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.
Tuesday, April 05, 2011
Monday, April 04, 2011
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.
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.935Note: 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.
Sunday, April 03, 2011
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 ArizonaTheocracy'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 Legislature's Events Calendar for the week is here.
The Arizona Capitol Times' Capitol Events Calendar is here.
- 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
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.
Saturday, April 02, 2011
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.
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 -
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?
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.Hmmm....
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.
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?
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
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?
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?
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
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 -
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.
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:Based on a cursory examination of the websites of ASU and U of A, at least two possible targets of the measure seem obvious -
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.
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.
Monday, March 28, 2011
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) -
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.”Oopsie.
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.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
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 official public notice for the meeting is 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.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 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.
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 ArizonaTheology Policy is holding a fundraising event on Saturday. The scheduled feature guest is James Dobson.
Later...
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
Later...
Saturday, March 26, 2011
The Arizona Legislature Week In Review
- The big news at the legislature this week didn't concern pending legislation, it concerned possible pending charges against Sen. Scott Bundgaard stemming from a February domestic violence incident.
From an Arizona Republic story by William Hermann and Mary K. Reinhart -
They're starting to get sneaky with the strikers, springing strikers to previous strikers, running proposals on short notice and more, as this past week was the last full week of committee meetings. Many bills died for lack of consideration, but a few died because of votes. Many also stayed alive because they received committee consideration before the deadline.
- Bill passed by both chambers and moving to the governor's desk:
HB2443, banning the seemingly nonexistent practice of abortions for race and/or gender selection, passed the Senate on a party line vote. The governor is expected to sign the measure.
- Bills failing in one chamber or the other -
SB1411, limiting the ability of county supervisors to oversee the expenditure of county resources by compelling them to appropriate annual budgets to the other county electeds in a lump sum, meaning people like Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio wouldn't have to explain their budget requests to anyone (not that he does now), failed on reconsideration by a 12 - 17 margin, 1 not voting. All Democrats in the Senate were joined by 8 Republicans in defeating the measure for a second time. This particular bill is now dead, though the language could come back as a strike-everything amendment to a bill that is still alive.
SB1554, 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 in the House Education Committee. Already returning as a striker to HB2362, scheduled for next Tuesday's meeting of Senate Appropriations. Being pushed hard by State Sen. Rick Murphy (R-LD9)
A striker to SB1354 banning all use of photo radar in Arizona failed in the House Transportation Committee
- Bills passing one chamber or the other. Most are probably dead since they haven't been heard in committee in the other chamber, but the rules are rather flexible in that regard when it comes to bills favored by legislative leadership. Look for some interesting items on Appropriations agendas for the next few weeks -
SB1409, expanding the application of Arizona's "English only" law, passed the Senate on a party line vote
SCR1045, a proposed amendment to the Arizona constitution to remove professional evaluations from the appointment process to the commissions to select judges, passed the Senate 20 - 6, 4 not voting. One R crossed over to oppose this measure
SB1548, tying Arizona school funding to the construction of nuclear waste facilities here, passed the Senate on a party line vote
Actually, that was it as far as significant bills moving from one chamber to the other - the House had a quiet week as far a final passage sessions go.
A number of measures to watch (aka - "bad bills") stayed alive by passing committee before the deadline for committee consideration. A number of these bills will need to return to the originating chamber because they were amended to be reapproved, which may or may not happen -
SB1166, exempting self-dealing corporations from paying municipal sales taxes on leases with itself (House Ways and Means)
SB1553, school vouchers under the name "Arizona empowerment accounts" (House Ways and Means)
SCR1024, a postcard to D.C. proclaiming AZ has supreme authority over Arizona-located waters (House Energy and Natural Resources)
SCR1033, a resolution supporting coal-fueled power plants in Arizona (House Energy and Natural Resources)
SB1453, a measure to let parents cite "religious belief" to excuse their children from particular assignments and activities in school (House Education)
SB1593, allowing out-of-state insurers to sell health insurance coverage in Arizona mostly free of Arizona regulation and oversight (House Banking and Insurance)
SB1591, giving employers access to employees' medical private medical information through insurers (House Banking and Insurance)
SB1157, now a birther bill (amended by House Government, so some work will need to be done by the Senate if this one passes the full House)
HB2177, now a birther bill (amended by Senate Government reform, so some work will need to be done by the House if this one passes the full Senate)
Look for a move to "substitute" one of these measures for the other on the floor of one of the chambers
SB1188, giving a preference in adoptions to married couples. Softened from the original language, but still, single people will have to jump through some serious hoops and same-sex couples need not apply (House Government)
SB1286, imposing a 60 day time limit on municipalities and counties to approve/disapprove a permit/license request; after 60 days, the request is automatically approved (House Government)
SB1322, mandating that Tucson and Phoenix put out their municipal services to private bidders (House Government)
SB1379, removing most of the ability of municipalities to regulate consumer fireworks (House Government)
SB1525, restricting municipalites' ability to impose and collect development fees (amended by House Government, so the Senate will need to do some work if this one passes the full House)
