pearce has put out a budget proposal and he plans to railroad it through tomorrow. A special meeting of the Senate Appropriations Committee is scheduled for 9:30 a.m., with a Rules Committee session to follow immediately after.
I don't have time for a complete analysis tonight, but a glance through a couple of them...well, it's ugly.
Pearce's budget contains, from Rep. Steve Farley, via his emailed Farley Report:
Here they are, and I'm linking to the bill summary page instead of my normal practice of linking to the bill text because while lege staff hasn't had time to put up a summary for each bill, they will do so eventually. To see the actual text of the bills, click on the link, then on "show versions", and then on ".pdf" or "html," whichever you prefer -
SB1612, general appropriations 2011-2012
SB1613, 2011-2012; capital outlay
SB1614, 2011-2012; state budget procedures
SB1615, consolidation; state agencies
SB1616, revenue; 2011-2012; budget reconciliation
SB1617, K-12 education; 2011-2012; budget reconciliation
SB1618, higher education; 2011-2012; budget reconciliation
SB1619, health; 2011-2012; budget reconciliation
SB1620, welfare; 2011-2012; budget reconciliation
SB1621, criminal justice; 2011-2012; budget reconciliation
SB1622, general government; 2011-2012; budget reconciliation
SB1623, regulation; 2011-2012; budget reconciliation
SB1624, environment; 2011-2012; budget reconciliation
I don't have time for a complete analysis tonight, but a glance through a couple of them...well, it's ugly.
Pearce's budget contains, from Rep. Steve Farley, via his emailed Farley Report:
--> Nearly $1.3 billion in cuts, including nearly $750 million to K-12 public education, $310 million to universities and community colleges, $70 million more from health and human services, child protective services, and elder protective services, and $40 million more spread out across all state departments.
--> Like the Governor, 280,000 people kicked off healthcare, including 5,200 seriously mentally ill.
--> Cash-poor counties will have to come up with $150,000,000 more to pay back to the general fund, and hundreds more millions in state shared revenues will be taken from our struggling cities -- both these move will endanger local police and fire protection.
Here they are, and I'm linking to the bill summary page instead of my normal practice of linking to the bill text because while lege staff hasn't had time to put up a summary for each bill, they will do so eventually. To see the actual text of the bills, click on the link, then on "show versions", and then on ".pdf" or "html," whichever you prefer -
SB1612, general appropriations 2011-2012
SB1613, 2011-2012; capital outlay
SB1614, 2011-2012; state budget procedures
SB1615, consolidation; state agencies
SB1616, revenue; 2011-2012; budget reconciliation
SB1617, K-12 education; 2011-2012; budget reconciliation
SB1618, higher education; 2011-2012; budget reconciliation
SB1619, health; 2011-2012; budget reconciliation
SB1620, welfare; 2011-2012; budget reconciliation
SB1621, criminal justice; 2011-2012; budget reconciliation
SB1622, general government; 2011-2012; budget reconciliation
SB1623, regulation; 2011-2012; budget reconciliation
SB1624, environment; 2011-2012; budget reconciliation
Not-so-surprising breaking news: Bundgaard out as AZ Senate majority leader
From the Arizona Capitol Times' Luige del Puerto -
This was obviously coming, and speculation has been rampant over who the next R "leader" will be.
Initially, I believed that Sen. Ron Gould (R-Confederate Flag) was angling for the spot, but the Arizona Guardian has a story up saying that he isn't running.
Your guess is as good as mine where they are going to go with their choice for this rather symbolic job, but I feel safe in predicting that the direction won't be toward the middle.
Embattled Sen. Scott Bundgaard was removed from his position as Senate Majority Leader during a closed-door meeting with colleagues on Tuesday morning.While the article goes on to state that the Rs need to choose a new leader soon, the reality is that the real "leader" of the R caucus in the Senate in Russell Pearce, the President of the Senate. I'm oversimplifying this a little, but just a little - in both the AZ House and the AZ Senate, the "majority" leader is more the assistant to the Speaker and President, respectively, than an actual "leader."
The Republican caucus, however, hasn’t yet selected a new leader.
This was obviously coming, and speculation has been rampant over who the next R "leader" will be.
Initially, I believed that Sen. Ron Gould (R-Confederate Flag) was angling for the spot, but the Arizona Guardian has a story up saying that he isn't running.
Your guess is as good as mine where they are going to go with their choice for this rather symbolic job, but I feel safe in predicting that the direction won't be toward the middle.
Arizona legislature gets sneaky in its embrace of a nuclear future for Arizona's public schools
An agenda for a meeting of the Senate Rules Committee for Tuesday has been posted, with the committee scheduled to meet upon adjournment of the Senate floor session.
There are two items on it:
1. Permission for the late introduction of 13 budget-related bills. Given yesterday's news that Senate President Russell Pearce wants to push through a proposed annual budget tomorrow, this isn't really a surprise (though his bills are sure to be garbage.)
2. Rules committee consideration of a bill was assigned to two committees, but that only made it through one (Commerce and Energy). So instead of pushing to get it on the second committee's agenda (Appropriations), where it would face public scrutiny and testimony, something that, in light of recent events in Japan, could be problematical for supporters of the measure -
SB1548, tying public education funding to the establishment of a nuclear fuel recycling facility in Arizona.
Now, to be fair to the bill's sponsor, Sen. Al Melvin, this was introduced long before the disasters in Japan hit. It was merely bad then.
However, the sneakiness of removing this bill from a committee to avoid public testimony removes any "benefit of the doubt" that might have otherwise been merited.
This process is a betrayal of the principles of government tranparency and public trust.
This bill is a triumph of ideology over reality.
If you have set up an account on the lege's "Request To Speak" system but can't make it down to the Capitol on short notice (and most of us cannot, which is one of the advantages of a move like this), visit the lege's site to weigh in on the Rules Committee agenda.
There are two items on it:
1. Permission for the late introduction of 13 budget-related bills. Given yesterday's news that Senate President Russell Pearce wants to push through a proposed annual budget tomorrow, this isn't really a surprise (though his bills are sure to be garbage.)
2. Rules committee consideration of a bill was assigned to two committees, but that only made it through one (Commerce and Energy). So instead of pushing to get it on the second committee's agenda (Appropriations), where it would face public scrutiny and testimony, something that, in light of recent events in Japan, could be problematical for supporters of the measure -
SB1548, tying public education funding to the establishment of a nuclear fuel recycling facility in Arizona.
Now, to be fair to the bill's sponsor, Sen. Al Melvin, this was introduced long before the disasters in Japan hit. It was merely bad then.
However, the sneakiness of removing this bill from a committee to avoid public testimony removes any "benefit of the doubt" that might have otherwise been merited.
This process is a betrayal of the principles of government tranparency and public trust.
This bill is a triumph of ideology over reality.
If you have set up an account on the lege's "Request To Speak" system but can't make it down to the Capitol on short notice (and most of us cannot, which is one of the advantages of a move like this), visit the lege's site to weigh in on the Rules Committee agenda.
Monday, March 14, 2011
AZ budget action Wednesday?
From AP, via the Arizona Capitol Times -
As yet, nothing budget-related is posted on the lege's website, and given Pearce's stated intent to push through his proposal (whatever that may be) on Wednesday, nothing may be posted until Wednesday morning.
Stay tuned...
