State Budget Being Railroaded Through Tuesday...

...and that light you see in the darkness isn't the opening in the tunnel, it's an oncoming locomotive.

According to many sources, including the Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) and the House Democratic caucus, the Republicans in the lege and in the governor's office have completed their secret negotiations and will pass a budget on Tuesday.

The individual bills (the approprations bill itself and the budget reconciliation bills [BRBs] with changes to law to make the budget work) haven't been posted as of this writing, but a summary from the Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC) has been posted and is here.  It references bills that have already been proposed in February, but there will be some changes to those bills, though it does look like the lege is getting pretty much what it wants.

Perhaps the best thing about the budget is something that *isn't* in it - so far.  The move to give more than a quarter million dollars to former Senate President Russell Pearce over the successful recall of Pearce seems to be dead - though until sine die, it could come back up.

Some of the "highlights" of the package, from the House Democrats' press release -

· Sweeps $50 million from the Arizona Attorney General’s Mortgage Settlement Fund. This is a joint state-federal settlement reached with Arizona and 48 other states, the federal government and the country’s five largest residential mortgage loan servicers who engaged in fraudulent loan services and foreclosure practices. The money is supposed to be used to help families impacted by the foreclosure crisis which is still plaguing Arizona. The state had the highest foreclosure rate in the country last month.

· Ignores a request by the Independent Redistricting Commission for money to cover legal costs the commission incurred when the governor and Republican legislators attempted to oust IRC Chair Colleen Mathis. The courts sided with Mathis and upheld the IRC’s independent process. Now the Office of the Courts is facing $12 million funding sweeps in fiscal years 2013 and 2014.

· Fails to provide a 3 percent inflation adjustment for hospitals or increase supplemental payments for rural hospitals. Arizona hospitals have faced nearly $1 billion in Republican-approved budget cuts during the past few years. These budget cuts increase the cost to patients and jeopardize jobs in the health care system. They also make it more difficult for health care providers, especially in small rural hospitals, to continue to offer services.

· Neglects to restore KidsCare funding, leaving thousands of Arizona children without adequate health care coverage. Arizona is the only state in the country not funding the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

· Fails to provide funding for the State Parks Department and limits future funding for the Office of Tourism. Both are major job creators in Arizona.

· Repeals the “merit system” laws designed to prevent political patronage during the hiring process for state employees. These laws ensure that state employees are hired based on their qualifications and fired for cause. The budget will only provide pay raises for political appointees and state employees willing to give up merit system rights.

 

Other interesting tidbits (from JLBC's summary of the BRBs) -

- Eliminates the Capital Post Conviction Public Defender Office

- Eliminates the requirement that private prison contracts are subject to review

- Sweeps funds intended to help the judicial branch automate (this will cost the state far more in the long run than the lege is taking right now, but the lege doesn't care about long term considerations)

- Continues the requirement that TANF recipients submit to a whiz quiz (drug test) as a condition for receiving and continuing to  receive benefits

- Continues the suspension of the requirement that the state match student fee contributions to university-level financial aid on a 2:1 basis

More to come as analysis continues, but Senate Democratic Leader David Schapira has many details on his Twitter feed here...

Whining, Posturing, And Wild-eyed Scheming: It's Silly Season At The Lege

The time for real work at the lege has passed.  All of the Democrats and most of the rank-and-file Republicans in the lege are spending their days (metaphorically) twiddling their thumbs.  On Thursday, the Senate didn't even have a floor calendar.  They met, prayed (Steve Yarbrough prayed that people be obedient to their rulers...hmmm...), pledged allegiance to the flag, and did a few short speeches (Sylvia Allen railed about the border with Mexico, claiming that it is controlled by drug cartels), announcements, and ceremonies.  And that was it.

They're waiting for the Republican leadership in the lege and the governor to negotiate a budget.

According to the Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) and the Arizona Republic (no subscription required, and usually worth every penny), after a couple of weeks of threats to veto everything the lege passes until a budget deal is done (the governor, of course) and some huffy responses (the Rs in the lege saying that they'd work with the Democrats in the lege instead - like they would ever mean that; most of them don't even say "good morning" in the halls to the Democrats when passing each other), they're close to a deal.

