Nearly $100 million is missing!! Somebody call the sheriff! Oh wait...

From AP, via the Washington Post -

An examination in Arizona’s Maricopa County has found that the sheriff’s office, widely known for efforts against illegal immigrants, inappropriately spent $99 million from two jail funds over the last eight years to pay for other law enforcement operations — including immigration patrols.


The $99 million figure released Wednesday is an update to an estimate made in September by budget officials who said the sheriff’s office was believed to have used $60 million and $80 million over four or five years from a jail tax on other purposes. Since then, officials said they discovered that the sheriff’s office had inappropriately spent money from a second jail account.

Hmmm...it seems that calling the sheriff to investigate this case would be like calling the fox to investigate a missing hen.

...On second thought, at $100 million, it's more like calling the fox to investigate a missing hen house.

...Actually, on third thought, at that price, make that "the missing hen house at the Taj Mahal".

SB1460: A "birther" bill aimed at neighborhood activists

Some people, including a few that I'm related to, scoff when others, including me, make the argument that the Republican Party's real agenda is, and has been for years, the protection and furtherance of the interests of Big Business and the wealthy (yeah, that's a little redundant, but just go with it  :) ).

Sometimes they don't hide that fact - witness the never-ending stream of tax cuts for corporations and the wealthiest 1%.

Other times, they try to hide it by burying it deep in "housekeeping" bills such as omnibus measures that make a lot of small changes to law.

Witness SB1460 (House floor amendment here), which passed House Committee of the Whole (COW) consideration on Monday.

It started its legislative existence as a short measure with the innocuous-sounding subject of "liquor licensees; records." 

And it actually *was* innocuous, being little more than a technical change.

Then it was amended in the Senate into a "liquor omnibus" bill, pushed by current state senator and likely future Congressional candidate Michele Reagan (R-North Scottsdale).


Buried among all manner of small revisions to liquor law is one rather stinky nugget regarding the ability of neighborhood groups to have input on proposed liquor licenses in their neighborhood (from the House amendment) -

"...the written argument shall contain the natural person’s complete name, street address or post office box address and written or electronic signature. If the written arguments are filed by a person on behalf of a corporation or other legal entity or association, the written arguments must be accompanied by a copy of the entities organizing document, a designation of the office or position that the person holds within the organization and a copy of the written appointment of the person to speak on behalf of the organization."

Current law contains no such provisions, and in the case of many neighborhood organizations, the required documents may not now be available, if they ever even existed.

It's sort of like the birthers' insistence on the presentation of a mythical "long form" birth certificate to prove eligibility for office.

Other facets of this that are designed to inhibit neighborhood input and opposition efforts:

- The requirements for arguments against a particular liquor license don't apply to those submitting arguments in support of that license

- Under the provisions of the bill, people couldn't argue against a permit application based on the applicant, only the location.  The late Jeffrey Dahmer could apply for a liquor license and neighbors could only speak about the place, not the cannibal

- If the ownership of a facility holding a non-transferable license changes and it becomes necessary for there to be a hearing on the issuance of a new license for a new owner, there will be a presumption that the license is needed and appropriate.  The burden of proof will then be on the neighborhood to prove otherwise if they have problems with the license location

All of the above provisions from Reagan/the liquor industry seem to be designed to promote profitability at the expense of community input.

However, these aren't the only provisions that sacrifice good governance in favor of industry whims.

One provision allows the expansion of previously existing licensed businesses that are within 300 feet of schools, churches, and recreational areas adjacent to schools.  Others remove the ability of cities and towns to manage local zoning or to collect administrative fees relating to liquor license applications, even when the municipality incurs costs relating to liquor licenses.

I know that Sen. Reagan is the chair of the Senate's Economic Development and Jobs Creation, but it seems that the only "economy" she is trying to develop is the economy of an "industry" that does nothing to enhance society (and I say this as someone who has been known to imbibe occasionally).

SB1460 is scheduled for Third Read (final passage) in the House on Tuesday.  If it passes, and I presume that it will, it will then need to go back to the Senate for approval of the changes made by the House.  It should then reach the Senate floor on Thursday or early next week.

Arizona legislature: Week in review and preview of the coming week

In a development this past week that is both "review" and "preview," Senate President Russell Pearce threatened/promised to bring back some of his anti-immigrant measures that failed to pass earlier in the session.

From a Howard Fischer-written story, courtesy the East Valley Tribune -

Unwilling to accept defeat, Senate President Russell Pearce is going to make one last bid to convince Republican colleagues to approve new state laws aimed at illegal immigrants.

