Arizona Legislature: The Coming Week - part 1

Well, they've reached the first "deadline" week of the session, and that is reflected in the length of committee agendas.

Friday is the last day for bills introduced in a particular chamber to be heard in that chamber's committees.  There are exceptions (bills can still be considered by the Appropriations committees) or exceptions can be made (schmooze the Senate President/House Speaker), but for the most part, proposals that don't pass committee by the end of the week are dead.

...Unless they are revived by a strike-everything amendment (striker) and pasted into the frame of another bill that *did* pass committee.  But that's another post...


This week, because the agendas are so long, and so fluid, this post will be presented in two parts -

Monday and Tuesday's schedules will be in this part, while the agendas for Wednesday and Thursday will be analyzed on Tuesday evening.


Notes:

All committees meetings and agendas are subject to change without notice, and frequently do.  If you plan to travel to the Capitol to observe or weigh in on the consideration of a particular measure, check with the lege ahead of time to confirm that the meeting that you are interesting in is still on schedule and your item(s) of interest is still on the agenda for that meeting.

Meeting rooms designated "HHR" are in the House of Representatives building.

Meeting rooms designated "SHR" are in the Senate building.

Some agendas are summarized as "looks harmless", but if they cover an area of interest to you, examine the agenda and the bills on it.  If I missed something significant, please leave a comment letting me know.


All House committee agendas can be found here.

All Senate committee agendas can be found here.


On the Senate side of the Capitol -

- Rules, Monday, 1 p.m., Caucus Room 1.  Long agenda (37 items); might take them all of 15 minutes to rubber stamp it.

- Judiciary, Monday, 2 p.m., SHR1.  On the agenda:  A same-subject striker to SB1122, related to industrial hemp.  It's from Sen. Rick Murphy, so it probably isn't good policy, but it is more technical than I understand, so it should be looked at by folks with more knowledge of the topic; SB1249, another technical measure that seems to expand the definition of someone who can be indefinitely committed to a mental hospital/prison to include anyone who is charged with a serious or violent crime (again, this one should be examined by folks with more subject knowledge); SB1390, creating a legal presumption that, in the event of conflicting health care directives from someone holding a health care power of attorney and health care providers, the one issued under the color of power of attorney represents the wishes of the patient; competing? measures, a striker to SB1364 and a striker to SB1052, that appear to do the same thing (relating to "equivalent cost-sharing requirements" for insurance); SB1266, exempting judicial officers from certain weapons violations; SB1409, expanding the kind of cases that can be handled by, and the fees that can be paid to, outside law firms contracted by Arizona Attorney General's office to handle certain matters; and SB1479, a "breathing while brown" bill, this one expanding the definition of "criminal trespass" to include "entering or remaining on any real property if the person is violating any other federal or state law."

- Government and Environment, Monday, 2 p.m., SHR3.  On the agenda: SB1354 and SB1355, attacking public employees and public employee unions by attacking the ability of employees to pay union dues, and unions to collect those dues, via payroll deduction; SB1333, allowing industry lobbying organizations to be part of air quality studies; SB1405, Sen. Rick Murphy's self-serving proposal to inhibit investigations of allegations of domestic violence or child abuse by holding a public employee personally liable for any damages that someone else may suffer as a result of the employee's actions, even those conducted in the normal course of the employee's duties, if the actions were "grossly negligent", "malicious", or show a "reckless disregard of damages that could occur"; SB1291, telling the federal government that certain laws relating to national defense don't apply to Arizona; SCR1016, a resolution from "Atomic" Al Melvin stating that the lege supports designating one week of each legislative session as "Limiting Government Week"; SB1478, a "trees cause drought" bill that would bar the use of funds from the state's Water Protection Fund to plant tamarisk, mesquite, or other "high water use trees", but would allow the use of the Fund's funds to pay for the removal of such trees; and SB1106, appropriating $30 million to build some kind of a fence along the border with Mexico.  I say "some kind" because while the original bill says the money is for a "virtual" fence, there's a proposed amendment to make the appropriation for a physical or virtual fence.  And since the amendment is proposed by the chair of the committee, it's probably going to pass.

- Transportation, Tuesday, 2 p.m., SHR3.  Looks harmless so far.  There are a couple of bills that seem suspicious based on their sources (Sens. Chester Crandell and Don Shooter), but other than their sponsors being consistently bad elected officials, I couldn't identify specific clauses to be concerned about.

But just because I couldn't find them doesn't mean that they aren't there.

- Elections, Tuesday, 2 p.m., SHR1.  On the agenda: SB1415, changing the way that "majority" of votes is calculated in municipal race.  It looks like the bill will all but end runoff elections for city council seats and increase the influence of "single-shotting" candidates (voting for only one candidate in a multiple-seat race to increase the likelihood of that candidate winning one of the contested seats); and SCR1003, proposing a change to the Arizona constitution that would require that any voter initiatives or referenda that affect state revenues or expenditure has to be reauthorized every eight years.

- Appropriations, Tuesday, 2 p.m., SHR109.  On the agenda: SB1400, establishing the Public Safety Officers Assistance Fund, a commission to manage the Fund, and takes $50 out of every $150 administrative towing charge (from municipalities, counties, and anyone else that assesses such a fee) to fund the Fund.


On the House side of the Capitol -

- Rules, Monday, 1 p.m., HHR4.  Long agenda, rubber stamp. 20 minutes, tops.

- Ways and Means, Monday, 2 p.m., HHR1.  On the agenda: HB2272, loosening requirements for a business tax credit program; a striker to HB2379, affecting taxes levied by county library, healthcare, and jail districts.  This bill was already passed by this committee on a party line vote, but it is coming back for some reason.  In its original form, it limited taxes for those districts in such a way as to all but force such districts to shut down; HB2389, amending transaction privilege tax provisions (many that will impact the amount of revenue collected by cities and towns); HB2413, reducing school district bonding level limits; and HB2595, making some changes to tax and appraisal rules for home renewable energy systems.

- Financial Institutions, Monday, 2 p.m., HHR5.  On the agenda:  HB2264, creating something called "Arizona Job Finance Bonds".  This would authorize the creation of industrial development authorities that would be allowed to issue bonds to finance private projects that would create private sector jobs.  The beneficiaries of these bonds would be able to self-certify (by submitting a business plan) that jobs would be created by the financed project; HB2526, raising interest and fees on "consumer lender loans" (the next time this bunch proposes something to protect consumers, rather than exploit them, will be the first time).

- Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources, Monday, 2 p.m., HHR4.  On the agenda:  HB2623, direct the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality to establish performance standards for coal-fired and natural gas-fired electrical generating units.  And then tells them what the standards will be.  I don't know where the original bill documents are located now, but I'm pretty sure that if a police forensics unit examined them, they'd find the fingerprints of industry lobbyists all over the docs.