Arizona Senate President Russell Pearce says the Senate will act Wednesday on a proposed state budget even though it doesn’t have an agreement with Republican Gov. Jan Brewer.According to the article, the R leadership in the House isn't on board with this move - as far as they're concerned, negotiations with the governor and the Rs in the Senate are still ongoing.
Pearce says Republican senators are anxious to approve a budget and that Senate action could take place all on one day.
As yet, nothing budget-related is posted on the lege's website, and given Pearce's stated intent to push through his proposal (whatever that may be) on Wednesday, nothing may be posted until Wednesday morning.
Stay tuned...
Next hearing in Andrew Thomas' disciplinary case: April 14, 2011
On March 10, the principals of the Bar disciplinary case against Andrew Thomas, former Maricopa County Attorney, and two of his former assistants met before Presiding Disciplinary Judge William O'Neil.
For background, a Phoenix New Times' story on the case is here.
The hearing, with Thomas, his former assistants Rachel Alexander and Lisa Aubuchon, their attorneys, and Independent Bar Counsel John Gleason, was for the purpose of setting up a basic schedule for future proceedings.
And, of course, being lawyers, for filing motions. Lots of trees are giving up their lives for this case. :)
Most of the motions filed were responses to earlier motions (did I forget to mention that everyone involved is a lawyer? :) ). The judge accepted one motion that was filed "in confidence." As such, that motion and the documentation associated with it aren't open to the public.
The lawyers have until Wednesday, March 16 to file responses to the various motions or a default decision can./will be handed down.
The upshot is that nothing was decided, other than to meet again on April 14. At that time, the judge is expected to rule on whether future proceedings will be televised or even open to the public.
Thomas and Aubuchon have objected to both ideas, and at least one local media outlet has requested permission to televise future proceedings.
Coverage from AP, via KOLD TV in Tucson, here.
More to come...in a month or so. :)
For background, a Phoenix New Times' story on the case is here.
The hearing, with Thomas, his former assistants Rachel Alexander and Lisa Aubuchon, their attorneys, and Independent Bar Counsel John Gleason, was for the purpose of setting up a basic schedule for future proceedings.
And, of course, being lawyers, for filing motions. Lots of trees are giving up their lives for this case. :)
Most of the motions filed were responses to earlier motions (did I forget to mention that everyone involved is a lawyer? :) ). The judge accepted one motion that was filed "in confidence." As such, that motion and the documentation associated with it aren't open to the public.
The lawyers have until Wednesday, March 16 to file responses to the various motions or a default decision can./will be handed down.
The upshot is that nothing was decided, other than to meet again on April 14. At that time, the judge is expected to rule on whether future proceedings will be televised or even open to the public.
Thomas and Aubuchon have objected to both ideas, and at least one local media outlet has requested permission to televise future proceedings.
Coverage from AP, via KOLD TV in Tucson, here.
More to come...in a month or so. :)
The coming week: legislative edition
As usual, all info gathered from the website of the Arizona Legislature and subject to change without notice.
Monday is expected to be a busy day at the Capitol, as there are expected to be lots of folks there to for Spring Break At The State Capitol. People from all over the state are expected to be there to protest the xenophobic hysteria and fiscal malpractice of Republican state legislators. During the even, there will be a candlelight vigil for the transplant patients condemned by Jan Brewer's Death Panels.
All floor calendars can be found here; all House committee agendas can be found here; all Senate committee agendas can be found here.
On the Senate side of the Capitol:
- Rules will meet on Monday at 1 p.m. in Caucus Room 1. While there are a few bad bills on this agenda, they aren't *bad*. This committee is a rubber stamp anyway.
- Natural Resources and Transportation will meet on Monday at 2 p.m. in SHR109. Looks relatively quiet so far, though they are hearing the executive nomination of Fred Arnett for the Citizens Transportation Oversight Committee. There's a "F. Rockne Arnett currently serving as chair of the Committee.
- Judiciary will meet on Monday at 2 p.m. in SHR1. Not so quiet. On the agenda - HB2191, barring undocumented immigrants from being awarded punitive damages in a lawsuit (aimed at a case in southern AZ where a rancher assaulted and held some undocumenteds at gunpoint and they successfully sued him); HB2423, setting up "guidelines" for the AG's office when it comes to retaining private attorneys; reads more like a "first step to privatizing the AG's office"; HB2645, setting up a process for those who have forfeited their rights to possess a firearm to regain that right, a proposed amendment to the measure would also carve out an exception to laws regarding the barring of certain people from possessing firearms. The proposed amendment would exempt "retired peace officers" from most firearms regulations and make it next to impossible to require one to surrender a firearm.
- Education will meet on Monday at 2 p.m. in SHR3. Two bills on the agenda: HB2565, creating a special set of academic "rights" for religious students at public universities and community colleges; HB2710, creating a committee to craft legislation to move school funding from a per-pupil, "hours of instruction" model to an "outcome based" model, games played in the House to make this an "emergency" measure that will go into effect as soon as the governor signs it.
- Veterans and Military Affairs will meet on Tuesday at 9 a.m. in SHR3. Looks relatively quiet so far.
- Banking and Insurance will meet on Tuesday at 2 p.m. in SHR3. Not sure if this one is quiet - lots of workers comp-related measures on the agenda.
- Appropriations will meet on Tuesday at 2 p.m. in SHR109. Short agenda, but it includes HB2577, allowing the legislature to claim and reappropriate "non-custodial" federal monies (such as block grants) as it see fits.
- Public Safety and Human Services will meet on Wednesday at 9 a.m. in SHR3. On the agenda: HB2675,adding to the list of things that constitute unlawful use of food stamps. As originally introduced by Rep. Jeff Dial, also would have required that food stamps cards be bright orange and have printed in large bold letter "Government Food Stamp Card." That provision was struck out by cooler heads in a House committee.
- Government Reform will meet on Wednesday at 9 a.m. in SHR1. On the agenda: HB2002, barring school districts from spending monies for a membership in an organization that attempts to influence an election, except for chambers of commerce (of course!); HB2644, prohibiting political entities in Arizona from accepting federal money for a project if that acceptance means that union labor must be utilzed for the project.
- Commerce and Energy wll meet on Wednesday at 9 a.m. in SHR109. On the agenda: HB2341, "Repeals language that allows additional payment assessments to the Residential Contractors’ Recovery Fund." (quoting from the summary prepared by legislative staff); HB2541, allowing employers to fire employees for being under the influence of legally-prescribed marijuana.
- Water, Land Use and Rural Development will meet on Wednesday at 2 p.m. in SHR3. On the agenda: a striker to HB2485, relating to "liquefied petroleum gas; emergencies, liability." No text available as yet, though a bill with the same title and from the same sponsor (Gowan), HB2470, died in the House.
- Finance will meet on Thursday at 9 a.m in SHR1. Two bills on the agenda: HB2338, establishing limits for secondary property taxes levied by special library, jail, and health districts; a striker to HB2407, relating to "community college correction; levy amount." No text available as yet, but HB2144, a bill that died in the House, has the same subject.
- Border Security, Federalism, and States Sovereignty will meet on Thursday at 9 a.m. in SHR109. This agenda has been covered in a separate post, but to summarize: the Arizona State Senate is giving a platform to the leader of a recognized hate group.
A Senate Third Read (final passage) calendar for the Senate has yet to be posted for Monday. However, the Committee of the Whole (COW) calendar has been posted. It's short (five bills) and all bad.