{snip}

But Pearce said there are "enforcement provisions" in his SB 1611, one of the defeated bills, that he believes can get sufficient support for approval.

One section, for example, would require public housing authorities to evict any family where even just one member is an illegal immigrant. Other provisions would make it a crime for an illegal immigrant to drive a vehicle in Arizona and restrict the ability of those not here legally to register a vehicle.

There also is another bid to deny illegal immigrants admission into any state university or community college.

That will probably pop up later in the week, as most of Monday's agendas have already been posted:

- On Monday's House's "Final Read" calendar, signing off on changes to previously approved House bills that the Senate added before forwarding the measures to the Governor -

HB2103, exempting "baked and confectionary goods from the Arizona Department of Health Services (DHS) rules relating to food safety, if the product is made in a private home for commercial purposes, is not potentially hazardous and is properly labeled.  Requires DHS to establish an online registry of persons who are authorized to prepare the exempt product." (Quoting the legislative summary for this measure)

HB2191, a retroactive "emergency" measure (meaning that it will go into effect immediately upon the signature of the Governor, if passed by a 2/3 vote), barring the award of punitive damages to undocumented immigrants.  This is essentially a "private" bill to help out a rancher who held a number of immigrants at gunpoint and lost a lawsuit over the incident.  However, it's a private bill with long-term public effects.


- On the House's Third Read (final passage) calendar for Monday -

SB1166, exempting from sales taxes commercial leases between two entities of the same corporation

SB1171, allowing Marana to take over a wastewater treatment facility run by Pima County.  Dueling op-eds on the issue here and here

SB1326, barring HOAs from restricting the display of the "Gadsden" flag (the one that says "Don't tread on me") that has been commandeered by tea party types


- The House COW (Committee of the Whole) calendars for Monday are here, here, here, here, and here.

- The House Rules Committee agenda for Monday (1 p.m. in HHR4) is here.

Both of the above categories can serve as a preview of House action later in the week.


- Over in the Senate, they haven't posted a Third Read calendar as yet, but their Monday COW calendar is here.

- Monday's agenda for the Senate Rules Committee (10:30 a.m., Caucus Room 1) is here.

- Four Senate committees are scheduled to meet on Monday to consider executive nominations - Natural Resources and Transportation (SHR109), Education (SHR3), Judiciary (SHR1), Commerce and Energy (SHR109, after Natural Resources and Transportation) - and one, Water, Land Use, and Rural Development, is scheduled to meet on Wednesday in SHR109 at 11 a.m. or upon adjournment of the floor session, also to consider an executive nomination.

The legislature's Capitol Events calendar for the week is here (highlight: on Monday, they're going to travel to the Ben Avery Shooting Range and play with their guns); the Arizona Capitol Times' Capitol Calendar is here.


Last week was relatively quiet on the bill passage front..."relatively" being the key word here - lots of bad bills passed, one already being signed into law by Jan Brewer:

SB1288, allowing "professionals" a free pass on unprofessional conduct that is based on their religious beliefs.  Passed the House on a mostly party line vote (1 R crossed over, 1 D absent)

SB1403, barring any state agency or political subdivision (counties, municipalities, school districts, etc.) from conditioning the award of public works contracts on the use of union labor, passed the House on a party line vote on Monday and signed into law by the Governor on Wednesday

SB1165, prohibiting "municipalities from contracting with or employing auditors on a contingent fee basis for the purpose of auditing any transaction privilege tax (TPT) or affiliated taxes levied and from contracting with a third party for the collection, administration or processing of those taxes, with exceptions" (quoting the legislative summary), passed the House on a somewhat party line vote (8 of 20 Ds supported, 3 of 40 Rs opposed, 1 D absent)

SB1412, revisions to early voting rules, passed the House on a party line vote Tuesday and the Senate concurred with House amendments on Wednesday in a mixed vote (2 Ds and 1 R opposed, 2 Ds absent).  The key provision makes it a Class 5 felony to offer or provide, or receive or agree to receive, a "consideration" in exchange for an early ballot, be it voted or unvoted.  "Consideration" is not defined.  This bill was and is targeted at Democratic efforts to elevate voter turnout by accepting voted early ballots and delivering them to polling places/county elections.  I'm not sure, but offering to help someone save time or gas or anything else needed to turn in a ballot could now be a felony

HB2064, prohibiting the application of a foreign laws by Arizona's courts, agencies, or political subdivisions, but specifically exempting businesses and business associations from the prohibition, passed the Senate on a mostly party line vote (1 D supporting, 2 Ds absent) on Tuesday with the House concurring with Senate amendments by a party line vote on Thursday

