Friday, April 05, 2024

Legislative schedule - week starting 4/7/2024

Nada.  As in there are no bills slated to be considered by a committee, though there may be some floor activity when our legislators get back from the vacation, on Wednesday.

Nearly three years ago, I wrote a post about holding an AZ Constitutional Convention to rein in the state legislature.  There were many suggestions that I made then, but recent events have made a couple more seem advisable.

1. The legislature would get one week after the budget is finished in order to finish dealing with any loose ends; after the week, the legislature would be out of session and all payments of public funds, other than their base salary, to legislators would cease unless called into a special session by the governor (and those would be limited to twice a year, and for a week at a time).  Certain legislators find "per diems" (and other payments) to be rather lucrative.

2. All laws crafted by the legislature would have a clause that people who violate them would receive the same punishments regardless of their wealth (or lack of it), well-connected status, or marginalized status.  We can call this the "Charles Ryan" clause.  Any police officer, prosecutor, or judge involved in contravening this clause would receive a year and a day in prison PLUS the harsher of the sentences in question.  And the harsher of the two sentences imposed (that started all of this) would be reduced to the lesser of the two sentences.

Note: HHR refers to a hearing room in the House building; SHR refers to one in the Senate building.

Note2: Generally, I'll only specify bills that look to spread propaganda.  Other bills may be more conventionally bad (think: corrupt or other misuses of public monies and/or authority).  My recommendation is that if an agenda covers an area of interest to you, read the entire agenda.

Note3: Each chamber's respective Rules Committee meets on Monday, the House's in HHR4, generally at 1 p.m. and the Senate's in Senate Caucus Room 1, generally also at 1 p.m.  Both committees serve as rubber stamps for bills leadership wants to be advanced and gatekeepers for measures that leadership wants stopped.

Note4: Meeting start times may be listed, but are flexible.  Before journeying to the Capitol or viewing the meeting online, verify the start time.

Note5: Watch for strikers, or strike everything amendments.  Those involve inserting language that replaces the entirety of a bill.  Those can be introduced at any time and can make a previously harmless bill into a very bad one. 




On Wednesday, 4/10 


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Senate Health and Human Services meets at 2 p.m. in SHR1.  No bills on the agenda; just some executive nominations.


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