Oh yeah - 3 hours to a shutdown

Arrgghhh....

Tedski will be live-blogging the House session,

...so I will stick with the Senate side of the quad.

His website, Rum, Romanism, Rebellion is here.

More to come...

Deal in the works?

Deal-making is certainly going on...

In the Senate Republican caucus meeting that's currently in progress, former House Speaker Jim Weiers came in and pulled Senate President Bob Burns out of the room...which is interesting on all sorts of levels...

No budget bills mentioned so far, as of 8:19 p.m.


As of 8:25, the Republicans recessed their caucus (recess *caucus*????)...going over to the Democratic caucus...

Movement in the Senate

Senate Rules scheduled to meet upon adjournment of the Floor Session, with both caucuses scheduled to meet immediately after Rules.

Now they're just milling about, mostly Reps, though some Dems...

Tweets from the floor

I've been remiss in my coverage of the budget kerfluffle (I have always wanted to use that word in a post :) )...

Certain members of the lege, including two from my own LD17, have been providing updates, commentary, and insights via Twitter.

From Rep. David Schapira's Twitter page (going back to Saturday) -

They're serving dinner at 6. I wonder if they'll serve dinner tomorrow for laid-off state employees. 7 hours and counting...about 2 hours ago from web

I might need some new ammo on a budget vote tonight. Read my last vote explanation (http://bit.ly/182BJN) and post some ideas of your own.about 3 hours ago from web

The word is the Gov might give up on the sales tax and sign the Republican budget that decimates education and public services. 8.5 hrs leftabout 4 hours ago from web

11 hours to shutdown...agencies are making preparations for tomorrow. It's sad how legislative leadership and the gov have failed the state.about 6 hours ago from web

Sales Tax bill dead in Senate. What's next? Will they bring Dems to the table to preserve our state's future. By "future" I mean tomorrow.about 9 hours ago from web

House Appropriations Committee now delayed indefinitely...14 hours to government shutdown.about 10 hours ago from TwitterFon

27 hours to government shutdown and still no signs of negotiation. We just adjourned for the day with no progress. Wow...about 22 hours ago from web

We are less than 30 hours from government shutdown and there's still no movement on the budget...and no bipartisan negotiation.6:09 PM Jun 29th from web

Check out My Education Budget Vote Explanation / Michael Jackson Tribute http://bit.ly/182BJN .4:52 PM Jun 27th from web

The Appropriations Committee just cut $250M in Education Revenue...in the midst of a budget crisis...crazy!2:40 PM Jun 27th from web

The Appropriations Committee just decided to balance our state budget on the backs of students, teachers, the poor and vulnerable Arizonans.1:25 PM Jun 27th from web

Among the many problems with this budget, the State will no longer fund any regulation of the Pay-Day Lending industry.12:28 PM Jun 27th from web

300 people, who had no obligation to do so, took time out of their Saturday morning to come down to the capitol and have their voices heard.12:19 PM Jun 27th from web

This budget fails to repay schools for the $300M the state borrowed...WOW! That might as well be a $300M cut.11:47 AM Jun 27th from web

Approps will be starting in a few minutes.11:27 AM Jun 27th from web


State Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (not a D17 rep, but still pretty cool) -

8 hours to government shutdown. Gov made no headway in her quest to peel off Ds. This budget doesn't reflect our values and priorities!about 3 hours ago from txt

President Burns, Speaker Adams and Gov Brewer are calling Democrats into the Speaker's office and asking them to vote for the budget. HAHAabout 5 hours ago from web

Let your voice be heard http://bit.ly/w5Hi9about 8 hours ago from twitterfeed

Senate Rules committee killed the Governor's sales tax proposal this morning. Budget deal is completely derailed...about 8 hours ago from web

Join Arizonans for Health Reform on FB to stay updated about health reform events, forums, meetings in Arizona.about 12 hours ago from web

@lezzymom SB 1403 - spurs economic development for solar energy in Arizona. That was a good idea, and it was bi-partisan. It passed!about 12 hours ago from web in reply to lezzymom

Flat tax might pass today. It's a REALLY BAD IDEA. http://bit.ly/3bHzNabout 12 hours ago from web

