Edit on 6/8 to add link to Franks' resolution...
Yesterday's schedule post was for the lege alone; today's is for everybody else.
And while there is some interesting and important stuff going on, this one should still be shorter than the yesterday's post.
...In the U.S. House, the agenda is pretty full. While there are some "show" measures -memorials and congratulations and such,- there are also a number of "working" measures in the pipeline this week.
* H.R. 1709, the STEM Education Coordination Act of 2009 (Note: "STEM" is an acronym for "Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics")
* H.R. 885, the Improved Financial and Commodity Markets Oversight and Accountability Act
* H.R. 466, the Wounded Veteran Job Security Act
* H.R. 1741, the Witness Security and Protection Grant Program Act of 2009
* The conference report on H.R. 2346, the Supplemental Appropriations Act. $$$ = arguments
* H.R. 2410, the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011. Again, $$$ = arguments. If that wasn't enough, since this will indicate/guide the country's foreign relations priorities for the near future, expect the Reps to nitpick this one...loudly.
* H.R. 1886, the Pakistan Enduring Assistance and Cooperation Enhancement Act of 2009 (aka "PEACE Act"). Given the nature of our relationship with Pakistan, expect hesitation and even outright opposition to this one from both sides of the aisle.
Still, even the money bills may not generate as much controversy as one of the memorial bills.
The House will be considering Rep. Louise Slaughter's H.Res. 505, "Condemning the murder of Dr. George Tiller, who was shot to death at his church on May 31, 2009." While the Republicans could just give this one a pass, I expect at least a few of them to use this measure as a way to blame the victim.
AZ's Trent Franks (R-CD2) will be introducing a resolution (H. Res. 515) condemning "the murder of Army Private William Long and the wounding of Army Private Quinton Ezeagwula, who were shot outside the Army Navy Career Center in Little Rock, Arkansas on June 1, 2009." Privates Long and Ezeagwula were shot by another domestic terrorist the day after Dr. Tiller was assassinated; my guess is that Franks is trying to use this bill to deflect attention from Tiller's murder.
My only disappointment with this one (H.Res. 505) is that the only Arizona Representative who has seen fit to add his/her name to the list of cosponsors is Ann Kirkpatrick (D-CD1).
They should ALL be on record as condemning politically-motivated violence.
...Back here in AZ, the Arizona Corporation Commission has a busy week planned, including a Securities and Utilities open meeting on Thursday.
...The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors has a special meeting planned for Wednesday at 10 a.m. The agenda is a short one (thus far), with just two items on it - the first having to do with filing a notice of claim against the City of El Mirage and the second having to do with approval of the County Assessor representing the MCBOS regarding the matter of some property tax claim errors in the Buckeye Valley Fire District.
...The Governing Board of the Maricopa County Community College District will be meeting on Tuesday night at 6 p.m. for a Truth-in-Taxation hearing (2% hike proposed) and a special meeting to approve the district's FY2010 budget. Or maybe this one. The first version of the budget assumes approval of the 2% hike; the second version assumes disapproval.
Expect disapproval; the majority of the board is made up of Republican Kool-Aid drinkers who are only interested in undermining education in AZ, not supporting it.
...The Board of Directors of the Central Arizona Project will be holding Stakeholder Working Group Meetings on Friday and next Monday at the Mountain Preserve Reception Center, 1431 East Dunlap Ave. in Phoenix.
...The Directors of the Maricopa Integrated Health System and the Citizens Clean Elections Commission are not scheduled to meet this week.
...The Tempe City Council is scheduled to meet on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. The agenda looks pretty routine thus far, but somebody with a better knowledge of Tempe issues should take a look at the agenda; they might spot something I missed.
Of course, the Special Budget Meeting that's scheduled to follow the regular meeting will probably be less mundane - it's for final approval of the city's FY2009-2010 property tax rate.
...The Scottsdale City Council is holding a special meeting on Tuesday at 5 p.m. The agenda includes a Non-Major Amendment to the Downtown Character Area Plan, a Planned Unit Development Text Amendment, and a series of Text Amendments to R1-7 Zoning. R1-7 zoning is the City's primary residential zoning ordinance.
This sort of stuff would be boring almost anywhere else, but it brings out the long knives in a city like Scottsdale.
Later...
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Saturday, June 06, 2009
The coming week - legislative edition
The norm for this series of posts is to list political schedules in descending order of level of government (federal, state, county, local). However, since Bob Burns, the President of the AZ Senate decided to open the floodgates after five months of blockading bills, the lege will rate its own separate post.
And even at that, it's going to be a long one.
AZBlueMeanie at Blog for Arizona has a briefer post on this topic here.
As usual, all info gathered from the relevant political body's website, and subject to change without notice. And in the case of the AZ lege, expect such changes every week until the end of the session.
...First the easy part, the AZ House of Representatives.
- House Rules is meeting on Monday at 1 p.m. in HHR4; the highlight there is HCR2014, Nancy Barto's (R-Shadegg's doppelganger) move to protect Big Healthcare's and Big Insurance's profit margins.
- House Health and Human Services is meeting on Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. in HHR4.
- The House also has a caucus calendar posted for Monday, and a COW calendar posted for Tuesday. Both look pretty non-controversial, except for caucus consideration of the aforementioned HCR2014.
...Now on to the AZ Senate.
- First the good news - the Senate hasn't posted any floor, COW, or caucus schedules yet.
Of course, that is bad news for folks who are trying to plan out a visit to the lege and would like to know what to expect.
- Now the bad news - after weeks of a sparsely-populated committee schedule, they're all meeting this week. And most of them have long agendas.
- Monday at 1:30 p.m., Senate Judiciary is meeting in SHR1. Highlights (a term to be used loosely throughout this post :) ) include SB1123, Sen. Jonathan Paton's plan to force the City of Tucson to make their municipal elections non-partisan (I guess he objects to the idea of Democrats winning seats on the city council there) and SB1243, Sen. Russell Pearce's scheme to legalize showing off firearms in an intimidating manner (aka "defensive display").
- Tuesday at 8:30 a.m., Senate Natural Resources will meet in SHR109. Highlights here include SB1147 , Russell Pearce's move to bar state agencies from from regulating fuel economy or greenhouse gas emissions without explicit legislative approval; and Sen. Sylvia Allen's SB1259 and SB1260, moves to protect mine operators from the costs of mine reclamation (aka - repairing the damage that their mining operation caused to the land it was on).
- Tuesday at 1:30 p.m, Senate Commerce will meet in SHR1. Short agenda thus far.
- Tuesday at 1:30 p.m., Senate Appropriations will meet in SHR109. This one is packed with all sorts of ugly, and some of it even has to do with appropriating money. Most of the agenda doesn't though - this is just a friendly forum for some really bad legislation.
* A strike-everything amendment to SB1023. This amendment would allow insurers to claim up to a total of $10 million in tax credits for money given to STOs (What? You thought those went away with the end of the special session to ensure Steve Yarbrough's financial security?) and removes the sunset date (June 30, 2011) for the STO tax credits.
* A striker to SB1024 (text not available as of this writing) relating to "tax credits; withholding tax reduction."
* A striker to SB1038. The amendment related to revenue sharing with Native American tribes. I'm not sure about the net effect of this amendment (since I'm not familiar with the status quo), but since Russell Pearce's name is on a measure that impacts a racial or ethnic minority, I assume it's a screwjob.