SB1598, restricting the ability of municipalties and counties to regulate business and development activities within their jurisdictions (extensively amended by House Government, so the Senate will need to do some work if this one passes the full House)
SB1282, exempting religiious entities that engage in political activities from having to register as a political committee (House Government)
SB1610, solving one of the state's most pressing problems by naming a "state firearm" (House Judiciary)
SCR1028, a proposed amendment to the Arizona constitution barring the use of payroll deductions for political purposes. Aimed at unions, but as passed by the Senate, its provisions also applied to corporations. (House Government)
SB1169, as amended by House Employment and Regulatory Affairs, barring the State Board of Nursing from having any authority to regulate scope of practice regarding abortion. If passed by the entire House, the Senate will have some work to do before it can be sent to the governor
SB1495, establishing a "state guard" force that the governor can utilize for any reason he/she desires, and funded with monies siphoned from the Arizona National Guard (House Military Affairs and Public Safety)
SB1365, barring payroll deductions for political purposes without an annual authorization, exempts public safety personnel (police, fire, corrections) (House Commerce)
SB1222, removing adherence to federal standards in Arizona's ID requirements for public assistance and mandating the eviction from public housing all residents of a public housing unit if one of those residents allows an undocumented immigrant to reside there (House Commerce)
SB1561, allowing the legislature to sweep and reappropriate non-custodial federal monies as it sees fit (House Appropriations)
SB1200, as amended by House Transportation, changing the state's statutes regarding ignition interlock devices (will need some work by the Senate if it passes the whole House)
SB1589, mandating that ADOT/MVD privatize many of its functions (amended by House Transportation, so the Senate will need to do some work if this one passes the whole House)
SB1095, as amended by House Judiciary, essentially banning abortions in rural Arizona (criminalizing the performance of an abortion by a doctor who doesn't have clinical privileges at a hospital within 30 miles), will need work by the Senate if it passes the whole House
SB1201, easing all sorts of firearms laws (amended by House Judiciary, so the Senate will need to do some work if this one passes the whole House)
SB1167, as amended by House Judiciary, imposing a severe time limit on filing legal challenges to referenda referred to the ballot by the legislature
SB1363, protecting employers from the horror of labor actions (yes, "horror" is sarcastic :) ) (House Judiciary)
SB1466, turning justices of the peace into quasi-prosecutors by giving them veto power over prosecutors' decisions to defer prosecution (House Judiciary, on reconsideration)
SB1467, barring educational institutions from adopting or enforcing rules that prohibit the lawful possession of a firearm in a public right-of-way (House Judiciary)
SCR1001, a proposed amendment to the Arizona constitution, as amended by House Judiciary, that would increase political influence over the state's highest courts (too many ways to summarize in one sentence; if you are interested, read the measure at the link)
SCR1002, a proposed amendment to the Arizona constitution, as amended by House Judiciary, that would increase political influence over the state's superior courts (county)
Both of the above will have to go back to the Senate if they pass the whole House
SCR1020, a proposed amendment to the Arizona constitution immunizing crime victims from civil liability for "causing death or injury to a person" involved in a felony; aimed at cases where would-be vigilantes have been found liable for damages when they've violated the rights of undocumented immigrants (House Judiciary)
HB2023, as amended by Senate Finance, would change current law to require that ASU East and ASU West be considered as part of the same budget unit as ASU Main in the general appropriations act of the budget. No sure why this is being done, but since the Democrats on the committee supported it and Sens. Ron Gould and Scott Bundgaard opposed it. I don't understand the purpose of the measure, but with this combo, I'm pretty sure it isn't all bad. If passed the whole Senate, must return to the House for work
HB2619, as amended by Senate Finance, would require employers to pay a special assessment to pay down loans to the Unemployment Insurance Program. Also must return to the House if passed by the Senate
HB2636, lowering taxes on the wealthiest 12% of Arizonans while increasing taxes on the poorest 88% under the guise of establishing a "flat income tax." Fiscal note from JLBC here. Amended by Senate Finance, so if passed by the whole Senate it will need to return to the House
HB2002, barring school districts from expending money to join an organization that attempts to influence the outcome of elections. Amended by Senate Government Reform, so if passed by the whole Senate, it will need to return to the House
HB2644, barring municipalities and counties from accepting federal funds for a project if those funds are conditioned on giving any preference to the use of union labor (Senate Government Reform)
HB2718, a $5 million dollar gift of taxpayer money to Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu for "border security," One problem: Pinal County doesn't share a border with Mexico. Guess it beats appropriating money for transplants...or not (Senate Appropriations)
HB2707, establishing a lower revenue expenditure limit for the state (think: TABOR). Amended by Senate Appropriations so it will need to return to the House, if passed by the whole Senate
HB2301, amended by Senate Appropriations, relating to allowing school districts to use "soft capital" money (books, desks, etc.) for other expenses. If passed by the whole Senate, will need to return to the House
HB2706, amended by Senate Education, requiring "SBE [State Board of Education] to implement guidelines for supplementary training in reading instruction for teachers in an underperforming school who teach grades one, two, three or kindergarten as part of an improvement plan." If passed by the whole Senate, will need to return to the House
HB2604, amended by Senate Judiciary, barring "the enforcement of foreign law if doing so would violate a federal or state constitutional right or conflict with U.S. or Arizona law," exempting businesses from its provisions. If passed by the Senate, will need to return to the House
HB2102, requiring that proof of "authorized presence" be presented before a license to operate a business or perform a service, or a fingerprint clearance card, can be issued (Senate Judiciary)
HB2484, taking the authority to make appointments to fill legislative vacancies away from county boards of supervisors and giving it to the precinctcommitteemen of the same legislative district and party of the vacating member of the lege (Senate Judiciary)
From an Arizona Republic story by William Hermann and Mary K. Reinhart -
Phoenix police say state Sen. Scott Bundgaard likely had been drinking, twice refused a sobriety test and cited legislative privilege to avoid arrest in their full report on his February altercation with his then-girlfriend along a Valley freeway.Legislation-related stuff:
The final report, released Thursday, recommends filing a domestic-violence assault charge against Bundgaard. It largely contradicts a series of public statements the senator has made since the incident.