HB2384, banning public monies from being used for providing training in the performance of abortions, passed the Senate on a party line vote.  Could result in the decertification of Maricopa Medical Center as a teaching hospital, resulting in the loss of its federal funding, a significant chunk of its annual revenue

HB2581, greatly expanding the school tuition tax credit for businesses, passed the Senate on a party line vote.  Should be called the "Steve Yarbrough Needs More Revenue" act

SB1553, school vouchers, now euphemistically called "Arizona Empowerment Accounts," passed the House on a party line vote Tuesday and House amendments to the measure were appoved by the Senate Thursday on a party line vote

HB2002, barring school districts from spending money on membership in organizations that attempt to "influence the outcome of an election", passed the Senate on a party line vote and now returns to the House for approval of Senate amendments to the bill

HB2301, allowing school districts to redirect funding for "soft capital" (books, desks, and other classroom needs) and using those monies to pay for operations and maintenance expenses, funding for which has been severely cut by the legislature , passed the Senate on a mostly party line vote (1 D supporting, 2 Ds absent) and now returns to the House for approval of Senate amendments ot the bill


Later...

What's the difference between the Tea Party and a black hole?

One is incredibly dense and sucks all of the light and energy from a collapsing stars and other things around them, and the other is an astonomical phenomenon.  :)

First, today's politics lesson from Republican House Speaker John Boehner, courtesy ABC News' George Stephanopoulos -

Speaker of the House John Boehner said he is in lockstep with the Tea Party on budget negotiations despite claims from Democrats that there could be a deal if only he could buck the Tea Party.


“Listen, there’s no daylight between the Tea Party and me,” Boehner told me today during our exclusive interview.

Now, today's science lesson, courtesy NationalGeographic.com -

Black holes are the cold remnants of former stars, so dense that no matter—not even light—is able to escape their powerful gravitational pull.


While most stars end up as white dwarfs or neutron stars, black holes are the last evolutionary stage in the lifetimes of enormous stars that had been at least 10 or 15 times as massive as our own sun.

Prediction time: Sine Die late next week

Yes, I basically predicted this weekend that this would be the last week of the regular legislative session, but that has turned out to be a little optimistic.

The adjusted prediction is based on a few factors -

1. The Rs screwed up the budget that they railroaded through last week, so they have to fix it this week.

2. A conversation this past weekend with a member, who predicted 2 - 3 more weeks.  The end of next week will be two legislative weeks after that conversation.

3. Some Senate committees are scheduled to meet Monday afternoon to consider a number of executive nominations.  It would be difficult to do that if the legislature has adjourned.  :)

As the committee meeting will end late in the afternoon, it will probably be too late in the day for the full Senate to approve the appointments on Monday.  Therefore, my new and improved sine die prediction is: 

Wednesday, April 13 at 2 p.m.


Note:  tomorrow, Wednesday, April 6 at 9 a.m., House Rules will meet in HHR3 to consider/rubberstamp a long agenda.

Is Jan Brewer a governor moonlighting as a lobbyist, or a lobbyist moonlighting as a governor?

Either way, she seems spend her days helping out Chuck Coughlin...

From the Arizona Republic, written by Ginger Rough -

Gov. Jan Brewer on Monday issued a statement in which she expressed "great disappointment and sadness" over the Fiesta Bowl scandal and pledged to convene a panel of Arizona business and athletic leaders to help the bowl repair its image.

"This panel will work in cooperation and consultation with the Fiesta Bowl Board of Directors so that steps are taken to ensure that the bowl emerges from this painful process a stronger, more accountable institution," Brewer's statement said.

Coughlin's Brewer's complete statement is here.

So you ask "What's the relationship here?"

- Chuck Coughlin is the head of what is likely Arizona's most influential lobbying firm, HighGround.

- Chuck Coughlin was and is Jan Brewer's biggest political "advisor," so influential that many consider him to be less an "advisor" and more a "puppeteer."

- Chuck Coughlin lists the Fiesta Bowl as a client on his website and is, in fact, hip deep in the growing scandal surrounding the Fiesta Bowl and its "gifts" and laundered campaign contributions to Arizona politicians.  From page 178 of the Fiesta Bowl's own report (emphasis mine) -

In October 2005, the Fiesta Bowl spent at least $18,453.95 on a legislative "dignitary" trip to Chicago.934 On October 28-30, 2005, Aguilar, Junker and Christine Martin traveled to Chicago with Arizona State Senators Linda Aguirre, Robert Blendu, Russell Pearce, and Linda Lopez from the Arizona House of Representatives. Accompanying these legislators were family members and guests John Aguirre, Robert Blendu, Jr., Toni Lopez, Dominic Evans, and LuAnn Pearce. General Counsel and Board member Williams was also part of this trip, as were members of Husk Partners and HighGround, including Gary and Cara Husk, Doug Cole, and Chuck Coughlin.935

Note: Doug Cole's name is highlighted because he works for Coughlin at HighGround.