* SB1444,Cap'n Senator Al Melvin's plan to for the legislature to confiscate all "non-custodial" federal monies sent to AZ (such as block grants) so that the lege may allocate the monies as it sees fit.
* SCR1006, Russell Pearce's attempt to impose stringent, TABOR-like limits on state government by limiting state appropriations to 6.4% of total personal income in the state
* SCR1009, Pearce's scheme to break the Voter Protection Act to allow the Republicans in the lege to "reallocate" funds that would otherwise be dedicated to healthcare, children, and education. A very bad proposal.
* SCR1031, Pearce's (by way of Ward Connerly) anti-affirmative action amendment to the state constitution.
*SCR1038, Sen. Ron Gould's "F-U" to the federal government. Actually, he refers to it as "assertion of sovereignty" under the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Whew! That's a lot, enough for any three weeks in the Senate, but we aren't even halfway through the committees.
- Wednesday, Senate Veterans and Military Affairs will meet at in SHR2. The highlight here looks to be a striker to SCR1004 (text not available as yet). The name attached to it (Harper) and the title of it are what leads me to believe that this one will be particularly bad - "American Sovereignty Restoration Act."
- Wednesday, Senate Public Safety and Human Services will be meeting at 8:30 a.m. in SHR3. Highlights here include SB1138, Sen. Linda Gray's definition of and penalties for the already-illegal-under-federal-law partial-birth abortions; and strikers to SB1206 (relating to abortion) and SB1448 (relating to "healthcare distinctive; guardian decisions"). The language of the strikers isn't yet available, so that last may be harmless, but this week, that isn't a safe assumption.
- Wednesday, Senate Healthcare will meet at 9 a.m. in SHR1. As expected from a committee chaired by Sen. Carolyn Allen, this agenda is filled with measures that actually help Arizonans.
- Wednesday, Senate Finance will meet at 1:30 p.m. in SHR3. Highlights here include SB1324, Senator Barbara Leff's proposal to reduce the corporate income tax rate by almost 35%; SB1325, Leff's and Barto's proposal to let private insurers issue health coverage policies that don't offer certain heretofore mandatory coverages. This one should have been titled "Health insurers: enhanced profit margins."
- Wednesday, Senate Education will meet at 1:30 p.m. in SHR1. 9 out of the 12 items on the current agenda have Sen. John Huppenthal's name attached to them. These include strikers to SB1196 (Education Omnibus) and SB1375 (student information; written request) for which language isn't available yet, and SB1386, making it easier for charter schools to renew their charters, and for longer periods of time. The highlight, though, is Huppenthal's SB1393, a bill to compel public schools to accomodate students' private religious views in assignments, grading, and expression of those views, even in a hateful manner, in school.
- Thursday, Senate Retirement and Rural Development will meet at 9 a.m. in SHR3. Short agenda thus far.
- Thursday, Senate Government Institutions will be meeting at 9:30 a.m. in SHR1. Highlights here include Sen. Jack Harper's SB1109, a move to make it easier for political candidates and committees to strike voters from the rolls of registered by letting them submit names of voters they think are dead to the Secretary of State's website and SB1171, Russell Pearce's ban on new state agency regulations.
...There's some interesting stuff going on at other bodies/agencies this week, but those matters can wait for tomorrow.
Later...
And even at that, it's going to be a long one.
AZBlueMeanie at Blog for Arizona has a briefer post on this topic here.
As usual, all info gathered from the relevant political body's website, and subject to change without notice. And in the case of the AZ lege, expect such changes every week until the end of the session.
...First the easy part, the AZ House of Representatives.
- House Rules is meeting on Monday at 1 p.m. in HHR4; the highlight there is HCR2014, Nancy Barto's (R-Shadegg's doppelganger) move to protect Big Healthcare's and Big Insurance's profit margins.
- House Health and Human Services is meeting on Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. in HHR4.
- The House also has a caucus calendar posted for Monday, and a COW calendar posted for Tuesday. Both look pretty non-controversial, except for caucus consideration of the aforementioned HCR2014.
...Now on to the AZ Senate.
- First the good news - the Senate hasn't posted any floor, COW, or caucus schedules yet.
Of course, that is bad news for folks who are trying to plan out a visit to the lege and would like to know what to expect.
- Now the bad news - after weeks of a sparsely-populated committee schedule, they're all meeting this week. And most of them have long agendas.
- Monday at 1:30 p.m., Senate Judiciary is meeting in SHR1. Highlights (a term to be used loosely throughout this post :) ) include SB1123, Sen. Jonathan Paton's plan to force the City of Tucson to make their municipal elections non-partisan (I guess he objects to the idea of Democrats winning seats on the city council there) and SB1243, Sen. Russell Pearce's scheme to legalize showing off firearms in an intimidating manner (aka "defensive display").
- Tuesday at 8:30 a.m., Senate Natural Resources will meet in SHR109. Highlights here include SB1147 , Russell Pearce's move to bar state agencies from from regulating fuel economy or greenhouse gas emissions without explicit legislative approval; and Sen. Sylvia Allen's SB1259 and SB1260, moves to protect mine operators from the costs of mine reclamation (aka - repairing the damage that their mining operation caused to the land it was on).
- Tuesday at 1:30 p.m, Senate Commerce will meet in SHR1. Short agenda thus far.
- Tuesday at 1:30 p.m., Senate Appropriations will meet in SHR109. This one is packed with all sorts of ugly, and some of it even has to do with appropriating money. Most of the agenda doesn't though - this is just a friendly forum for some really bad legislation.
* A strike-everything amendment to SB1023. This amendment would allow insurers to claim up to a total of $10 million in tax credits for money given to STOs (What? You thought those went away with the end of the special session to ensure Steve Yarbrough's financial security?) and removes the sunset date (June 30, 2011) for the STO tax credits.
* A striker to SB1024 (text not available as of this writing) relating to "tax credits; withholding tax reduction."
* A striker to SB1038. The amendment related to revenue sharing with Native American tribes. I'm not sure about the net effect of this amendment (since I'm not familiar with the status quo), but since Russell Pearce's name is on a measure that impacts a racial or ethnic minority, I assume it's a screwjob.
* SB1444,
* SCR1006, Russell Pearce's attempt to impose stringent, TABOR-like limits on state government by limiting state appropriations to 6.4% of total personal income in the state
* SCR1009, Pearce's scheme to break the Voter Protection Act to allow the Republicans in the lege to "reallocate" funds that would otherwise be dedicated to healthcare, children, and education. A very bad proposal.
* SCR1031, Pearce's (by way of Ward Connerly) anti-affirmative action amendment to the state constitution.
*SCR1038, Sen. Ron Gould's "F-U" to the federal government. Actually, he refers to it as "assertion of sovereignty" under the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Whew! That's a lot, enough for any three weeks in the Senate, but we aren't even halfway through the committees.
- Wednesday, Senate Veterans and Military Affairs will meet at in SHR2. The highlight here looks to be a striker to SCR1004 (text not available as yet). The name attached to it (Harper) and the title of it are what leads me to believe that this one will be particularly bad - "American Sovereignty Restoration Act."
- Wednesday, Senate Public Safety and Human Services will be meeting at 8:30 a.m. in SHR3. Highlights here include SB1138, Sen. Linda Gray's definition of and penalties for the already-illegal-under-federal-law partial-birth abortions; and strikers to SB1206 (relating to abortion) and SB1448 (relating to "healthcare distinctive; guardian decisions"). The language of the strikers isn't yet available, so that last may be harmless, but this week, that isn't a safe assumption.