They're starting to get sneaky with the strikers, springing strikers to previous strikers, running proposals on short notice and more, as this past week was the last full week of committee meetings. Many bills died for lack of consideration, but a few died because of votes. Many also stayed alive because they received committee consideration before the deadline.
- Bill passed by both chambers and moving to the governor's desk:
HB2443, banning the seemingly nonexistent practice of abortions for race and/or gender selection, passed the Senate on a party line vote. The governor is expected to sign the measure.
- Bills failing in one chamber or the other -
SB1411, limiting the ability of county supervisors to oversee the expenditure of county resources by compelling them to appropriate annual budgets to the other county electeds in a lump sum, meaning people like Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio wouldn't have to explain their budget requests to anyone (not that he does now), failed on reconsideration by a 12 - 17 margin, 1 not voting. All Democrats in the Senate were joined by 8 Republicans in defeating the measure for a second time. This particular bill is now dead, though the language could come back as a strike-everything amendment to a bill that is still alive.
SB1554, 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 in the House Education Committee. Already returning as a striker to HB2362, scheduled for next Tuesday's meeting of Senate Appropriations. Being pushed hard by State Sen. Rick Murphy (R-LD9)
A striker to SB1354 banning all use of photo radar in Arizona failed in the House Transportation Committee
- Bills passing one chamber or the other. Most are probably dead since they haven't been heard in committee in the other chamber, but the rules are rather flexible in that regard when it comes to bills favored by legislative leadership. Look for some interesting items on Appropriations agendas for the next few weeks -
SB1409, expanding the application of Arizona's "English only" law, passed the Senate on a party line vote
SCR1045, a proposed amendment to the Arizona constitution to remove professional evaluations from the appointment process to the commissions to select judges, passed the Senate 20 - 6, 4 not voting. One R crossed over to oppose this measure
SB1548, tying Arizona school funding to the construction of nuclear waste facilities here, passed the Senate on a party line vote
Actually, that was it as far as significant bills moving from one chamber to the other - the House had a quiet week as far a final passage sessions go.
A number of measures to watch (aka - "bad bills") stayed alive by passing committee before the deadline for committee consideration. A number of these bills will need to return to the originating chamber because they were amended to be reapproved, which may or may not happen -
SB1166, exempting self-dealing corporations from paying municipal sales taxes on leases with itself (House Ways and Means)
SB1553, school vouchers under the name "Arizona empowerment accounts" (House Ways and Means)
SCR1024, a postcard to D.C. proclaiming AZ has supreme authority over Arizona-located waters (House Energy and Natural Resources)
SCR1033, a resolution supporting coal-fueled power plants in Arizona (House Energy and Natural Resources)
SB1453, a measure to let parents cite "religious belief" to excuse their children from particular assignments and activities in school (House Education)
SB1593, allowing out-of-state insurers to sell health insurance coverage in Arizona mostly free of Arizona regulation and oversight (House Banking and Insurance)
SB1591, giving employers access to employees' medical private medical information through insurers (House Banking and Insurance)
SB1157, now a birther bill (amended by House Government, so some work will need to be done by the Senate if this one passes the full House)
HB2177, now a birther bill (amended by Senate Government reform, so some work will need to be done by the House if this one passes the full Senate)
Look for a move to "substitute" one of these measures for the other on the floor of one of the chambers
SB1188, giving a preference in adoptions to married couples. Softened from the original language, but still, single people will have to jump through some serious hoops and same-sex couples need not apply (House Government)
SB1286, imposing a 60 day time limit on municipalities and counties to approve/disapprove a permit/license request; after 60 days, the request is automatically approved (House Government)
SB1322, mandating that Tucson and Phoenix put out their municipal services to private bidders (House Government)
SB1379, removing most of the ability of municipalities to regulate consumer fireworks (House Government)
SB1525, restricting municipalites' ability to impose and collect development fees (amended by House Government, so the Senate will need to do some work if this one passes the full House)
SB1598, restricting the ability of municipalties and counties to regulate business and development activities within their jurisdictions (extensively amended by House Government, so the Senate will need to do some work if this one passes the full House)
SB1282, exempting religiious entities that engage in political activities from having to register as a political committee (House Government)
SB1610, solving one of the state's most pressing problems by naming a "state firearm" (House Judiciary)
SCR1028, a proposed amendment to the Arizona constitution barring the use of payroll deductions for political purposes. Aimed at unions, but as passed by the Senate, its provisions also applied to corporations. (House Government)
SB1169, as amended by House Employment and Regulatory Affairs, barring the State Board of Nursing from having any authority to regulate scope of practice regarding abortion. If passed by the entire House, the Senate will have some work to do before it can be sent to the governor
SB1495, establishing a "state guard" force that the governor can utilize for any reason he/she desires, and funded with monies siphoned from the Arizona National Guard (House Military Affairs and Public Safety)