- Education, Monday, 2 p.m., HHR3.  On the agenda:  HB2036, expanding school vouchers "Empowerment Scholarship Accounts; HB2316, a sneaky bill.  The working title is "schools; local control; student privacy" but the actual title should be "federal education standards; AZ don' need no stinkin' education standards"; HB2485, requiring the Arizona Department of Education to "award a contract to an educational technology provider for language development and literacy software".  There's a proposed amendment to the bill which would modify the proposal into a "pilot program", but the price tag remains the same - $36 million over three fiscal years.  Maybe I've gotten to be too cynical from my years of lege-watching, but this one looks to have requirements that are so specific that only one provider is going to qualify for the contract.

- Insurance and Retirement, Tuesday, 2 p.m., HHR3.  On the agenda: HB2560, making documents related to insurance company self-evaluation compliance audits exempt from all disclosure, including in court cases.  Most of the bills on this agenda, including HB2560, are a little too technical for me to completely understand the effects of them.

- Government, Tuesday, 2 p.m., HHR4.  On the agenda: a same-subject striker to HB2386, limiting the bonding ability of special taxing districts, and other changes; HB2476, another proposal to attack public employee unions through limitations on payroll deductions for union dues; HB2528, limiting the ability of municipalities to regulate signwalkers within their jurisdictions; HB2640, mandating that if a municipality, a county, or the state calls for an investigation of itself or a subdivision of the same, it must contract with a third party to conduct that investigation, and the the auditor general select the third party.  The auditor general works directly for the legislature.  Any questions about what they're really trying to do here?

- Federalism and Fiscal Responsibility, Tuesday, 2 p.m., HHR1.  On the agenda: HB2188, appropriating $20 million to by communication equipment related to border security; HCR2035, a proposal to change the state's constitution to require a balanced budget.  Lots of words, looks like TABOR without using that specific word; HCR2036, imposing some debt limits that seem to be part of HCR2035's TABOR-like provisions.

- Agriculture and Water, Tuesday, 2 p.m., HHR5.  Looks harmless so far.



Legislative floor calendars can be found here.
The lege's calendar of events for the week is here.
AZ Department of Administration meeting public notices are here.

Sen. Rick Murphy challenging Sen. Steve Yarbrough for the gold medal in the "Brazen Chutzpah" competition

By now, everyone in the lege-watcher universe knows about Sen. Steve Yarbrough and his penchant for pushing self-enriching tuition tax credit measures in the lege, measures that add to his personal wealth.

And even though his activities have been public knowledge for years now, every year, Yarbrough pushes more self-serving measures through the lege.

Why shouldn't he?  Other than the news stories, he hasn't faced any pushback for his actions - he keeps getting reelected and this state's prosecutors won't touch him.

Now, one of his Senate colleagues, Rick Murphy, has apparently taken the lesson from Yarbrough's situation to heart - go ahead and use the lege as a conduit for self-serving agendas.

Last summer, Murphy was caught up in a scandal when there were allegations the he abused some of the children placed in his care as a foster parent.

After an investigation by Peoria PD and CPS found insufficient evidence to support criminal charges, the matter was dropped.

Well, the police and CPS dropped the matter, but Murphy most assuredly has not.

Apparently, Murphy is still pissed off to no end that they dared to investigate him.

So he has proposed a series of bills to "remedy" the situation.

- SB1405, holding a public employee personally liable for any damages that someone else may suffer as a result of the employee's actions, even those conducted in the normal course of the employee's duties, if the actions were "grossly negligent", "malicious", or show a "reckless disregard of damages that could occur".

On the agenda for the Senate Government and Environment meeting on Monday.

- SB1406, reducing the admissibility of police reports is domestic violence-related court proceedings.

On the agenda for the Senate Public Safety meeting on Wednesday.

- SB1407, affecting the grounds under which a parent-child relationship may be terminated.

On the agenda for the Senate Health and Human Services meeting on Wednesday.

- SB1410, requiring the police to arrest any party involved in a domestic violence dispute if there is evidence that the party engaged in any sort of act that could be construed as domestic violence (i.e. - if a man assaults his girlfriend and the girlfriend tries to push him away, both would be subject to arrest).  Also contains a clause that would expand the definition of "domestic violence" to include if someone "knowingly making a false statement to a government entity against another person".

On the agenda for the Senate Public Safety meeting on Wednesday.

- SB1411, a rather punitive proposal making life even more difficult for people seeking orders of protection, including raising the burden of proof required for the issuance of such orders.

On the agenda for the Senate Public Safety meeting on Wednesday.


The bills, as proposed by Murphy, would forestall investigation of all but the most brazen domestic violence and child abuse cases.

And given the current CPS scandal involving allegations of child abuse that went uninvestigated, Murphy's move to hamstring such investigations in order to protect himself from future investigations qualifies him as more brazen than Yarbrough.


Note: OK.  Upon examination of the bills that Murphy has proposed, I think the statement "Apparently, Murphy is still pissed off to no end that they dared to investigate him" should be amended.

By dropping "Apparently". 

The AZLege's Black Helicopter Caucus wants a Constitutional Convention. Just the wrong kind.

...Just a vent, but it is time to rename the "Legislative Department" (Article 4) section of the AZ Constitution as the "Micromanaging The Legislative Department" section...

Led by renowned/notorious (pick your preferred term) tea party type Rep. Kelly Townsend, the Arizona Legislature's Black Helicopter Caucus (BHC) has proposed HCR2027, a proposal for a convention to propose amendments to the US Constitution.

They want to impose term limits on federal-level elected officials ('cuz term limits have helped AZ become the best-run state in the country. don'cha know?) and fiscal and authority limits on the federal government.

And after watching the Arizona legislature in action this session, and many sessions before this, I have come to think that the BHC is on to something here.

I mean, they have the wrong goals and the wrong target in mind, but it is definitely time to update the Constitution to address some malfeasance on the part of members of a branch of government.

Of course, the Constitution that needs updating is the Arizona Constitution, and the branch of government that needs to be brought to heel is the Arizona Legislature.

There's a culture of institutional corruption at the legislature, exemplified by the never-ending stream of legislation that serves deep-pocketed lobbyists or even the legislators themselves, almost all contrary to the interests of the people of Arizona.

That corruption is rooted in, and enabled by, a culture of contempt for public service, public servants, and even the public itself.

Time to make some "adjustments".

None of the suggestions that follow are partisan in nature, nor are they about policy.  Those considerations change over time; the need for elected officials to conduct the people's business, and themselves, with focus and integrity is timeless.


Suggestion one:

Lay out a specific process and timeline for considering and enacting the state's budget.  My ideas:

A.  The budget must be considered and passed during regular session.  No abbreviated special session consideration and passage allowed.

B.  There must be at least sixteen hours of public testimony, spread out over at least 3 legislative days, on the budget allowed during Appropriations committee hearings in each chamber.  Notice of the meetings shall be publicly posted for at least 7 calendar days. Failure to avail the public of that much time or notice shall result in the expulsion of the responsible committee chair from the legislature.