Just one question:  Does Brewer fill out a time sheet?  We really shouldn't be paying her for the time she spends working on behalf of Coughlin's clients.

The end is near: Arizona Legislature week in review and the coming week

When both of the weekly legislative posts, both review and preview, can be combined, it's clear that the end of the legislative session is nigh.

- The biggest news last week was the railroading of a budget through the House on minimal notice.

Utilizing a lack of notice (nobody outside of the Speaker and Republican leadership seemed to know what was in the budget bills before the start of committee consideration) and an all-night session, they effectively forestalled public response to a budget that -

     - Cuts over $270 million from higher education

     - Tuition at the state's universities has already increased by 18% - 20% since FY08, with more large hikes on tap this year

     - Eliminates the requirement that the legislature provide a "match" for university financial aid monies raised from students
     - Cuts $180 million from K-12 education, leading to a likely increase in average class size to 40+

     - Increases funding support for charter schools

     - Shifts more than $130 million in costs to cities and counties, likely forcing cities and counties to raise taxes (unless the lege passes one of its proposals to bar cities and counties from doing just that

     -  Eliminates child care for poor working families

     - Reduces the time limit for temporary assistance to needy families to 24 months, a 33% reduction, and makes that time limit retroactive.  Families who have already received 24 months of assistance are immediately cut off

     - Balances the budget by drastically cutting AHCCCS and imposing some illegal copays on poor patients.  Arizona has tried this in the past, and the courts have struck down the move

     - Devastates Arizona's hospitals with cuts to reimbursement rates and cuts to "Prop 204" eligibility (covering people with an income of up to 100% of the federal property level - FPL).  On average, rural hospitals will lose more than 2/3 of their revenue ( "rural" = "outside of Maricopa and Pima counties)

     - Eliminates state General Fund support of the state's Water Protection Fund, pushing the costs for that to cities and towns

     - Eliminates the Arizona Department of Housing

     - Allows the director of the department of corrections to impose a fee/tax on deposits made to "prisoner spendable accounts"

     - Allows the director of the department of corrections to impose a fee for background checks for people visiting prisons (yes, this means that people are going to have to pay to visit imprisoned family members)

     - And more.  They wreaked a LOT of devastation upon Arizona in that one long session.

The budget bills were passed by both the House and Senate on party line votes and it now sits on the Governor's desk, awaiting her signature.

Other "highlight" -

- Jan Brewer signed the latest anti-abortion measure into law in a celebration/ceremony at the Center for Arizona Theocracy's Policy's annual fundraising dinner.  Among other things,  HB2416  compels a woman who seeks an abortion to view an ultrasound of her fetus and to listen to a heartbeat before an abortion procedure can be performed.


Things to look forward to in the coming week -

- Sine die, or the end of the legislative session.

There's no specific day set aside for that but with the passage of the budget and temperatures in Phoenix already hitting triple digits (the the growing Fiesta Bowl junkets/campaign contributions scandal), the legislative types want to get out of town ASAP.  Speculation is running that it will happen this week, possibly by Thursday.

Which leads to...

Long COW (Committee of the Whole) and Third Read (final approval) calendars in both chambers as things devolve into a mad scramble to pass a few more pieces of legislation before they all head for the hills.

Monday's House Third Read calendar is here; Tuesday's House COW calendars are here and here.

The House Rules Committee will meet Monday at 1 p.m. in HHR4.  Very long agenda of bills to be rubberstamped for floor consideration later in the week.

Monday's Senate COW calendar is here.

The Senate's Healthcare and Medical Liability Reform Committee will meet Wednesday at 2 p.m. in SHR1 to consider the appointment of Susan C. Stevens to the Psychiatric Security Review Board.

From the Governor's office's description of the Board -

"The Board maintains jurisdiction over persons who are committed to a secure state mental health facility; holds hearings to determine if a person committed to a secure state mental health facility is eligible for release or conditional release; devises a plan for the conditional release of a person in conjunction with the secure mental health facility and other appropriate community agencies or persons; confidentially maintains all medical, social, and criminal history records of persons who are committed to its jurisdiction; holds a hearing to determine if the conditions of release should be continued, modified, or terminated..."

Ms. Stevens appears to be an attorney/professional lobbyist, though a name like that makes for a lot of search results.

