Blast from the past: Jack Harper is back

Like a bad case of dandruff, he just won't go away.

This time, he's running as a write in candidate in Congressional District 9.

From the website of the Arizona Secretary of State -

Harper adds a "special" kind of classy to the race against Paul Gosar.

In a race with the hardcore bigot/Russia invasion lover (Gosar), the subject of a criminal indictment (Dowling), a former employee of former Congressman Trent Franks (Kutz - from the Government Printing Office - 

), and, of course, Harper, the other person running in the R primary, as no Democrat is on the ballot in CD9, Adam Morgan may be the "least bad" option

Of course, it's been nearly 10 years since Harper was in the state legislature, but he hasn't become a better person.  Or updated his wardrobe, apparently.  

The picture that he submitted to the AZ SOS -

Blocked, The Sequel

Less than a year ago, I discovered that former legislator Jack Harper had blocked me from following him on Twitter.

During his time, Harper was known as one of the more colorful members of a pretty colorful bunch (OK - he was God's gift to wiseass writers.  Put him in the same ZIP code as a microphone, step back, and watch the verbal diarrhea ensue).

At the time, I took his action as a compliment. 

Still do. :) (It's nice to know that I've made a bit of an impact with this blog.)


Well, it's happened again. 

Only this time, the offended party is a sitting legislator, one who may be further "out there" than Harper - as bad as he was (and will be, if he ever runs for office again), to the best of my knowledge, Harper never used his position to give aid and comfort to someone trying to defraud the US government and the people of the United States (aka - Cliven Bundy).

Lookee what I came across today -

 

I had followed Thorpe in the aftermath of his pilgrimage to the Bundy ranch in Nevada (aka - sedition Mecca for Americans), but hadn't notice much from his Twitter feed in recent weeks, so I checked it out.

And smiled. 

Blocked.

...Almost certainly not intended to be a compliment, but certainly taken as one...

Sometimes while doing this, I wonder if anyone reads this blog, if anyone even notices it.

Sometimes, I find evidence proving that yes, someone notices it.

Oh yeah - Jack Harper is back. 

And he's supporting "Atomic" Al Melvin in the race for the 2014 Republican nomination for governor.

Melvin and Harper working together?

It looks like 2014 is going to be scads of fun to write about. :)

Short Attention Span Musing

...It's nice to know that even in my own small way, I make an impact...

- Last week, I put up a post on soon-to-be former state legislator Jack Harper's Twitter feed.

Before the post, the feed displayed gems like this one -

After the post, the feed displays this message -

It may qualify as a "little victory" but in a week that saw unfortunate ends to both the season of the Boston Celtics and the Wisconsin recall, even a little victory is welcome...

...Speaking of Wisconsin, and speaking with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, it seems obvious now that a couple of major mistakes were made, one strategic, one tactical.

The strategic mistake was in going after Scott Walker mainly on the policies he pushed while in office.  The recall of Russell Pearce here in AZ was successful because it targeted his arrogant and abusive conduct in office - ordering the arrest of people who disagreed with him, taking "gifts" from the Fiesta Bowl and then going into "lie and deny" mode when he was caught, declaring that one of his colleagues who assaulted his girlfriend by the side of a Phoenix freeway was actually the victim in the incident, etc. - and not the anti-immigrant policies that Pearce has pushed.

Walker's anti-worker policies may be just as despicable as Pearce's nativism, but thus far, in his conduct in office, he hasn't made the kind of missteps that Pearce did.

The tactical error was one that may have been unavoidable.  Going after someone like Pearce who, while loud, is relatively unimportant in the larger picture, and wasn't ever going to bring out the big guns (financially speaking). 

Going after the likes of Walker, who is a big part of the effort to marginalize the working and middle classes for the benefit of the 1%, brought out the "big gun" in the form of millions of dollars of PAC and third-party expenditures on behalf of Walker.

Turns out that even the best "ground game" can be beaten by enough money.  It's not the first election that was bought by deep-pocketed special interests, but it may be the first one where it was done so brazenly.


...Remember high school yearbook superlatives like "best looking", "class clown", and "most likely to succeed"?  Time to start the nomination process for this year's election cycle.

The first nominee for the category of "most likely to commit a campaign finance violation" is Sylvia Allen.  She's currently a state senator, but is running for a spot on the Navajo County Board of Supervisors.

To bankroll that run, she transferred $10,359.90 from her state senate campaign committee to her county supervisor committee (documented on page 7 of this report).  Her senate committee is designated filer ID "201200086" (remember the "2012" part of that filer ID; it'll be important).

To be clear, that move, in and of itself, is allowed.

However, things get interesting when one reads the relevent sections of ARS 16-905, covering elections and campaign finance -

F. A candidate's campaign committee or an individual's exploratory committee shall not make a loan and shall not transfer or contribute money to any other campaign or exploratory committee that is designated pursuant to this chapter or 2 United States Code section 431 except as follows:

{snip}

2. A candidate's campaign committee may transfer or contribute monies to another campaign committee designated by the same candidate as follows:

(a) Subject to the contribution limits of this section, transfer or contribute monies from one committee to another if both committees have been designated for an election in the same year.

Hmm...

Now Allen is known as someone who isn't shy about accepting money from PACs and other political committees - she's taken more than $10K from them in each of her campaigns for the state senate.

The current contribution limits, as set by the Arizona Secretary of State:

Combined total from all Political Committees other than political parties: $10,880

So to sum up:
1. Allen transferred $10359.90 from one 2012 committee to another.
2. Because the contributing committee and the receiving committee are both 2012 committees, campaign finance limits apply.
3.  That leaves Allen $520.10 from reaching the political committee limit.

Anybody want to speculate on how much she will exceed that limit by?

Navajo County campaign finance reports can be found here.  Should make for interesting reading.

Note to friends of Jack Harper: Friends don't let friends tweet without an editor, or at least spellcheck

With the adjournment of the legislature and his decision not to run for another term in the lege (or another office) this year, things have been quiet on the "Zany World of Jack Harper" front.

He isn't a regular on the local political discussion TV shows, he doesn't and won't have the platform of the state legislature, and he's adjusted his Facebook page to a generic title - "Jack Harper - state elected official".  It used to say something about "state representative" or something similar.

He's lowering his profile, perhaps in preparation for a statewide run in 2014 (in the past, he's professed an interest in a run for SOS)

Which is a little discouraging. 

I know that statement is surprising to some, but whenever I'm suffering through a bout of writer's block, he somehow finds a microphone and/or TV camera, and the writer's block vanishes.