SB1365, barring payroll deductions for political purposes without an annual authorization, exempts public safety personnel (police, fire, corrections) (House Commerce)
SB1222, removing adherence to federal standards in Arizona's ID requirements for public assistance and mandating the eviction from public housing all residents of a public housing unit if one of those residents allows an undocumented immigrant to reside there (House Commerce)
SB1561, allowing the legislature to sweep and reappropriate non-custodial federal monies as it sees fit (House Appropriations)
SB1200, as amended by House Transportation, changing the state's statutes regarding ignition interlock devices (will need some work by the Senate if it passes the whole House)
SB1589, mandating that ADOT/MVD privatize many of its functions (amended by House Transportation, so the Senate will need to do some work if this one passes the whole House)
SB1095, as amended by House Judiciary, essentially banning abortions in rural Arizona (criminalizing the performance of an abortion by a doctor who doesn't have clinical privileges at a hospital within 30 miles), will need work by the Senate if it passes the whole House
SB1201, easing all sorts of firearms laws (amended by House Judiciary, so the Senate will need to do some work if this one passes the whole House)
SB1167, as amended by House Judiciary, imposing a severe time limit on filing legal challenges to referenda referred to the ballot by the legislature
SB1363, protecting employers from the horror of labor actions (yes, "horror" is sarcastic :) ) (House Judiciary)
SB1466, turning justices of the peace into quasi-prosecutors by giving them veto power over prosecutors' decisions to defer prosecution (House Judiciary, on reconsideration)
SB1467, barring educational institutions from adopting or enforcing rules that prohibit the lawful possession of a firearm in a public right-of-way (House Judiciary)
SCR1001, a proposed amendment to the Arizona constitution, as amended by House Judiciary, that would increase political influence over the state's highest courts (too many ways to summarize in one sentence; if you are interested, read the measure at the link)
SCR1002, a proposed amendment to the Arizona constitution, as amended by House Judiciary, that would increase political influence over the state's superior courts (county)
Both of the above will have to go back to the Senate if they pass the whole House
SCR1020, a proposed amendment to the Arizona constitution immunizing crime victims from civil liability for "causing death or injury to a person" involved in a felony; aimed at cases where would-be vigilantes have been found liable for damages when they've violated the rights of undocumented immigrants (House Judiciary)
HB2023, as amended by Senate Finance, would change current law to require that ASU East and ASU West be considered as part of the same budget unit as ASU Main in the general appropriations act of the budget. No sure why this is being done, but since the Democrats on the committee supported it and Sens. Ron Gould and Scott Bundgaard opposed it. I don't understand the purpose of the measure, but with this combo, I'm pretty sure it isn't all bad. If passed the whole Senate, must return to the House for work
HB2619, as amended by Senate Finance, would require employers to pay a special assessment to pay down loans to the Unemployment Insurance Program. Also must return to the House if passed by the Senate
HB2636, lowering taxes on the wealthiest 12% of Arizonans while increasing taxes on the poorest 88% under the guise of establishing a "flat income tax." Fiscal note from JLBC here. Amended by Senate Finance, so if passed by the whole Senate it will need to return to the House
HB2002, barring school districts from expending money to join an organization that attempts to influence the outcome of elections. Amended by Senate Government Reform, so if passed by the whole Senate, it will need to return to the House
HB2644, barring municipalities and counties from accepting federal funds for a project if those funds are conditioned on giving any preference to the use of union labor (Senate Government Reform)
HB2718, a $5 million dollar gift of taxpayer money to Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu for "border security," One problem: Pinal County doesn't share a border with Mexico. Guess it beats appropriating money for transplants...or not (Senate Appropriations)
HB2707, establishing a lower revenue expenditure limit for the state (think: TABOR). Amended by Senate Appropriations so it will need to return to the House, if passed by the whole Senate
HB2301, amended by Senate Appropriations, relating to allowing school districts to use "soft capital" money (books, desks, etc.) for other expenses. If passed by the whole Senate, will need to return to the House
HB2706, amended by Senate Education, requiring "SBE [State Board of Education] to implement guidelines for supplementary training in reading instruction for teachers in an underperforming school who teach grades one, two, three or kindergarten as part of an improvement plan." If passed by the whole Senate, will need to return to the House
HB2604, amended by Senate Judiciary, barring "the enforcement of foreign law if doing so would violate a federal or state constitutional right or conflict with U.S. or Arizona law," exempting businesses from its provisions. If passed by the Senate, will need to return to the House
HB2102, requiring that proof of "authorized presence" be presented before a license to operate a business or perform a service, or a fingerprint clearance card, can be issued (Senate Judiciary)
HB2484, taking the authority to make appointments to fill legislative vacancies away from county boards of supervisors and giving it to the precinctcommitteemen of the same legislative district and party of the vacating member of the lege (Senate Judiciary)
Thursday, March 24, 2011
County redistricting process warming up...