The Legislature's Events Calendar for the week is here.

The Arizona Capitol Times' Capitol Events Calendar is here.

Familiar names running for Phoenix City Council

Edited on 4/3 to add info that came to my attention after this post went up...

Proving once again that even in a city as large as Phoenix - 11th largest geographically, 6th largest in terms of population - in many ways it's a small town.

Some very familiar names have opened up campaign committees for Phoenix City Council this year (the District 2 committees are speculative - Peggy Neely would have to resign to run for mayor for that seat to be up for election this year) -

Janet Contreras, a former candidate for Congress in CD4, is running for the District 7 Council seat

Jim Waring, Republican former state senator and candidate for Congress in CD3, is running for District 2 (I think.  The form is handwritten and sloppy)

LeAnn Hull, Republican former candidate for Congress, also in CD3, is also running for District 2

Brenda Sperduti, a Republican communications consultant, is running for District 5

Thelda Williams, current member of the Phoenix City Council, is running for reelection in District 1

David N. Jones, CEO of the Arizona Contractors Association, running in District 2

Arthur Olivas, Republican/tea party type , is running in District 7

Charlie Ellis, Republican/tea party type, District 5

Tom Simplot, current member of the Phoenix City Council, has an open committee in  District 4, but his seat isn't up this year

Zakary Perry, a high school senior, running in District 5

Paul Yoder, Republican former candidate for LD15 House , is running for Distict 5

Michael Salman, a big fan of Sal DiCiccio , is running for District 5

Gary Whalen, Republican/tea party type, running in District 1

Daniel Valenzuela, firefighter, running in District 5

Eric Frederick, a really religious insurance saleman, District 1

Bryan Jeffries, firefighter, District 1

Eric Sloan, District 5.  Not sure what he's about, but Jeanne Lunn, a former Democratic candidate for LD7 House wrote to attest that Sloan is a "solid" guy.  He was employed by the Arizona Department of Veterans Services where he developed a wide range of friends and contacts from across the political spectrum.
Bill Barker, running as a $500 Threshold Exemption candidate in District 1

Bill Gates, current member of the Phoenix City Council, running in District 3

Steven Gross, running as a $500 Threshold Exemption candidate in District 3

Michael Nowakowski, current member of the Phoenix City Council, running in District 7

Ben Bethel, running as a $500 Threshold Exemption candidate in District 7


Note: It may just be a coincidence, but the $500 Threshold candidates all filed within 1 day of each other.

The complete candidate list is here.

The Fiesta Bowl Scandal and Russell Pearce

The news that a number of Arizona politicos may have improperly accepted gifts and illegal campaign contributions broke this week with the release of a report from the Fiesta Bowl investigating its own practices.

The investigators examined a number of campaign finance reports looking for contributions from Fiesta Bowl employees that were later reimbursed by the organization.  They also looked at Fiesta Bowl records to determine where, when, and how much was spent to influence public officials.

A few (7?) Democrats (Harry Mitchell, Linda Lopez, Ben Arredondo, etc.) were implicated in one or another aspect of the burgeoning scandal, as were a large number of Republicans (25+), both electeds (Russell Pearce, Carolyn Allen, Thayer Verschoor, etc.) and behind-the-scenes "fixers" - aka "lobbyists" or "consultants" (Chuck Coughlin, Doug Cole, Gary Husk, etc.).

As I'm not a lawyer, I'm not qualified to comment on the legal implications for the politicos implicated.  However, I can speak a little bit about the political implications for the electeds.

Many, such as Ds Mitchell and Mary Manross (former mayor of Scottsdale) and Rs Verschoor and Allen, aren't in office right now and may not seek office again, so the political impact will be minimal.

Note: I've been told that, at least, neither Manross nor Allen are interested in future runs for office, but that info is many months old, and may have changed.

A few of the others have quietly reimbursed the Fiesta Bowl for any "gifts" that they received but most are otherwise maintaining a low profile, waiting to see how this develops.

However, Senate President Russell Pearce (R-Blacklist) has never been known for being quiet.

Or even for learning lessons from the missteps of others.

His colleague and ally, Senate majority leader Scott Bundgaard was involved in a domestic violence incident in February, which was bad enough.

However, Bundgaard aggravated the scandal when he just wouldn't shut up, issuing press releases left and right, blaming his now ex-girlfriend and pleading for everyone to respect his privacy, to concocting a story that his ex pulled a gun on him (one that turned out to be his own) in spite of a police report that doesn't mention a gun anywhere in it.

Now, he's no longer Senate majority leader, and his political future is murky at best (OK, he's probably toast in the next primary, but journalists, even quasi-journalists like bloggers, have "weasel word" standards to meet :) ).