When I noticed the lowering of his profile, I worried a little, but I needn't have fretted - he still has a Twitter feed. :))

From yesterday's feed -

Now, I'm not going to pass judgement on simple typos, having made won ore too here, but "regulatute"??

"Regulatute"???

Next up:  Harper tweets that spellcheck functions are a "socialist conspiracy" to suppress the free expression of people who revel in their ignorance.

Does Jack Harper's wife know that he left the house needing glasses?

Some elected officials should be barred from using social media...but I'm glad they're not.  Wiseasses like me have more to write about. :)

From the Arizona Republic,

Tweet of the week:
"Heard the Governor read a proclaimation (sic) and she looked young! Does her husband know she left the house looking great?" -- Rep. Jack Harper, R-Surprise, tweeting under the handle @HarperForAZ, during the state's centennial celebration

The tweet in question -

Jan Brewer at an Arizona Centennial celebration, courtesy the Governor's webpage -

"Young"?  Your call...

Jack Harper wants a promotion

...He's leaving, but he's not leaving soon enough, and he's not going far enough, to benefit the state.

State Rep. Jack Harper (R-Surprise) today announced that he will not seek reelection in November.  He sent out an email to supporters stating his desire to run for Arizona Secretary of State and then, perhaps, be an ambassador to a foreign country.

Not exactly being one of his supporters, I wasn't included on the email distribution list. (Shocking, that.  :)) )

However, our Jack is a dedicated user of Twitter.  From his Twitter feed -

Zeroing in -

For once, I'll leave the wiseass comments to you the reader.  Mostly.

Realistically, Harper has almost no chance to get through a Republican primary, and for the second-highest elected office in the state, there surely will be one (he won't be challenging the current AZSOS, Ken Bennett.  Bennett is term-limited and will be running for governor in 2014.)

For an open seat that is a heartbeat away from the 9th floor, Republicans of all stripes will be going for that office (that means that the SOS is next in line for the governorship, and given that it has been a quarter-century since Arizona had a governor who both entered and exited office as the result of an election, most recent AZSOS' have ascended to the governor's office.  Which is on the ninth floor of the state capitol's Executive Tower.)

In fact, Harper has a better chance at becoming an ambassador.  So long as he doesn't get too picky about his assignment.

Currently, the US has only a "Virtual Presence Post" in Somalia, but for someone of Harper's caliber,
I'm sure that the State Department will find the money in their budget to put up a new facility in Somalia.

If one considers a lean-to against the back of a broken-down Winnebago to be a "facility."

Note:  I went with pics of the tweets in question instead of simply quoting them because if/when Harper's SOS campaign fails, those tweets could disappear.

Short Attention Span Musing...

...Jan Brewer may yet be inducted into the Arizona Governor's Hall of Fame.  Unfortunately for her, it's looking more and more likely it will be in the Mecham/Symington wing.

From the Phoenix New Times, written by James King -

Federal authorities spent more than a year investigating Governor Jan Brewer's role in collecting Social Security benefits intended for her mentally ill son, Ronald, who currently is in a state hospital after being found not guilty by reason of insanity in 1990 on kidnapping and sexual assault charges.

The federal government, according to the Arizona Republic, which broke the story, was trying to determine whether $75,000 in benefits were improperly paid to the governor on behalf of her son.

Yes, Brewer is the same governor who earlier this year cut healthcare benefits for an estimated 135,000 poor Arizonans.

As of right now, the feds have chosen not to file charges.  However, given this, her close ties to industry lobbyists (i.e. longtime advisor/friend Chuck Coughlin, et. al.) and her predilection for pronouncing that she is above the laws and constitution of Arizona (i.e. the her effort to hijack the independent redistricting process), nobody will be shocked if she finds herself indicted before the end of her term.

...Do Brewer et. al.'s lawyers get paid extra every time they receive a slap-down from a judge?

I as that question because the best explanation for the continuing efforts to use the legal system to overthrow the AIRC is bill padding.  On the heels of a separate decision by the AZ Supreme Court overturning the Rs' removal of the AIRC's independent chair, a judge at the Maricopa County Superior Court derailed another of the R efforts to take over the redistricting process when he ruled against their move to say that the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (AIRC) violated the Open Meeting laws. 

...The constant stream of losses isn't dissuading the Rs from continuing their attacks on the independence of the commission.  The Arizona Capitol Times has a story about a number of changes the Rs in the legislature want to foist off on the commission and the process.  However, they all seem to be ignoring one basic fact - the voters wanted an independent redistricting commission, so we set one up.  If we wanted to set up an elected officials job security commission, we'd have done that, instead.

...Yeah, education is her number one priority, but doesn't say if *supporting* it or *eviscerating* it is what she most wants to do.

From the Yuma Sun, written by Chris McDaniel -

“We have to get our population educated,” said Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer during a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday at the University of Phoenix Yuma Learning Center.

The ceremony marked the grand reopening of the Student Resource Center. It was recently upgraded to include 23 high-speed computers, two interview rooms, a faculty room, and printing and copy services.

{snip}

Education is my No. 1 priority."

To be fair to Brewer, I think that Brewer's actual target is *public* education.  As documented by the article ("University of Phoenix Yuma Learning Center"), she's been pretty consistent in her support of "for-profit" education companies (private and charter K-12, and private post-secondary), while cutting hundreds of million of dollars from public education.

...Joe Arpaio spent Saturday going after people with brown skin.  Perhaps he'd have left them alone if they were dressed up as rapists and child molesters...

...From the "deja vu" department:  State Rep. Jack Harper (R-Surprise!) has reintroduced one of his regular bills, a proposal to repeal the restriction on former legislators that makes them wait a year after leaving the legislature before they can return to lobby the legislature.  This time around it is HB 2022.

Look for the measure to NOT pass, for at least two reasons:

1.  It's an election year, and even AZ's Republicans don't want to be seen as that blatantly self-serving, especially because...

2.  Most former legislators find ways around that particular restriction anyway, often by simply not registering as lobbyists.

Later...

Jack Harper wants the taxpayers to give Russell Pearce a quarter-milliion dollar going away gift

I've said it before, and I'll say it again -
State Rep. Jack Harper (R-Surprise!) is God's gift to writers.  And I don't mean that in a good way...

The outlook for the post-Pearce era in Arizona politics is slowly coming into focus, and over the near term at least, it looks a lot like it did when Pearce was in the Senate.  In other words, the Republicans are looking to siphon a lot of taxpayer money into their pockets, and not to benefit the people of Arizona.

From the East Valley Tribune, written by Howard Fischer of Capitol Media Services -

Arizona voters may not be quite done with Russell Pearce.