On the House side of the Capitol -
- Rules will meet on Monday at 1 p.m. in HHR4. Long agenda, lots of bad bills, rubber stamp. Probably foreshadowing the week in the House.
- Ways and Means will meet on Monday at 2 p.m. in HHR1. On the agenda: SB1226, placing limits on the ability of municipalities to levy secondary property taxes.
- Energy and Natural Resources will meet on Monday at 2 p.m. in HHR4. Looks quiet so far.
- Education will meet on Monday at 2 p.m., or upon adjournment or recess of the floor session, in HHR3. Looks quiet so far.
- Banking and Insurance will meet on Monday at 2 p.m., or on adjournment of the floor, in HHR5. On the agenda: a striker to SB1259 (which will be subject to this amendment, in turn).
- Government will meet on Tuesday at 2 pm. in HHR4. Long agenda, with some very bad bills on it: SB1286, imposing a time limit on municipalities and counties for approving/disapproving a permit - after 60 days, the permit is considered to be automatically approved; SB1288, giving religious professionals an out for unprofessional conduct; SB1329, barring public employees from lobbying governmental entities during their work hours (targeted at teachers for daring to protest massive cuts to public education funding); SB1465, barring the acceptance of consular issued ID cards from being accepted as valid ID; SB1523, placing restrictions on how and why sanitary districts can enact a moratorium on contrstuction or land development; SB1610, saving Arizona from the abject humiliation of not having named an official state firearm.
- Employment and Regulatory Affairs will meet on Tuesday at 2 p.m. in HHR3. Curiously, this agenda includes a couple of bills that are on the agendas listed about: SB1259 (on BI Monday) and SB1288 (Gov at the same time as this meeting). Also includes a number of public pension-related bills.
- Health and Human Services will meet on Wednesday at 9 a.m. in HHR4. Nugget of ugly on the agenda: SB1187, a "gift" from the Center for ArizonaTheocracy Policy that would lengthen the amount of time it takes to finalize a contested divorce (currently 60 days, under this measure one party could petition for a longer period and the other party to the divorce would have no input on the matter.)
- Commerce will meet on Wednesday at 10 a.m. in HHR5. Looks quiet so far.
- Appropriations will meet on Wednesday at 2 p.m. in HHR1. Only two bills on the agenda: SB1135, appropriating nearly $3.6 million (over two fiscal years) to the state's Nuclear Emergency Management Fund, timely but not related to the growing nuclear catastrophe in Japan; SB1406, an interstate compact/new Confederacy measure relating to a border fence.
- Transportation will meet on Thursday at 9 a.m. in HHR3. Looks quiet thus far.
- Technology and Infrastructure will meet on Thursday at 9 a.m. in HHR1. Looks quiet thus far.
- Judiciary will meet on Thursday at 9 a.m. in HHR4. On the agenda: SB1225, making forgery related to the acquisition of a drop house a class three felony; SB1412, innocuously titled "early voting revisions," it targets political organizations, mostly Democratic and union, that work to ensure that the early ballots of their supporters get to election officials - the measure makes it a class 5 felony to possess more than six voted early ballots and makes it a class 4 felony to "offer or provide any consideration" to another person to acquire an early ballot (like offering to make life a little easier for someone else by carrying a ballot to an election official?); SB1546, eminent domain on federal land; SCR1025, repealing Clean Elections indirectly, by banning the use of public monies for political campaigns.
- Agriculture and Water will meet on Thursday at 9 a.m. in HHR5. Two presenters and zero bills on the agenda.
On Monday's Third Read (final passage) calendar for the House -
- HB2154, relating to the privatization of correctional health services
- HB2636, implementing a flat tax, with exemptions that favor the wealthy
- HB2706, "Arizona empowerment accounts" - better known as school vouchers
Other events at the Capitol and environs:
The lege's calendar of events is here.
The Arizona Capitol Times' "Capitol Calendar" is here.
Monday is expected to be a busy day at the Capitol, as there are expected to be lots of folks there to for Spring Break At The State Capitol. People from all over the state are expected to be there to protest the xenophobic hysteria and fiscal malpractice of Republican state legislators. During the even, there will be a candlelight vigil for the transplant patients condemned by Jan Brewer's Death Panels.
All floor calendars can be found here; all House committee agendas can be found here; all Senate committee agendas can be found here.
On the Senate side of the Capitol:
- Rules will meet on Monday at 1 p.m. in Caucus Room 1. While there are a few bad bills on this agenda, they aren't *bad*. This committee is a rubber stamp anyway.
- Natural Resources and Transportation will meet on Monday at 2 p.m. in SHR109. Looks relatively quiet so far, though they are hearing the executive nomination of Fred Arnett for the Citizens Transportation Oversight Committee. There's a "F. Rockne Arnett currently serving as chair of the Committee.
- Judiciary will meet on Monday at 2 p.m. in SHR1. Not so quiet. On the agenda - HB2191, barring undocumented immigrants from being awarded punitive damages in a lawsuit (aimed at a case in southern AZ where a rancher assaulted and held some undocumenteds at gunpoint and they successfully sued him); HB2423, setting up "guidelines" for the AG's office when it comes to retaining private attorneys; reads more like a "first step to privatizing the AG's office"; HB2645, setting up a process for those who have forfeited their rights to possess a firearm to regain that right, a proposed amendment to the measure would also carve out an exception to laws regarding the barring of certain people from possessing firearms. The proposed amendment would exempt "retired peace officers" from most firearms regulations and make it next to impossible to require one to surrender a firearm.
- Education will meet on Monday at 2 p.m. in SHR3. Two bills on the agenda: HB2565, creating a special set of academic "rights" for religious students at public universities and community colleges; HB2710, creating a committee to craft legislation to move school funding from a per-pupil, "hours of instruction" model to an "outcome based" model, games played in the House to make this an "emergency" measure that will go into effect as soon as the governor signs it.
- Veterans and Military Affairs will meet on Tuesday at 9 a.m. in SHR3. Looks relatively quiet so far.
- Banking and Insurance will meet on Tuesday at 2 p.m. in SHR3. Not sure if this one is quiet - lots of workers comp-related measures on the agenda.
- Appropriations will meet on Tuesday at 2 p.m. in SHR109. Short agenda, but it includes HB2577, allowing the legislature to claim and reappropriate "non-custodial" federal monies (such as block grants) as it see fits.
- Public Safety and Human Services will meet on Wednesday at 9 a.m. in SHR3. On the agenda: HB2675,adding to the list of things that constitute unlawful use of food stamps. As originally introduced by Rep. Jeff Dial, also would have required that food stamps cards be bright orange and have printed in large bold letter "Government Food Stamp Card." That provision was struck out by cooler heads in a House committee.
- Government Reform will meet on Wednesday at 9 a.m. in SHR1. On the agenda: HB2002, barring school districts from spending monies for a membership in an organization that attempts to influence an election, except for chambers of commerce (of course!); HB2644, prohibiting political entities in Arizona from accepting federal money for a project if that acceptance means that union labor must be utilzed for the project.
- Commerce and Energy wll meet on Wednesday at 9 a.m. in SHR109. On the agenda: HB2341, "Repeals language that allows additional payment assessments to the Residential Contractors’ Recovery Fund." (quoting from the summary prepared by legislative staff); HB2541, allowing employers to fire employees for being under the influence of legally-prescribed marijuana.