- Wednesday, Senate Healthcare will meet at 9 a.m. in SHR1. As expected from a committee chaired by Sen. Carolyn Allen, this agenda is filled with measures that actually help Arizonans.
- Wednesday, Senate Finance will meet at 1:30 p.m. in SHR3. Highlights here include SB1324, Senator Barbara Leff's proposal to reduce the corporate income tax rate by almost 35%; SB1325, Leff's and Barto's proposal to let private insurers issue health coverage policies that don't offer certain heretofore mandatory coverages. This one should have been titled "Health insurers: enhanced profit margins."
- Wednesday, Senate Education will meet at 1:30 p.m. in SHR1. 9 out of the 12 items on the current agenda have Sen. John Huppenthal's name attached to them. These include strikers to SB1196 (Education Omnibus) and SB1375 (student information; written request) for which language isn't available yet, and SB1386, making it easier for charter schools to renew their charters, and for longer periods of time. The highlight, though, is Huppenthal's SB1393, a bill to compel public schools to accomodate students' private religious views in assignments, grading, and expression of those views, even in a hateful manner, in school.
- Thursday, Senate Retirement and Rural Development will meet at 9 a.m. in SHR3. Short agenda thus far.
- Thursday, Senate Government Institutions will be meeting at 9:30 a.m. in SHR1. Highlights here include Sen. Jack Harper's SB1109, a move to make it easier for political candidates and committees to strike voters from the rolls of registered by letting them submit names of voters they think are dead to the Secretary of State's website and SB1171, Russell Pearce's ban on new state agency regulations.
...There's some interesting stuff going on at other bodies/agencies this week, but those matters can wait for tomorrow.
Later...
Friday, June 05, 2009
Dear Republican Activists And Primary Voters:
Hi. Your snarky (but oh-so-friendly and helpful) neighborhood liberal blogger and Democratic activist here. I don't normally write for you folks, but this one is for you.
Some of you have signed nominating petitions for one John Huppenthal for next year's race for State Superintendent of Public Instruction. Under normal circumstances, a voter can sign the petitions of only one candidate per office. As such, normally you wouldn't be allowed to sign nominating petitions for Margaret Dugan, Mary Lou Taylor, or Gary Nine, the declared candidates for the Republican nomination next year. (State Rep. Rich Crandall is rumored to be interested in the race as well, but has not formally announced his candidacy.)
Under the laws of Arizona and the rules from the Arizona Secretary of State, a candidate must form a committee (file paperwork with the state formally declaring the candidate's interest in a particular office).
From the Secretary of State's candidate handbook (page 29 of the .pdf) (emphasis mine) -
So far, Huppenthal has only formed an "exploratory" committee - filer ID 201000065, formed and last amended on March 16, 2009. As such, any signatures he has collected to date are invalid.
While there is some discussion going around about whether or not Huppenthal's signature collecting activities mean that he is now an active candidate under Arizona's "resign-to-run" laws and must now resign his seat in the legislature, this much is clear -
Whether or not he actually has to resign from office immediately, he will have to redo his petitions completely. All he's accomplished so far is to put together a list of folks to hit up for donations...once he gets around to forming an actual candidate campaign committee.
So take heart, loyal Republicans. If this dust-up, or perhaps the court hearing for his assault case later this month, causes you to feel a little "buyer's remorse," you have the option of rebuffing Huppenthal when he comes calling again and signing the nominating petitions for another candidate whose deportment and professionalism is more to your liking.
Just trying to help,
Craig at Random Musings
:)
Some of you have signed nominating petitions for one John Huppenthal for next year's race for State Superintendent of Public Instruction. Under normal circumstances, a voter can sign the petitions of only one candidate per office. As such, normally you wouldn't be allowed to sign nominating petitions for Margaret Dugan, Mary Lou Taylor, or Gary Nine, the declared candidates for the Republican nomination next year. (State Rep. Rich Crandall is rumored to be interested in the race as well, but has not formally announced his candidacy.)
Under the laws of Arizona and the rules from the Arizona Secretary of State, a candidate must form a committee (file paperwork with the state formally declaring the candidate's interest in a particular office).
From the Secretary of State's candidate handbook (page 29 of the .pdf) (emphasis mine) -
4. Statement of Organization OR $500 Threshold Exemption Statement.
A Statement of Organization registering the candidate’s campaign committee OR a $500 Threshold Exemption Statement must be filed before making any expenditures, accepting any contributions, distributing any campaign literature or circulating any petitions. If the candidate has an exploratory committee open at the time of filing, then the candidate, chairman and treasurer must file an amended Statement of Organization to change the committee to a candidate’s campaign committee.
So far, Huppenthal has only formed an "exploratory" committee - filer ID 201000065, formed and last amended on March 16, 2009. As such, any signatures he has collected to date are invalid.
While there is some discussion going around about whether or not Huppenthal's signature collecting activities mean that he is now an active candidate under Arizona's "resign-to-run" laws and must now resign his seat in the legislature, this much is clear -
Whether or not he actually has to resign from office immediately, he will have to redo his petitions completely. All he's accomplished so far is to put together a list of folks to hit up for donations...once he gets around to forming an actual candidate campaign committee.
So take heart, loyal Republicans. If this dust-up, or perhaps the court hearing for his assault case later this month, causes you to feel a little "buyer's remorse," you have the option of rebuffing Huppenthal when he comes calling again and signing the nominating petitions for another candidate whose deportment and professionalism is more to your liking.
Just trying to help,
Craig at Random Musings
:)
Thursday, June 04, 2009
Burns says they should have a special session? To do their only real job?
What have they been doing since the start of the session then?
Does this mean that they're going admit they've been defrauding the taxpayers since January and return the paychecks and per diems that they've been cashing for the last five months?
...OK, probably not.
From AZCentral.com's Political Insider (emphasis mine) -
And to keep everyone from getting rambunctious during the secret negotiations over the budget, Burns assigned over 230 Senate bills to committees.
That'll keep the Democrats, the public, and even his own rank-and-file members out of leadership's hair while they finish vivisecting state government, public services, and education.
I'll do a more complete post on the various committee agendas late Saturday or Sunday, but one gem has already bubbled up - Wednesday's meeting of Senate Public Safety and Human Services is scheduled to have consideration of a striker to SB1206 related to abortion. No text available online as yet, but it's a safe bet that the striker, and the next couple of weeks, will be ugly.
Later...
Does this mean that they're going admit they've been defrauding the taxpayers since January and return the paychecks and per diems that they've been cashing for the last five months?
...OK, probably not.
From AZCentral.com's Political Insider (emphasis mine) -
Senate President Bob Burns, fresh off a budget victory, says if he had his druthers, the Legislature should not send its no-tax-hike budget to Gov. Brewer until they can all sit down and talk.
{snip}
Burns said if all parties were amenable to a budget talk, he would hold back on the
bills, avoiding a likely veto. And if agreement were reached, the bills could be reworked in a special session yet this month, he said.
And to keep everyone from getting rambunctious during the secret negotiations over the budget, Burns assigned over 230 Senate bills to committees.
That'll keep the Democrats, the public, and even his own rank-and-file members out of leadership's hair while they finish vivisecting state government, public services, and education.