Questions of Pearce’s political future aside, a little-known provision of the Arizona Constitution requires the Legislature to act to reimburse any recalled public official his or her “reasonable special election campaign expenses."

State Rep. Jack Harper has jumped all over this idea.  From his Twitter feed -

 
 
 
 
 
Now, while vague, there *is* a section of the Arizona Constitution that seems relevant.
 
From Article 8, Part 1, Section 6 -

The general election laws shall apply to recall elections in so far as applicable. Laws necessary to facilitate the operation of the provisions of this article shall be enacted, including provision for payment by the public treasury of the reasonable special election campaign expenses of such officer.

As the article linked above notes, this has never happened before, so no one, not even Ken Bennett, the Arizona Secretary of State, knows exactly what "reasonable" means in this context.
 
In addition, no one is quite sure who would be reimbursed.  Pearce spent what will end up being more than $250K, but it was all other people's money.  Harper's push on Pearce's behalf could end up directing taxpayer money into the coffers of Freeport McMoran, Pinnacle West, and other corporations whose PACs funded Pearce's failed campaign.
 
However, Harper, Pearce, and all concerned seem to be ignoring the other part of this clause in the AZ Constitution, the part about general election law applying to recall elections.
 
Under Arizona law, if someone spends money on a political activity (such as an election campaign), it has to be reported, in this case both as an expense and a personal contribution.
 
From Pearce's Pre-Recall Election Report, filed with the AZSOS, covering the period ending October 19, 2011 -
 
 

 

 
 
 
Pearce has documented no direct contributions or loans to his campaign, and none of the "in-kind" expenses totalled above were from Pearce himself.
 
In other words, either Pearce hasn't directly incurred any personal expenses related to the recall or he has failed to report campaign contributions and expenses.
 
In other words2, there's nothing to reimburse and there's no record to indicate that there is.  And the "magical" appearance of any such records as evidence of reimbursable expenses will also constitute evidence of violations of campaign finance laws.
 
Probably not something that someone who is likely to run for some office somewhere next year wants hanging over his head...

Rep. Jack Harper: not one to let personal animosity to get in the way of the basest partisanship

It was just a matter of time, since even the least-qualified Republican legislator can do basic math.

It takes a 2/3 vote of a chamber of the Arizona legislature to expel a member of the chamber, and the Republicans control 2/3 of the seats in each chamber (can you see where this is going? )

LD4 legislators Sen. Scott Bundgaard and Rep. Jack Harper may both be Republicans but they aren't exactly friends (for example, Bundgaard was "rumored" to be behind the the website Crazy Jack Harper.)

However, Harper isn't one to let their dislike for each other get in the way of partisan attacks in support of Bundgaard as he schemes to keep his seat in the senate.  Bundgaard is facing an ethics inquiry into his violent assault on his girlfriend (something about "bring discredit to the Senate" or something like that)..

Nope, not at all.

From Harper's Twitter feed (emphasis mine)-

@HarperForAZ

JackWHarper St Sen David Schapira wanted "lawsuit-style" burden of evidence against a Republican. I say let's have an up or down two-thirds on DEMs.

20 Sep via web

A snapshot of the entry in case Harper gets clever and removes his Tweet -
 



So Bundgaard, his political enemy, assaults his girlfriend by the side of a Phoenix freeway and Harper supports him in his attempt to stay in the Senate. 
 
Interesting. 
 
Harper doesn't think that reprehensible, violent and illegal behavior is grounds for expulsion from the legislature, especially if the bad behavior is from a fellow Republican.
 
However, Harper advocates removing Democrats from the legislature simply because they are Democrats, and some of them have dared to criticize Bundgaard.
 
Now, I don't think that Harper's wish will get far, for at least a few reasons.
 
1.  While the other members of the R caucus on West Washington is just as partisan as him, there are at least a few that haven't quite stepped over the line into becoming "bay at the full moon" crazy.
 
2.  Even if all of his fellow Rs drink the same Kool-Aid as Harper, he's a state *representative*, not a state *senator*.  He has no say in the internal operations of the state senate.  He can lobby/beg the members of the senate to come around to his way of thinking, but that's about it.
 
3.  Even if all of the other Rs went along and expelled all of the Democrats, under Arizona law, those Democratic members would have to be replaced by other Democrats.  Harper may not like sharing the Capitol with Democrats or even non-Republicans in general, but the voters decide that, not him.
 
 
Still, I have to thank Harper for one thing -
 
He can always be counted on to supply blog post subject material.
 

Take Two Aspirin And...: The Doctor Is In...

WebMD doesn't  have info on your ailment?  Not enough time or insurance coverage for a visit to a flesh and blood doctor?  No problem.

Dr. R. Musings is here for you with the AZBlogRadioM.D. radio show.  The phones are now open.

...The first caller is Dave from Fountain Hills. 

Dr. Musings: Hi Dave, what are your symptoms?

Dave from Fountain Hills: Doctor, I've got this stiff neck and a headache, and I'm having trouble sleeping.

Dr. Musings:  OK, Dave.  What have you been doing recently?

Dave:  Well, recently I've been sleeping in my office at work...

Dr. Musings:  If you've been sleeping on a couch, that could certainly contribute to your symptoms.

Dave:  At first, I thought that too, but I've been doing that since the beginning of the year and the problem just popped up this week.

Dr. Musings:  Hmmm.  What has happened this week?

Dave: Well, this meddlesome watchdog group has been calling for an investigation of my sleeping arrangements and wants me to pay taxes on the benefit I am receiving from the use of my office as a hotel room.

Dr. Musings:  Stress from that could certainly contribute to your symptoms.

Dave:  I thought that too, but I've been planning to sleep in my office since even before I was in the office and am kind of immune to the objections of the little people, and anyway, let's face facts - I'm a Republicans, so the rules don't apply to me anyway.

Dr. Musings:  OK, so what else did you do this week?

Dave: Well, on Thursday, I was at the White House having my picture taken with the President as he signed a bill naming a new federal courthouse after Judge John Roll, one of the victims of the mass shooting in Tucson in early January.  It was funded by economic stimulus funds.

Dr. Musings: Uh-huh....

Dave: After that, I went back to my hotel room...errrrr...*office* and pumped out a press release, criticizing the stimulus package as a complete failure...

Dr. Musings: Stop right there.  It's obvious that you are suffering from a strong case of whiplash.  Take two aspirin, wear a foam neck collar, and for at least the next four weeks, no twisting yourself like a pretzel to pat yourself on the back while stabbing public employees, women, and poor people in the back.