C.  If the budget is not passed and signed into law by March 31, no other bills can be considered in committee or on the floor until it is.  If it isn't passed and signed into law by May 15, the AC in the lege's buildings shall be shut off until the end of the session.  In addition, the AZ Department of Corrections, DPS, or Department of Administration (or the appropriate agency) shall commence construction of a temporary jail facility across from the Capitol at Wesley Bolin Plaza (think: holding cell for 90, or Joe Arpaio's Tent City, without the creature comforts).  If the budget isn't passed and signed by the end of business (5 p.m) on June 1st, all 90 legislators shall be taken into custody by the Department of Public Safety and confined to the temporary jail facility until the budget is passed and signed.  If, after the "incarceration" period starts, a budget is passed but the governor vetoes or refuses to sign it in a timely manner (say, three business days), then the governor shall also be confined in the temporary jail facility until a budget is passed and signed.

D.  Because it is likely that some legislators will seek to avoid going to jail by resigning part of the way through the session, any legislator who resigns or otherwise leaves office between March 15 of a given year and the end of that year's session of the legislature shall be deemed ineligible for membership in the lege for the remainder of the term of that legislature and the entirety of the two years of the next legislature.  Also, any legislator who leaves the lege on or after April 15 of a given year shall be required to join their former colleagues in the temporary jail facility if the "jail" option becomes necessary.

Rationale:  While all government processes should be transparent, the state's budget, the allocation of public resources for public use, should be the most transparent of all.  It should also be the one that the members of the legislature pay the most attention to - it's the only thing that they *have* to do each session; the rest is just gravy.  This will help them focus on the important part of their job.


Suggestion two:

Limit the number of measures that the lege can refer to the ballot in a given two-year term to, say, five.  That would include any measures to be voted on at elections other than the biennial general election (special elections).  In addition, while the lege could refer the first three measures without the approval of the governor, the fourth and fifth measures would also have to be signed by the governor.

A sixth measure could be referred, but it would require a 2/3 vote and the governor's signature for passage.  In addition, upon the signature of the governor, referring the relevant measure to the ballot, the legislators who voted for the measure would be considered to have tendered their resignations and their offices vacant.  As with the budget-related resignations, the individuals who leave the legislature under this circumstance shall be deemed ineligible for membership in the legislature for the duration of that legislature and the entirety of the next legislature.

Rationale:  Every session of the lege sees two things:  1.  A seemingly never-ending supply of proposals from legislators to reduce the influence of Arizona's voters have on Arizona's government; and 2.  A massive number of proposals to attempt to have the voters repeal or at least water down previously passed measures.  The lege should be limited in how much they can waste our time voting on measures that we passed by that they (the lege) doesn't like.


Suggestion three:

No legislative votes, committee or floor, between the hours of 9 p.m and 8 a.m. shall be considered valid.  If a measure that is voted on between those hours becomes law, then any Arizonan will have legally sufficient grounds for winning a lawsuit to have the law overturned.

Rationale:  Late night sessions in the waning days of legislative sessions are the stuff of legends in Arizona, as are some of the horrible bills that have been passed during such sessions (alt-fuels, anyone?).


Suggestion four:

When the constitutionality (federal or AZ) of a law is successfully challenged in court, each member of the legislature who voted for it and the governor who signed it into law shall be personally liable in equal shares for reimbursing the state for the costs of defending their bad law.  Exceptions: If a measure is passed by at least a 3/4 vote of each chamber, then no such liability will exist; and there should be a reasonable time limit on the liability, say, five years.  If a law is successfully challenged more than five years after enactment, the members of the lege who voted for it would not be liable for the costs of defending the law.

Rationale:  The lege passes too many measures that they know won't stand up to judicial scrutiny.  However, they also know that they won't be footing the bill for the legal cost of defending their garbage measures.  As such, they have no incentive to pass well-crafted and constitutionally sound bills.  Hopefully, this will result more cooperation across the partisan divide in crafting good measures, or at least the passage of fewer bad bills.


Suggestion five:

Increase legislative pay to at least $50K per year.

Rationale: As much as I would like to think that the above proposals (and the ones that follow) are brilliant and would instantly result in a professional and honest legislature, the surest way to make a better legislature is to attract better candidates.  Too many good people (D and R alike) take a look at the $24K annual salary and have to pass on the job.  They just can't afford it.


Suggestion six:

Not sure how best to implement this, but every elected official should be considered to be "under oath" when speaking publicly or about matters of public interest.  Far too often in public discourse, electeds (and their proxies) cite "facts" to support their positions, "facts" that just aren't true ("headless bodies in the desert", etc.).

First violation: a misdemeanor conviction of some sort and 10 days in county jail; 2nd violation: a low-level felony conviction, 6 months in jail or prison, and with the felony conviction, expulsion from the legislature.

Rationale:  They work for us, and nowhere that I know of is it acceptable to lie to your employers.  In fact, it is usually grounds for termination.


Suggestion seven:

Another one that I'm not sure how to implement, but there should be a "if it is good enough for us, it is good enough for the lege, and vice versa" clause in the AZ Constitution.  For instance, if they pass  a law to require recipients of unemployment compensation or welfare to pee in a cup (aka - take and pass a drug test) as a condition of receiving benefits, the members of the lege should have do to the same, with the same frequency, as a condition of retaining their positions.

Rationale:  Maybe if the members of the lege felt the impact of their actions the way that the rest of us feel the impact, well, maybe they'd think twice about some of their pet proposals.


Suggestion eight:

Any legislation that alters election or voting laws in any way at all is automatically referred to the ballot, and any changes are frozen and cannot be enforced or repealed (with subsequent legislation) until the voters have their say.

On a related note, any other legislative measure that is successfully referred to the ballot by a petition drive should similarly be frozen until voters have their say.

Rationale: The Arizona legislature is intensely fond of passing measures to disenfranchise voters that they don't like (aka - people who don't vote for them) and of undermining voters when they exercise their prerogative to directly approve/disapprove of measures that the lege passes.


Suggestion nine: ...Well, that's enough for now.  This should help start a few conversations.

Some of those conversations will range from "What does he know?  He's just a BLEEPing blogger!" to "What does he know?  He's just a BLEEPETY BLEEP BLEEP BLEEPING blogger!"

However, others will be discussions of the variety we should be having, about the nature of good governance and what we can do to create a political culture where good governance that protects and nurtures a healthy society is the priority.

In contrast to the culture of contempt for civil society that currently exists at the state capitol.


Note:  There is one suggestion that I originally put in this post but later pulled.  Originally, suggestion nine was to require the members of the lege to begin their floor sessions by donning pink tutus and singing a rousing chorus of "I'm A Little Teapot".  They would be mocked, but since they've turned this state into a national punchline, they should have to stand for their ration of the mockery.  However, upon further consideration, I decided that was too petty.