- Water, Land Use and Rural Development will meet on Wednesday at 2 p.m. in SHR3. On the agenda: a striker to HB2485, relating to "liquefied petroleum gas; emergencies, liability." No text available as yet, though a bill with the same title and from the same sponsor (Gowan), HB2470, died in the House.
- Finance will meet on Thursday at 9 a.m in SHR1. Two bills on the agenda: HB2338, establishing limits for secondary property taxes levied by special library, jail, and health districts; a striker to HB2407, relating to "community college correction; levy amount." No text available as yet, but HB2144, a bill that died in the House, has the same subject.
- Border Security, Federalism, and States Sovereignty will meet on Thursday at 9 a.m. in SHR109. This agenda has been covered in a separate post, but to summarize: the Arizona State Senate is giving a platform to the leader of a recognized hate group.
A Senate Third Read (final passage) calendar for the Senate has yet to be posted for Monday. However, the Committee of the Whole (COW) calendar has been posted. It's short (five bills) and all bad.
On the House side of the Capitol -
- Rules will meet on Monday at 1 p.m. in HHR4. Long agenda, lots of bad bills, rubber stamp. Probably foreshadowing the week in the House.
- Ways and Means will meet on Monday at 2 p.m. in HHR1. On the agenda: SB1226, placing limits on the ability of municipalities to levy secondary property taxes.
- Energy and Natural Resources will meet on Monday at 2 p.m. in HHR4. Looks quiet so far.
- Education will meet on Monday at 2 p.m., or upon adjournment or recess of the floor session, in HHR3. Looks quiet so far.
- Banking and Insurance will meet on Monday at 2 p.m., or on adjournment of the floor, in HHR5. On the agenda: a striker to SB1259 (which will be subject to this amendment, in turn).
- Government will meet on Tuesday at 2 pm. in HHR4. Long agenda, with some very bad bills on it: SB1286, imposing a time limit on municipalities and counties for approving/disapproving a permit - after 60 days, the permit is considered to be automatically approved; SB1288, giving religious professionals an out for unprofessional conduct; SB1329, barring public employees from lobbying governmental entities during their work hours (targeted at teachers for daring to protest massive cuts to public education funding); SB1465, barring the acceptance of consular issued ID cards from being accepted as valid ID; SB1523, placing restrictions on how and why sanitary districts can enact a moratorium on contrstuction or land development; SB1610, saving Arizona from the abject humiliation of not having named an official state firearm.
- Employment and Regulatory Affairs will meet on Tuesday at 2 p.m. in HHR3. Curiously, this agenda includes a couple of bills that are on the agendas listed about: SB1259 (on BI Monday) and SB1288 (Gov at the same time as this meeting). Also includes a number of public pension-related bills.
- Health and Human Services will meet on Wednesday at 9 a.m. in HHR4. Nugget of ugly on the agenda: SB1187, a "gift" from the Center for Arizona
- Commerce will meet on Wednesday at 10 a.m. in HHR5. Looks quiet so far.
- Appropriations will meet on Wednesday at 2 p.m. in HHR1. Only two bills on the agenda: SB1135, appropriating nearly $3.6 million (over two fiscal years) to the state's Nuclear Emergency Management Fund, timely but not related to the growing nuclear catastrophe in Japan; SB1406, an interstate compact/new Confederacy measure relating to a border fence.
- Transportation will meet on Thursday at 9 a.m. in HHR3. Looks quiet thus far.
- Technology and Infrastructure will meet on Thursday at 9 a.m. in HHR1. Looks quiet thus far.
- Judiciary will meet on Thursday at 9 a.m. in HHR4. On the agenda: SB1225, making forgery related to the acquisition of a drop house a class three felony; SB1412, innocuously titled "early voting revisions," it targets political organizations, mostly Democratic and union, that work to ensure that the early ballots of their supporters get to election officials - the measure makes it a class 5 felony to possess more than six voted early ballots and makes it a class 4 felony to "offer or provide any consideration" to another person to acquire an early ballot (like offering to make life a little easier for someone else by carrying a ballot to an election official?); SB1546, eminent domain on federal land; SCR1025, repealing Clean Elections indirectly, by banning the use of public monies for political campaigns.
- Agriculture and Water will meet on Thursday at 9 a.m. in HHR5. Two presenters and zero bills on the agenda.
On Monday's Third Read (final passage) calendar for the House -
- HB2154, relating to the privatization of correctional health services
- HB2636, implementing a flat tax, with exemptions that favor the wealthy
- HB2706, "Arizona empowerment accounts" - better known as school vouchers
Other events at the Capitol and environs:
The lege's calendar of events is here.
The Arizona Capitol Times' "Capitol Calendar" is here.
Metro Phoenix lagging behind other metro areas in recovering from the recession
...as if those of us who live here haven't figured that out already.
Brookings Mountain West, a partnership between the Brookings Institute, a Washington D.C. think tank, and the University of Nevada - Las Vegas (UNLV), today released its quarterly Mountain Monitor, tracking and evaluating economic data for the Intermountain West area (Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah).
The latest Monitor covers the fourth quarter of 2010.
Based on their research, it's evident that the pre-bubbleburst growth fueled by the economic focus on home construction is now inhibiting the recovery of the Mountain West metro areas, particularly Las Vegas, Boise, and, of course, Phoenix.
From the Monitor -
This chart, from Brookings Mountain West, charts the relative employment numbers for the Phoenix area over the course of four recent recessions, with 100% indicating the employment level at the beginning of the recessions. Historically, 12 quarters (three years) after the start of a recession, we are well into a period of sustained net employment growth.
Not so this time around.
Phoenix' Gross Metropolitan Product, or GMP, a measure of the area's economic activity, is still down significantly from its peak, and GMP growth here is lagging that of most of the other metro areas. There may be a few new jobs here, but they aren't translating into a stronger economy.
While metro Phoenix ranked 7th in terms of shrinking the number of bank or lender-owned properties (aka - foreclosure inventory), it's still 98th nationally in terms the total proportion of such properties (meaning that only 2 out of the top 100 metro areas have a larger proportion of their properties owned by financial institutions. Simply put, we have a large excess housing capacity but as yet, we don't have the economic growth needed to absorb that excess.
That's an economic reality that's reflected in the fact that home prices here are still plummeting.
Given that so much of Phoenix' past (and current) economic growth scheme was based building homes for new residents and that we don't have the sort of employment base to attract people who are young enough that they don't spend their days golfing, it looks as if the economic recovery here will be slow, intermittent, and protracted.
Other data (from the Phoenix snapshot from Brookings) -
Phoenix Rank* 100-metro average U.S. average
Unemployment
Unemployment rate 8.4 % 46 9.1 % 9.1 %
Three-year percentage point change in unemployment rate
4.5 points 67 4.5 points 4.3 points
One-year percentage point change in unemployment rate
0.1 points 76 -0.4 points -0.6 points
Gross metropolitan product (GMP is defined as the market value of all final goods and services produced within a metropolitan area in a given period of time)
Change in GMP from peak
(2007Q4) -3.0 % 84 0.9 % 1.5 %
Change in GMP from trough
(2009Q3) 4.1 % 65 4.2 % 6.6 %
One-quarter change in GMP 0.4 % 86 0.8 % 0.8 %
Housing prices
Change in housing prices from peak
(2006Q4) -48.2 % 92 -23.6 % -18.5 %
Change in housing prices from trough
(2010Q4) 0.0 % 47 0.0 % 0.0 %
One-year change in housing prices
-10.6 % 98 -3.4 % -3.0 %
One-quarter change in housing prices
-4.0 % 100 -1.2 % -1.2 %
Real estate owned properties (REOs) (Bank or other financial institution owned)
REOs per 1,000 mortgageable properties
14.84 98 5.19 4.23
One-quarter change in REOs per 1,000 mortgageable properties
-1.31 7 -0.39 -0.33
* - Rank is out of the top 100 metro areas. A rank of "1" indicates the strongest performance in a given category; a rank of "100" indicates the weakest performance in a given category.