Pearce obviously hasn't been paying attention to Bungaard's mishandling of his own misconduct.

Pearce has claimed that he paid for his own tickets to some of the football games for which the Fiesta Bowl groups organized legislative junkets.

From the Arizona Republic article, written by Ginger Rough and Alia Beard Rau, linked to "news" above -

Pearce had been mostly silent on his involvement until Friday, when he told The Republic that he had paid for his tickets and that he was "very disappointed" in the bowl and its activities.

Asked when he paid for his tickets, Pearce said: "Immediately, at the time."

But Pearce's comments conflict with a portion of the report that states Fiesta Bowl employees paid for, and then were reimbursed by the bowl for, non-Fiesta Bowl tickets given to Pearce in 2007 and 2008.

Hmmm....

Now, not having access to Pearce's personal financial records (or anyone else's, for that matter), I cannot state unequivocally that Pearce did not pay for the tickets himself.  However, based on public records, I can say that he definitely didn't report a junket and a game in 2005 (page 178 of the Fiesta Bowl report) in his 2006 Financial Disclosure Statement, covering the 2005 calendar year.

Submitted in early January 2006 and amended at the end of January 2006, he reported gifts valued in excess of $500 from the American Legislative Exchange Council, Republican Club of (illegible), Western Growers Association, Brookings Institute, and NCSL (National Conference of State Legislatures).

Nothing related to the Fiesta Bowl or college football was reported.

Hmmm2...

Here are some relevent financial disclosure reports for the electeds named in the report as being part of the 2005 trip, courtesy the Center for Public Integrity (the reports cover the prior calendar year) -


Pearce 2005 2004 2003 2002

Bob Blendu 2006 2005 2004

Linda Lopez 2006 2005 2004

Linda Aguirre 2006 2005 2004


Of the four named specifically, only two are still legislators.

 Linda Lopez reported the trip in her 2006 disclosure. 

Pearce?  Not a mention.

Hmmm3...


There's also a sign that perhaps investigators should not have looked at only reports of campaign contributions, but also at reported expenses.

On page 179 of the Fiesta Bowl report, a junket to Boston was documented, one that Pearce attended.  Part of the junket: a college football game between Boston College and Virginia Tech on October 18.

In Russell Pearce's post-general election campaign finance report from 2008, covering October 16 thru November 24 of that year, he reported a "miscellaneous" expenditure of $675.00, dated November 4, 2008.

If that one turns out to be junket-related, it could be problematical for Pearce - he accepted Clean Elections funding that year, and they take a rather dim view of candidates who use the money in ways that are other than directly related to the campaign.

To be fair, the Fiesta Bowl investigators were mostly interested in the activities of their own organization, not those of the elected officials.

Future investigators, both journalistic and law enforcement, will certainly pay more attention to how the electeds reported their associations with the Fiesta Bowl.

The upshot of it all is that everyone involved is hoping this blows over, that current events distract the public from the past misconduct - the business administrators of college football don't want investigations of the other bowls, who almost certainly operate in a manner similar to the Fiesta Bowl, and the electeds don't want to be on the receiving end of any political repercussions.

Does anyone think it's a coincidence that the report was released during the final week of the NCAA basketball tournament, when college sports fans, even casual ones, are thoroughly focused on that?

Or that the House this week rushed through a horrific budget allowing them to end the legislative session and get out of town and out of the reach of reporters, as quickly as possible?

Tedski at Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion offers his perspective on this mess here; AZBlueMeanie of Blog for Arizona has his here.


Note:  The Center for Public Integrity only has the financial disclosure reports for the first half of the decade.  I could not find the reports from later in the decade online, and the Republic story reports that they are having difficulty obtaining those reports from the Secretary of State's office. 

Anybody really surprised by that?

Arizona and national politics in a nutshell...

Wiley Miller says it all in today's Non Sequitur comic strip...

Thursday in the House: shrouded by secrecy, budget consideration on tap

Transparency be damned!  Stoke the boilers with textbooks, civil rights, and the state's future!  Keep the railroad running at full speed!

Tuesday afternoon, House Speaker Kirk Adams formally introduced ("First Read") the 13 budget-related bills passed by the Senate earlier this month and referred them to the House Appropriations Committee for consideration.

Thursday at 9 a.m., the House Appropriations Committee will hold a special meeting to consider the package of budget bills from the Senate.

Place:  HHR1, State House of Representatives, 1700 West Washington, Phoenix.