I'll do a more complete post on the various committee agendas late Saturday or Sunday, but one gem has already bubbled up - Wednesday's meeting of Senate Public Safety and Human Services is scheduled to have consideration of a striker to SB1206 related to abortion. No text available online as yet, but it's a safe bet that the striker, and the next couple of weeks, will be ugly.
Later...
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
It never ends in Maricopa County...
First, the County settles one Arpaio-related lawsuit.
From AZCentral.com -
But just when you think that maybe the litigation load dropped on the County's shoulders by Arpaio is receding, news of yet another lawsuit breaks.
Also from AZCentral.com -
In such a case, one would be disappointed.
Not when that agency head would rather focus on harassing his perceived enemies, even expending some of the County's scarce resources on vague and futile fishing expeditions against the County's court system. Apparently, some of the judges there have offended the agency head's sensibilities by criticizing him for failing to see that prisoners in his custody are brought to court in a timely manner.
Look for the supes to continue holding executive sessions on a weekly basis for the duration of Arpaio's term in office, and for years afterward.
From AZCentral.com -
Maricopa County will pay $500,000 to the family of an inmate slain last year by another inmate while in custody at Fourth Avenue Jail.
The Board of Supervisors voted 4-0 Wednesday to settle the case; Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox was absent.
But just when you think that maybe the litigation load dropped on the County's shoulders by Arpaio is receding, news of yet another lawsuit breaks.
Also from AZCentral.com -
Former Maricopa County Superintendent of Schools Sandra Dowling filed suit Wednesday in Superior Court against Sheriff Joe Arpaio and the Board of Supervisors because of a 2006 SWAT team invasion of her home and a subsequent criminal prosecution that ended in a single misdemeanor conviction.In light of all of these lawsuits, one might expect that an agency head that tries to maintain even a pretense of professionalism might focus on training standards to ensure that the events that resulted in one death and two lawsuits don't occur again.
In the lawsuit - filed by attorney Michael Manning, a frequent Arpaio antagonist - Dowling alleges negligence, malicious prosecution, abuse of process and several constitutional violations.
In such a case, one would be disappointed.
Not when that agency head would rather focus on harassing his perceived enemies, even expending some of the County's scarce resources on vague and futile fishing expeditions against the County's court system. Apparently, some of the judges there have offended the agency head's sensibilities by criticizing him for failing to see that prisoners in his custody are brought to court in a timely manner.
Look for the supes to continue holding executive sessions on a weekly basis for the duration of Arpaio's term in office, and for years afterward.
Budget games ramping up...
...And "games" may be the key word here...
As reported by AZBlueMeanie at Blog for Arizona and elsewhere, the Republicans in the lege have begun the public pas de deux with the Governor over the state's budget (and both sides are hoping that they don't have to ask the legislative Democrats for a spin around the dance floor).
The House Rules Committee met this morning to rubberstamp the House Republicans' budget proposal, and Senate Rules is scheduled to meet at 5 p.m. to do the same for the Senate Reps' proposal.
Now, so far the Governor and the Reps in the lege seem to be in disagreement, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was all a lot of posturing - the Governor's budget proposal is harsh enough toward public education and public services to suit most of the Rep base in AZ, and it is just different enough from the legislative proposals to be sold to a disgusted-with-the-whole-thing public as a "compromise."
My primary reason for suspecting that the "conflict" between the governor and her ideological colleagues in the lege may be a put-up job?
Neither side's budget proposals contain cuts for either the Governor's office or for legislative operations.
Everybody else - teachers, students, poor and working class families, the Democrat-held Attorney General's office, government employees, and more - takes a major hit, but not "Our Gang."
Free prediction: There will be loud words exchanged, and possibly a vetoed budget, leading up to a last-minute (as in just before a government shutdown) compromise to "save the day" with all of them up on a stage somewhere patting each other on the back in front of some TV cameras.
Free prediction2: The script for next year may contain different lines of dialogue, but the basic plot will be the same.
Later...
As reported by AZBlueMeanie at Blog for Arizona and elsewhere, the Republicans in the lege have begun the public pas de deux with the Governor over the state's budget (and both sides are hoping that they don't have to ask the legislative Democrats for a spin around the dance floor).
The House Rules Committee met this morning to rubberstamp the House Republicans' budget proposal, and Senate Rules is scheduled to meet at 5 p.m. to do the same for the Senate Reps' proposal.
Now, so far the Governor and the Reps in the lege seem to be in disagreement, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was all a lot of posturing - the Governor's budget proposal is harsh enough toward public education and public services to suit most of the Rep base in AZ, and it is just different enough from the legislative proposals to be sold to a disgusted-with-the-whole-thing public as a "compromise."
My primary reason for suspecting that the "conflict" between the governor and her ideological colleagues in the lege may be a put-up job?
Neither side's budget proposals contain cuts for either the Governor's office or for legislative operations.
Everybody else - teachers, students, poor and working class families, the Democrat-held Attorney General's office, government employees, and more - takes a major hit, but not "Our Gang."
Free prediction: There will be loud words exchanged, and possibly a vetoed budget, leading up to a last-minute (as in just before a government shutdown) compromise to "save the day" with all of them up on a stage somewhere patting each other on the back in front of some TV cameras.
Free prediction2: The script for next year may contain different lines of dialogue, but the basic plot will be the same.
Later...
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Post 9/11 GI Bill Informational Workshops in Mesa and Phoenix
An email from CD5's Congressman Harry Mitchell -
A lengthier press release regarding Saturday's workshops and the new GI Bill is here.
Last week, we celebrated Memorial Day, a day honoring our servicemen and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country. We can never fully repay, nor can we ever fully express our thanks for their sacrifice. When I arrived in Congress, I sought out a seat on the House Veterans Affairs’ Committee because I believe the best way to honor the sacrifices of our military personnel is to treat our veterans with the care and dignity that they deserve and have earned.
Last year, I had the honor of partnering with Senator Jim Webb of Virginia, to pass a new and much-improved GI Bill, known as the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008. We promised our service members the opportunity of a higher education when they joined, and it's our responsibility to see that they get it when they become veterans. As a former teacher, I know how empowering and transformative a quality education can be. This new GI Bill is now law, and will extend educational benefits to members of the military who have served on active duty since Sept. 11, 2001, including – for the first time – activated reservists and National Guard Members. Career service members will also be able to transfer some or all of the new benefit to their spouses and children.
Still, many veterans may have questions, or may not be aware that they are eligible for the new GI Bill. Interested veterans and family members can join me, VA education experts and officials from local schools at:
Post 9/11 GI Bill Informational Workshop
2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., Saturday, June 6
Mesa Community College – Student Union
1833 W. Southern Ave., Mesa.
Near the Clock Tower
For National Guard Members or veterans who are unable to attend the afternoon event, there will be an additional GI Bill workshop earlier the same day from 11:00 a.m. to noon at the Arizona National Guard Headquarters. Feel free to contact my office at 480-946-2411 for more details.
It is my hope and firm expectation that this new GI Bill will provide veterans with a greater chance of success while transitioning back into civilian life. After World War II, the original GI Bill empowered veterans to expand the American middle class and catapult our country into a period of unprecedented economic productivity.
I believe that the new Post-9/11 GI Bill will give those who have served in uniform an opportunity to spur a new period of solid growth and shared prosperity in our nation.
Sincerely,
Harry
A lengthier press release regarding Saturday's workshops and the new GI Bill is here.
The silence is deafening...
Remember when, less than two months ago, the former Governor of Arizona and current Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano came in for some rather vicious criticisms from Republicans and the right-wing echo chamber over the release of a study on the rise of right-wing extremism and the growing threat of right-wing-based domestic terrorism?