Phoenix' snapshot page can be found here; Tucson's here; snapshots for other metro areas can be found here.
A powerpoint presentation on Arizona's economic recovery from the Arizona Legislature's Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC) is here. While it tracks different data than Brookings does, and there aren't any comparisons with other states/metro areas, the conclusion from looking at JLBC's report is similar to the conclusion based on the "Mountain Monitor" - while there are glimmers of economic life here (slightly increased employment [Brookings], increased sales tax revenue [JLBC]), Arizona's recovery is a weak one so far.
Brookings Mountain West, a partnership between the Brookings Institute, a Washington D.C. think tank, and the University of Nevada - Las Vegas (UNLV), today released its quarterly Mountain Monitor, tracking and evaluating economic data for the Intermountain West area (Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah).
The latest Monitor covers the fourth quarter of 2010.
Based on their research, it's evident that the pre-bubbleburst growth fueled by the economic focus on home construction is now inhibiting the recovery of the Mountain West metro areas, particularly Las Vegas, Boise, and, of course, Phoenix.
From the Monitor -
The severest downturns foreshadowed the weakest recoveries in the Mountain Region. Reflecting the structural nature of a recession whose origins lay in an inflated housing bubble, the boomtown metros that fell the hardest are finding it the most difficult to turn around. In this category fall Boise, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and, to a lesser extent, Tucson. On the other hand, Albuquerque, which stood apart with a temperate pre-recession housing boom and a well-educated, public sector-oriented workforce, weathered the mildest recession in the region.The data shows that while metro Phoenix is among the leaders when it comes to job growth, ranking 7th nationally out of the top 100 metro areas in new jobs created (+1.5%) since its trough (Q3 2009) and 3rd nationally in growth between the Q3 and Q4 2010 (+0.7%), it ranks 87th nationally relative to its employment peak (Q3 2007), down 10.6% (national average: -5.3%; largest 100 metro areas average: -6.3%).
This chart, from Brookings Mountain West, charts the relative employment numbers for the Phoenix area over the course of four recent recessions, with 100% indicating the employment level at the beginning of the recessions. Historically, 12 quarters (three years) after the start of a recession, we are well into a period of sustained net employment growth.
Not so this time around.
Phoenix' Gross Metropolitan Product, or GMP, a measure of the area's economic activity, is still down significantly from its peak, and GMP growth here is lagging that of most of the other metro areas. There may be a few new jobs here, but they aren't translating into a stronger economy.
While metro Phoenix ranked 7th in terms of shrinking the number of bank or lender-owned properties (aka - foreclosure inventory), it's still 98th nationally in terms the total proportion of such properties (meaning that only 2 out of the top 100 metro areas have a larger proportion of their properties owned by financial institutions. Simply put, we have a large excess housing capacity but as yet, we don't have the economic growth needed to absorb that excess.
That's an economic reality that's reflected in the fact that home prices here are still plummeting.
Given that so much of Phoenix' past (and current) economic growth scheme was based building homes for new residents and that we don't have the sort of employment base to attract people who are young enough that they don't spend their days golfing, it looks as if the economic recovery here will be slow, intermittent, and protracted.
Other data (from the Phoenix snapshot from Brookings) -
Phoenix Rank* 100-metro average U.S. average
Unemployment
Unemployment rate 8.4 % 46 9.1 % 9.1 %
Three-year percentage point change in unemployment rate
4.5 points 67 4.5 points 4.3 points
One-year percentage point change in unemployment rate
0.1 points 76 -0.4 points -0.6 points
Gross metropolitan product (GMP is defined as the market value of all final goods and services produced within a metropolitan area in a given period of time)
Change in GMP from peak
(2007Q4) -3.0 % 84 0.9 % 1.5 %
Change in GMP from trough
(2009Q3) 4.1 % 65 4.2 % 6.6 %
One-quarter change in GMP 0.4 % 86 0.8 % 0.8 %
Housing prices
Change in housing prices from peak
(2006Q4) -48.2 % 92 -23.6 % -18.5 %
Change in housing prices from trough
(2010Q4) 0.0 % 47 0.0 % 0.0 %
One-year change in housing prices
-10.6 % 98 -3.4 % -3.0 %
One-quarter change in housing prices
-4.0 % 100 -1.2 % -1.2 %
Real estate owned properties (REOs) (Bank or other financial institution owned)
REOs per 1,000 mortgageable properties
14.84 98 5.19 4.23
One-quarter change in REOs per 1,000 mortgageable properties
-1.31 7 -0.39 -0.33
* - Rank is out of the top 100 metro areas. A rank of "1" indicates the strongest performance in a given category; a rank of "100" indicates the weakest performance in a given category.
Phoenix' snapshot page can be found here; Tucson's here; snapshots for other metro areas can be found here.
A powerpoint presentation on Arizona's economic recovery from the Arizona Legislature's Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC) is here. While it tracks different data than Brookings does, and there aren't any comparisons with other states/metro areas, the conclusion from looking at JLBC's report is similar to the conclusion based on the "Mountain Monitor" - while there are glimmers of economic life here (slightly increased employment [Brookings], increased sales tax revenue [JLBC]), Arizona's recovery is a weak one so far.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Census numbers - Arizona's Legislative and Congressional Districts
All information available at the Census Bureau's American Factfinder page (watch the instructional videos, trust me :) )...
Census numbers for the state's 30 legislative districts -
Geographic area Total population
Arizona 6,392,017
LD1 (2010) 217,022
LD2 (2010) 177,904
LD3 (2010) 216,687
LD4 (2010) 294,239
LD5 (2010) 192,258
LD6 (2010) 219,170
LD7 (2010) 190,272
LD8 (2010) 185,419
LD9 (2010) 178,499
LD10 (2010) 163,683
LD11 (2010) 161,630
LD12 (2010) 378,298
LD13 (2010) 207,107
LD14 (2010) 158,881
LD15 (2010) 155,897
LD16 (2010) 247,146
LD17 (2010) 171,129
LD18 (2010) 165,729
LD19 (2010) 195,221
LD20 (2010) 176,043
LD21 (2010) 274,260
LD22 (2010) 297,687
LD23 (2010) 370,479
LD24 (2010) 207,694
LD25 (2010) 208,220
LD26 (2010) 195,881
LD27 (2010) 199,340
LD28 (2010) 170,527
LD29 (2010) 184,459
LD30 (2010) 231,236
Average 213,067
A map of the current LDs is here.
Most LDs should experience significant changes to their borders, but with many LDs, significant changes are guaranteed because their populations vary significantly from the average, and the new legislative districts have to be pretty much the same size. There can be a little variation, but it's small.
Looking at the raw numbers of residents in each legislative district, a few things are obvious - LD12 (western Maricopa County), LD21, LD22 (both SE metro Phoenix), and LD23 (mostly Pinal County, but reaching into Maricopa) are going to be split up - they're far too big to continue in anything resembling their current forms.