Which is a good thing, in a way.

The governor and her Republican associates in the legislature are sure to craft a budget that is bad for Arizona's families and Arizona's future, no matter when they come up with one.

However, the longer that they're in session, the more damage that they can do to the state while helping themselves (check out KPHO's story, that ran Thursday night, on self-serving bills pushed by legislators, who are supposed to place the needs of the public before their own individual greed) or just seeing who can come up with the craziest s*** before sine die (leading right now: Steve Montenegro's scheme to get the Republicans in the lege to appropriate more than a quarter of a million dollars to give to former legislator Russell Pearce to pay for the money he spent fighting [unsuccessfully! :) ] his recall...even though none of the money spent was from his personal funds).

In short, the state will be better off if the lege passes a horrible budget now than if they pass a horrible budget after a few more weeks of legislative malfeasance and malpractice.

As if they knew my point in the above sentence and wanted to help support my position, the House has already posted its Third Read Calendar (final approval).

Four bills, three tea-publican "dog-whistle" bills -

- SB1231, appropriating $$$ so Tom Horne can sue the US Forest Service to force the USFS to allow more "forest thinning" activities (in other words, allowing logging of federal forests...actually, this one may be less "dog-whistle" than self-serving, but more on that in a few days)

- SB1275, stealthily imposing stealth TABOR limits on AZ (didja see that?  I got to use "stealth" twice in one sentence

- SB1507, barring any political entity in Arizona from enacting any "sustainability" measures

And if that isn't enough evidence, they've also posted Monday's COW (Committee of the Whole) Calendar. 

One bill, and one bill only.

- SB1083, creating and funding the Republicans' anti-Mexican (and Mexican ancestry) vigilante force Arizona Special Missions Unit


The consensus of the Capitol press corps (at least, as represented by Mary Jo Pitzl [AZ Republic], Dennis Welch {AZ Guardian], and Jim Small [AZ Capitol Times] on Friday's edition of Horizon on KAET) is that while there is a real chance that something could happen over the weekend to derail the budget deal, it is more likely to pass than not, and the lege should adjourn the session by  the 2nd week of May.

Personally, and this is mostly a guess, I think if the deal goes of without any significant hitches early in the coming week, they'll (the lege) will be out of town by Thursday.

I hope.

Legislative maps approved by DOJ

From the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (AIRC) -

State Legislative Map Approved by the Department of Justice

Today history was made when the Department of Justice notified the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission that it had approved the Commission’s legislative district map. This is the first time that the Department of Justice has precleared and not objected to new legislative districts for Arizona on the State’s first attempt. By achieving preclearance on the first try, the state avoided additional legal and consulting fees, as well as staff time, that would have been incurred in order to address Department of Justice concerns and to secure a federal court order to use the maps without preclearance in the upcoming elections. Potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars would have been spent if preclearance had not been granted. Obtaining preclearance also eliminates any lingering uncertainty regarding the location of congressional and legislative district boundaries for election officials, voters and candidates. The Commission would like to thank the members of the public that participated in the process to develop the legislative map.

The Commission submitted the legislative map for preclearance on February 28, 2012. To receive Department of Justice approval, the Commission had to demonstrate that the new districts have no discriminatory purpose or effect.

The maps, in various formats, can be found here.

.jpg versions -

Statewide

Maricopa County

Pima County

If you live in Maricopa County, the County Recorder's District Locator web page is here; it contains information on both current and pending districts.  Pima County's is here, but it only contains info on current districts.

The coming week...

As usual, all schedules, calendars, and agendas are subject to change without notice...and since it hit 100 degrees in Phoenix this weekend, the non-Maricopa legislators will be pushing hard to get out of town soon, both to avoid the heat and to get busy with campaigning.

The Republican leadership of the lege and the governor are squabbling over negotiating the budget behind closed doors (no Democrats or even rank-and-file Republicans invited) and no one is really sure when a budget will get done and the lege can adjourn sine die.