On the agenda, which indicates that strike-everything amendments will be offered for each bill:

SB1612, general appropriations, striker not available as yet

SB1613, capital outlay, striker not available as yet

SB1614, budget procedures, striker not available as yet

SB1615, consolidation, state agencies, striker not available as yet

SB1616, revenue, budget reconciliation, striker not available as yet

SB1617, K-12 education, budget reconciliation, striker not available as yet

SB1618, higher education, budget reconciliation, striker not available as yet

SB1619, health, budget reconciliation, striker not available as yet

SB1620, welfare, budget reconciliation, striker not available as yet

SB1621, criminal justice, budget reconciliation, striker not available as yet

SB1622, general government, budget reconciliation, striker not available as yet
 
SB1623, regulation, budget reconciliation, striker not available as yet
 
SB1624, environment, budget reconciliation, striker not available as yet
 
 
Even if they pass the bills "as is," the short notice all but blocks any coherent response to the measures from the people affected by the bills.  On top of that, if strikers are offered, as indicated by the agenda, there will be absolutely no opportunity for analysis of the proposals before they are heard in committee, and that will be the one and only opportunity for the public to weigh in on the measures.
 
Convenient, huh?

Kavanagh amendment targeting universities

...at first glance, it appears he may be serving as the hatchet man for the Goldwater Institute, but to give Rep. John Kavanagh his due, he's a smart man and could have thought of this all on his own.

On Wednesday, the House Appropriations Committee, chaired by Rep. John Kavanagh (R-Fountain Hills), will consider a strike-everything amendment (aka - "striker") to SB1116.

That proposed amendment reads, in part -

...universities under the jurisdiction of the Arizona board of regents may not:

1. Provide taxpayer funded programs, scholarships or courses if the purpose of the program, scholarship or course is to advocate public policy.

2. Allow taxpayer funded organizations, institutes or centers to operate on the campus of the university or on behalf of or in association with the university if the purpose of the organization, institute or center is to advocate public policy.

Based on a cursory examination of the websites of ASU and U of A, at least two possible targets of the measure seem obvious -

U of A's Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy

ASU's Morrison Institute for Public Policy


The Udall Center focuses on immigration and indigenous peoples, while Morrison tends to focus on economic and governance issues.

The institutes serve as a reasoned counterweight to both the Goldwater Institute and the nativists in the lege (of which group Kavanagh is a leading light).

And neither of those groups like the competition.


Other institutes that could also be targeted, or at least caught up as collateral damage include:

The National Institute for Civil Discourse at U of A

The Global Institute for Sustainability at ASU


I'm guessing neither one of those is the main target here, but none of the Rs in the lege will complain if they go away.

Anyway, the meeting will be Wednesday (tomorrow as of this writing) at 2 p.m. in HHR1 at the state capitol.

Aiming at President Obama, the Republicans may take out the Donald, too...

The Republicans in the Arizona Legislature have revived their "birther" bill (strikers to HB2177 and SB1157) in an attempt to play up to the "birther" wing of their own party, people who insist that the first African-American president must have been born in Africa, not Hawaii.

The striker to HB2177 was approved by the Senate Rules committee on Monday and is scheduled for caucus consideration on Tuesday, setting it up for floor action this week or next.

The striker to SB1157 is awaiting a hearing before House Rules.

The strangely interesting part has been watching the various Republican contenders/pretenders for the race for the presidency try to jump on the birther bandwagon.

It's especially interesting when one of those would-be bandwagon jumpers misjudge their leap and smacks his chin on the wagon's gate -

The most recent example: Donald Trump, who released his birth certificate on Monday after going on Fox News (where else? :) ) to roll in the birther muck.

One problem - the birth certificate released by Trump isn't a legal birth certificate.

From The Smoking Gun (hat tip to Taegan Goddard's PoliticalWire for this) -

“It’s inconceivable that, after four years of questioning, the president still hasn’t produced his birth certificate,” Trump told Newsmax. “I’m just asking President Obama to show the public his birth certificate. Why’s he making an issue out of this?" To prove how easy it was for a household employee to find his birth certificate, Trump, 64, crowed, “It took me one hour to get my birth certificate.”


As seen above, he provided the conservative web site with what he purports to be his birth certificate.

Except the document is not an official New York City birth certificate, but rather a document generated by Jamaica Hospital, where Trump’s mother Mary reportedly gave birth in June 1946. Official birth certificates are issued (and maintained) by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s Office of Vital Records.

Oopsie.