The wingers ignored the facts that the report in question was commissioned by the Bush administration while it was in office and that a similar report on left-wing extremism and possible domestic terrorism was done in January.
Even "responsible" and "professional" members of the GOP (i.e. - elected officials) called for her resignation.
AZ's Trent Franks called the report "disgraceful" and demanded an apology from Napolitano.
So, in light of the assassination of Dr. George Tiller in Kansas by a member of extreme anti-government and anti-choice groups, the "responsible" Republicans must be reconsidering their previous outrage, right?
Look at all of the mainstream conservatives quickly jumping to condemn the violence and express their support of Secretary Napolitano -
...Yeah, I couldn't find any either.
Later...
The wingers ignored the facts that the report in question was commissioned by the Bush administration while it was in office and that a similar report on left-wing extremism and possible domestic terrorism was done in January.
Even "responsible" and "professional" members of the GOP (i.e. - elected officials) called for her resignation.
AZ's Trent Franks called the report "disgraceful" and demanded an apology from Napolitano.
So, in light of the assassination of Dr. George Tiller in Kansas by a member of extreme anti-government and anti-choice groups, the "responsible" Republicans must be reconsidering their previous outrage, right?
Look at all of the mainstream conservatives quickly jumping to condemn the violence and express their support of Secretary Napolitano -
...Yeah, I couldn't find any either.
Later...
Monday, June 01, 2009
Joining the parade, Jan Brewer releases her budget proposal
I don't have time to look through it all, but based on her transmittal letter to the lege, I can say this, unequivocally -
Yawn.
While there are more details (like, you know, actual numbers), her plan is essentially the five point plan that she promulgated in March.
Highlights (so to speak) of that plan - raise the sales tax on the average Arizonan, give blanket tax cuts for corporations, cut spending on services to Arizonans (and lay off employees), and open up voter-protected revenues and expenditures to legislative whim.
Anyway, you can find some details of the plan from the Governor's website here.
Later...
Yawn.
While there are more details (like, you know, actual numbers), her plan is essentially the five point plan that she promulgated in March.
Highlights (so to speak) of that plan - raise the sales tax on the average Arizonan, give blanket tax cuts for corporations, cut spending on services to Arizonans (and lay off employees), and open up voter-protected revenues and expenditures to legislative whim.
Anyway, you can find some details of the plan from the Governor's website here.
Later...
Jeff Flake doesn't think that AZ is getting its fair share of federal spending...
...Perhaps somebody should tell him that the situation might be more equitable if our entire Congressional delegation, instead of just the Democrats, worked to represent Arizona.
Or perhaps he'd find the situation more equitable if only he'd pay more attention to Arizona reality instead of his personal ideology.
Over the last few months, AZ Congressman Jeff Flake, when not proposing anti-earmark amendments or calling for investigations of his Democratic colleagues, has been co-authoring (with a member of the Heritage Foundation) a number* of op-ed pieces on the topic of "donor states" and federal highway funds. "Donor states" are states that pay more in federal gas taxes than they receive back in federal highway funds.
* = "number" is a misnomer here. Actually, it's only one article used as a template, with the numbers and names changed to adapt to the locale of the piece's publication - Texas here, Georgia here, Florida here, Arizona here.
Flake and his co-author argue that the solution to this perceived inequity is to remove federal bureaucracy from the federal interstate highway system. He wants to keep the federal fuel tax in place, but all of the revenues collected in a particular state would stay in that state, to be administered by that state's own transportation department.
Just a reminder, the Arizona Legislature sets the budget and the priorities for the Arizona Department of Transportation. For the sake of brevity, we'll leave for another day the discussion of the utter foolishness of the idea of letting the AZ legislature control the upkeep of the federal highways in AZ. Let's just say that relying on the AZ lege to make sure AZ's interstate (and intrastate) roads are well-maintained and safe isn't a terribly bright idea.
While Flake's idea is more subtle than Texas Governor Rick Perry's call for Texas' secession from the United States, it may be even more indicative of the current wave of Randian selfishness and divisiveness that constitutes conservative political discourse. Here, instead of outright political secession, they're advocating ideological, economic, and social secession.
It's no coincidence that the states that they're targeting with this message are states that are either Republican-leaning already or are states that the Reps hope to reclaim in 2010 and 2012. Or that the states that they criticize by name - Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and New York - are pretty solidly Blue.
They're appealing to the "Us vs. Them" mentality that percolates just under the surface of all of us (yes, even me :) ), they're ignoring the fact (and hoping that readers similarly ignore) that the interstate highway benefits everybody, and everybody benefits from the funds expended on interstate highways.
Simply put, federal money spent on highways in New York benefits drivers from Arizona, just as money spent in AZ benefits drivers from New York.
And while the conservatives/Republicans have been crying about America's "descent into socialism," they're using the incorrect word.
The proper word is "society."
It should be noted that while Flake's articles have been appearing for just a few months, his scheme has been percolating for a while, as witnessed by the proposed (but stalled) Senate Concurrent Memorial advocating the precisely the same idea, sponsored by Ron Gould at the start of this year's AZ lege session. Gould pushed this last year, too.
It should also be noted that Flake and his compatriot are being very selective in their use of statistics. A study from the non-partisan Tax Foundation, ranks Arizona as 21st in terms of federal spending received vs. federal taxes paid ($1.19 received for every $1.00 paid in 2005).
That overall picture, no matter how much more accurate its evaluation of AZ's economic benefit from federal spending, is far less ideologically convenient for Flake than the numbers associated with highway spending alone. Hence, he ignores it.
Later...
Or perhaps he'd find the situation more equitable if only he'd pay more attention to Arizona reality instead of his personal ideology.
Over the last few months, AZ Congressman Jeff Flake, when not proposing anti-earmark amendments or calling for investigations of his Democratic colleagues, has been co-authoring (with a member of the Heritage Foundation) a number* of op-ed pieces on the topic of "donor states" and federal highway funds. "Donor states" are states that pay more in federal gas taxes than they receive back in federal highway funds.
* = "number" is a misnomer here. Actually, it's only one article used as a template, with the numbers and names changed to adapt to the locale of the piece's publication - Texas here, Georgia here, Florida here, Arizona here.
Flake and his co-author argue that the solution to this perceived inequity is to remove federal bureaucracy from the federal interstate highway system. He wants to keep the federal fuel tax in place, but all of the revenues collected in a particular state would stay in that state, to be administered by that state's own transportation department.
Just a reminder, the Arizona Legislature sets the budget and the priorities for the Arizona Department of Transportation. For the sake of brevity, we'll leave for another day the discussion of the utter foolishness of the idea of letting the AZ legislature control the upkeep of the federal highways in AZ. Let's just say that relying on the AZ lege to make sure AZ's interstate (and intrastate) roads are well-maintained and safe isn't a terribly bright idea.
While Flake's idea is more subtle than Texas Governor Rick Perry's call for Texas' secession from the United States, it may be even more indicative of the current wave of Randian selfishness and divisiveness that constitutes conservative political discourse. Here, instead of outright political secession, they're advocating ideological, economic, and social secession.
It's no coincidence that the states that they're targeting with this message are states that are either Republican-leaning already or are states that the Reps hope to reclaim in 2010 and 2012. Or that the states that they criticize by name - Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and New York - are pretty solidly Blue.