- First, a little bit of good news: the measure that would insert the legislature into county-level redistricting, the striker to HB2289, was held by the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday, almost certainly killing the idea. Thursday was the last day for most legislative committees to consider bills.
If they are really serious about foisting off this measure on the state, there are still a few tricks left (consisting mostly of running the measure through Appropriations, which is still meeting), but it seems highly likely that this one fell in the face of some quickly-organized opposition from most of the counties affected, even the Republican-heavy ones.
- Second, time for the educational part of this post.
Over the next six or seven months, Maricopa County will be engaging in its decennial redistricting process.
Here, we have five supervisorial districts, which will be redistricted with the five coterminous districts (meaning that the districts have the same boundaries...I like big words :) ) of the Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD) and the Maricopa Special Healthcare District (MIHS).
In addition to those, there are also 25 justice court precincts/districts (redrawn every two years, based on workload, not population), seven districts for the Western Maricopa Education Consortium (West-MEC), and nine districts for the East Valley Institute of Technology (EVIT).
Both West-MEC and EVIT are "Joint Technical Education Districts, or JTEDs, which are comprised of a number of school districts combining resources to deliver technical and vocational education to those of their students who are interested.
West-MEC and EVIT are redistricted separately from the County, yet because of their size (between them, they cover most of the county geographically, other than Phoenix), they do a lot of their redistricting work in conjunction with the County.
Besides those, the county must redraw voting precincts, but that won't be done until the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission redraws the boundaries for Congressional and legislative districts - can't have a voting precinct split into two different Congressional or lege districts.
To assist in county-level redistricting, Maricopa County has put up a redistricting page on its website.
That page includes:
- A Powerpoint presentation on the county-level redistricting process that does a far better job of explaining all of this than I can in a brief blog post.
- A Powerpoint presentation on using the County's redistricting mapping tool.
- The redistricting mapping tool itself. It will allow users to craft suggested maps and submit them to the county for consideration. There are a few points to this:
1. Current electeds cannot be redistricted out of their districts. Their home voting precincts must remain in their districts.
2. The tool allows for working on board of supervisor (BOS) district, justice of the peace (JP) precincts, and West-MEC (WMEC) districts.
3. Selecting "check in plan" will submit plans for all three at once. If you plan on working on more than one plan, don't hit "check in" before all are complete. If you do, all plans, even incomplete ones, will be submitted.
4. Read the directions and use the "help" files whenever necessary, and don't be afraid to scrap a plan and start over - even the pros are going to have to do that many times.
5. When submitting comments (and plans) to the County, remember that everything submitted is public record and can be read by anyone. In addition, because Arizona is a "preclearance" state under the Voting Rights Act, *all* materials will be submitted to the US Department of Justice for examination and approval before a plan is finalized.
In April and May, County Elections will be holding a series of public meetings to present this to members of the public. They will be held at various community college districts throughout the Valley -
April 4, 2011
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
South Mountain Community College
Located in the Student Union Room 100 ABC
7050 S. 24th St.
Phoenix, AZ 85042
April 5, 2011
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Rio Salado Community College - Surprise
Located in Communiversity
15950 N. Civic Center Plaza
Surprise, AZ 85374
April 6, 2011
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Gateway Community College
Located in MA Room 1100N/S
108 N. 40th Street
Phoenix, AZ 85034
April 11, 2011
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Chandler Gilbert Community College - Pecos Campus
Located in the Student Center Conference Suite (SC-140-144)
2626 East Pecos Road
Chandler, Arizona 85225
April 13, 2011
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Estrella Mountain Community College
Located in Montezuma Hall Center for Teaching and Learning Community Room
3000 North Dysart Rd.
Avondale, AZ 85323
April 14, 2011
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Scottsdale Community College
Located in the Torquoise Room
9000 East Chaparral Road
Scottsdale, AZ 85256
April 18, 2011
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Mesa Community College - Red Mountain Campus
Located in the Community Room, on the second level of the Mesquite Building (#5)
7110 East McKellips Road
Mesa, AZ 85207
Campus Information
April 19, 2011
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Chandler Gilbert Community College - Sun Lakes
Located in SLC-207
25105 South Alma School Road
Sun Lakes, AZ 85248
April 20, 2011
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Rio Salado Community College - Avondale
Located in Community Room
420 N Central Ave.
Avondale, Arizona 85323
April 21, 2011
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Paradise Valley Community College
Located in Q Building Room 120A/B
18401 North 32nd St.
Phoenix, Arizona 85032
April 25, 2011
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Phoenix College
Located in Osborn Site South Willow Room
1202 West Thomas Road
Phoenix, Arizona 85013
May 3, 2011
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Glendale Community College
Located in the Student Union Room 104
6000 W. Olive Ave.
Glendale, Arizona 85302
Later...