Right now, everybody who isn't privy to the negotiations is left to guess about when a budget is going to come down, and even those guesses have "weasel words" attached to them (i.e. - words like "maybe" "possibly", "could be", etc.).

I've heard people predict that it may come down this week, but others say "snowball's chance in Phoenix" to that.  I do believe that it will be done by the end of the month, if only because the legislators that reside in cooler climes would rather be in a place where they won't lose the "which is greater? The IQ of the legislator for your area, or the daily high temp in your area?" pool.

This week is shaping up to be a "hurry up and wait" one

There are a few things already posted however -

House Rules will meet Monday at 1 p.m. in HHR4.  The agenda includes SB1231, appropriating $250K so the Attorney General can sue the US Forest Service and SB1275, another attempt to stealthily impose TABOR on Arizona.

Senate Finance will meet Monday at 1 p.m. in SHR1.  One item on the agenda:  HB2264, returning the state contribution rate to its employee pension fund to 50% from the 47% to which it was reduced under the guise of "fiscal necessity" (it was more an attack on state workers, but that can be covered in another post).  The change was the subject of a lawsuit that the state and state legislature were expected to lose (darn contract law and the Arizona Constitution! :) ).

The House's Third Read Calendar for Monday is here.  Includes SB1332, "demanding" that the federal government cede all federal lands in Arizona to the state of Arizona.  And yes, the bill uses the word "demand".  Monday's House COW (Committee of the Whole) Calendar is here.

The Senate's Caucus Calendar for Monday is here.  These are bills that may be going before the Rules Committee and then on to a floor calendar in the near future.

Anybody who plans to travel to the Capitol this week to observe a floor session should remember to call ahead to ask about the schedule for the day of their planned visit.  At this point of the session, after Monday most floor sessions are held in the morning.  On Mondays, the floor sessions still tend to be held in the afternoon to allow out-of-county legislators time to travel to the Capitol from their homes.

The lege's Capitol Events calendar for the week is here.

The Arizona Department of Administration's Public Meeting Notice Kiosk (web page) is here.

The Arizona Capitol Times' Capitol Calendar is here.

Dogs (and dog owners) rally against Romney in Tempe Friday

Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, is holding an event in Tempe tomorrow. 

It won't be the only event in Tempe tomorrow.

The (all new!) D26 Democrats and other folks who cherish our four-legged friends will be on hand to remind Romney that cruelty to animals isn't an endearing quality in candidates for public office.

From an email -

Dogs Against Romney Tempe Rally

What: Protest Mitt Romney's Tempe Rally
When: This Friday, 2:00pm!
Where: Papago Dog Park (NE corner of Curry and College in Tempe)

RSVP: On our website, on Facebook, or email us today!

Short Attention Span Musing

Inquiring minds want to know...

...given the facts that the Republicans in the lege have overidden basic science by declaring that life begins two weeks before conception and that they are waging a war on contraception (actually, it's a war on women; contraception is just one battlfield in that war), how long will it take before they take their attack on women and their right to control their own bodies to the next level?  The right to say "no"?

After all,  that could prevent a sperm cell from fertilizing an egg, leading to a zygote not being created...

...do the Republicans really, truly believe that Ann Romney is the typical stay-at-home mom?  While most moms work their tails off, whether they do their work in or out of the home (or more likely both), the vast majority don't consider ordering a staff of nannies and maids around while choosing which one of many homes to go to next to be "work".

I mean, it's their campaign, and if they think it'll work, they should go for it, but given the limited number of moms with multiple nannies and mansions available to them, this scheme may not net many votes for them.  Just sayin'...

...did Politico.com go out of its way to hire former headline writers from the Weekly World News, or did it just happen naturally?

From Politico, written by Caitlin McDevitt (no, I don't think McDevitt actually worked for WWN, but I love the headline) -

Newt Gingrich bitten by a penguin

"Newt Gingrich bitten by a penguin"; not "Elvis' two-headed love child" territory, but certainly among the weirdest headlines coming out of the 2012 election season so far.