They're appealing to the "Us vs. Them" mentality that percolates just under the surface of all of us (yes, even me :) ), they're ignoring the fact (and hoping that readers similarly ignore) that the interstate highway benefits everybody, and everybody benefits from the funds expended on interstate highways.
Simply put, federal money spent on highways in New York benefits drivers from Arizona, just as money spent in AZ benefits drivers from New York.
And while the conservatives/Republicans have been crying about America's "descent into socialism," they're using the incorrect word.
The proper word is "society."
It should be noted that while Flake's articles have been appearing for just a few months, his scheme has been percolating for a while, as witnessed by the proposed (but stalled) Senate Concurrent Memorial advocating the precisely the same idea, sponsored by Ron Gould at the start of this year's AZ lege session. Gould pushed this last year, too.
It should also be noted that Flake and his compatriot are being very selective in their use of statistics. A study from the non-partisan Tax Foundation, ranks Arizona as 21st in terms of federal spending received vs. federal taxes paid ($1.19 received for every $1.00 paid in 2005).
That overall picture, no matter how much more accurate its evaluation of AZ's economic benefit from federal spending, is far less ideologically convenient for Flake than the numbers associated with highway spending alone. Hence, he ignores it.
Later...
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Terrorists in Kansas
From AP via AZCentral.com -
Look for speeches on the floors of the US Senate and House tomorrow by two-faced wingers disavowing the violence while implying that the doctor got what he deserved.
They're already going to town in the winger blogosphere, here, here (this writer actually goes after Tiller's church for accepting him into their congregation), and here (a commenter here blamed both the victim and Satan. I kid you not.)
Later...
Media outlets are reporting that late-term abortion doctor George Tiller has been shot and killed at his church in Wichita, Kan.Something tells me that this killer (or killers) doesn't quite fit the stereotypical profile of "terrorist" promulgated by Rep. Trent Franks and his ilk (less "dark-skinned Allah-worshiping Muslim" and more "pasty-faced Bible-thumping fundie Christian").
Anonymous police sources told The Wichita Eagle and other media that the 67-year-old doctor was killed Sunday morning at Reformation Lutheran Church.
Look for speeches on the floors of the US Senate and House tomorrow by two-faced wingers disavowing the violence while implying that the doctor got what he deserved.
They're already going to town in the winger blogosphere, here, here (this writer actually goes after Tiller's church for accepting him into their congregation), and here (a commenter here blamed both the victim and Satan. I kid you not.)
Later...
The coming week...
As usual, on info gathered from the websites of the relevant agencies and political bodies, and subject to change without notice...
...In the U.S. House, the agenda is getting back to normal. They've got post office namings to attend to. :)
Of course, as important as such namings are to our national well-being, there are other issues that they'll be considering this week too.
- H.R. 325, the Avra/Black Wash Reclamation and Riparian Restoration Project, sponsored by Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ7).
The CRS summary for H.R. 325 -
The bill is on the suspension calendar, which means that the leadership expects to get the 2/3 support for the bill needed to pass it under a suspension of the rules.
- H.R. 2200, the Transportation Security Administration Authorization Act. This one has a lot of money tied to it, so there will be a lot of debate over it. Jeff Flake has proposed an anti-earmark amendment to the bill.
- H.R. 626, the Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act of 2009. CRS summary here. Expect some serious Republican bloviating over this one.
- Possible consideration of a conference report on H.R. 2346, the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2009. $$$ = arguments. 'Nuff said.
- And in the "keep in mind for future reference" category, the House Committee on Veterans Affairs' Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, chaired by AZ5's Rep. Harry Mitchell, will be holding a hearing on VA hospital mistakes that led to veterans becoming infected with diseases like HIV and hepatitis. The hearing is scheduled for June 16 in Washington.
From AP -
The VA's webpage on the issue is here.
...Back in AZ in the legislature, most of the *really* interesting action is budget-related and is taking place behind closed doors.
There is some public activity, though.
The House has what looks to be a fairly non-controversial Third Read calendar posted for Monday and a somewhat more controversial Committee of the Whole (COW) calendar posted for Tuesday.
The COW calendar includes HB2198, a bill to create a "full and final settlement of claims" provision in AZ law regarding workers' comp cases. Provisions in the bill shift the liability for long-term medical expenses from the insurance carrier to the injured workers.
Also on the COW calendar is HB2628, the bill name by the sponsors as "the Parents' Bill Of Rights Act." While there are a few reasonable clauses in this one, those clauses exist to serve as concealment for a bunch of "my rules are better than society's rules" clauses.
- In committee action, House Rules is meeting on Monday (1 p.m., HHR4) to consider a couple of very controversial bills including HB2099, which would make charter schools subject to the same zoning laws as public schools (in other words, make it much easier for the charter school operators to shoehorn their businesses into neighborhoods over residents' objections) and HB2203, which seriously harshens the penalties faced by recipients of TANF, or Temporary Assistance For Needy Families. Any sort of non-compliance with any of the rules of TANF, including simple paperwork glitches by parents, would result in an escalating series of suspensions of benefits received by the children. Brought to you by the same Nancy Barto who is soooo dedicated to protecting the profits of private health insurers.
Nice priorities there, Rep. Barto. Remind me again - whose interests were you elected to represent?
House Health and Human Services is meeting on Tuesday at 10:30 in HHR4.
Over in the Senate, no committees are scheduled to meet at this time.
...The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors is going to have a busy week.
- On Monday at 10 a.m., they will be holding their "informal" meeting. It looks to be pretty simple and mundane, except for item #4, yet another executive session.
- On Wednesday at 9 a.m., they will be holding their "formal" meeting. It also looks pretty mundane, but *long*. Of course, there will be an executive session following this one, too. (According to the posting notice, anyway.)
...The Board of Directors of the Central Arizona Project will be meeting on Thursday, June 4 at 10 a.m. The agenda includes a number of items related to tax rates and other stuff to prepare for the coming fiscal year.
...The Scottsdale City Council will be meeting on Tuesday night at 5, and they have a very full agenda. Included items include the appointment of a new City Auditor (Sharron Walker), a Truth-In-Taxation hearing on the property tax levy for the coming fiscal year (city property tax rate: $0.79, unchanged from last year), and a second and final hearing on the city's FY2010 budget.
...The Governing Board of the Maricopa County Community College District, the Board of Directors of the Maricopa Integrated Health System, the Citizens Clean Elections Commission, and the Tempe City Council are not scheduled to meet this week.
Later...
...In the U.S. House, the agenda is getting back to normal. They've got post office namings to attend to. :)
Of course, as important as such namings are to our national well-being, there are other issues that they'll be considering this week too.
- H.R. 325, the Avra/Black Wash Reclamation and Riparian Restoration Project, sponsored by Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ7).
The CRS summary for H.R. 325 -
Avra/Black Wash Reclamation and Riparian Restoration Project - Amends the Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior, in cooperation with Pima County, Arizona, to participate in the planning, design, and construction of water recycling facilities and to enhance and restore riparian habitat in the Black Wash Sonoran Desert ecosystem in Avra Valley west of the metropolitan Pima County area. Limits the federal share of the project's cost to 25%. Authorizes appropriations. Permits federal funds provided by this Act to be used only for the design, planning, and construction of water-related infrastructure.
The bill is on the suspension calendar, which means that the leadership expects to get the 2/3 support for the bill needed to pass it under a suspension of the rules.