It should be held in reserve.  As in, implement some changes, and if those changes don't bring the lege to heel, it can be used in phase II to remind the lege who they actually work for.

Huppenthal betrays Arizona's children and his constituents

John Huppenthal is Arizona's Superintendent of Public Instruction.

He seems to have a bit of a problem with the "Public" part, however.

From the Arizona Republic -

Arizona Legislature: The Coming Week

The full moon isn't going to happen until Friday night, but the "bay at the moon" crowd will be in full throat by early Monday afternoon...  

Notes:

All committees meetings and agendas are subject to change without notice, and frequently do.  If you plan to travel to the Capitol to observe or weigh in on the consideration of a particular measure, check with the lege ahead of time to confirm that the meeting that you are interesting in is still on schedule and your item(s) of interest is still on the agenda for that meeting.

Meeting rooms designated "HHR" are in the House of Representatives building.

Meeting rooms designated "SHR" are in the Senate building.

Some agendas are summarized as "looks harmless", but if they cover an area of interest to you, examine the agenda and the bills on it.  If I missed something significant, please leave a comment letting me know.

The agendas that seem to be the "worst of the worst" are bolded.


All House committee agendas can be found here.

All Senate committee agendas can be found here.


On the Senate side of the Capitol -

- Rules, Monday, 1 p.m., Senate Caucus Room 1.  Rubber stamp, but the agenda serves as a warning that some very bad bills will be up for floor votes in the near future.

- Judiciary, Monday, 2 p.m., SHR1.  "Highlights" of the agenda: SB1270, repealing the voter suppression omnibus bill passed last session, not because it's a bad bill (and law), which it is, but because the lege's Rs want to obviate the petition drive that put that particular measure on the ballot coming up in November.  Once that is done, they've already admitted their intent to passed the measures contained in the original bill again, just individually, making in prohibitively difficult and expensive for opponents to put the issue before the voters; SB1294, declaring any federal laws, regulations, that violate the 2nd Amendment of the US Constitution to be null and void.  It doesn't specify who gets decide what exactly constitutes a "violation", but I'm guess it won't be the judges who already consider such things; SCR1011, proposing an amendment to the Arizona Constitution to expand privacy protections (this one doesn't seem too bad on the face of things, but it's from Sen. Don "Tequila" Shooter, so there is probably some serious ugly in it that I can't see at this moment).

- Government and Environment, Monday, 2 p.m., SHR3.  On the agenda: SB1096, another "gold as legal tender for debts" bill; SB1183, barring municipalities and counties from adopting any ordinance, rule, or other legal requirement that one or two family structures, or specified other structures, on a "fire access road" install sprinklers; SB1227, barring municipalities and counties from adopting "green" building codes; and SCR1022, politely (by the standards of the AZLege, anyway) advising the EPA that it should leave pollution regulation and remediation in the hands of the people who know best, state legislators.

Note: AZBlueMeanie at Blog for Arizona has a summary of Monday's planned activities at the Senate.

- Transportation, Tuesday, 2 p.m., SHR3.  Looks harmless so far.

- Elections, Tuesday, 2 p.m., SHR1. On the agenda: SCR1003, a proposed amendment to the AZ Constitution to require that all voter-enacted measures that affect state revenues or expenditures be reauthorized every 8 years.  Think of it as the people at the legislature who have professed their hatred of recall elections for legislators trying to establish an automatic recall election for voter-enacted measures.

- Appropriations, Tuesday, 2 p.m., SHR109.  On the agenda: SB1315, the annual proposal to take the power to allocate federal block grants in AZ away from the governor and give it to the legislature.  For some reason, no previous governor has signed this one into law.  Can't understand why not :) ; SB1236 and SB1237, all about expanding and entrenching school vouchers "Empowerment Scholarship Accounts"; SB1212, appropriating $250K to the AZ Attorney General for litigation related to the feds' Mexican Gray Wolf Recovery Program.

- Natural Resources and Rural Affairs, Wednesday, 9 a.m., SHR109.  Looks harmless so far.

- Commerce, Energy, and Military, Wednesday, 9 a.m., SHR1.  Looks harmless so far.

- Public Safety, Wednesday, 2 p.m., SHR109.  On the agenda: SB1290, requiring that federal-level law enforcement agents ask permission from a county's sheriff before conducting a search, seizure, or arrest in that sheriff's county.

- Health and Human Services, Wednesday, 2 p.m., SHR1.  On the agenda: SB1296, SB1297, and SB1298, micromanaging the health care of AHCCCS patients; SB1308, requiring health care "navigators" (related to the Affordable Care Act) to register with the state.

- Finance, Wednesday, 2 p.m., SHR3.  On the agenda: SB1182, micromanaging school bond elections; SB1351, increasing legislative control over the Rio Nuevo Multipurpose Facilities District in Tucson.  There are also a number of very technical bills on this agenda that I do not understand well enough to evaluate them.

- Education, Thursday, 8:30 a.m., SHR1.  On the agenda:  SB1092, a proposal by anti-public education legislators to mess with K-12 public education finance; SB1100, requiring public school districts to sell "unused" or "underused" buildings to charter or private schools; SB1228, micromanaging the state's higher education entities, including prohibiting the admission of any student who may need remedial studies in any subject in order to qualify.  Given the way that the lege is constantly attacking the effectiveness of public K-12 education in AZ, this bill could conceivably result in Arizona students not being able to be admitted to Arizona's state higher education system; SB1229, creating a voucher system for higher education to siphon public money away from public institutions; SB1311, allowing school districts the "option" of privatizing school bus routes (prediction: this measure passes this session, mostly because "optional" doesn't seem bad, but next session, "optional" will be replaced by "shall").


On the House side of the Capitol:

- Rules, Monday, 1 p.m., HHR4.  Rubber stamp, mostly serves as a preview of upcoming floor calendars.

- Ways and Means, Monday, 2 p.m., HHR1.  On the agenda: HB2174, making any federal tax penalty paid by a taxpayer in relation to failure to purchase health insurance under the Affordable Care Act a deduction on the taxpayer's state income tax; HB2281, reclassifying, for tax purposes, property that is leased by a religious entity, and under certain circumstances, exempting such property from taxation; a striker to HB2285, creating some new exemptions to Arizona's transaction privilege tax (aka - "sales tax").  The big one is exempting the sale of coal to a refiner by a power plant and back again after refining; HB2291, expanding school vouchers "Empowerment Scholarship Accounts".

- Financial Institutions, Monday, 2 p.m., HHR5.  Looks harmless so far.

- Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources, Monday, 2 p.m., HHR4.  Looks harmless so far.

- Education, Monday, 2 p.m., HHR3.  Looks harmless, but one to keep an eye on: HB2180, appropriating $5 million dollars for the creation of an information technology education and certification program at the K-12 level.  The bill mandates the use of "at least one" private vendor to supply materials and resources.  Probably merits a closer look at the campaign finance reports of the sponsors, which may show ties between a company that would benefit from this bill's passage and one or more sponsors.