The coming week...

As usual, all agendas and calendars subject to change without notice...

The legislature has reached the point in the session where the only real work left is the budget.  Most of that work is going on behind closed doors in negotiations between the governor and the leadership of the legislature (public input apparently not necessary or even welcome).

I've heard a prediction that the lege will try to wrap up this week, and while it was only a prediction, it's been echoed by the Center for Arizona Theocracy Policy in their weekly press release posted at Sonoran Alliance, and CATP is a lot better wired into the goings on at the Capitol than my source, who is only an elected official. 

However, so long as the lege is in session, their potential for mischief is unlimited.

This week, the Senate Judiciary Committee as meeting on Monday (1 p.m., SHR1) to consider a couple of bills and some executive branch nominations.  The bills, HB2486 and HB2544, look to be relatively harmless (though HB2544 is a big business-supported "tort reform" bill that would make it easier for a court to award attorney fees in "baseless" lawsuits or similar court proceedings, and "big business-supported 'tort reform' " usually means that average people are getting screwed).  

The executive nominations are more fun. 

One of the nominees is Jesse J. Hernandez, nominated to a paid position on the Executive Clemency Board.

Hernandez is a staffer for Congressman David Schweikert, campaign co-chair for Bill Montgomery and a former candidate for the lege, but as far as I can see, there isn't a legal issue blocking  a Congressional staffer from accepting outside employment (note: I've got calls out to a couple of people who have more knowledge in this area than I do to check on this, but it being the weekend and they having these mysterious things called "lives", they haven't gotten back to me yet.  How rude. :) ).

However, he was the chair of Russell Pearce's campaign committee during last year's recall election.

When was the last time anybody heard of Pearce or his crowd being interested in "clemency" for anyone?

Also on the agenda:

The nomination of Brian McNeil to the Commission on Trial Court Appointments for Maricopa County.  McNeil is a former staffer for Governor Jan Brewer and shadow governor Chuck Coughlin (he's worked for both)

Other matters on the early schedule for the lege this week:

House Rules is meeting Monday at 1 p.m. in HHR4.  That agenda is short, with but one bill on it.  SB1433 is a measure that would allow a county sheriff to assume control of a municipality's police department under specified circumstances.  It's targeted at the police department in Colorado City/Hilldale, an area under the control of a cult that claims to be fundamentalist Mormons.

There is also a note on the agenda indicating that someone is asking for permission to introduce some sort of a resolution.  Don't know the "who" as yet, nor the nature of the resolution.

Monday's floor calendars include Senate COW (Committee Of the Whole) with a couple of TeaPublican "dog whistle" measures; House COW, with another couple of dog-whistle bills; House Third Read (final approval), including SB1365, granting immunity from adminstrative, civil, or criminal penalties to individuals and organizations that breach a contract or fail to provide a service if the individuals or organizations cite a religious reason for the breach; and House Final Read 1 and Final Read 2 (re-approval of measures that were amended by the Senate after House gave its final approval).

No conference committee schedules have been posted as yet.

The Arizona Capitol Times' Capitol Calendar is here; no events are listed on the lege's calendar of events for the week.

My how the mighty have fallen: JD Hayworth reduced to talk radio in Fargo, ND

Life has been less than kind to former Congressman JD Hayworth.

He parlayed an undistiguished career as a TV weatherman and sportscasters into six terms in Congress, where he became a fixture on the lists of both the dumbest members and the most corrupt.

In 2006, he was unseated by Harry Mitchell, and the professional descent began.

He moved into talk radio, starting in AZ and then moving to NYC, an upward move definitely, but the last upward move since Arizona voters kicked him to the electoral curb.

After flaming out in NYC, he took his act to San Francisco - not NYC, but still a significant market.

Unfortunately, things haven't worked out there.

From the Arizona Republic's AZ/DC blog, written by Dan Nowicki -

Former Rep. J.D. Hayworth, R-Ariz., has lost the weekday radio talk show he had hosted for three months on KSFO-AM in San Francisco. But Hayworth, a broadcaster who served six terms in Congress, is still on the air on a new station in Fargo, N.D., called 101.9 Talk FM.