Dave: I'll have nothing to do for a whole month?!? [muffled cursing]  Doctor, that will put a serious crimp in my fundraising for the 2012 election cycle.

Dr. Musings:  I know it will be difficult, but better that than getting so twisted up you need surgery.

Dave:  Surgery?!?!?

Dr. Musings:  Cranio-rectal dislodgement surgery.

Dave:  What?  Would that really be necessary?

Dr. Musings:  Well, to be honest, that's only a recommendation, not a necessity.  Many of your colleagues live long and profitable, though not very productive, lives with their craniums firmly lodged in their rectums.  The condition makes driving more difficult, but as an Arizona driver, nobody will notice any thing out of the norm.

Dave:  Whew!  My lobbyists....errr....constituents need me to be at full speed.  Thank you Doctor!  I don't know what I'd do without you.    Tell you what, I'm going propose a bill declaring that we replace that socialist Medicare program with cards with your phone number on them.  Anyway, thanks again Doc!  Gotta go foreclose on....errrr...."meet with" a constituent.

Dr. Musings: Umm, OK Dave.  Glad to help.  Next caller.  Jack from Surprise, are you there?

Jack from Surprise: Doctor, I've been experiencing this stinging sensation on the top of my head since Tuesday.

Dr. Musings:  What happened on Tuesday?

Jack:  One of my strike-everything amendments was heard in committee in the Arizona House of Representatives.

Dr. Musings:  Oh?  How did that go?

Jack:  Not well, Doctor.  It was this harmless little idea to mess with Indian tribes to keep them from opening a casino near my district while messing with cities and towns' state-shared revenue, and NOBODY supported it.  Industry opposed it, the Center for Arizona Theocracy Policy opposed it, the Attorney General opposed it, members of the committee picked on me, even the committee chair, my seatmate, opposed it.  Even some uppity wiseass blogger from Scottsdale opposed it.  It was unanimously voted down.  That NEVER happens.  I'm so embarrassed, Doctor.  It's as if even my fellow crazy Republicans think that I'm too crazy for the legislature.

Dr. Musings:  Jack, you are clearly suffering from the after effects of a total smackdown.

Jack: Oh.  What do I do for that, Doctor?

Dr. Musings: Take two aspirin.  After that, pull out a jar of peanut butter, at least 16 ounces, and a full box of saltine crackers, and eat them.  Don't drink anything while you are doing this.

Jack:  But...but...but, Doctor, if I do that, I won't be able to speak!

Dr. Musings:  That's kind of the point Jack.  Thank you for your call.  Next caller, you're up.  Ron from Lake Havasu, are you there?

Ron from Lake Havasu:  Hi Doctor Musings.  Yes, I am.

Dr. Musings:  How can I help you today, Ron?

Ron:  Well Doctor, for the last few weeks, I've had this burning sensation in my throat and a rumbling sensation in my stomach.

Dr. Musings:  What's been going on in your life for the last few weeks?

Ron:  It started when I tried to ram through a couple of anti-birthright citizenship bills in my own committee.  The bills are part of my plan to rid the country of those sneaky children who were born here but whose parents were not.  My committee, my own freakin' committee!, heard nearly 90 minutes worth of testimony from some ringer I had schlepped in for just this occasion, but then I had to pull the bills before a vote because I was stabbed in the back by some of my own fellow Republicans.  They were so worried about looking bad over attacking children that they wimped out, citing Constitutional concerns.  ARRGGGHHH!

Dr. Musings:  Go on, Ron.

Ron:  Then this past week, I got screwed over twice.  First I couldn't get another anti-immigrant bill through my committee, one that would turn hospitals into immigration checkpoints, and had to pull that one too.  The next day, my "birther" bill, which would have required presidential candidates to produce paperwork that doesn't even exist for most of them, was actually defeated but traitorous Republicans and and wussy Democrats who were more concerned with not violating the U.S. Constitution than with keeping a black man out of the White House.

Dr. Musings: Hmmm....  OK Ron.  It seems as if you are suffering from a severe case of ego-initiated acid indigestion, brought on by abject failure.

Ron:  Sounds bad, Doc.  What is the treatment?

Dr. Musings: Take two aspirin, drink a bottle of Pepto, and try again.  There's no salve for failure that's more effective than success.

Ron:  Doc, I can do that.  On Tuesday, Senate Appropriations will meet and consider my bills.  For good measure, there are going to be a LOT more bad bills on the agenda, just to serve as a warning to backsliders - no more wimpy protestations about "the Constitution" or other crap.  Wonder if they'll let me fly my Confederate flag over the Capitol on Tuesday...

Dr. Musings:  On that rather bizarre note, we are out of time and have to go for now.  Thank you callers.  Thank you listeners.  Tune into our next show where we interview a follicly-challenged Senate President about treatments for male pattern baldness.

Talk to you all next week!  Dr. R. Musings, for AZBlogRadioM.D., signing out.

Apparently, AZGOPers play favorites when it comes to the Bill of Rights

While the Founding Fathers may have placed the First Amendment to the US Constitution first, it's one of the Rs least favorites, at least based on their behavior Monday.

- In the House Ways and Means Committee meeting, committee chair Jack Harper (R-Surprise!) refused to allow a representative from the Maricopa Integrated Health System (MIHS) to speak on a bill that would micromanage MIHS' procurement procedures.

From Mary Jo Pitzl, writing for the Arizona Republic -

In a public hearing, not all are equal . . . or heard ... at least not in Rep. Jack Harper's Ways and Means Committee.
Harper refused to let a lobbyist for the Maricopa Integrated Health System speak Monday on House Bill 2207. The bill would require MIHS to use "competitive procurement rules" or adopt those used by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors when it comes to buying equipment and certain services.

It was the third time the bill has been before the committee, but a strike-everything amendment changed its direction from an earlier version. MIHS lobbyist John McDonald asked to testify, but Harper refused, saying nothing was served by "having a lobbyist here to speak against the taxpayer week in and week out."

- And across the Capitol quad in the Senate building, Sen. Ron Gould was running the Senate Judiciary meeting with a tool that was less "gavel" and more "sledge hammer."

He gavelled down applause, barked at a photographer for disrupting "his" (Gould's) meeting and interrupted and challenged any speaker who said something he didn't agree with.  In fact, the only public speakers that I saw him act courteously toward were John Eastman (speaking on the anti-14th Amendment bills) and John Wentling (speaking in favor of the "firearms omnibus" bill).

Both were there to support Gould's position on the bills.  Probably not a coincidence, that.

