Note: calling an agenda "quiet" doesn't mean that there aren't any bills on the agenda, only that there aren't any that twig the partisan radar. If a committee covers areas of concern to you, check out the agenda and the bills on it, for they may actually be important to you.
Note2: "SHR" indicates the the meeting will take place in a Senate hearing room; "HHR" indicates a House hearing room.
Committee hearings this week:
On the House side of the Capitol -
- Energy and Natural Resources will hold a special meeting at 9 a.m. on Monday in the ASU Decision Center, 21 East 6th Street, Suite 126A, Tempe. They will be receiving a presentation titled "Energy 102 for State Legislators."
- Rules will meet at 1 p.m. on Monday in HHR4.
- Ways and Means will meet at 2 p.m. on Monday in HHR1. Most interesting measure on the agenda: HCR2006, something from Rep. Jack Harper to drastically increase the value of business personal property that is exempt from taxation.
- Energy and Natural Resources will hold its regular meeting at 2 p.m. on Monday in HHR4. Looks fairly quiet to me, but folks interested in state parks, game and fish, or other outdoor activities may want to take a look at the agenda to see if there is anything of interest to them.
- Education will meet at 2 p.m. on Monday in HHR3. One bill on the agenda right now: HB2421, mandating increased financial reporting requirements for school districts.
- Banking and Insurance will meet at 2 p.m. on Monday in HHR5. Looks quiet so far.
- Government will meet at 2 p.m. on Tuesday in HHR4. On the agenda: HB2152, reducing county-level recordkeeping (not sure what this one is really about); HB2471, demanding documentation that a federal mandate doesn't violate the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution before the state legislature will appropriate any money to comply with it; HB2537, giving the Speaker of the House and President of the Senate the authority to use legislative resources to fight legal challenges to last year's SB1070.
- Environment will meet at 2 p.m. on Tuesday in HHR5. The single bill on the agenda looks harmless, but the committee will receive a presentation from the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality on "Arizona Border Trash Impact."
- Employment and Regulatory Affairs will meet at 2 p.m. on Tuesday in HHR3. Looks quiet so far.
- Military Affairs and Public Safety will meet at 9 a.m. on Wednesday in HHR3. On the agenda: HB2478, mandating to Pima and Maricopa counties how much they will pay for health care for children and prisoners in the custody of the county.
- Higher Education, Innovation, and Reform will meet at 9 a.m. on Wednesday in HHR2. No bills on the agenda at this time; one presentation scheduled.
- Health and Human Services will meet at 9 a.m. on Wednesday in HHR4. This may be the big hearing of the week. The agenda contains HB2416, the first big anti-choice bill of the session (but probably not the last). Also up this week: HB2443, nibbling away around the edges of a woman's right to choose an abortion by outlawing the nonexistent practice of race or sex-selection abortions.
- Commerce will meet at 10 a.m. on Wednesday in HHR5. Looks quiet so far.
- Appropriations will meet at 2 p.m. on Wednesday in HHR1. Highlight of the agenda (and it may actually be a "highlight"): HB2227, specifying that money donated to an agency isn't subject to reversion to the state's general fund. This one may be rooted in the minor scandal that erupted when the lege swept all available funds from the state parks system, including a $250K bequest from a Danish immigrant. It would serve to prevent similar sweeps in the future, unless the giver specifically authorizes its general use by the state.
- Transportation will meet at 9 a.m. on Thursday in HHR3. Looks quiet thus far.
- Judiciary will meet at 9 a.m. on Thursday in HHR4. Looks quiet thus far.
- Agriculture and Water will meet at 9 a.m. on Thursday in HHR5. Looks quiet thus far.
On the Senate side -
- Rules will meet upon adjournment of the Senate floor session on Monday in Caucus Room 1.
- Natural Resources and Transportation will meet upon adjournment of Rules on Monday in SHR109. Looks quiet thus far.
- Judiciary will meet upon adjournment of Rules on Monday in SHR1. Looks quiet so far.
- Education will meet upon adjournment of Rules on Monday in SHR3. The only bill on the agenda is SB1263. It has the innocuous title of "schools; administrative tasks; reduction" but it's far more than that. It reads like an "omnibus" measure. One of the big clauses would be to allow a school district to have a school year that is shorter than the current 180 days if the district schedules daily sessions so that the new school year has the same number of minutes as the 180-day year. Which doesn't sound *too* bad, until further research turns up a proposed amendment from the originator of the underlying bill, Sen. Rich Crandall, that would delete the entire section of the law that defines the length of the school year, including the new definition.
EDIT TO CLARIFY: Upon further reflection, I may be misinterpreting the meaning of the proposed amendment referenced above. It seems more likely that its purpose is to remove the proposed changes from the bill, not to removed the affected section of the law from the law entirely. Later today, I'll make a couple of phone calls seeking more info on this.
End Edit...
- Veterans and Military Affairs will meet at 9 a.m. on Tuesday in SHR3. Looks quiet so far.
- Banking and Insurance will meet at 2 p.m. on Tuesday in SHR3. Looks quiet so far.
- Appropriations will meet at 2 p.m. on Tuesday in SHR109. Quiet, except for budget hearings for AHCCCS and the state's universities.
- Public Safety and Human Services will meet at 9 a.m. on Wednesday in SHR3. Two bills pushed by the Center for Arizona
- Government Reform will meet at 9 a.m. on Wednesday in SHR1. On the agenda: SB1222. This one would remove from AZ law any identification/immigration status requirements for public assistance that conform to federal law, instead mandating that recipients of federal public assistance in AZ adhere to AZ standard of proof of immigration status.
- Commerce and Energy will meet at 9 a.m. on Wednesday in SHR109. On the agenda: SB1178, proclaiming that the federal government has no regulatory or legal jurisdiction over Arizona commerce, and criminalizes the enforcement of federal laws and regulations upon such commerce. Oh, and they'll be considering the executive nomination of Randy Pullen, former chair of the AZGOP, for another term on the Arizona Housing Finance Authority.
- Water, Land Use, and Rural Development will meet at 2 p.m. on Wednesday in SHR3. Agenda contains SCR1015 and SCR1024, two measures asserting that the federal government has no jurisdiction over water Arizona-located water.
- Healthcare and Medical Liability Reform will meet at 2 p.m. on Wednesday in SHR1. Looks quiet thus far, though a presentation from Dr. Peter Rhee of the University Medical Center in Tucson is also on the agenda. Dr. Rhee was one of the doctors, perhaps the highest-profile one, who work on Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and the other survivors of the recent mass shooting in Tucson.
- Economic Development and Job Creation will meet at 2 p.m. on Wednesday in SHR109. Looks quiet so far.
- Finance will meet at 9 a.m. on Thursday in SHR1. 6 bills on the agenda; 5 are for business/corporate tax cuts. Perhaps this committee should be renamed as "De-finance."
- Border Security, Federalism, and States Sovereignty will meet at 9 a.m. on Thursday in SHR109. On the agenda: SB1214, authorizing and directing the governor to enter into alliances with other states that oppose health care reform, and SCR1016, calling for a federal Constitutional convention to amend the U.S. Constitution to require that any increase in the federal debt requires approval from a majority of state legislatures.
- Various subcommittees of Appropriations will meet at 9 a.m. on Friday for budget hearings. Agendas here, here, and here.
Events at the Capitol (and environs) this week here and here (courtesy the AZ Capitol Times)
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