For comparison purposes:

Fargo proper has ~105K residents, and "metropolitan" Fargo has slightly less than 220K; in Arizona, the city of Scottsdale alone has ~220K residents.

ND has one Congressional district (the entire state) with ~680K residents; the 5th (out of eight, soon to be nine) Congressional district in AZ, the one that Hayworth (allegedly) represented, has ~640K.

Not saying that North Dakota is a small place and a step down (to be fair, many North Dakotans love their state the same way that many Arizonans love theirs), but as far as career paths go, SF to ND doesn't qualify as an upward trajectory.

Sign the petition urging the USDOJ to bring Arpaio to trial

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has run roughshod over standards of professionalism, fiscal good practices, and civil rights for nearly 20 years.

The US Department of Justice is finally taking a long look at him and his activities, but they have been slow to actually bring Arpaio to court.

Steve Muratore of The Arizona Eagletarian has started a petition to urge the DOJ to bring Arpaio to trial. 

You can sign it at Change.org here.

If you can, share the petition with your friends via Facebook, Twitter, and other social media.

Later...

Thomas disbarred, Patterson resigns: A busy couple of days in AZ politics...

Tuesday and Wednesday were rather eventful days in Arizona politics.

...The most significant, at least locally, event was the disbarment of former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas and one of his former deputies, Lisa Aubuchon.  Another former Thomas deputy, Rachel Alexander, had her license to practice law suspended.

They faced an investigation into some of the activities Thomas engaged in, with the assistance of Aubuchon and Alexander, during his term as the Maricopa County Attorney.

To say the least, that investigation didn't go well for the trio.

While the legal community rarely hands out punishments to its own that are stronger than a couple of lashes with a wet noodle, when attorneys step far enough out of line...

Can you say "ton of bricks"?

Anyway, my favorite passage from the ruling (hat tip to a friend for noticing it) -

At some point in his career, a leak formed in the dike of Andrew Thomas’s ethical restraint. In short time, it rapidly grew...[w]ithin a few short years the hole had become a radical moral dislocation.

Thomas has called a press conference for Wednesday morning; expect him to continue playing the "victim" card.

Note:  This was written before the press conference.  He held the presser, and compared himself to Ghandi, Dr. Martin Luther King and Alexander Solzhenitsyn.

Seriously.

As someone who has been disbarred (assuming the penalty is upheld on the inevitable appeal), he will be eligible to apply for reinstatement after five years.  Expect the video of this presser to be played at any hearing on that particular subject.

The Arizona Republic has coverage here.

...The Daniel Patterson mess is dragging on, but in a new direction. 

The House Ethics Committee met on Tuesday and accepted Patterson's response to the report on the investigation into his activities (domestic violence, misconduct in office, general creepiness, etc.).  However, nothing was done at the time, and it was looking like he would be a member of the lege for another week.

The the committee met again on Wednesday, and voted to recommend to the full House that it expel Patterson from the lege.

Patterson turned around and showed them - he resigned.  Finally.

There may be a lawsuit yet stemming from this - while making his exit from the lege, Patterson said that the lege was "hostile work environment".  

Which may be Patterson's way of laying some legal groundwork.

I hope he goes for it - if he sues, as the plaintiff he would have to testify under oath, and more importantly, be cross-examined under oath, about the events that transpired leading up to today's events.

Patterson changed his voter registration from Democratic to independent over a week ago, and by doing so, he may have seriously gummed up the process for replacing him. 

ARS 41-1202 states that when a vacancy occurs in the lege, the seat must be filled by a member of the same party as the person who vacated the seat.

The statute says nothing about what to do when a legislator is elected under a party banner, changes his registration in office, and then leaves office, nor can I find anything relevant in other parts of the ARS.

I made a few calls to folks who know a lot more about this stuff than I do, and the universal response was "Dunno.  Trying to figure it out too."  (OK, they used more words, and bigger ones, but this was the upshot of their answers :) .)