Also likely to see significant changes are current Phoenix-area LDs 8, 14, 15, 17, 18 and 20 - all have populations significantly below the average of 213K. The areas covered by those LDs will absorb or be absorbed by other areas.
Tucson-area LDs 26, 28, and 29 are in the same boat as the Phoenix-area LDs above.
Congressional districts -
Geographic area Total population
Arizona 6,392,017
CD 1 774,310
CD 2 972,839
CD 3 707,919
CD 4 698,314
CD 5 656,833
CD 6 971,733
CD 7 855,769
CD 8 754,300
Current average (for 8 CDs) 799,002
New average (for 9 CDs) 710,224
Map of the current Congressional districts here.
In some ways, tea leaf reading when looking at potential changes to lege districts is easy - there are 30 LDs now, and there will be 30 LDs after redistricting.
Looking at potential changes to Congressional districts is more difficult because there are 8 districts now but there are going to be 9 after redistricting. Once the new district is carved out (expected to be in the East Valley/Pinal County area or in the West Valley, in the area where the current CDs 2 and 7 meet), there will be a cascade effect of changes to all of the other CDs, and I cannot even begin to predict those changes.
Expect significant changes to all CDs.
More on that as the redistricting process grinds on...
Census numbers for the state's 30 legislative districts -
Geographic area Total population
Arizona 6,392,017
LD1 (2010) 217,022
LD2 (2010) 177,904
LD3 (2010) 216,687
LD4 (2010) 294,239
LD5 (2010) 192,258
LD6 (2010) 219,170
LD7 (2010) 190,272
LD8 (2010) 185,419
LD9 (2010) 178,499
LD10 (2010) 163,683
LD11 (2010) 161,630
LD12 (2010) 378,298
LD13 (2010) 207,107
LD14 (2010) 158,881
LD15 (2010) 155,897
LD16 (2010) 247,146
LD17 (2010) 171,129
LD18 (2010) 165,729
LD19 (2010) 195,221
LD20 (2010) 176,043
LD21 (2010) 274,260
LD22 (2010) 297,687
LD23 (2010) 370,479
LD24 (2010) 207,694
LD25 (2010) 208,220
LD26 (2010) 195,881
LD27 (2010) 199,340
LD28 (2010) 170,527
LD29 (2010) 184,459
LD30 (2010) 231,236
Average 213,067
A map of the current LDs is here.
Most LDs should experience significant changes to their borders, but with many LDs, significant changes are guaranteed because their populations vary significantly from the average, and the new legislative districts have to be pretty much the same size. There can be a little variation, but it's small.
Looking at the raw numbers of residents in each legislative district, a few things are obvious - LD12 (western Maricopa County), LD21, LD22 (both SE metro Phoenix), and LD23 (mostly Pinal County, but reaching into Maricopa) are going to be split up - they're far too big to continue in anything resembling their current forms.
Also likely to see significant changes are current Phoenix-area LDs 8, 14, 15, 17, 18 and 20 - all have populations significantly below the average of 213K. The areas covered by those LDs will absorb or be absorbed by other areas.
Tucson-area LDs 26, 28, and 29 are in the same boat as the Phoenix-area LDs above.
Congressional districts -
Geographic area Total population
Arizona 6,392,017
CD 1 774,310
CD 2 972,839
CD 3 707,919
CD 4 698,314
CD 5 656,833
CD 6 971,733
CD 7 855,769
CD 8 754,300
Current average (for 8 CDs) 799,002
New average (for 9 CDs) 710,224
Map of the current Congressional districts here.
In some ways, tea leaf reading when looking at potential changes to lege districts is easy - there are 30 LDs now, and there will be 30 LDs after redistricting.
Looking at potential changes to Congressional districts is more difficult because there are 8 districts now but there are going to be 9 after redistricting. Once the new district is carved out (expected to be in the East Valley/Pinal County area or in the West Valley, in the area where the current CDs 2 and 7 meet), there will be a cascade effect of changes to all of the other CDs, and I cannot even begin to predict those changes.
Expect significant changes to all CDs.
More on that as the redistricting process grinds on...
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Arizona Legislature Week In Review...
The non-legislatiion highlights of the week:
- Senate President Russell Pearce announced that his "hold" on his anti-immigrant legislation was off. Last week, he had announced that those bills would be "held" until the state's budget was completed. I could speculate on his reasons for rescinding the hold (nativist orthodoxy is more important to him than fiscal responsibility? ...the budget negotiations between Pearce, House Speaker Kirk Adams, and Governor Jan Brewer aren't going as smoothly as some thought?), but the end result is the same - the nasty stuff is moving again.
- State Sen. Scott Bundgaard (R-Domestic Violence Incident) is spinning as fast as he can. He's gone from sending out press releases proclaiming his "good guy" status, to tearing up on the Senate floor, to staving off removal as the leader of the Republican caucus in the Senate by claiming that his now ex-girlfriend, Aubry Ballard, pulled a gun on him during the incident that has precipitated the furor that currently surrounds him.
Now, he is giving interviews where he displays a pistol that he claims is the gun in question, and is promising "more" details to come.
If there are many more "details" like those that Bundgaard has spouted so far, next year, Jason Rose is going to be eligible for an Oscar for his writing.
Passing the Senate this week ("party line vote" = bill passed with all Rs supporting and all Ds opposing):
SB1553, school vouchers, under the name of "Arizona Empowerment Accounts" - party line vote
SB1561, giving the legislature the ability to sweep and reappropriate "non-custodial" federal monies such as community block grants - party line vote
SCR1027, a proposed amendment to the Arizona Constitution to require that voters reauthorize any ballot measures that reserve or expend monies for a specific purpose (things like First Things First, placing AHCCCS eligibility at 100% of FPL, mandatory education funding, etc.) - party line vote
SCR1051, a proposed amendment to the Arizona Constitution to mandate that any voter-approved measure (initiative or referendum) that doesn't identify a funding source other than the state's general fund, then the measure is subject to legislative appropriation (or non-appropriation, as is more likely); a move to circumvent the Voter Protection Act, without seeming to do so - party line vote
SB1188, mandating that when placing children for adoption, DES must give preference to married couples. Single people will need to jump through some serious hoops, and same sex couples need not apply - mostly a party line vote (one R crossover)
SB1288, giving professionals who refuse to do their jobs properly because of their religious beliefs an out - they get to keep their licenses. Plus there is a clause that is clearly targeted at the Arizona Commission on Appellate Court Appointments for refusing to approve a candidate for the Independent Redistricting Commission when that candidate stated that he wanted more religious involvement in/control of secular society - party line vote.
SB1329, barring public employees from engaging in lobbying or political activities during work hours. Aimed at teachers - party line vote.
SB1363, protecting employers from the horror of labor actions - party line vote.
SB1495, establishing a state guard that is answerable only to the governor, but is funded by money siphoned from the Arizona National Guard - party line vote.
SB1598, micromanaging the ability of cities and counties to conduct zoning, inspection, and related regulatory activities, to the point of it becoming the "inability" to do so - passed on a party line vote.
SB1610, proclaiming the Colt Single Action Army Revolver as the official state firearm - passed 18 - 12 (three Rs crossing over).
SCR1026, a proposed amendment to the AZ constitution reducing the state's revenue expenditure limit, basically a version of TABOR - party line vote.