The video archives of the meetings (2/7/2011) can be found here.  Note: the audio quality of the Ways and Means hearing is poor constantly, fading in and out.

The coming week - legislative edition

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

"SHR" indicates that a meeting room is a Senate Hearing Room; "HHR" indicates a House Hearing Room.


Committee hearings on the Senate side of the Capitol this week -

- Rules will meet in Caucus Room 1 on Monday upon adjournment of the floor session.  The agenda is a long one, but the meeting probably won't be, as the committee exists only as a gatekeeper/rubber stamp.  It either refuses to hear any bills that the Senate President doesn't like and to push through those he does approve of.  Lowlights this week:  SB1136 and SR1001, a bill to block a tribal casino in the West Valley and a resolution opposing that casino.  Those bills are being fast-tracked by the anti-Native nativists in the Senate.

- Natural Resources and Transportation will meet in SHR109 on Monday upon adjournment of the Rules meeting.  Not many bills on the agenda, but they will consider the first executive nominations of the session.  Most of the nominees are big R contributors.

- Education will meet in SHR3 on Monday upon adjournment of Rules.  Lowlights:  SB1116, Sen. Andy Biggs bid to make permanent "displaced pupils choice grants" (AKA "private school vouchers") and SB1053 and SB1055, Sen. Linda Gray's bills relating to "character education" ("character" is something that cost a former Arizona Treasurer his job).

- Banking and Insurance will meet in SHR3 on Tuesday at 2 p.m.  One bill on the agenda thus far:  SB1122, Sen. Nancy Barto's move to make "health care sharing ministries" tax exempt.

- Appropriations will meet in SHR109 on Tuesday at 2 p.m.  No bills on the agenda.  Budget hearings for "statewide debt, community colleges, and Department of Health Services."

- Public Safety and Human Services will meet in SHR3 on Wednesday at 9 a.m.  Likely lowight: SB1018, a measure that further privatizes certain Department of Corrections operations (in this case, prisoner transition services).

- Government Reform will meet in SHR1 on Wednesday at 9 a.m.  Interesting bill:  SB1165, a measure from Sen. Steve Yarbrough, to bar municipalities from contracting with third parties to audit sales tax transactions or for the "collection, administration or processing" of such transactions (referred to in the bill as "transaction privilege" taxes).

- Water, Land Use, and Rural Development will meet in SHR3 on Wednesday at 2 p.m.  Agenda looks quiet so far.

- Healthcare and Medical Liability Reform will meet in SHR1 on Wednesday at 2 p.m.  Short agenda.  The one interesting bill looks to be SB1176, innocuously titled "medical board: omnibus."  Among other things, it would serve to reduce public disclosure of the misdeeds of medical professionals.

- Economic Development and Jobs Creation will meet in SHR109 on Wednesday at 2 p.m.  Looks quiet so far - one bill, one executive nomination, one presentation (from a business lobbying group, the National Federation of Independent Business - Arizona..

- Finance will meet in SHR1 on Thursday at 9 a.m.  A few executive nominations and some tax- and pension-related bills, most of which I do NOT understand well enough to summarize here.  Visit the legislature's "Bill Info" page if you want to look up one or more of them.

- Border Security, Federalism, and States Sovereignty will meet in SHR109 on Thursday at 9 a.m.  This one is Sen. Sylvia Allen's committee, so it isn't surprising that while the agenda is a short one, it's colorful.  They'll start with a "presentation" from a group of anti-immigration ranchers from southern AZ, follow with consideration of SB1178, a Tenth Amendment/"federal government go away!" bill and SCR1006, a resolution supporting the aforementioned ranchers' "border security" plan (a "plan" that includes militarizing the border and roundups of immigrants). 

Nothing on the agenda indicates that the assemblage will break into a chorus of the Horst Wessel song, but with this crew, ear plugs and a barf bag might be necessary.

- Various subcommittees of Appropriations will hold budget hearings Friday morning at 9 a.m.  Agendas here, here, and here.


On the House side -

- Rules will meet in HHR4 on Monday at 1 p.m.  As with its Senate counterpart above, the agenda is long and boring, with the most contentious bills likely to be the House versions of the anti-tribal casino bills.

- Ways and Means will meet in HHR1 on Monday at 2 p.m.  As with its Senate counterpart above (Senate Finance Committee), I don't understand most of the bills.  Here however, most of the bills have been spawned by Rep. Jack Harper, and anything with his name on it is presumed to be a bad bill.  However, one I *do* understand is Harper's HCR2006, a bill to radically raise the amount raise the amount of business property (equipment, etc.) exempted from taxation from the current $50K to "an amount equal to the earnings per employee of twenty workers in this state according to a designated national measure of earnings per employee adjusted annually as provided by law."  The most current numbers for per capita income in Arizona (not an exact language match with the measure, but it will do for this post):
 
$34,335. 

20 times that number: $686,700, or an increase of almost 1300%.   The real number would almost certainly be higher because I'm sure the Rs would find a "measure" that inflated employee earnings as much as possible.

- Energy and Natural Resources will meet in HHR4 on Monday at 2 p.m.  Quiet so far.

- Education will meet in HHR3 on Monday at 2 p.m or upon adjournment of the House floor session.  On the agenda:  HB2197, Rep. Debbie Lesko's bill to bar the establishment or operation of a charter school "in an age restricted community that is located in unorganized territory."  It has an emergency clause to provide for immediate enactment.

- Banking and Insurance will meet in HHR2 on Monday at 2 p.m.  Looks quiet so far - a couple of presentations, and a few bill that I mostly don't understand.

- Government will meet in HHR4 on Tuesday at 2 p.m.  Lowlight:  HB2153, Rep. Steve Montenegro's move to bar municipalities and counties from passing any new ordinances to require that newly-constructed homes have fire sprinklers.  Ordinances that were enacted before December 31, 2009 would stand, however.


- Environment will meet in HHR5 on Tuesday at 2 p.m.  Presentations only, so far.
 
- Employment and Regulatory Affairs will meet in HHR3 on Tuesday at 2 p.m.  Looks relatively quiet, though the one bill on the agenda is the subject of the first strike-everything amendment of the session.  It's a "same subject" amendment and doesn't look to be greatly different than the original bill.
 
- Higher Education, Innovation, and Reform will meet in HHR2 on Wednesday at 9 a.m. Quiet so far.
 
- Health and Human Services will meet in HHR4 on Wednesday at 9:45 a.m.  Looks pretty quiet so far.
 