It's unusual for an officeholder to leave office before completing his/her term in office (it does happen, but the vast majority complete their terms); a very rare occurrence for an officeholder to change his/her partisan while in office.

The combination of the two conditions in the person of one (now former) legislator? 

Not just unusual or rare; nobody can recall it happening in Arizona before this.

Should create a bit of conundrum for the Pima County Board of Supervisors, who are tasked with filling the spot.

Still, it's a question of interest mostly to political geeks (like me) - no matter who is appointed to fill the vacancy left by Patterson, the lege will adjourn within a few weeks, and the appointee won't make a difference in the partisan balance in the House.  The Republicans will still have a 2/3 majority for the remainder of the session.

According to a story in the Arizona Capitol Times, Patterson re-registered as a Democrat before resigning, but the paperwork hasn't reached the SOS' office yet, so it isn't confirmed.

If he did re-register, things will be far more simple; if he didn't, things will be far more interesting.

...Sylvia Allen (R-Snowflake) announced that she won't run for another term in the Senate, choosing to trade the state capitol in Phoenix for a possible job in the Navajo County seat in Holbrook.

She cited "family" concerns in her announcement, but the fact is that her new district is far more competitive than her current one, and there is already a formidable Democrat in the race, State Rep. Tom Chabin.

In short, a return to the lege was a long way from being a sure thing, so a run for the Navajo County BOS isn't a surprise.

...Ed Ableser (D-Tempe) announced that he will seek the Senate seat in the new LD26.  The move sets up a likely general election contest against Jerry Lewis (R-Mesa), who gained his office in November's recall of Russell Pearce.

New Congressional Maps precleared by Department of Justice

From the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission -

Congressional Maps Gets DOJ Approval

Today Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission Chair, Colleen Coyle Mathis announced that the Department of Justice has approved the congressional district map submitted by the Commission on February 9, 2012. Chair Mathis thanked those members of the public that participated in the process to develop the congressional map.

The Department of Justice has until April 30, 2012 to act on the legislative map and Chair Mathis indicated that she is very hopeful that it will also be approved by the Department of Justice.

The new Congressional districts -

The maps, in various formats, can be found here; the maps there can be magnified to help you figure out which of the new CDs you live in.  If you live in Maricopa County, the County Recorder's district locator page is here.

The results will look like this -

The top half of the page will show the current districts for a given address; the bottom half of the page will show the tentative districts for the Fall 2012 elections.

So is Jan Brewer "second-string" or "third-string"?

Jamelle Bouie of The American Prospect has a quote from MSNBC's Joe Scarbourough (a connected R) on a problem that Mitt Romney has to face now that he has all but wrapped up the R presidential nomination (hat tip to Taegan Goddard's Political Wire for the heads up) -

“Nobody thinks Romney’s going to win. Let’s just be honest. Can we just say this for everybody at home? Let me just say this for everybody at home. The Republican establishment – I’ve yet to meet a single person in the Republican establishment that thinks Mitt Romney is going to win the general election this year. They won’t say it on TV because they’ve got to go on TV and they don’t want people writing them nasty emails.”

Bouie goes on to provide a little analysis/speculation on the practical effect of the above (emphasis added) -

"...if we assume for a moment that Scarbourough is right, and Republican leaders are skeptical that Romney will beat Obama, then this has important implications for the direction of the former governor’s campaign. Remember, in the modern era, it’s rare for a losing Republican vice presidential nominee to become the nominee in a later election. Dan Quayle, for example, is a punchline, not a presidential candidate, and the same goes for the most recent member of the club, Sarah Palin.

Which is to say that, in a world where Republicans don’t see a future for Romney, we should expect the vice presidential “race” to become a microcosm of the nomination contest, ambitious Republicans keep themselves out of the running, and leave the field to second and third string politicians who have nothing to lose from a defeat in November. Marco Rubio might want to avoid a losing campaign, but will that matter for Ohio Senator Rob Portman, who doesn’t seem to have another avenue into political prominence?"