- H.R. 2200, the Transportation Security Administration Authorization Act. This one has a lot of money tied to it, so there will be a lot of debate over it. Jeff Flake has proposed an anti-earmark amendment to the bill.
- H.R. 626, the Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act of 2009. CRS summary here. Expect some serious Republican bloviating over this one.
- Possible consideration of a conference report on H.R. 2346, the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2009. $$$ = arguments. 'Nuff said.
- And in the "keep in mind for future reference" category, the House Committee on Veterans Affairs' Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, chaired by AZ5's Rep. Harry Mitchell, will be holding a hearing on VA hospital mistakes that led to veterans becoming infected with diseases like HIV and hepatitis. The hearing is scheduled for June 16 in Washington.
From AP -
A congressional panel will question Department of Veterans Affairs officials about mistakes that put patients at risk of possible exposure to HIV and other infectious body fluids at three VA hospitals.
The VA recommended more than 10,000 former VA patients in Miami, Murfreesboro, Tenn., and Augusta, Ga., get follow-up blood checks. Five have tested positive for HIV and 43 have tested positive for hepatitis, according to an update on the VA Web site Friday.
{snip}
The subcommittee chairman, U.S. Rep. Harry Mitchell D-Arizona, said Thursday in a phone interview that veterans who are testing positive for HIV and hepatitis, "whether it came from these improper procedures or not, the VA has a responsibility to take care of these patients."
The VA's webpage on the issue is here.
...Back in AZ in the legislature, most of the *really* interesting action is budget-related and is taking place behind closed doors.
There is some public activity, though.
The House has what looks to be a fairly non-controversial Third Read calendar posted for Monday and a somewhat more controversial Committee of the Whole (COW) calendar posted for Tuesday.
The COW calendar includes HB2198, a bill to create a "full and final settlement of claims" provision in AZ law regarding workers' comp cases. Provisions in the bill shift the liability for long-term medical expenses from the insurance carrier to the injured workers.
Also on the COW calendar is HB2628, the bill name by the sponsors as "the Parents' Bill Of Rights Act." While there are a few reasonable clauses in this one, those clauses exist to serve as concealment for a bunch of "my rules are better than society's rules" clauses.
- In committee action, House Rules is meeting on Monday (1 p.m., HHR4) to consider a couple of very controversial bills including HB2099, which would make charter schools subject to the same zoning laws as public schools (in other words, make it much easier for the charter school operators to shoehorn their businesses into neighborhoods over residents' objections) and HB2203, which seriously harshens the penalties faced by recipients of TANF, or Temporary Assistance For Needy Families. Any sort of non-compliance with any of the rules of TANF, including simple paperwork glitches by parents, would result in an escalating series of suspensions of benefits received by the children. Brought to you by the same Nancy Barto who is soooo dedicated to protecting the profits of private health insurers.
Nice priorities there, Rep. Barto. Remind me again - whose interests were you elected to represent?
House Health and Human Services is meeting on Tuesday at 10:30 in HHR4.
Over in the Senate, no committees are scheduled to meet at this time.
...The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors is going to have a busy week.
- On Monday at 10 a.m., they will be holding their "informal" meeting. It looks to be pretty simple and mundane, except for item #4, yet another executive session.
- On Wednesday at 9 a.m., they will be holding their "formal" meeting. It also looks pretty mundane, but *long*. Of course, there will be an executive session following this one, too. (According to the posting notice, anyway.)
...The Board of Directors of the Central Arizona Project will be meeting on Thursday, June 4 at 10 a.m. The agenda includes a number of items related to tax rates and other stuff to prepare for the coming fiscal year.
...The Scottsdale City Council will be meeting on Tuesday night at 5, and they have a very full agenda. Included items include the appointment of a new City Auditor (Sharron Walker), a Truth-In-Taxation hearing on the property tax levy for the coming fiscal year (city property tax rate: $0.79, unchanged from last year), and a second and final hearing on the city's FY2010 budget.
...The Governing Board of the Maricopa County Community College District, the Board of Directors of the Maricopa Integrated Health System, the Citizens Clean Elections Commission, and the Tempe City Council are not scheduled to meet this week.
Later...
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Which sounds better - "30th Best" or "21st Worst"?
Either way, we're the worst in the Southwest, and 2nd worst in the West, ahead of only California.
The results are in for the 2009 GMAC Insurance National Drivers Test, ranking drivers' knowledge based on how they answered questions drawn from actual DMV tests from across the country.
As for state rankings, Arizona came in 30th, immediately ahead of Maine, Delaware, and New Hampshire, and immediately behind Illinois, West Virginia, and Nevada. We did shamefully worse than the other four corners states -
Utah came in seventh, Colorado fifteenth, and New Mexico nineteenth.
Even Texas (Texas?!?) did better than AZ, coming in at 24.
Some bright-eyed and bushy tailed type at the AZGOP will look at these numbers and exclaim "Hey!! We're better than California!! Lower taxes and spending on highway safety make this a better place!"
Yeah, right.
The results are in for the 2009 GMAC Insurance National Drivers Test, ranking drivers' knowledge based on how they answered questions drawn from actual DMV tests from across the country.
As for state rankings, Arizona came in 30th, immediately ahead of Maine, Delaware, and New Hampshire, and immediately behind Illinois, West Virginia, and Nevada. We did shamefully worse than the other four corners states -
Utah came in seventh, Colorado fifteenth, and New Mexico nineteenth.
Even Texas (Texas?!?) did better than AZ, coming in at 24.
Some bright-eyed and bushy tailed type at the AZGOP will look at these numbers and exclaim "Hey!! We're better than California!! Lower taxes and spending on highway safety make this a better place!"
Yeah, right.
Short Attention Span Musing
The work week was hectic this week and cut into posting time, so here are brief thoughts on some stuff that came up this week..
...Sen. Jack Harper (R-Surprise!) is a gift to snarky writers.
From AZCentral.com -
Jack, Jack, Jack - you want to run statewide next year and yet you are picking on churches, perhaps the one group of voters that might be reliably on your side if you make it to the general election?
...Now Sheriff Joe Arpaio is complaining that the federal investigations of him and MCSO are politically motivated.
From the Washington Post -
Well, if anyone should know of politically-motivated investigations, it's our resident expert on the topic.
...The Republican blogosphere is all aflutter over word that Governor Jan Brewer plans a PR campaign to build support for her budget plan. They're worried that she might be "going after" Republican legislators.
Given that this is the first "governor-like" thing that she has done since she ascended to the office, maybe they're just now learning that the governor's job description does *not* include the line "acts as a lackey of the legislature."
...As expected, the lege passed and Brewer signed into law the proposal to give corporations $5 million in tax breaks and ensure Steve Yarbrough's income at the same time.
My only question is if it fact turns out that Yarbrough's STO has violated the IRS' rules governing 501c3 organizations, does the fact that the Governor called a special session solely to funnel money to Yarbrough and his organization mean that she is an accessory to any of the violations? What about the people who officially sponsored the bills (Rep. Rick Murphy, Sens. Thayer Verschoor, Sylvia Allen, Bob Burns, Chuck Gray, Jack Harper, and John Huppenthal)?
OK, probably not. Elected officials have a way of writing laws in ways that protect themselves (witness this one), but in a just world...
Later...
...Sen. Jack Harper (R-Surprise!) is a gift to snarky writers.