SCR1040, a proposed amendment to the AZ constitution politicizing judicial appointments - passed 19 - 11 (2 Rs crossing over).
SB1282, exempting religious entities that engage in political activities from having to register as political committees - party line vote.
SB1365, barring payroll deductions for political purposes, targeted at unions, except for those for law enforcement personnel (there's a specific exception carved out for LEO organizations) - party line vote.
SCR1016, calling for a constitutional convention to amend the U.S. Constitution to mandate that the approval of a majority of state legislatures is required before Congress can raise the federal debt limit - FAILED 13 - 17 (8 Rs crossing over).
SB1433, creating a legislative committee to oversee the nullification of federal laws and regulations - FAILED 12 - 18 (9 Rs crossing over). YES!!!
SCR1019, another TABOR-like amendment proposed for the AZ constitution - party line vote.
SCR1029, banning photo radar from Arizona - passed 18 - 12 (3 Rs crossing over)
SCR1032, a proposed amendment to the AZ constitution to require a 60% vote of the voters to raise a tax, levy a new tax, or to reduce or eliminate an existing tax credit - passed 16 - 14 (5 Rs crossing over)
Passed the House -
HB2523, expanding current law so that someone driving on a license that is suspended or revoked for any reason who is involved in an accident resulting in death or injury is guilty of a class four or class five felony - passed on reconsideration, with bipartisan support and opposition.
HB2707, further shackling state expenditures (TABOR by another name) - mostly party line vote (three Rs crossed over).
HCM2002, a postcard to the U.S. Congress requesting that they take the gray wolf off of the Endangered Species List - party line vote.
HB2565, giving students the right to not do coursework, if they cite religious belief as their reason - mostly a party line vote (1 D crossed over).
HB2718, Kirk Adams' $5 million gift to Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu - mostly a party line vote (1 D crossed over).
HB2099, restoring hospice care coverage to AHCCCS; expected to be cost neutral - passed 38 - 22 (18 Rs crossed over). Yes, an actual good bill has passed a chamber of the legislature in 2011.
HB2501, micromanaging state agencies, counties, and municipalities by mandating that any ambiguous language in a rule, ordinance, or law be interpreted in a manner favorable to applicants or licensees (relating to permits, licenses, and zoning) - a mostly party line vote (1 D and 1 R crossed each way).
HB2581, expanding and basically uncapping STO tax credits - mostly a party line vote (1 R crossed over).
HB2617, limiting the ability of workers involved in workers' comp cases to reopen cases if something new but related arises - party line vote.
In non-legislature campaign news this week -
- Maricopa County Supervisor Don Stapley has formed a campaign committee for reelection to his seat (SD2)
- Jean McGrath, former legislator and current member of the governing board of the Central Arizona Project, has formed a committee to run for the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors District 4. SD4 is currently represented by Max Wilson. A call to Wilson's office inquiring about his plans for next year went unreturned.
- Timothy Coomer of Phoenix has formed a committee to run for Maricopa County Sheriff next year as a Democrat. He's done this before.
- Senate President Russell Pearce announced that his "hold" on his anti-immigrant legislation was off. Last week, he had announced that those bills would be "held" until the state's budget was completed. I could speculate on his reasons for rescinding the hold (nativist orthodoxy is more important to him than fiscal responsibility? ...the budget negotiations between Pearce, House Speaker Kirk Adams, and Governor Jan Brewer aren't going as smoothly as some thought?), but the end result is the same - the nasty stuff is moving again.
- State Sen. Scott Bundgaard (R-Domestic Violence Incident) is spinning as fast as he can. He's gone from sending out press releases proclaiming his "good guy" status, to tearing up on the Senate floor, to staving off removal as the leader of the Republican caucus in the Senate by claiming that his now ex-girlfriend, Aubry Ballard, pulled a gun on him during the incident that has precipitated the furor that currently surrounds him.
Now, he is giving interviews where he displays a pistol that he claims is the gun in question, and is promising "more" details to come.
If there are many more "details" like those that Bundgaard has spouted so far, next year, Jason Rose is going to be eligible for an Oscar for his writing.
Passing the Senate this week ("party line vote" = bill passed with all Rs supporting and all Ds opposing):
SB1553, school vouchers, under the name of "Arizona Empowerment Accounts" - party line vote
SB1561, giving the legislature the ability to sweep and reappropriate "non-custodial" federal monies such as community block grants - party line vote
SCR1027, a proposed amendment to the Arizona Constitution to require that voters reauthorize any ballot measures that reserve or expend monies for a specific purpose (things like First Things First, placing AHCCCS eligibility at 100% of FPL, mandatory education funding, etc.) - party line vote
SCR1051, a proposed amendment to the Arizona Constitution to mandate that any voter-approved measure (initiative or referendum) that doesn't identify a funding source other than the state's general fund, then the measure is subject to legislative appropriation (or non-appropriation, as is more likely); a move to circumvent the Voter Protection Act, without seeming to do so - party line vote
SB1188, mandating that when placing children for adoption, DES must give preference to married couples. Single people will need to jump through some serious hoops, and same sex couples need not apply - mostly a party line vote (one R crossover)
SB1288, giving professionals who refuse to do their jobs properly because of their religious beliefs an out - they get to keep their licenses. Plus there is a clause that is clearly targeted at the Arizona Commission on Appellate Court Appointments for refusing to approve a candidate for the Independent Redistricting Commission when that candidate stated that he wanted more religious involvement in/control of secular society - party line vote.
SB1329, barring public employees from engaging in lobbying or political activities during work hours. Aimed at teachers - party line vote.
SB1363, protecting employers from the horror of labor actions - party line vote.
SB1495, establishing a state guard that is answerable only to the governor, but is funded by money siphoned from the Arizona National Guard - party line vote.
SB1598, micromanaging the ability of cities and counties to conduct zoning, inspection, and related regulatory activities, to the point of it becoming the "inability" to do so - passed on a party line vote.
SB1610, proclaiming the Colt Single Action Army Revolver as the official state firearm - passed 18 - 12 (three Rs crossing over).
SCR1026, a proposed amendment to the AZ constitution reducing the state's revenue expenditure limit, basically a version of TABOR - party line vote.
SCR1040, a proposed amendment to the AZ constitution politicizing judicial appointments - passed 19 - 11 (2 Rs crossing over).
SB1282, exempting religious entities that engage in political activities from having to register as political committees - party line vote.
SB1365, barring payroll deductions for political purposes, targeted at unions, except for those for law enforcement personnel (there's a specific exception carved out for LEO organizations) - party line vote.
SCR1016, calling for a constitutional convention to amend the U.S. Constitution to mandate that the approval of a majority of state legislatures is required before Congress can raise the federal debt limit - FAILED 13 - 17 (8 Rs crossing over).
SB1433, creating a legislative committee to oversee the nullification of federal laws and regulations - FAILED 12 - 18 (9 Rs crossing over). YES!!!
SCR1019, another TABOR-like amendment proposed for the AZ constitution - party line vote.
SCR1029, banning photo radar from Arizona - passed 18 - 12 (3 Rs crossing over)
SCR1032, a proposed amendment to the AZ constitution to require a 60% vote of the voters to raise a tax, levy a new tax, or to reduce or eliminate an existing tax credit - passed 16 - 14 (5 Rs crossing over)
Passed the House -
HB2523, expanding current law so that someone driving on a license that is suspended or revoked for any reason who is involved in an accident resulting in death or injury is guilty of a class four or class five felony - passed on reconsideration, with bipartisan support and opposition.