- Insurance and Retirement, Tuesday, 2 p.m., HHR3.  On the agenda: HB2060, giving the legislature more control over the governing board of the Public Safety Personnel Retirement System (PSPRS).  The measure failed to gain committee approval last week; HB2069, declaring that new employees of any of the state's political subdivisions (municipalities, counties, etc.) are ineligible for membership in the public employee retirement system.  There are also some bills on this agenda where I don't understand the impact well enough to evaluate them.

- Government, Tuesday, 2 p.m, HHR4.  On the agenda: HB2513, creating a privatized audit of AHCCCS payments.  The language in the bill is so broadly-drawn that a company receiving a contract under the provisions contained in this bill may view it as winning the lottery.

- Federalism and Fiscal Responsibility, Tuesday, 2 p.m., HHR1.  Currently, the agenda has four bills, all dog-whistle specials for the bay at the moon crowd (OK, HB2385 is more "bad" than "bay", but it's close).

- Agriculture and Water, Tuesday, 2 p.m., HHR5.  On the agenda: HB2587, a bill creating a "gag" rule regarding animal cruelty.  The Animal Defense League of Arizona has more information here.

- Public Safety, Military, and Regulatory Affairs, Wednesday, 9 a.m., HHR3.  The agenda looks to be mostly harmless, but HB2541, authorizing the state or a city or town to access federal land in the event of an emergency, but not actually specifying the definition of an "emergency", may inspire some laughter in the halls of more than a few federal departments and agencies.

- Higher Education and Workforce Development, Wednesday, 10 a.m., HHR1.  One bill on the agenda, and it's actually a good one: HB2527, which would repeal a law passed in 2010 which allows Maricopa County to add two "at-large" members to the governing board of its community college district governing board.  The original measure was crafted to add some tea party types to the Maricopa County Community College District's governing board, which is known for having members, even some of the Republican members, who don't revile public education.

- Health, Wednesday, 10 a.m., HHR4.  Presentations only, at this time.

- Commerce, Wednesday, 10 a.m., HHR5.  Seems harmless so far.

- Appropriations, Wednesday, 2 p.m., HHR1.  On the agenda: HB2276, granting a major tax break to the insurance industry in the form of a cut to the state's tax on revenue from insurance premiums.  Passed the Insurance and Retirement committee on a party-line vote.

- Transportation, Thursday, 9 a.m., HHR3.  Seems harmless so far.

- Technology and Infrastructure, Thursday, 9 a.m., HHR5.  One bill on the agenda as of this writing: HB2554, the lege's annual shot across the bow/bully move aimed at the Arizona Capitol Times.  The weekly that covers the state's capital and environs earns a significant portion of its annual revenue from the publication of legal notices, such as articles of incorporation.  This particular bill would create an online database administered by the Arizona Corporation Commission and remove the requirement that articles of incorporation be published in a newspaper.

-  Reform and Human Services, Thursday, 9 a.m., HHR1.  Looks harmless so far.

- Judiciary, Thursday, 9 a.m., HHR4.  Looks harmless so far.


Legislative floor calendars can be found here.
The lege's calendar of events for the week is here.
AZ Department of Administration meeting public notices are here. 

Arizona Legislature: The Coming Week

Committee work at the Arizona lege has definitely ramped up;  There are a couple of contenders for the "worst of the week", but it looks as if the meeting of Senate Government and Environment on Monday will be this week's worst of the worst...

Notes:

All committees meetings and agendas are subject to change without notice, and frequently do.  If you plan to travel to the Capitol to observe or weigh in on the consideration of a particular measure, check with the lege ahead of time to confirm that the meeting that you are interesting in is still on schedule and your item(s) of interest is still on the agenda for that meeting.

Meeting rooms designated "HHR" are in the House of Representatives building.

Meeting rooms designated "SHR" are in the Senate building.

Some agendas are summarized as "looks harmless", but if they cover an area of interest to you, examine the agenda and the bills on it.  If I missed something significant, please leave a comment letting me know.

All House committee agendas can be found here.

All Senate committee agendas can be found here.


On the House side of the Capitol this week -

- Rules, Monday, 1 p.m., HHR4.  Rubber stamp of bills that seem to be mostly non-controversial (based on their unanimous or near-unanimous committee approvals).  One exception to the "non-controversial" categorization: HB2014, Rep. Michelle Ugenti's scheme to make it more difficult for citizen initiatives to pass at the ballot.  That one was approved in committee on a party-line vote.

- Ways and Means, Monday, 2 p.m., HHR1.  Short agenda: HB2317, creating a sales tax holiday for purchases of clothing and school supplies up to $100 on the last Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of July: and HB2465, reducing Arizona's income tax rates to offset any revenue collected in the form of sales tax from online retailers.

- Financial Institutions, Monday, 2 p.m., HHR5.  Short agenda with one item that seems to stand out: HB2264.  If passed, it would create something called "Arizona Job Finance Bonds".  The interesting part: the part of the proposal where review of the bonds would be limited legally to a 30 day period after the bonds are authorized.

-Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources, Monday, 2 p.m., HHR4.  Looks mostly harmless, though HB2226 may be something to keep an eye on - it's technical, but it looks like it waters down Arizona's vehicle emissions testing program.

- Education, Monday, 2 p.m., HHR3.  Looks harmless so far, though John Huppenthal is scheduled to give a presentation.  *That* should be entertaining, in a "he's not under oath, so don't get excited" sort of way.

- Insurance and Retirement, Tuesday, 2 p.m., HHR3.  Some quietly VERY bad bills.  For example: HB2508, requiring Obamacare "navigators" and others in a similar position to be licensed.

- Government, Tuesday, 2 p.m., HHR4.  Cathi Herrod may deign to make a state visit for this one.  On the agenda: HB2153, legalizing discrimination when the person/entity doing the discriminating can cite a justification based in religious doctrine; HB2481, creating a section of law that states that ministers (or other religious leaders who are authorized to conduct marriage ceremonies) are not required to conduct weddings that are "inconsistent with the sincerely held religious belief, doctrine, or tenet of the church."

- Federalism and Fiscal Responsibility, Tuesday, 2 p.m., HHR1.  Judging by the scheduled presentation by the Goldwater Institute and the number of bills relating to amending the US Constitution, this one will be a meeting of the Black Helicopter Caucus.  Also on the agenda: HCR2018, proposing to change the Arizona Constitution to require that when the voters approve a measure that authorizes the expenditure of, or actually expends, state monies, the voters must reapprove that measure every eight years.  This proposal would also be retroactive - all previously-approved voter measures that expend money would have to be reapproved if this proposal reaches the ballot and passes.

- Agriculture and Water, Tuesday, 2 p.m., HHR5.  Looks harmless so far.

- Public Safety, Military, and Regulatory Affairs, Wednesday, 9 a.m., HHR3.  Among the proposals on the agenda: HB2103, expanding eligibility for concealed weapons permits to those who are at least 19 years old and are serving in (or are honorably discharged from) the military (current law requires that CCW permit holders be at least 21 years old).