Arizona Corporation Commission to hold special meeting on safety at Palo Verde

In the wake of the multiple disasters in Japan - the massive earthquake, the devastating tsunami, and especially the ever more frightening ongoing failure and destruction of a nuclear power plant - people here have raised concerns over the nuclear power plant closest to Phoenix, Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station.  It is owned by a consortium of companies, including both of Arizona's largest electricity providers APS and SRP.  (NRC info page here)

The Arizona Corporation Commission, an elected body that oversees utilities in Arizona, has been swamped with inquiries from constituents, and as a result, will be holding a special meeting on Tuesday to hear about safety measures at the plant.

From a Phoenix Business Journal article by Patrick O'Grady -

The Arizona Corporation Commission will hold a meeting Tuesday to discuss safety plans for the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station.

The special meeting, to be held at 1 p.m. in the commission’s hearing room at 1200 W. Washington in Phoenix, is at the request of at least two commissioners, Bob Stump and Paul Newman.

It sounds like the meeting will be more a pep rally than an actual inquiry, but some useful info may come out of it in anyway.

The official public notice for the meeting is here.

The coming week - legislative edition

As usual, all info gathered from online sources such as the website of the Arizona Legislature, and subject to change without notice.

And given the time of year, unexpected changes should be expected.  :)

- There's a rumor that the House will be doing budget work this week, but I haven't been able to track down anything more.  It may not happen this week, but traditionally, when the calendar turns to April, legislators start pressing leadership for the end of the legislative session.  Expect budget matters to heat up in the next few weeks.

Senate committee agendas can be found here; House committee agendas here.  Check back frequently for revisions.

All floor calendars can be found here.  Generally speaking, calendars are posted the day before they're scheduled for consideration.

All bill proposals can be found here.


On the Senate side of the Capitol -

Rules will meet Monday at 1 p.m in Caucus Room 1.  It serves as a preview of the week's floor action, but other than that, it's a rubber stamp.

Appropriations will meet Tuesday at 2 p.m. in SHR109.  As none of the other committees meet any longer, this one becomes the focus of attention for legislators who are trying to keep a favored proposal alive - either by getting a particular bill assigned to and heard in Appropriations or by getting them to hear a strike-everything amendment, or "striker" to a bill that has been assigned to it.

Right now, Sen. Andy Biggs, the chair of Senate Appropriations, is the most popular man in the Senate building.

On the agenda:

...A striker to HB1254, privatizing all correctional health services and removing a cap on costs from existing statute

...A striker to HB2289, making changes to the qualifications to be, and the authority of, county school superintendents.  Two of the big changes in the measure are taking the power of the county superintendent to make appointments to fill vacancies on local school district governing boards and giving it to the boards themselves, and to reduce the qualifications to be county superintendent by removing the requirement that superintendents hold a teaching certificate to simply being a "qualified elector" in Arizona.

Murphy is running for the Peoria Unified board, and his background is in real estate, not education.

Hmmm... :)

...A striker to HB2341, exempting aircraft sold to foreign governments from taxation

...A striker to HB2362, mandating that the Arizona Department of Education contract with a private insurance provider to offer liability insurance to teachers (currently, most teachers have liability insurance through their school districts or union).  Failed as a stand-alone bill in Senate Education last week, brought back as a striker by Murphy this week.

Hmmm... :)


The Senate's Committee of the Whole, or COW, calendar for Monday is here.


On the House side of the Capitol -

Rules will meet Monday at 1 p.m. in HHR4.  As with Senate Rules, this is a rubber stamp that best serves as a preview of the week's floor activities.

Appropriations will meet Wednesday at 2 p.m. in HHR1.  As with Senate Appropriations, the chair of this committee, Rep. John Kavanagh, is the most popular member of the House, especially with members who are trying to keep their favorite proposals alive.

On the agenda:

...a striker to SB1012 (no text available yet) for "lakes; non-motorized watercraft; rulemaking exemption" - not sure what this one is about

...a striker to SB1116 (no text available yet) for "universities; taxpayer funded programs; restrictions" - don't know what this one is yet, but it's probably really bad (not that I'm a cynic or anything :) )

...a striker to SB1404 (no text available yet) for "civil actions; attorney fees; recovery" - not quite sure, but the subject line is similar to that of dead bill HB2409, which would have barred the award of attorneys' fees to the state, counties, or municipalities in civil actions related to legal actions to enforce or challenge provisions of laws, regulations, or ordinances.


The House's Monday COW calendar is here.


 
The lege's Capitol Events calendar is here.
 
The Arizona Capitol Times' Capitol Calendar is here.  Highlight:  If you've got $250 and a lot of brain cells that you don't mind wasting, the Center for Arizona Theology Policy is holding a fundraising event on Saturday.  The scheduled feature guest is James Dobson.
 
Later...