Given Jan Brewer's dalliance with the national spotlight (OK, a couple of appearances on Fox News and a book tour) and her making nice with Sarah Palin a few months back, she could be considered a dark horse candidate for the VP slot.

I just have one question:  would "resign to run" apply?

Please?

The coming week...

As usual, all agendas and calendars are subject to change without notice...

Much like last week, there aren't many things scheduled down at the lege, not because things won't be happening, but because we've reached the point in the session where the main activity is going on behind closed doors - the ongoing negotiations between the Rs in the lege and the governor over the budget.

Still, a couple of events of note will take place:

- The Daniel Patterson mess may come to a head.  He has until Tuesday to respond to an investigation into allegations against him.  After that, there may be a move to expel him from the lege, though the Rs may try to draw out the drama.  Some of them (to be fair, on this one, some are on the right side) think that the longer they can keep Patterson, a former D, in the lege, the more that they can embarrass the Democrats.

However, it just highlights the difference between the Rs, who proclaimed that their former colleague Scott Bundgaard was the actual victim when he assaulted a girlfriend by the side of a Phoenix freeway, and the Ds, who want their colleague removed over his assault of his former girlfriend.

- In a non-legislative event, but taking place Tuesday morning, just east of the Capitol at the Arizona Courts Building, the panel investigating Andrew Thomas, the former Maricopa County Attorney, and Lisa Aubuchon, and Rachel Alexander, his former assistant CAs, and their ethical transgressions will release its decision.  The possible punishments range from a simple reprimand through a suspension to disbarment.  The most common speculation is that Thomas and Aubuchon are most likely facing disbarment and Alexander is most likely facing a suspension of her license to practice.

While the proceeding is open to the public, seating is extremely limited.  It may be easier to watch the livestream of the hearing online, available here.



In the small bit of regular business that the lege has already posted agendas and floor calendars for...

- Senate Education will meet Monday at 11:30 a.m. in SHR3.   The highlight, so to speak,  will be the consideration of the appointment of Greg Patterson to the Arizona Board of Regents.  Patterson is a lawyer, lobbyist, former legislator, and blogger.  He has no experience with education (something that most of us would like a Regent to possess) - in fact, he is anti-higher education, and he has no experience in business (something the Arizona Republic would like a Regent to possess).  There has been some controversy over his appointment - first he was on the agenda, then he wasn't, and now he's back.  Look for the appointment to be approved.

...House Rules will meet Monday at 1 p.m. in HHR4.

...Conference committee schedule for Monday is here.

...House Final Read (re-approval of bills already approved by the House but later amended by the Senate) is here.  A few bad bills, including HB2557, which the Senate amended into Frank "Scofflaw" Antenori's scheme to end photo radar traffic enforcement by municipalities.

...House Third Read is here.

...House COW (Committee of the Whole) is here; includes SB1449, the Republicans' plan for undermining clarifying the recall election process.

...Senate COW is here; includes HB2664, allowing debt collection companies to collect credit card debts based on no more evidence than a bill.

...The Senate schedule for the week is here.  Summary:  Monday's floor session will start at ~ 1:30 p.m.; from Tuesday thru Thursday, at ~ 10 a.m.

...The House schedule for the week isn't posted as yet, however, last week's schedule showed a similar pattern to this week's Senate schedule - Monday floor session at 1:30 p.m, and the remainder of the week's floor sessions in the a.m.

In short, anyone planning to venture to the Capitol this week to watch a floor session live should plan to be there early (say, 9:30 a.m.) and pack for a long day, as floor sessions may be recessed and later called back into session after some behind-the-scenes wheeling and dealing on particular bills.

The lege's Capitol calendar of events is here.

The Arizona Capitol Times' Capitol Calendar is here.

Steve Urie running for JP

...and while that may be a good thing for Urie, Urie's wallet (a JP's salary is roughly four times that of a state legislator), and EV landlords...it may not be good for EV residents, voters, and litigants...

State Rep. Steve Urie (R-Gilbert) has decided to forego a run at another term in the lege in order to pursue the Justice of the Peace office in the Highland Justice Precinct here in Maricopa County.