- Commerce will meet in HHR5 on Wednesday at 10 a.m.  On the agenda:  Rep. John Kavanagh's HB2102, adding "fingerprint clearance card" to the list of documents that cannot be issued to/for people who cannot definitively prove their immigration status.
 
- Appropriations will meet in HHR1 on Wednesday at 2 p.m.  Budget hearings only, so far.
 
- Transportation will meet in HHR3 on Thursday at 9 a.m.  Lowlight:  HB2288, Rep. Jeff Dial's scheme to force the state's aiports to abandon the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and totally privatize their security and screening operations.
 
There once was an era in American history where airport security was left to the tender mercies of the profit-driven, low-bidder-seeking corporate mentality. 
 
That era ended on September 11, 2001.
 
- Technology and Infrastructure will meet in HHR1 on Thursday at 9 a.m.  Only bill on the agenda:  HB2502, Rep. Carl Seel's proposal to mandate that if a public agency advertises some sort of program for the public, the agency must declare the source of its funding.
 
- Judiciary will meet in HHR4 on Thursday at 9 a.m.  Only bill on the agenda:  HB2141, a bill from Rep. Jack Harper relating to county realignment.  Not sure what he's up to with this one, but it's Jack Harper - his proposals are presumed bad.
 
- Agriculture and Water will meet in HHR5 on Thursday at 9 a.m.  Looks quiet so far. 
 
 
Other events at or around the Capitol this week:
 
- It's "National School Choice Week" so in addition to a number of other events, on Wednesday, the American Federation for Children will hold a legislators-only luncheon and movie showing at the Associated General Contractors Building, 1825 W. Adams.
 
That's a nice sounding name for an organization, but it is dedicated to undermining public education systems by lobbying legislators to siphon more and more money away from publc ed to private schools through vouchers.
 
- The only event on the Governor's public schedule for the coming week is a press conference on Monday with a "special announcement regarding education reform."
 
Since the unwritten rules of "political theater" usually call for such events to take place among students in a school and this one will be on the 2nd floor of the Capitol's Executive Tower, it's likely that the about-to-be-proposed "reform" isn't one that is likely to benefit students or schools.
 
Of course, I'm a cynic of long standing. :)
 
- Other events can also be found here, courtesy the Arizona Capitol Times.
 
Later...

AZ Republic finally reports on burgeoning "Arizona guns in Mexico" scandal

From the Arizona Republic -

The glass entrance to Lone Wolf Trading Co. in an unassuming strip mall near 51st and Peoria avenues, bears target practice posters and a sign: "No loaded weapons in our store."

Multiple model airplanes hang from the ceiling inside. It looked like business as usual as a couple of customers last week glanced at a wall with rifles on display and a shelf with handguns.

Owner Andre Howard did not return calls and was not present when the Republic visited the store for a comment about a recent year-long Washington Post investigation. Lone Wolf ranked eighth among dealers nationwide for selling the most number of firearms (1,515) recovered by police in the last four years. The store also topsdealers with the most traces in the last two years for guns recovered in crime scenes in Mexico. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives traces weapons recovered by law enforcement agencies to where they were sold originally.

The AZ Rep article is a fairly long and detailed on, so why pick on them for it?

The Phoenix New Times covered it a week ago when the Washington Post originally published the results of their investigation.

Maybe their hesitance to cover this particular story has its roots in Arizona's politics, where the majority in the legislature is so crazy about guns that not only are they trying to turn the state's college campuses into armed encampments, they want to force cities and towns to take firearms confiscated from criminals in the U.S. and transfer them to gun dealers for resale.

Something tells me that Russell Pearce, Jack Harper, Jan Brewer, and the rest won't appreciate the irony of a weapon used to kill someone in the U.S. in turn being used to kill someone in Mexico.

Actually, on second thought, they may thoroughly *enjoy* that idea.

If the Arizona legislature has its way, the safest college campus in Arizona won't be in Arizona...

...not legally, anyway.

The ever-reliable (for providing blog subject material, anyway) Jack Harper is getting an early start on his term in the House.  The soon-to-be-former state senator is the lead sponsor of the first House bill of the next session of the legislature, HB2001.

If enacted into law, the measure would allow faculty members of the state's community colleges, provisional community colleges, and state universities to carry concealed weapons on campus.

This bill, in one form or another, has been proposed in the last few sessions of the legislature.  It's usually opposed by the police departments and staff of the various colleges and campuses.

It's an indicator of how certain (OK, "most") Rs place a premium on ideology over reality.

Nearly everybody who has worked, taught, learned, or just visited on one of Arizona's college campuses doesn't see the need for this bill, yet the ideologues in the legislature continue to push this measure to turn our colleges and universities into armed encampments.

Of course, this being the legislature, when one comes across a measure that seems to be inherently dumb, one should also look for legislator who'd personally benefit from it.

State Rep. John Kavanagh (R-Russell Pearce with a 'Noo Yawk' accent) is the Director of Scottsdale Community College's Administration of Justice Studies program.

This bill, if passed, would seem to benefit him, presuming that as an FOR (Friend of Russell's) he's as much in the pocket of the NRA as his friend and cannot function in society without immediate access to his gun.

Except...

The campus of the community college that employs him is situated entirely within the boundaries of the Salt River Pima/Maricopa Indian Community (SRP/MIC).

While the college is "within the jurisdiction" of a community college district (Maricopa County Community College District), the laws that apply to the persons on it are those of the SRP/MIC.

People are barred from possessing weapons on the campus (and the rest of the Community) under *tribal* law, not state law.

HB2001, if enacted, wouldn't actually go into effect there.

Ooopsie.

I'm not sure if the prospects for this bill are any better this time around than they were in the past, but given the lege's rightward lurch and its utter disregard for the opinions of people who have anything to do with education, anything is possible.

Stay tuned.  The coming session of the lege is going to provide fodder for writers all over the state.

Unfortunately.

New Favorite Website: Crazy Jack Harper

Thanks go out to the Arizona Capitol Times' Yellow Sheet Report for the heads up on this one -

Harper believes reporter, Bundgaard tied to website


By Yellow Sheet Report
Published: July 8, 2010 at 4:49 pm
Harper is pointing at a member of the Capitol press corps and a one-time political ally as the provocateurs behind the Crazy Jack Harper website that has regularly taken potshots at the senator since May.

To read more on this item plus all the stories in the July 8 Yellow Sheet Report, go to www.yellowsheetreport.com (Yellow Sheet Subscription Required).

I don't know who is behind the site (Crazy Jack Harper) so I can't say with certainty that Harper's assertion that Scott Bundgaard is correct or incorrect.