Rumor is Senate Rs have votes to pass budget - in exchange for TABOR. Makes a bad deal even worse! Meanwhile, more gun bills today. NICE.about 13 hours ago from web

less than 24 hours to government shutdown. Do the Rs have the votes? Guess we'll see soon....about 18 hours ago from web

Republicans agree on worst budget deal in Arizona history http://bit.ly/E7Oz712:38 PM Jun 29th from twitterfeed

To share your voice on federal health care reform and find out about events, please join my Facebook group: http://bit.ly/RzbvM12:21 PM Jun 29th from Tweetie

It's Monday and the Rs budget deal has broken down. What now?8:41 AM Jun 29th from web

Can't wait to start meetings and forums around the state for health reform! July, where are you?4:28 PM Jun 28th from txt

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." Arizona - take note.7:31 AM Jun 28th from web

Wonder what the next several days will bring. Rs don't have the votes to pass their budget & Gov is trying to peel off Dems - to no avail.4:48 PM Jun 27th from web

Chair just announced we're stopping after budget brbs. That means we're not hearing the flat tax or sales tax bills. Do they have the votes?4:42 PM Jun 27th from web

Education budget bill cuts over $220 million from K-12 educ. Plus, really bad policy things stuffed in here - this will hurt our schools!3:54 PM Jun 27th from web

@MrFurlough add'l revenue subtracted from K-12. The cut to universities is 40 million.3:42 PM Jun 27th from web in reply to MrFurlough

ok then - House Approps members approved a bill that now allows them to privatize death row. For real.3:16 PM Jun 27th from web


Wow, this bill is a GREAT deal for developers - not a good deal for local governments. So much for local control....2:53 PM Jun 27th from web

House Rs passed 250 million cut of education funding source (education equalization tax). We're in a fiscal crisis! Kids need this money!1:34 PM Jun 27th from web

first budget bill passes... Gov said June 16th that she wouldn't agree to Republicans' cuts to K-12 education. She agreed to them after all12:54 PM Jun 27th from web

Spent 3 hours briefing the budget this morning - it's even worse than we thought last night!12:16 PM Jun 27th from web

Latest rumor...

With the usual caveats about rumors (double strength caveats prescribed during the waning days of a lege session like this one)...

Anyway, talk in the Capitol quad was that after dinner, both chambers were going to vote on the budget bills, minus the referral of the sales tax hike, and send them to the Governor.

Stay tuned to see what ever-more creative ways that the Republicans can find to knock over their own tea cart this week...

At Last, Our Long Nightmare Is Over...

...Coleman conceded; Al Franken is now the junior U.S. Senator from Minnesota.

What? You thought that maybe a budget deal had been reached, or maybe the Republican caucus admitted to itself that it is utterly unqualified to govern and resigned en masse? :))

We should be so lucky...

Short House Rules Meeting

The meeting lasted less than two minutes. It was held to propel SB1157, Arizona Department of Environment Quality continuation, and SB1161, having to do with public safety personnel, retirement, and reemployment.

It was blissfully absent of both surprises and testiness, two things that are evidently in great supply at 1700 West Washington in Phoenix.

Maybe we should start a mail-order/internet business on those to help relieve the budget shortfall. :))


I'll hang here until 8 or so, but if it doesn't look like much progress is going to happen, I'll take off and watch this stuff from home.

Until I go to sleep, which should be around 10 minutes after I start watching it.

Ableser gives up a bill to get it passed

A more complete explanation of what happened at the end of the House floor session, courtesy a press release from the House Dems -

Rep. Ed Ableser, D-Tempe (District 17), has signed on his support today for a bill sponsored by Sen. Jim Waring, R-Phoenix, to allow deployed military members to cancel or suspend their gym memberships, a bill identical to Ableser’s original bill.

Both Ableser and Waring's bills allow active duty members of the military to cancel or suspend a health club contract within 90 days after receiving notice they were being deployed outside of Arizona . Ableser introduced similar legislation the previous two years.

“It’s not about who sponsored what and when at a time when our troops are protecting our freedom,” Ableser said. “We have a sacred duty to support our best and bravest in these times of sacrifice.”

Nearly 600,000 veterans live in Arizona and Ableser originally drafted the bill after one of them, a former House page and constituent, was deployed to Iraq and realized her health club was going to continue to charge her monthly until her contract with the club expired. (See story)

In order to get one of the bills passed before the June 30 deadline, the decision was made to substitute Waring’s Senate Bill 1407 for Ableser’s House Bill 2290 because there was not enough time for both the bills to travel through the House and Senate.