- Health, Wednesday, 9:30 a.m., HHR4.  Looks harmless so far.

- Higher Education and Workforce Development, Wednesday, 10 a.m., HHR1.  Looks harmless so far.

- Commerce, Wednesday, 10 a.m., HHR5.  Looks relatively harmless so far.

- Appropriations, Wednesday, 2 p.m., HHR1.  Presentation only, at this time.

- Transportation, Thursday, 9 a.m., HHR3.  Long agenda, but looks relatively harmless so far.

- Reform and Human Services, Thursday, 9 a.m., HHR1.  Right now, there are two bills on the agenda: HB2234, repealing the hospital assessment passed last year as part of the Medicaid restoration package; and HB2367, a punitive measure with the apparent goal of making life more difficult for AHCCCS recipients.

- Judiciary, Thursday, 9 a.m., HHR4.  On the agenda: HB2483, protecting the use of firearms or other hand-held projectile weapons on private property from almost any sort of regulation; HB2515, an anti-"revenge porn" measure.


On the Senate side of the Capitol -

- Rules, Monday, 1 p.m., Senate Caucus Room 1.  Rubber stamp.

- Judiciary, Monday, 2 p.m., SHR1.  Short agenda.  Consideration of one bill and one executive nomination - longtime uber-lobbyist Barry Aarons for the Maricopa County Commission on Trial Court Appointments.

- Government and Environment, Monday, 2 p.m., SHR3.  A long and ugly agenda.  Items include: the first different-subject strike everything amendment of the session to receive committee consideration (this one would limit payments to special health care districts, like the one in Maricopa County that operates the Maricopa Medical Center); SB1094, an anti-teachers union measure, attacking payroll deductions for union dues and other purposes; SB1151, micromanaging municipalities, barring them from barring the keeping of fowl (chickens, etc.) at private single-family residences; SB1211, SB1212, and SCR1006, relating to the lege's desire to kill more Mexican gray wolves; SB1156, barring political and corporate entities in AZ from collecting "metadata" related to electronic communications and transferring to the feds, or from aiding the feds in their doing so, unless a warrant is presented.  There is nothing in the measure that prohibits the collection of metadata, with or without a warrant, just the transfer of such information to the feds; and SR1003, a resolution stating that the Arizona State Senate supports the "nullification" of all EPA rules.

- Transportation, Tuesday, 2 p.m., SHR3.  Looks harmless so far.

- Appropriations, Tuesday, 2 p.m., SHR109.  Looks harmless so far.

- Commerce, Energy, and Military, Wednesday, 9 a.m., SHR1.  A few bills and a few executive branch nominations on the agenda, but it looks harmless so far.

- Health and Human Services, Wednesday, 2 p.m., HHR1.  On the agenda: SB1120, prohibiting hospitals from requiring physicians treat Medicare and Medicaid patients as a condition for granting staff privileges.  Apparently the Rs' hatred of poor people exceeds their professed love of less regulation, because this seems to be micromanaging businesses; SB1135, expanding the qualified immunity from malpractice suits conferred upon health care providers working at nonprofit clinics.

- Public Safety, Wednesday, 2 p.m., SHR109.  Looks harmless so far.

- Finance, Wednesday, 2 p.m., SHR3.  Looks harmless, but there is one bill I completely don't understand: SB1303.  It classifies certain property owned by (presumably private) higher education institutions as "class six" property.  Since I don't know how this sort of property is currently treated for tax purposes, I don't understand the impact of the change.

- Education, Thursday, 9:30 a.m., SHR1.  Bad agenda.  On it: SB1236 and SB1237, all about expanding and entrenching school vouchers "Empowerment Scholarship Accounts"; SB1254, mandating that school districts can call budget override and property disposition elections only in even-numbered years; SB1287, creating a process to legislatively vacate the results of a school district bond or budget override election if the lege's Director of the Arizona Legislative Council doesn't approve the ballot language.


Legislative floor calendars can be found here.
The lege's calendar of events for the week is here.
AZ Department of Administration meeting public notices are here.

Response and correction, with an observation

This week's "Coming Week" post on legislative committee activity brought forth a response, one that merits its own post.

The response to the original post -

Regarding your comments on the House Appropriations Committee agenda, nobody is being sued and most of SB1070 has been upheld. Factually, you are 0 for 2.

State Rep. John Kavanagh (Approps Chair)

The line relating to the SB1070 lawsuit that I used in the post -

- Appropriations, Wednesday 2 p.m., HHR1.  One item on the agenda: HB2366, appropriating funds for nativist legislators and former legislators who have been sued over their involvement in the infamous (and mostly overturned by court decisions) SB1070.

Well, both Rep. Kavanagh and I were in error here.

From KGUN9, written by Ina Ronquillo -

Republican leaders in the Arizona Legislature want taxpayers to pay for a legal fight against subpoenas seeking emails from nearly two dozen current and former lawmakers in a case stemming from a challenge to Arizona's anti-immigration law, SB1070.

That lawsuit, by the ACLU, doesn't actually name the current and former legislators.

Instead, their records are being subpoenaed as part of the lawsuit over a law that they were heavily involved in enacting.

My phrasing was unclear at best, and plainly incorrect at worst, and will be updated.  I apologize for any misconceptions caused by my poor choice of words.

However, there was nothing unclear about Kavanagh's statement in his comment - "...nobody is being sued..."

There is also nothing correct about it.

As for the other part, about me stating that SB1070 has been "mostly overturned" and Kavanagh stating that "most of SB1070 has been upheld".

The US Supreme Court has struck down three significant provisions of the law while upholding a fourth major one.

We can quibble about the meaning of "most" in this context, so while I won't call out Kavanagh on this part of his statement, I'm still going to stand by the original text of mine.

Now, I'm not one given to quoting the Bible, but there is one passage that fits perfectly here.

From Matthew 7:3-5 (New International Version) -

³ “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? ⁴ How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

Arizona Legislature: The Coming Week

Reading tea leaves time ("tea leaves" means "Wild-Ass Guess" based limited information):

Committee activity is ramping up early at the lege, lending credence to the theory that they are planning on/working toward a short session this year.  Most years, committee activity doesn't truly ramp up until two or so weeks before the deadlines to consider bills (this year, the 21st of February for consideration of same-chamber proposals and the 21st of March for bills from the other chamber).

This year, however, things are speeding up.  It's still January but the committee schedule is already packed.

Notes:

All committees meetings and agendas are subject to change without notice, and frequently do.  If you plan to travel to the Capitol to observe or weigh in on the consideration of a particular measure, check with the lege ahead of time to confirm that the meeting that you are interesting in is still on schedule and your item(s) of interest is still on the agenda for that meeting.

Meeting rooms designated "HHR" are in the House of Representatives building.

Meeting rooms designated "SHR" are in the Senate building.