If they are really serious about foisting off this measure on the state, there are still a few tricks left (consisting mostly of running the measure through Appropriations, which is still meeting), but it seems highly likely that this one fell in the face of some quickly-organized opposition from most of the counties affected, even the Republican-heavy ones.
- Second, time for the educational part of this post.
Over the next six or seven months, Maricopa County will be engaging in its decennial redistricting process.
Here, we have five supervisorial districts, which will be redistricted with the five coterminous districts (meaning that the districts have the same boundaries...I like big words :) ) of the Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD) and the Maricopa Special Healthcare District (MIHS).
In addition to those, there are also 25 justice court precincts/districts (redrawn every two years, based on workload, not population), seven districts for the Western Maricopa Education Consortium (West-MEC), and nine districts for the East Valley Institute of Technology (EVIT).
Both West-MEC and EVIT are "Joint Technical Education Districts, or JTEDs, which are comprised of a number of school districts combining resources to deliver technical and vocational education to those of their students who are interested.
West-MEC and EVIT are redistricted separately from the County, yet because of their size (between them, they cover most of the county geographically, other than Phoenix), they do a lot of their redistricting work in conjunction with the County.
Besides those, the county must redraw voting precincts, but that won't be done until the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission redraws the boundaries for Congressional and legislative districts - can't have a voting precinct split into two different Congressional or lege districts.
To assist in county-level redistricting, Maricopa County has put up a redistricting page on its website.
That page includes:
- A Powerpoint presentation on the county-level redistricting process that does a far better job of explaining all of this than I can in a brief blog post.
- A Powerpoint presentation on using the County's redistricting mapping tool.
- The redistricting mapping tool itself. It will allow users to craft suggested maps and submit them to the county for consideration. There are a few points to this:
1. Current electeds cannot be redistricted out of their districts. Their home voting precincts must remain in their districts.
2. The tool allows for working on board of supervisor (BOS) district, justice of the peace (JP) precincts, and West-MEC (WMEC) districts.
3. Selecting "check in plan" will submit plans for all three at once. If you plan on working on more than one plan, don't hit "check in" before all are complete. If you do, all plans, even incomplete ones, will be submitted.
4. Read the directions and use the "help" files whenever necessary, and don't be afraid to scrap a plan and start over - even the pros are going to have to do that many times.
5. When submitting comments (and plans) to the County, remember that everything submitted is public record and can be read by anyone. In addition, because Arizona is a "preclearance" state under the Voting Rights Act, *all* materials will be submitted to the US Department of Justice for examination and approval before a plan is finalized.
In April and May, County Elections will be holding a series of public meetings to present this to members of the public. They will be held at various community college districts throughout the Valley -
April 4, 2011
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
South Mountain Community College
Located in the Student Union Room 100 ABC
7050 S. 24th St.
Phoenix, AZ 85042
April 5, 2011
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Rio Salado Community College - Surprise
Located in Communiversity
15950 N. Civic Center Plaza
Surprise, AZ 85374
April 6, 2011
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Gateway Community College
Located in MA Room 1100N/S
108 N. 40th Street
Phoenix, AZ 85034
April 11, 2011
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Chandler Gilbert Community College - Pecos Campus
Located in the Student Center Conference Suite (SC-140-144)
2626 East Pecos Road
Chandler, Arizona 85225
April 13, 2011
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Estrella Mountain Community College
Located in Montezuma Hall Center for Teaching and Learning Community Room
3000 North Dysart Rd.
Avondale, AZ 85323
April 14, 2011
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Scottsdale Community College
Located in the Torquoise Room
9000 East Chaparral Road
Scottsdale, AZ 85256
April 18, 2011
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Mesa Community College - Red Mountain Campus
Located in the Community Room, on the second level of the Mesquite Building (#5)
7110 East McKellips Road
Mesa, AZ 85207
Campus Information
April 19, 2011
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Chandler Gilbert Community College - Sun Lakes
Located in SLC-207
25105 South Alma School Road
Sun Lakes, AZ 85248
April 20, 2011
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Rio Salado Community College - Avondale
Located in Community Room
420 N Central Ave.
Avondale, Arizona 85323
April 21, 2011
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Paradise Valley Community College
Located in Q Building Room 120A/B
18401 North 32nd St.
Phoenix, Arizona 85032
April 25, 2011
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Phoenix College
Located in Osborn Site South Willow Room
1202 West Thomas Road
Phoenix, Arizona 85013
May 3, 2011
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Glendale Community College
Located in the Student Union Room 104
6000 W. Olive Ave.
Glendale, Arizona 85302
Later...
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Legislative Republicans Seeking To Interfere In County Level Redistricting
...and "interfere" is something of an understatement...
State Sen. Lori Klein, late of the controversy over a bigoted letter that she read on the Senate floor, has proposed a strike-everything amendment to HB2289, one that is scheduled for committee consideration at Thursday's meeting of Senate Finance.