“Our Arizona military servicemen and women risk their lives and pay the ultimate price,” Ableser said. “The least we could do is make sure they aren’t paying even more at home while they are out fighting for us.”

Now the House is in recess, and taking dinner at 6. Don't know when this session is going to get done.

House in session...live blogging

4:51 - HB2290 referred to engrossing. House Rules to meet. House recessing.

4:49 - HB2290 is Ed Ableser's bill to give relief to deployed military members from long-term health club contracts. Bill amended. COW ends.

4:48 - Into COW to amend HB2290.

4;46 - SCR1026, Anti-EFCA resolution, House passes 35 - 24, party line vote.

4:43 - SB1466, under reconsideration. Council on efficient government (aka "the outsource everything" bill), Bill fails again. Yea!

4:42 - SB1459, Cold Case register, victim report, House passes unanimously.

4:37 - SB1320, ADOT omnibus, House passes, Lesko, Burges, Chad Campbell, Murphy, Boone, Sinema, Hendrix, Biggs, Patterson, Farley, Antenori, Stevens, Montenegro, Ash, Crump, Deschene and Seel opposing. Interesting combo there. (I missed a couple of names, check the record of the vote once it is posted online for a complete list.)

4:34 - SB1262, Workers Comp omnibus, House passes unanimously.

4:31 - SB1113, Jack Harper's and Russell Pearce's (and the NRA's) guns in restaurants and bars, House passes 40 - 19, Ugh.

4:30 - HB2603, Amendments, Clean Elections, needs 2/3 to enact emergency clause, House passes, Patterson sole opposition.

4:27 - HB2199, Corporations and LLC omnibus, House passes unanimously.

4:26 - HB2118, ASRS, LTD amendments, House passes unanimously.

4:23 - HB2031, relating to schools: contractors, fingerprint clearance, House passes unanimously. Not budget related.

4:22 - Gavelled in, but nothing happening as Adams confers with some folks...

4:19 - Gavelled into order, lots of teachers in the gallery.

Well, something's happening in the House...

Not sure if it is budget-related, though.

Both parties just held brief caucus meetings (so brief that most observers couldn't get to them before the meetings were finished).

In addition, a number of Representatives are making their way back to the House floor, and the 10 minute bell just sounded.


BTW - I had a truly brilliant* idea while my mind was wandering, waiting for the lege to get its act together -

I think that if the lege doesn't pass a budget, all state flags should be lowered to half-mast until the budget is done. In addition, the AZ flag flying over the Capitol should be flown upside down. An upside down flag used to be nearly-universally used to signal that a ship was in distress, and people from all across the political spectrum agree that the ship of state in Arizona is foundering badly.

*brilliant = "sounded like a wonderfully wiseass idea to me." :)

Holding pattern

Had a dentist's appointment today, and rushed down to the lege afterward.

Turns out, there was no need to rush.

Nothing is happening right now.

Over in the Senate earlier today, Senate Rules heard all of the bills that were railroaded through Senate Education last night, and passed all of them.

Except for the one referring a hike in the sales tax to the voters.

Oopsie.

According to one source, the Governor is in the Speaker's office with the Senate President and together they are calling in the Democrats one-by-one to try to browbeat them into supporting the budget.

That approach doesn't seem to be working too well.

The Senate floor session is in recess, as is the House. Members of the House are milling about on the floor while the backroom deal-making/arm-twisting continues.

There are a number of lobbyists and Capitol watchers in the House gallery, and a while ago, they were doing the wave.

It was actually pretty funny, and easily the most entertaining thing I've seen down here.

Anyway, I plan on hanging here for a while, and checking in with a few of the folks that I know.

More updates when there is something to update.

8 1/2 hours to a shutdown...

A day-long civics lesson...

This is going to be a short post, because I need to decompress. And unlike the people who work at the lege tonight, I get to do just that.

In spite of the vast quantity of nothing effective that seemed to dominate today's activities, today was a learning experience.