However, since Bundgaard is running for the LD4 Senate seat that Harper is vacating, it seems unlikely that he would waste money on a website ridiculing Harper, who is running for the House.  If a Republican candidate is behind the website, I would think it more likely that it is one of other R House candidates in LD4.

I am pretty sure that the Democrats aren't behind it, though.

When trying to get under the skin of Republicans, we usually wield the needle far more deftly.  This site has its good points, but it's as subtle as a baseball bat.

Still, given that LD4 has elected and reelected Harper so often that he is termed-out from the Senate, maybe subtlety isn't called for here.

Just sayin'...

The coming week...legislative edition

As usual, all info gathered from the website of the Arizona legislature, except where noted, and subject to change without notice...

A busy week ahead, marked by proposed encroachments on the availability of safe and legal abortion services, messing with teachers' ability to plan for their professional future, requiring the federal government to prove the constitutionality of its mandates before the state will accept them, a move to shield Joe Arpaio and Andy Thomas from any sort of fiscal oversight and accountability, and more.


In special session activity, there is a House COW calendar posted for Monday, as is a Third Read calendar. Neither calendar includes SB1002 or SB1003, so my guess is that there is still some arm-twisting going on by the House leadership to try to "encourage" Senate President Bob Burns to push thru their corporate tax cut bill before a balanced budget is passed.

In non-Capitol based lege activity this week, on Monday, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to appoint a replacement for the recently-resigned Sen. Pam Gorman (R-LD6). Not scheduled as yet but likely to come this week will be a meeting to appoint someone to fill the LD-7 Senate seat vacated by Jim Waring, who like Gorman has resigned to run for Congress. Monday evening, the Rep PCs of LD6 will be meeting to nominate three candidates to fill Sam Crump's seat in the House, who also vacated it in order to run for Congress. The supes could fill that seat this week or early next week.


On to the regular session of the lege -

In House committee activities this week...

- Rules will meet on Monday at 1 p.m. in HHR4. Long agenda, but they have the rubber stamp big enough to cover it.

- Ways and Means is meeting on Monday at 2 p.m. in HHR1. Highlights/lowlights: There are five bills on this agenda, all of which are significant - HB2160 (tax credit review committee recommendations, summary here); HB2496 (changing which tax year school tuition tax credits can be taken); HB2512 (barring municipalities from using third parties to collect municipal sales taxes); HB2663 (changing STOs' corporate tax credit requirements, summary here); and HB2664 (changing STOs/tax credit requirements in general, summary here.)

- Education is meeting on Monday at 2 p.m. in HHR3. The agenda is long, and every bill on it is written by a Republican. There may be some real gold mixed in with the iron pyrite, but most of the bills are like HB2227, cutting the amount of time teachers have to accept a contract for the next school year from 30 days to 10.

- Banking and Insurance will meet on Monday at 2 p.m. in HHR5. Looks quiet so far.

- Public Employees, Retirement, and Entitlement Reform will meet on Tuesday at 2 p.m. in HHR3. Quiet so far.

- Government is meeting on Tuesday at 2 p.m. in HHR4. Winger election year posturing alert: HB2538.

From the bill -

The legislature shall not enact any statute that appropriates state monies pursuant to a federal mandate or that complies with a federal mandate unless the federal mandate contains a report or document prescribing reasonable and logical arguments based on United States constitutional law that the federal mandate is a function of the federal government and will pass a constitutional challenge if contested in a court of law.

Yeah....



- Environment will meet on Tuesday at 2 p.m. in HHR5. Looks quiet so far.

- Military Affairs and Public Safety is meeting on Wednesday at 9 a.m. in HHR3. Looks pretty quiet so far, though HB2526, exempting from taxation trap and skeet shooting clubs that are "educational" in purpose and use, definitely has a whiff of "winger special" wafting from it.

- Health and Human Services is meeting on Wednesday at 9 a.m. in HHR4. This one has globs of ugly awaiting Arizona.

HB2649 seeks to inhibit the accessibility of legal abortions by burying medical providers under overly onerous reporting requirements.


HB2650 would enact a six-month waiting period for getting a divorce (current requirement: 60 days) and adds an unfunded mandate on the state's court system by requiring that the courts establish an "educational" program on the effects of divorce.

- Commerce will meet on Wednesday at 9 a.m. in HHR5. Looks quiet thus far, but I don't understand some of this stuff.

- Water and Energy is scheduled to meet on Thursday at 9 a.m. in HHR5. Quiet thus far.

- Transportation and Infrastructure will meet Thursday at 9 a.m. in HHR3. Also quiet thus far.

- Judiciary will meet on Thursday at 9 a.m. in HHR4. Looks quiet thus far, though a striker may be offered regarding "guardianship of foreign citizens." No text available yet.



Over on the Senate side...

- Rules will meet on Monday upon adjournment of the Senate's floor session in Caucus Room 1 (aka the old press room). Rubber stamp time.

- Natural Resources, Infrastructure, and Public Debt will meet on Monday at 1:30 p.m. in SHR109. Quiet thus far.

- Judiciary is meeting on Monday at 1:30 p.m. The agenda includes SB1362, increasing the fees that may be assessed by courts in eminent domain cases; and SB1365, expanding notification requirements in eminent domain condemnation cases and deleting a clause that specifies how juries assess damages that included consideration of the benefits to uncondemned property from the underlying project.


- Commerce and Economic Development is meeting on Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. in SHR1. The nugget of really ugly here is SB1242, enacting all sorts of restrictions on labor unions during work actions and giving special protections to employers during the same.

- Appropriations is meeting on Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. in SHR109. As might be expected, the agenda of this committee chaired by Russell Pearce is possibly the worst of the week. It has -

SB1017, requiring that county boards of supervisors appropriate budget money to other county officers in lump sums and removes any kind of fiscal oversight of those officers' operations. AKA the "don't mess with mah man Joe [Arpaio]" bill.

A striker to SCR1032 that would permanently micromanage school districts with a requirement that they spend 70% of their budgets on "classroom instruction." The word "permanently" fits here because as an SCR it would have to be approved by the voters and then couldn't be adjusted by future legislatures unless the Reps succeed in their efforts to overturn the Voter Protection Act.

And this agenda could have been worse - the original agenda had a striker to SB1104 that referred to "taxpayer bill of rights." Know this now - Pearce et. al. will try to spring TABOR on the state this year, probably after the latest budget mess simmers down.


- Public Safety and Human Services will meet on Wednesday at 9 a.m. This one has some bills on photo radar (procedures, banning the use on freeways, more procedures.)