It concerns the redistricting of county supervisorial districts.
Her proposed measure would set up an "independent redistricting committee" in counties with five supervisorial districts.
Currently Maricopa, Pima, Cochise, Coconino, and Yuma counties each have five supervisor districts. Because of the population counts of the 2010 Census, Mohave, Pinal, and Yavapai counties will have to go to a five-district plan.
The "independent" committee would be made up of the current supervisors (either five or three, as appropriate) plus *six* members appointed by legislative Republicans and the Governor.
Specifically, the Speaker and majority leader of the House would each get to appoint one person, as would the President and majority leader of the Senate. In addition, the governor would get to appoint two members of each county's "independent" redistricting commission.
Those folks, the legislative leadership and the governor, are all Republicans, who can be reasonably be expected to appoint fellow Republicans. And there is nothing in the proposal to require that the commissions be partisanly balanced or even non-partisan.
So that trend would translate to commissions made up of -
10 Republicans and 1 Democrat (Maricopa)
8 Republicans and 3 Democrats (Pima)
7 Republicans and 2 Democrats (Pinal)
9 Republicans (Yavapai)
9 Republicans (Mohave)
9 Republicans and 2 Democrats (Yuma)
6 Republicans and 5 Democrats (Coconino)
7 Republicans and 4 Democrats (Cochise)
Oh, and in case the partisan gamesmanship behind this isn't obvious already, there are two other clause in the proposal that make it even more obvious -
1. The Republican governor has final approval over *any* county redistricting plan.
2. The new plan sunsets after December 31, 2015, when there will be a new governor and legislative leadership, who may not be (fingers crossed) Republicans.
While slightly more than half of Arizona's counties, 8 out of 15, will be affected by this measure, those counties contain more than 94% of the state's residents
There is a reason that Arizona is, and almost certainly will remain, a "preclearance" state under the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
NB - Am I the only person that thinks that Klein and her fellow Republicans have a curiously self-serving definition of the word "independent"? It make the voters' wisdom in creating the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission look better by the day. It may be time to do something similar for the county level.
NB2 - I *really* can't even hazard a guess as to why this one is going before Finance. Yes, Klein is a member of Finance, but she is also a member of Government Reform, which this is a better fit with. Of course, Judiciary is the best fit, but she isn't a member of that committee.
State Sen. Lori Klein, late of the controversy over a bigoted letter that she read on the Senate floor, has proposed a strike-everything amendment to HB2289, one that is scheduled for committee consideration at Thursday's meeting of Senate Finance.
It concerns the redistricting of county supervisorial districts.
Her proposed measure would set up an "independent redistricting committee" in counties with five supervisorial districts.
Currently Maricopa, Pima, Cochise, Coconino, and Yuma counties each have five supervisor districts. Because of the population counts of the 2010 Census, Mohave, Pinal, and Yavapai counties will have to go to a five-district plan.
The "independent" committee would be made up of the current supervisors (either five or three, as appropriate) plus *six* members appointed by legislative Republicans and the Governor.
Specifically, the Speaker and majority leader of the House would each get to appoint one person, as would the President and majority leader of the Senate. In addition, the governor would get to appoint two members of each county's "independent" redistricting commission.
Those folks, the legislative leadership and the governor, are all Republicans, who can be reasonably be expected to appoint fellow Republicans. And there is nothing in the proposal to require that the commissions be partisanly balanced or even non-partisan.
So that trend would translate to commissions made up of -
10 Republicans and 1 Democrat (Maricopa)
8 Republicans and 3 Democrats (Pima)
7 Republicans and 2 Democrats (Pinal)
9 Republicans (Yavapai)
9 Republicans (Mohave)
9 Republicans and 2 Democrats (Yuma)
6 Republicans and 5 Democrats (Coconino)
7 Republicans and 4 Democrats (Cochise)
Oh, and in case the partisan gamesmanship behind this isn't obvious already, there are two other clause in the proposal that make it even more obvious -
1. The Republican governor has final approval over *any* county redistricting plan.
2. The new plan sunsets after December 31, 2015, when there will be a new governor and legislative leadership, who may not be (fingers crossed) Republicans.
While slightly more than half of Arizona's counties, 8 out of 15, will be affected by this measure, those counties contain more than 94% of the state's residents
There is a reason that Arizona is, and almost certainly will remain, a "preclearance" state under the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
NB - Am I the only person that thinks that Klein and her fellow Republicans have a curiously self-serving definition of the word "independent"? It make the voters' wisdom in creating the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission look better by the day. It may be time to do something similar for the county level.
NB2 - I *really* can't even hazard a guess as to why this one is going before Finance. Yes, Klein is a member of Finance, but she is also a member of Government Reform, which this is a better fit with. Of course, Judiciary is the best fit, but she isn't a member of that committee.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Klein, Pearce, and letters
Last week, State Sen. Lori Klein uttered one of the most bigoted speeches in the history of the Arizona Legislature, which is saying something. As near as I can tell, the only bit of nativist stereotyping and propaganda that she didn't trot out was "headless bodies in the desert."