During one of the lulls in the inaction today, I met and had the opportunity to speak with Tim Schmaltz, CEO of PAFCO. PAFCO, Protecting Arizona's Family Coalition, is a "non-partisan alliance of social services, health, community service agencies, advocacy groups, citizen advocacy, and faith-based associations."

He has a vast knowledge of the accomplishing things at the AZ lege, and in legislative/political bodies in general. He made the point that in practical politics, someone like a committee chair or the leadership of a body should never bring a bill forward unless they know exactly what the vote will be. He was stunned at the fact that Russell Pearce brought the budget bills forward without knowing that they would pass.

I wondered if in fact Pearce knew *exactly* how the vote was going to turn out before bringing the meeting to order.

Apparently, cynicism is contagious, because that made him wonder too.

I've criticized Russell Pearce many times in the past, and have made it clear that I don't think he is particularly intelligent. However, he is a skilled tactician when it comes to practical politics. He knows how and when to throw an elbow, and I believe that's exactly what he did today.

There are still more chapters to come to pass in this story.

The Governor's office has extended some backchannel feelers to some Democratic senators, but they aren't actually willing to make concessions, or even negotiate with the Democrats. If they don't get at least 6 Dems on board, nothing that resembles this budget is going to pass the Senate. There just aren't enough Republicans on board.

I reminded the person who told me of that of the *deal* a couple of years ago that Pete Rios and another Democratic representative made with then-speaker Jim Weiers. It was the sort of deal where they sold their souls to the devil (Weiers) but where the devil didn't pay the freight (the concessions they got came at the cost of programs that Weiers wanted to cut anyway.)

In other words, any deals made with the Governor had better be *good* deals, not just creating a different sort of bad.

Tomorrow, I have an appointment at the dentist. I may go down to the lege to see how things are going, but maybe not. Depends on developments and how I feel.

Either way, I recommend viewing the proceedings on AZ Capitol Television or on the lege's website. This stuff will affect our home for years, if not generations.

Live blogging Senate Education

7:57 - SB1475 passes on a party line vote. And I am out of here. Good night everyone.

7:56 - Lopez reminds Huppenthal that almost no Democratic bills have moved.

7:51 - SB1475, criminal justice. Includes sale of prisons to private operators.

7:46 - SB1474. Landrum Taylor calls this year's budget process "extremely disappointing." Lopez actually votes "aye" on this one. Huppenthal criticizes Dems for "stabbing him in the back" on another bill. Bill passes.

Things are getting testy, in a "the kids are getting tired" sort of way.

7:43 - SB1473 passes. Party line vote again.

Aboud criticizes Reps for short notice on the budget.

Huppenthal criticizes the Dems for not signing on to the Republican budget.

7:41 - still talking about the details of SB1473

7:38 - SB1473, among other things, affecting development fees.

7:35 - SB1471 vote. Bill passes on a party line vote. Pattern set. Expect the rest of these bills to go the same way.

7:33 - Aboud amendment moved. It would modify some definitions and grandfather in already enrolled domestic partners in state employee insurance coverage. Trying to fix Matt Heinz' mistake in House Approps on Saturday. Amendment fails on a voice vote.

7:30 - SB1471 continuing. Childcare providers worried about new fee provisions in the bill.

7:25 - SB1471, health and welfare.

7:21 - SB1470, feeder bill, up for a vote. Gray is here. Bill passes on a party line vote. Gray, Huppenthal, Paton, Allen - Yes; Landrum Taylor, Lopez, Aboud - No.

Huppenthal started talking about protecting small business. Yes folks, he's running statewide next year.

7:16 - Aboud is here.

7:15 - Gray's "stuff" here, but no Gray, yet.

7:13 - Meeting starts. Linda Gray and Paula Aboud not present. No Gray could make passage of the Rep budget "compromise" problematical.

6:57 - The Committee is not going to start right at 7, but it looks like it will be commencing soon enough for me to stay.

Clarifications while waiting for Senate Education meeting to start

In case I didn't make it clear previously (and I didn't, hence the need for this post), the activity during the Senate floor session was final passage, and the activity during the House floor session was only Committee-of-the-Whole, not final passage.

BTW - I will stay for the Ed committee hearing, unless it doesn't start on time. If this is another exercise in "there's real world time, and then there's Senate time," I'm out of here.

They've had over five months to get this stuff worked out.

Enough already.