- Healthcare and Medical Liability Reform will meet Wednesday at 9 a.m. in SHR1. This one has SCM1004, a letter to Congress demanding that the federal government pay for any health care programs that are required for the states.

- Veterans and Military Affairs will meet on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. in SHR2. Quiet thus far.

- Finance meets on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. in SHR3. One item of interest here is SB1402, Russell Pearce's limits on the secondary property taxes imposed by special taxing districts (including fire districts, library districts, county jail districts, and/or county public health services districts). *Exactly* how it does that is a little unclear to me.

This bill should be an exhibit in the case showing why lawyers should never be allowed to write laws; English majors or journalists should.

The latter groups, by training and disposition, prefer to write sentences that actually clearly communicate information and ideas. The former?

Not so much. :)

- Education Accountability and Reform will meet on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. in SHR1. Whether it's through the huge gashes inflicted by the Reps' meat-cleaver approach during the budget process or through the nicks and papercuts inflicted by the bills on this agenda, the bleeding of the state's education system continues. Some of the agendized items include:

SB1175, expanding the membership of the Governing Board of the Maricopa County Community College District by adding two members who will be elected on a county-wide basis. Aka "the keep the MCCCD Board dominated by Republicans" bill.

SB1280, making sure that home-schooled students are notified of the scholarship requirements and criteria of the Arizona Board of Regents (actually, this one doesn't seem to be too bad, but I want to see what it looks like after going through the entire legislative process before being totally at ease with it).

SB1284, messing with school financing rules. One of the highlights: language that makes cuts to funding imposed during the year, such as those we've seen from the various special sessions of the lege this year, retroactive to the beginning of the fiscal year. In other words, cuts to state funding won't just impact school districts going forward, they'll force school districts to return money.

SB1286, changing the grading of schools from words like "excelling" and "highly performing" to letter grades (the traditional A thru F). Probably not a bad thing in itself, but the changes to the formula determining how that grade is arrived at may be. Somebody with more experience in this area should look at that (David Safier, that's you. :) )

- Government Institutions will meet on Thursday at 9:30 a.m. in SHR1.

Nuggets here include:

SB1143, creating the ability for counties to change their borders via "local initiative." Another bill I don't completely understand as yet, but it's from Jack Harper - it's presumed to be a bad one.

SB1348, Senate President Bob Burns' proposal to slow down new regulations of business, such as requirements that specific medical procedures/conditions be covered by health insurers, and to speed up the discard of older regulations. There are other similar clauses in this bill, enough for it to be named "The Bob Burns is setting up a run for Corporation Commission and wants to secure business financing for his run" bill.

...Check back on the lege's website later in the week for any changes to committee agendas.

Later!

Overheard at the lege...

While waiting for the R caucus meeting...


1. Apparently, it may not matter what happens in the Senate this time - House Speaker Kirk Adams has told MSM types that he doesn't think they have enough votes in the House to pass the package.

2. Sen. Jack Harper (R-Surprise!) has said that he will vote against all of the measures except the education money rollovers when they reach the floor. That may change between now and that time, but that is what he said while BS-ing with a couple of folks in the gallery while waiting for the meeting to start.

D17 should be proud

Americans for Prosperity, the Big Business-funded and -controlled "grassroots" group (that's the definition of "astroturf" group) has released its 2009 scorecard, a rating of all of Arizona's legislators based on some arcane standard.

The group purports itself to be non-partisan, but the only two Republicans they gave a negative rating to were Sen. Carolyn Allen (LD8), one of the few real public servants in the GOP caucus, and Governor Jan Brewer, someone who has gleefully crippled the ability of Arizona state government to provide public services.

I can understand them not liking Sen. Allen; she really is the closest thing to a moderate voice in the entire AZGOP. But to go after Brewer, who has done more to cut public education and the social safety net in Arizona than any governor ever...?

Can you say "credibility problem"?

Anyway, back to the point of the post. Scorecards like this one, produced by anti-society advocacy groups, are best read from the bottom up.

The folks they give the lowest ratings to are the people that do the most to look out for their constituents and their state.

Read that way, the biggest Hero of Society is LD17's own state senator, Meg Burton Cahill.

And coming in at 6th and 7th place, as Champions of Society, are LD17's state representatives, Ed Ableser and David Schapira.


Oh, and for the record, the folks that AFP gave their highest ratings to (and the lowest by my standards, "Enemies of Society") are, you guessed it, ol' blog favorites state Sens. Russell Pearce (LD18), Chuck Gray (LD19), Sylvia Allen (LD5), and Jack Harper (LD4).

Of course.


Other legislative report cards include:

The Grand Canyon Chapter of the Sierra Club (2008 report card here)

East Valley Chambers of Commerce Alliance (note: only EV legislators covered)

Jack Harper wants to separate orphans from their extended families

That title sounds counter-intuitive, as State Sen. Jack Harper (R-LD4) is well known to be an ardently pro-family* whackaloon.

*As long as the "family" in question is wealthy, white, and Republican

However, his latest proposed amendment to the Arizona Constitution, SCR1029, is an anti-family measure dressed up as an anti-gay and lesbian measure.

The text of his proposal -

Be it resolved by the Senate of the State of Arizona, the House of Representatives concurring: 1. Article XXXI, Constitution of Arizona, is proposed to be added as follows if approved by the voters and on proclamation of the Governor:

ARTICLE XXXI. PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN
1. Adoption; foster care; restrictions

SECTION 1. IF A CHILD IS BORN TO A HETEROSEXUAL COUPLE WHO ARE MARRIED TO EACH OTHER EITHER BEFORE OR AFTER THE CHILD'S BIRTH, ONLY ANOTHER HETEROSEXUAL MARRIED COUPLE IS QUALIFIED TO SUBSEQUENTLY ADOPT THAT CHILD OR BECOME THE CHILD'S FOSTER PARENTS.

2. The Secretary of State shall submit this proposition to the voters at the next general election as provided by article XXI, Constitution of Arizona.

Based on that language, the children of parents who, say die in a car accident (not an unheard-of happenstance in Arizona, or elsewhere for that matter), couldn't be placed with an unmarried family member (say, a widowed grandparent or divorced aunt or uncle).

Of course, his language also says that while he thinks that the children of heterosexual couples are important, and so rate adoption by his ideal adoptive parents (of the heterosexual couple variety), the children of single parents are less important and don't rate adoption by his "gold standard" of would-be adopters.

But I'm not going there. Harper's proposal is clearly a sloppily-written attack on everyone who isn't heterosexual and/or married.

Harper is clearly trying to regain the Legislative Loon Award that he won three years ago, and proposals like this one make him a favorite.