Here's the video, courtesy blogger Three Sonorans of the Tucson Citizen -
Apparently, the phenomenon purportedly witnessed by the author of Klein's letter (because she read it, I'm calling it "Klein's" even though copies of the letter that were released to the media show that it was addressed directly to Senate President Russell Pearce, who has a documented history with bigoted missives) isn't confined to public school classrooms in the West Valley.
In the aftermath of Klein's speech, an anonymous reader sent me the following, recounting his/her (it's anonymous, remember? :) ) own eerily similar, yet different, experience* -
This was made up just to make a point - The letter to Pearce has no place in public discourse, and Senators Klein and Pearce should apologize for spouting that hate-filled drivel, and pledge to never utilize a taxpayer-funded platform to so spout ever again.
BTW - I don't have any direct evidence that the original letter wasn't genuinely sent to Pearce/Klein by an outside writer, but any teacher who writes that poorly, well, the college that awarded him/her a degree should have its accreditation revoked. This whole thing reeks of a plant.
Here's the video, courtesy blogger Three Sonorans of the Tucson Citizen -
Apparently, the phenomenon purportedly witnessed by the author of Klein's letter (because she read it, I'm calling it "Klein's" even though copies of the letter that were released to the media show that it was addressed directly to Senate President Russell Pearce, who has a documented history with bigoted missives) isn't confined to public school classrooms in the West Valley.
In the aftermath of Klein's speech, an anonymous reader sent me the following, recounting his/her (it's anonymous, remember? :) ) own eerily similar, yet different, experience* -
Dear Senator Pearce,* - Not really. This is just satire. No such letter was sent to me. Not all Hispanic children are gang members or wannabes. Not all children of Republicans are spoiled arrogant snots.
I am compelled to write to you about a recent event that occurred to me.
I currently work as a substitute teacher in private schools in the East Valley area of Scottsdale, Mesa and Chandler. I was called upon to teach history and language arts for 8th grade at a Scottsdale private school. The number of students I had in each class ranged from 8 to 18 children, which were almost all White Republican and a couple of Athletic Scholarship/Quota children. The day started out as usual turning on the television listening and watching the announcements on Fox News and saying the Pledge of Allegiance. During the Pledge of Allegiance I notice the vast majority of students refusing to stand and say the pledge to the Flag of the United States of America.
I asked the students why they refused to say the Pledge of Allegiance and they responded by saying, “we are Arizonans and the U.S. government won't keep Brown People off of our properties and the properties in the same time zone as our properties.” They finally rose and recited the tea party pledge when one of the students stood in front of the class holding the morning's issue of the Wall Street Journal over his head.
The teacher’s instructions were for the students to read a few pages and answer the questions regarding Mark Twain in their history textbook and to finish their final drafts to you, Senator Russell Pearce, thanking you for your position on Illegal Immigration rights. Their teacher apparently had showed them a video with you and Lou Dobbs.
Most of the students came unprepared for class, yelling that Twain was a commie pinko radical RINO, and their parents objected to all course material pertaining to him. They texted messages to their nannies, demanding their chauffeurs come to the school to smack me around for even thinking that Twain was worthy of study. They then held an informal debate over who was the greatest American writer of all time, settling on a choice of two - Ayn Rand and William L. Pierce.
The students’ final drafts to you that I read were basically the same. Most of them stated they were in the country only until their parents could send them to boarding schools overseas, poor and middle class Americans are lazy, and that they deserve everything that their parents and grandparents earned.
I mentioned that I and my wife are "middle class" and we both work, so how could we be lazy? The students retorted that meant that in addition to being lazy, we were also stupid - we should have inherited wealth like any real American.
I asked them to stop texting in class, that it was impolite to ignore the teacher. Their response was to advise me to learn to like it, because in a few years, I would be working for them.
When it came to completing the Mark Twain assignment only 2 students (the Quota students, naturally) completed it out of all my classes. Most of the students refused to open the book, tore the pages out of the book, or threw the textbooks at me. I thought are these the students we are trying to educate with STO tax credits? I have found that substitute teaching in these areas most of the spoiled students do not want to be educated but rather grow up to be banksters and cross-burners. They hate America and are determined to turn our democratic republic into a feudal aristocracy. Removing the brats from our schools would reduce our class sizes and the students who wanted to learn would have a better chance to do so and become productive citizens.
I urge you to make efforts to stop this destruction of American society.
When the citizens of a country are forced to kiss the brats' rear ends, adopt their customs, and forced to support them, are we not a conquered nation? I do not want to see our state and nation turned into something out of the Dark Ages. Thank you for standing up to this intellectual and spiritual virus. You may contact me by phone, e-mail, or mail.
Thank you, again.
Sincerely,
This was made up just to make a point - The letter to Pearce has no place in public discourse, and Senators Klein and Pearce should apologize for spouting that hate-filled drivel, and pledge to never utilize a taxpayer-funded platform to so spout ever again.
BTW - I don't have any direct evidence that the original letter wasn't genuinely sent to Pearce/Klein by an outside writer, but any teacher who writes that poorly, well, the college that awarded him/her a degree should have its accreditation revoked. This whole thing reeks of a plant.
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