Some agendas are summarized as "looks harmless", but if they cover an area of interest to you, examine the agenda and the bills on it.  If I missed something significant, please leave a comment letting me know.

All House committee agendas can be found here.

All Senate committee agendas can be found here.


On the House side of the Capitol this week -

- Rules, Monday, 1 p.m., HHR4.  Rubber-stamp of what appear to be non-controversial bills (based on their unanimous or near-unanimous committee passage).

- Ways and Means, Monday, 2 p.m., HHR1.  Relatively short agenda: HB2288, changing the frequency that businesses that collect and pay low amounts of sales tax (this one looks reasonable; the others on the agenda, not so much); HB2379, limiting taxes imposed to pay for county libraries, jails and health districts (looks like incremental TABOR); HCR2022, a proposed amendment to the Arizona Constitution to raise the amount of business personal property that is exempt from taxation from $50,000 to $2.4 million (a close variant of this was put before voters in 2012.  It failed.  That one would have cost the state $8.2 million in revenue per year).

- Financial Institutions, Monday, 2 p.m., HHR5.  Seems harmless so far.

- Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources, Monday, 2 p.m., HHR4.  Item of interest: HB2226, weakening the state's vehicle emissions testing program.

- Education, Monday, 2 p.m., HHR3.  One item on the agenda: HB2039, allowing charter schools sponsored by a state university or community college district(s) to participate in the state's retirement system.

- Joint Transportation (both the House and Senate Transportation committees meeting together), Tuesday, 9 a.m., HHR1.  On the agenda: a presentation from the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT).

- Insurance and Retirement, Tuesday, 2 p.m., HHR3.  Fairly long agenda, and almost all items look to be bad ones.  Probably the least bad: HB2121, easing the licensure/relicensure of non-resident insurance "producers".  The rest are attacks on public employees' pensions or consumer protections related to insurance companies.  The agenda includes Rep. John Kavanagh's (R) move to place limits on the amount of compensation that state pension recipients can receive.

- Government, Tuesday, 2 p.m., HHR4.  A long agenda, primarily filled with items that could be categorized as "micromanaging" cities and towns.  One item of interest: HB2378, placing a limit on taxes/fees that can be imposed by municipalities for public services.

- Federalism and Fiscal Responsibility, Tuesday, 2 p.m., HHR1.  One item on the agenda: HB2380, making a change to the state's law regarding the priority of tax liens.

- Agriculture and Water, Tuesday, 2 p.m., HHR5.  Looks harmless so far.

- Public Safety, Military, and Regulatory Affairs, Wednesday, 10 a.m., HHR3.  On the agenda:  HB2127, removing the clause in current law that limits "wildlife guides" to carrying pistols; and HB2133, creating a requirement that applicants for peace officer positions present proof at the time of application that they are US citizens.  HB2133 probably stems from the recent situation where a long-time DPS detective had to resign when it came to light that she was brought to the US as a small child and therefore was not a US citizen.

- Higher Education and Workforce Development, Wednesday, 10 a.m., HHR1.  Hearing a presentation from the state's university-level higher education hierarchy.  No bills on the agenda at this time.

- Commerce, Wednesday, 10 a.m., HHR4.  Looks harmless so far.

- Appropriations, Wednesday 2 p.m., HHR1.  One item on the agenda: HB2366, appropriating funds for nativist legislators and former legislators whose emails have been subpoenaed in a lawsuit over the infamous (and mostly overturned by court decisions) SB1070.

- Transportation, Thursday, 9 a.m., HHR3.  Harmless, so far - the agenda's all about "special" license plates.

- Technology and Infrastructure, Thursday, 9 a.m., HHR5.  One item on the agenda: HB2408, mandating that public officer financial disclosure forms be filed electronically rather than in paper form.

- Reform and Human Services, Thursday, 9 a.m., HHR1.  No bills on the agenda.  They are scheduled to hear a presentation on the Office of Child Welfare Investigations (OCWI).

- Judiciary, Thursday, 10 a.m., HHR4.  Three bills on the agenda: HB2091, relating to "just compensation; tolling; time limitation"; in quotes because I truly don't understand the effect of this one, though it seems to apply to situations where the value or utility of a piece of land was negatively impacted by a new law, ordinance, or rule and the owner of the property can sue for financial relief; HB2153, legalizing discrimination (and other bad behaviors) if the person behaving badly can cite their religious beliefs for engaging in the bad behavior; and HB2196, an attempt to do an end run around the voters.  In 2013, the Republicans in the legislature passed HB2305, a bill with a slew of voter suppression provisions.  There was then a successful petition to force the measure on to the 2014 ballot for the voters to consider.  The Rs plan to repeal HB2305, obviating the ballot question, and then pass the voter suppression measures one by one.  Opponents will then have to run multiple petition drives in order to force the measures to the ballot.

Both HB2153 and HB2196 were on the agenda for last week's House Judiciary meeting, but were held in the face of the presence of a strong level of public opposition.


On the Senate side of the Capitol -

- Rules, Monday, 1 p.m., Senate Caucus Room 1.  Unlike House Rules, they will be considering a couple of controversial measures; like House Rules, it's a rubberstamp.

- Judiciary, Monday, upon adjournment of the floor session, SHR1.  One item: SB1122, slightly changing the legal definition of marijuana.

- Government and Environment, Monday, upon adjourment of the floor session, SHR3.  On the agenda: SB1094, attacking teachers unions by outlawing third-party payroll deductions for school district employees unless those deductions are each authorized annually; SB1161, usurping municipal authority to self-govern in any way, if a municipality accepts it, voluntarily (for now).  Seriously.  If SB1161 is ultimately enacted into law, municipalities will be severely constrained in the laws, ordinances, by-laws, and rules that they can enact.

- Joint Transportation (both the House and Senate Transportation committees meeting together), Tuesday, 9 a.m., HHR1.  On the agenda: a presentation from the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT).

- Appropriations, Tuesday, 2 p.m., SHR109.  On the agenda: SB1159, appropriating funds for nativist legislators and former legislators whose emails have been subpoenaed in a lawsuit over the infamous (and mostly overturned by court decisions) SB1070.; SB1219, appropriating $150K to the state's Navigable Stream Commission for outside legal counsel; SB1220, appropriating $1.462 million to the Independent Redistricting Commission for ongoing activities; SB1221, authorizing the AZ Attorney General to represent for legislators who have been subpoenaed over SB1070; and SB1224, appropriating nearly $7 million to pay for new caseworkers, in response to the CPS scandal where they ignored more than 6000 reports of child abuse.

- Natural Resources and Rural Affairs, Wednesday, 9 a.m., SHR109. Looks harmless so far.

- Commerce, Energy, and Military, Wednesday, 9 a.m., SHR1.  A schmoozefest with presentation by Freeport McMoRan Copper, a bunch of executive nominations, and a few bills.  One item of interest: SB1075, limiting the amount of physician-administered medication that employers, insurers, and the Industrial Commission have to pay for in cases of employee accidents.