From AZCentral.com -
There was fresh debate on Friday about a controversial letter written to Arizona voters by Republican State Sen. Jack Harper. A church organization weighed-in on Harper's letter, calling it "unthinkable." Harper defended the blunt language of the letter, saying it was a necessary reality check to Arizonans.
{snip}
Harper said he believes members of churches should increase their charity donations to make up for bad economic times.
"If they want to reach people for the values they believe in, reach people in the name of Christ, it's time for them to step up and show generosity to the church," Harper said.
Jack, Jack, Jack - you want to run statewide next year and yet you are picking on churches, perhaps the one group of voters that might be reliably on your side if you make it to the general election?
...Now Sheriff Joe Arpaio is complaining that the federal investigations of him and MCSO are politically motivated.
From the Washington Post -
The lawyers representing a controversial Arizona sheriff who is under investigation for his treatment of Latino residents accused officials in the Justice and Homeland Security departments yesterday of political motivations in pursuing probes against their client.
{snip}
[Attorney for Arpaio Robert] Driscoll wrote in his letter, referring to the sheriff's office, "When one law enforcement agency becomes subject to three federal investigations in a matter of weeks immediately after a shift of political control in Washington, it is difficult not to speculate that politics played a role in the decision or that policy differences related to hot-button topics such as local law enforcement's vigorous enforcement of immigration related crimes are being litigated through enforcement actions."
Well, if anyone should know of politically-motivated investigations, it's our resident expert on the topic.
...The Republican blogosphere is all aflutter over word that Governor Jan Brewer plans a PR campaign to build support for her budget plan. They're worried that she might be "going after" Republican legislators.
Given that this is the first "governor-like" thing that she has done since she ascended to the office, maybe they're just now learning that the governor's job description does *not* include the line "acts as a lackey of the legislature."
...As expected, the lege passed and Brewer signed into law the proposal to give corporations $5 million in tax breaks and ensure Steve Yarbrough's income at the same time.
My only question is if it fact turns out that Yarbrough's STO has violated the IRS' rules governing 501c3 organizations, does the fact that the Governor called a special session solely to funnel money to Yarbrough and his organization mean that she is an accessory to any of the violations? What about the people who officially sponsored the bills (Rep. Rick Murphy, Sens. Thayer Verschoor, Sylvia Allen, Bob Burns, Chuck Gray, Jack Harper, and John Huppenthal)?
OK, probably not. Elected officials have a way of writing laws in ways that protect themselves (witness this one), but in a just world...
Later...
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Corporate Bidding Day at the AZ lege
...as in "Doing Corporate Bidding Day," not "Bidding on Corporations Day"...
Even though the lege's official "events" calendar didn't list it, based on the available evidence, Tuesday, May 26 was Corporate Bidding Day, as the lege devoted itself to introducing, discussing, and/or passing measures devoted to protecting corporate interests over the interests of Arizonans.
...The day started with the House Health and Human Services Committee passing Rep. Nancy Barto's bill to protect the profit margins of private health insurers on a party-line vote.
...Then they moved on to "special session" activities, with the House Ways and Means and Rules Committees passing a bill to preserve the revenue stream for Steve Yarbrough's school tuition organization, also on party line votes (WM here, Rules here).
The House plans to run the bill through Committee of the Whole (COW) and Third Read (final passage) on Wednesday.
The Senate Appropriations Committee passed their body's version of the same bill, also on a party line vote.
The Senate is also scheduled to run the bill through COW on Wednesday.
Assuming that the Senate schedules Third Read for its bill this week, the Rep caucuses of the lege should be able to conference, come up with a final bill, and get it to the governor's desk by the end of the week or sometime next week. I say "the Rep caucuses" because this shameless bit of ideological and financial featherbedding will be passed without Democratic support.
Senate Approps issued a press release crowing about the passage, claiming that the bill will help disabled and foster children yet save the state money because it will mean that there will be fewer special ed students in public school systems.
The House Democratic caucus issued its own presser that pointed out that the Reps in the lege already cut $91 million in aid for foster and disabled children in the 2009 budget fix (with even deeper cuts expected in the FY2010 budget). In addition, this bill will further reduce state revenues by $5 million.
As Rep. Steve Farley points out in his latest Farley Report (certain to be posted online at R-Cubed or AZ Netroots), it will also reduce per-pupil state payments to schools while *not* reducing the costs the schools incur (teacher salaries, utilities and other fixed costs) that are the same whether there are 15 special ed students in a class, or 12, or 10, or just one.
...Today's capper was back in regular session when the House COW session passed HB2610, a bill to severely limit corporate product and civil liability exposure (the text of the bill here, and the text of a floor amendment added during COW here; the amendment made a bad bill even worse).
All in all, the lege had a productive day...unless your idea of "productive" for the legislature is "looking after the interests of all Arizonans."
In that case, it was a lousy day.
Anyway, Thursday should be interesting. The Democratic caucus is promising to have its budget proposal ready for release by around 10 a.m.
It will be available at http://www.StrongerArizona.com, and it's proof that at least some of the members of the lege are still focused on the job that their constituents elected them to do.
Later...
Even though the lege's official "events" calendar didn't list it, based on the available evidence, Tuesday, May 26 was Corporate Bidding Day, as the lege devoted itself to introducing, discussing, and/or passing measures devoted to protecting corporate interests over the interests of Arizonans.
...The day started with the House Health and Human Services Committee passing Rep. Nancy Barto's bill to protect the profit margins of private health insurers on a party-line vote.
...Then they moved on to "special session" activities, with the House Ways and Means and Rules Committees passing a bill to preserve the revenue stream for Steve Yarbrough's school tuition organization, also on party line votes (WM here, Rules here).
The House plans to run the bill through Committee of the Whole (COW) and Third Read (final passage) on Wednesday.
The Senate Appropriations Committee passed their body's version of the same bill, also on a party line vote.
The Senate is also scheduled to run the bill through COW on Wednesday.
Assuming that the Senate schedules Third Read for its bill this week, the Rep caucuses of the lege should be able to conference, come up with a final bill, and get it to the governor's desk by the end of the week or sometime next week. I say "the Rep caucuses" because this shameless bit of ideological and financial featherbedding will be passed without Democratic support.
Senate Approps issued a press release crowing about the passage, claiming that the bill will help disabled and foster children yet save the state money because it will mean that there will be fewer special ed students in public school systems.
The House Democratic caucus issued its own presser that pointed out that the Reps in the lege already cut $91 million in aid for foster and disabled children in the 2009 budget fix (with even deeper cuts expected in the FY2010 budget). In addition, this bill will further reduce state revenues by $5 million.
As Rep. Steve Farley points out in his latest Farley Report (certain to be posted online at R-Cubed or AZ Netroots), it will also reduce per-pupil state payments to schools while *not* reducing the costs the schools incur (teacher salaries, utilities and other fixed costs) that are the same whether there are 15 special ed students in a class, or 12, or 10, or just one.
...Today's capper was back in regular session when the House COW session passed HB2610, a bill to severely limit corporate product and civil liability exposure (the text of the bill here, and the text of a floor amendment added during COW here; the amendment made a bad bill even worse).
All in all, the lege had a productive day...unless your idea of "productive" for the legislature is "looking after the interests of all Arizonans."
In that case, it was a lousy day.
Anyway, Thursday should be interesting. The Democratic caucus is promising to have its budget proposal ready for release by around 10 a.m.
It will be available at http://www.StrongerArizona.com, and it's proof that at least some of the members of the lege are still focused on the job that their constituents elected them to do.
Later...
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)