Highland Precinct takes in Gilbert, part of Mesa,  and part of Queen Creek (I think).

Justice courts, at least in AZ, handle civil suits and small claims cases (<$10K), most traffic tickets, domestic violence and harassment cases, most relevent to this post, eviction cases.  In many of the justice precincts, eviction proceedings are the largest category of cases that go before the court.

On his campaign paperwork, Urie lists his occupation as "real estate broker."

In itself, that's not so unusual.  There are many real estate industrial complex types in the lege.

What is unusual is that his listed employer isn't a traditional real estate brokerage, dedicated only to working for buyers and sellers of real estate.

Nope, the company is called Mesa Verde Property Management, and he doesn't work for it, he owns it.

It's a residential property management company, a legitimate business, and one incorporated in 1988.

A property management company handles most or all aspects of operating a rental property such as an apartment complex or a single-family home owned by an investor.  That includes finding and screening potential tenants, leasing the property, collecting rents, and, if necessary, evicting tenants for non-payment of rent.

Because of that last, a property management company (OK, the lawyers representing them) spend a lot of time in court, particularly justice court.

A quick search of online court records show that Urie's Mesa Verde has been part of more than 200 justice court cases over the last 20 years.  That's not necessarily an inordinate number of cases, not for an active property management company, but it does mean that if Urie wins, he'll have a pre-existing professional relationship with many of the eviction lawyers appearing in court before him.

On top of that, Urie operates a school that offers continuing education courses to other property managers.

What does this mean?

If elected, Urie would face a court docket lightened by the fact that he won't be allowed to hear any cases directly involving his company.

In addition, cases that involve current clients, former clients, attorneys that may have worked for his company, or even property managers that may have paid him for courses at his school may have to be moved to another court if one party in a matter is aware of the pre-existing relationship between the judge and the other party.

Let me be clear, so far as I can see right now, there is nothing untoward about Urie's business or his candidacy (even if he is already known for using his public office to benefit his private clients).  However, the administration of a "Judge Urie" has the potential to make the administration of justice in Maricopa County significantly less efficient.

Urie is looking to move from the legislature, where the ethics rules can be best summed up as "as long as you don't get caught..." to a place where even the appearance of impropriety can result in gumming up the works or even professional sanctions.

He might want to rethink that intended move.

District roulette

It's not supposed to happen in legislative districts, but it appears to be happening this year, as Republican electeds decide that their districts aren't friendly enough for their ambitions.  Certain legislators are packing their carpetbags and moving to environs that they think will be more conducive to a continued stay in the legislature.

It may not benefit voters much, butRepublican election attorneys will be racking some serious billable hours during the upcoming primary season. 

To whit:

- State Sen. Rich Crandall (R-Mesa) recently announced that he wouldn't run for reelection, choosing to endorse newcomer Bob Worsley in the primary against former senator Russell Pearce.  Then he (dare I say it?  :) ), flip-flopped on the matter, saying he would run, but in another district.

- State Sen. Don Shooter (R-Yuma) is doing something similar, though where Crandall is trading a primary fight in one R-friendly district for a primary fight in another R-friendly district, Shooter is moving to avoid a D-leaning district.

Normally, I wouldn't say much about something like these moves, preferring to leave it to the voters of the districts involved to decide for themselves if they want brazen carpetbaggers to represent them (OK, I'd probably mock Crandall for his flip-flop and Shooter for his political cowardice, but that's it, really :)) ), but they lawyers may have the final say. 

There's a one year residency requirement for state legislators. 

Now there's some ambiguity to it - the relevent section of the Arizona Constitution requires one year residency in the county from which a legislator is elected but enforcement practice has centered on the district that the legislator/candidate is running in, not the aforementioned county.

That ambiguity may give AZSOS Ken Bennett the room to interpret the rules (dare I say it2? :) ) liberally, but given that the races in question will involve other Republicans who will stand to benefit from a stricter interpretation, the lawyers will get involved.

My guess is that they're already reaching out to the various R factions in every "safe" R district, laying the groundwork for future fees based on challenging candidates on primary ballots.