- Public Safety, Wednesday, 2 p.m., SHR109.  Some executive nominations and one bill:  SB1093, requiring federal agencies to register with a county sheriff before operating in that county and to give half of any fines, penalties, and fees to that county (which is, in turn, required to send half of their take to the state).

I actually hope this one passes - even feds need some comic relief.

- Health and Human Services, Wednesday, 2 p.m., SHR1.  Looks mostly harmless, though SB1225 relates to mammography reporting and seems to fall into the category of "micromanaging".

- Finance, Wednesday, 2 p.m., SHR3.  On the agenda:  three bills from Sen. Steve Yarbrough.  I don't completely understand them all, but given the source, they're probably not good news for AZ.

- Education, Thursday, 10 a.m., SHR1.  On the agenda: SB1100, mandating that public school districts sell any unused or underused buildings to private or charter schools; and SB1182, a measure from Yarbrough (that's also on the Finance agenda) that is designed to make it more difficult for public school districts to enact and maintain budget/bond overrides.


The lege's calendar of events for the week is here.
AZ Department of Administration meeting public notices are here.

Edit on 1/28 - The entries for both House and Senate Appropriations have been amended.  The original language stated that former and current legislators were being sued over their involvement in SB1070.  That was incorrect.  Those current and former legislators have had their emails subpoenaed in a lawsuit related to SB1070, but, as of this writing, they have not been named in that lawsuit.

The Arizona Legislature: Anti-Federal Government measure masquerading as a civil liberties measure

In 2013, news came to light (due to the now-world famous Edward Snowden) that the US government, via the NSA, was collecting "metadata" about the cell phone calls of Americans.

Metadata is pretty much all of the information about a phone call except for a recording of the conversation (number called, time of call, duration of call, where the parties to the call were located during the call, etc.).

Civil libertarians from across the political spectrum were outraged by the news (though a few folks were more outraged by the fact that someone dared to "out" the program; those folks are part of the problem, and not part of the solution).

Critics of the president and people who were heretofore supporters of President Obama pounced on the news - civil liberty is perhaps the one area those two groups can find common ground.

Amazingly, the legions of the President's critics, who would denounce him if he found a cure for cancer, did not focus on this issue, perhaps one of the few legitimate areas where support for the President isn't widespread and strong.

As an observer of the political scene, this lapse baffled me.  I could not hazard even a guess as to why the President has received an almost-complete pass on this.

Today, I figured it out.

They're not upset over the collection of metadata; they're upset that *they're* not the ones doing it and controlling and using the data.

See: SB1156.

Introduced by Sen. Kelli Ward, the list of sponsors and co-sponsors for this bill reads like a "Who's Who" of the AZLege's Black Helicopter Caucus (BHC) -

Ward (R)
Sen. Judy Burges (R)
Sen. Chester Crandell (R)
Sen. David Farnsworth (R)
Sen. Andy Biggs (R)
Sen. Rick Murphy (R)
Rep. Sonny Borrelli (R)
Rep. David Livingston (R)
Rep. Darin Mitchell (R)
Rep. Warren Petersen (R)
Rep. Carl Seel (R)
Rep. Bob Thorpe (R)
Rep. Brenda Barton (R)
Rep. Paul Boyer (R)

If case someone thinks that I left off the names of Democrats or one of the few (comparatively) sane Rs, I didn't.  None of them signed on to sponsor this one, which should tell you all you need to know about this one.

However, in case you need more information before making an evaluation of the measure, the clauses bar, unless a very specific search warrant is authorized and issued, "an agency or political subdivision of this state, an employee of an agency or political subdivision of this state acting in the employee's official capacity or a corporation providing services on behalf of this state or a political subdivision of this state" from doing anything that aids the federal government in the collection of metadata.

If any political subdivision does so, any state funds due to them (revenue sharing, appropriation, etc.) will be withheld. 

Any employee of the state or a political subdivision who does so will immediately lose his/her job, and be permanently barred from ever holding a position in any level of government in Arizona.

If a corporation providing services to or for the state does so, it is permanently barred from ever receiving a state contract.

If metadata information from the feds becomes part of a criminal investigation or trial, it cannot be used.


What the bill *doesn't* prohibit?

The collection and use of metadata by the state of Arizona, its political subdivisions, or corporations.

Nope.  It just prohibits helping the feds with it. 


Guess the BHC doesn't really care about civil liberties as much as they do about telling the feds to [bleep] off.  On our dime.

Voter suppression: GOP end run around the voters starts Thursday morning

Remember when the AZ Legislature committee schedule was posted on Sunday, both stating that there was nothing listed on the House Judiciary Committee and that things were subject to change?

There's a good reason for that boilerplate caveat.

Thursday (tomorrow, as of this writing), the House Judiciary Committee will consider HB2196.

That bill would repeal the provisions of 2013's HB2305, a kind of "catch-all" of voter suppression measures.

After that bill was passed and signed into law, there was a drive to force it to go before the voters.  The drive gathered more than 140K signatures, approximately 75% more than required to place the question on the November 2014 ballot..

Faced with almost certain defeat at the hands of the voters that they wish to disenfranchise, the GOPers in the AZlege have hatched a "plan B" (subscription required).

Now, the plan seems to be:

1. Repeal HB2305, hoping it obviates the ballot question.

2. Pass the provisions piecemeal, making things far more difficult for opponents looking to stop the voter suppression tactics - any opponents would have to organize *many* costly petition drives, not just one.


Oh, and lest you think that HB2196 is the only bit of ugly on the agenda for tomorrow, the committee is also scheduled to consider:

- HB2153, the House version of the "religion is a defense to discrimination charges, or anything else, for that matter" bill

- HB2103 - expanding eligibility for a concealed weapons permit from "nearly everyone over the age of 21" to "nearly everyone over the age of 21 and nearly every member of the military and veterans over the age of 19"


The meeting is scheduled to begin (as of this writing) at 9:30 a.m. in House Hearing Room 4.

If you are able to attend and let the members of the committee hear your voice on these measures, please do so.  Keep it civil, but direct and pointed.

Forum on Citizens United

Forum on Citizens United and its Impact on Arizona

 

The Central Arizona National Lawyers Guild is sponsoring a community forum on the impact of Citizens United and what actions can be taken.  The forum will be held on Thursday, January 23, 2014, from 6-8 p.m. at Burton Barr Library, 1221 N Central Ave, Phoenix, 4^th floor.

 

Speakers will be attorney Paul Eckstein from Perkins Coie who specializes in commercial, constitutional and election law; State Representative Debbie McCune Davis who has introduced legislation regarding Citizens United; Rivko Knox from the League of Women Voters to discuss their concerns; and Jon Alanis from the Arizona Advocacy Network to discuss the Clean Election Commission v. Brain case in Arizona.  Q&A from the audience will be facilitated after the presentations.