HB2707, further shackling state expenditures (TABOR by another name) - mostly party line vote (three Rs crossed over).
HCM2002, a postcard to the U.S. Congress requesting that they take the gray wolf off of the Endangered Species List - party line vote.
HB2565, giving students the right to not do coursework, if they cite religious belief as their reason - mostly a party line vote (1 D crossed over).
HB2718, Kirk Adams' $5 million gift to Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu - mostly a party line vote (1 D crossed over).
HB2099, restoring hospice care coverage to AHCCCS; expected to be cost neutral - passed 38 - 22 (18 Rs crossed over). Yes, an actual good bill has passed a chamber of the legislature in 2011.
HB2501, micromanaging state agencies, counties, and municipalities by mandating that any ambiguous language in a rule, ordinance, or law be interpreted in a manner favorable to applicants or licensees (relating to permits, licenses, and zoning) - a mostly party line vote (1 D and 1 R crossed each way).
HB2581, expanding and basically uncapping STO tax credits - mostly a party line vote (1 R crossed over).
HB2617, limiting the ability of workers involved in workers' comp cases to reopen cases if something new but related arises - party line vote.
In non-legislature campaign news this week -
- Maricopa County Supervisor Don Stapley has formed a campaign committee for reelection to his seat (SD2)
- Jean McGrath, former legislator and current member of the governing board of the Central Arizona Project, has formed a committee to run for the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors District 4. SD4 is currently represented by Max Wilson. A call to Wilson's office inquiring about his plans for next year went unreturned.
- Timothy Coomer of Phoenix has formed a committee to run for Maricopa County Sheriff next year as a Democrat. He's done this before.
More 2010 Census Numbers - Cities and Towns
This past week, the U.S. Census Bureau released Arizona's 2010 local level census data.
On Thursday, I put up a quick post on county population numbers. Summary: Maricopa County grew during the decade, but not as much as some of the other counties.
Today, raw numbers for the 20 largest cities and towns, with brief analysis.
Cities and towns -
City pop 2000 pop 2010
Phoenix 1,321,045 1,445,632
Tucson 486,699 520,116
Mesa 396,375 439,041
Chandler 176,581 236,123
Glendale 218,812 226,721
Scottsdale 202,705 217,385
Gilbert 109,697 208,453
Tempe 158,625 161,719
Peoria 108,364 154,065
Surprise 30,848 117,517
Yuma 77,515 93,064
Avondale 35,883 76,238
Flagstaff 52,894 65,870
Goodyear 18,911 65,275
Lake Havasu City 41,938 52,527
Buckeye 6,537 50,876
Casa Grande 25,224 48,571
Sierra Vista 37,775 43,888
Maricopa 1,040 43,482
Oro Valley 29,700 41,011
The most recent "official" Census Bureau estimates that I could find for cities and towns were from 2006, so those are somewhat less useful than the 2009 county estimates used in the previous post.
However, even those showed some interesting developments.
...Scottsdale (my home) had a 2006 estimate of over 231K, and late in the decade was operating under the belief that the population was between 230K and 240K. The City (electeds, staff, most residents) expected that the 2010 Census would show that Scottsdale would rank 5th, maybe even 4th, in population.
The reality of the 2010 census shows that Chandler and Glendale are easily ahead of it, while Gilbert is gaining fast
...In terms of percentage growth, the Town of Maricopa (which, strangely enough, is NOT in Maricopa County :) ), grew by more than 4000% during the decade, from a population of 1,040 in the year 2000, to a population of 43,482 in 2010. It is now the "City of Maricopa," officially.
...Of the cities that were "cities" in 2000, Surprise led the way in percentage growth during the decade at more than 280%. It grew from 30,848 people in 2000 to 117,517 in 2010.
...The City of Phoenix experienced the greatest raw growth, growing by 124,587 during the decade. However, Phoenix was and remains far and away the largest city in the state, so their percentage growth only 9.4%.
...Of the top 20 cities and towns, Tempe experienced the smallest growth, both as a percentage of year 2000 population and in absolute numbers. During the decade, it grew by 3,094, or 2%. It's one of the few completely land-locked municipalities in the state, so it doesn't really have anywhere to grow. Most of the other cities and towns in the state contain or border on unincorporated areas that can be annexed.
Tempe does contain four "county islands," land that is not incorporated into the city but is completely surrounded by it. However, those are fairly small, and even if Tempe was interested in adding those locations to it, the additional land area (<100 parcels of land) and population count wouldn't make a significant difference.
Legislative and Congressional districts next...
On Thursday, I put up a quick post on county population numbers. Summary: Maricopa County grew during the decade, but not as much as some of the other counties.
Today, raw numbers for the 20 largest cities and towns, with brief analysis.
Cities and towns -
City pop 2000 pop 2010
Phoenix 1,321,045 1,445,632
Tucson 486,699 520,116
Mesa 396,375 439,041
Chandler 176,581 236,123
Glendale 218,812 226,721
Scottsdale 202,705 217,385
Gilbert 109,697 208,453
Tempe 158,625 161,719
Peoria 108,364 154,065
Surprise 30,848 117,517
Yuma 77,515 93,064
Avondale 35,883 76,238
Flagstaff 52,894 65,870
Goodyear 18,911 65,275
Lake Havasu City 41,938 52,527
Buckeye 6,537 50,876
Casa Grande 25,224 48,571
Sierra Vista 37,775 43,888
Maricopa 1,040 43,482
Oro Valley 29,700 41,011
The most recent "official" Census Bureau estimates that I could find for cities and towns were from 2006, so those are somewhat less useful than the 2009 county estimates used in the previous post.
However, even those showed some interesting developments.
...Scottsdale (my home) had a 2006 estimate of over 231K, and late in the decade was operating under the belief that the population was between 230K and 240K. The City (electeds, staff, most residents) expected that the 2010 Census would show that Scottsdale would rank 5th, maybe even 4th, in population.
The reality of the 2010 census shows that Chandler and Glendale are easily ahead of it, while Gilbert is gaining fast
...In terms of percentage growth, the Town of Maricopa (which, strangely enough, is NOT in Maricopa County :) ), grew by more than 4000% during the decade, from a population of 1,040 in the year 2000, to a population of 43,482 in 2010. It is now the "City of Maricopa," officially.
...Of the cities that were "cities" in 2000, Surprise led the way in percentage growth during the decade at more than 280%. It grew from 30,848 people in 2000 to 117,517 in 2010.
...The City of Phoenix experienced the greatest raw growth, growing by 124,587 during the decade. However, Phoenix was and remains far and away the largest city in the state, so their percentage growth only 9.4%.
...Of the top 20 cities and towns, Tempe experienced the smallest growth, both as a percentage of year 2000 population and in absolute numbers. During the decade, it grew by 3,094, or 2%. It's one of the few completely land-locked municipalities in the state, so it doesn't really have anywhere to grow. Most of the other cities and towns in the state contain or border on unincorporated areas that can be annexed.
Tempe does contain four "county islands," land that is not incorporated into the city but is completely surrounded by it. However, those are fairly small, and even if Tempe was interested in adding those locations to it, the additional land area (<100 parcels of land) and population count wouldn't make a significant difference.
Legislative and Congressional districts next...
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