Bringing the "AZ" to "crazy": the State Senate gaining on the House

During the current session of the legislature, the Republicans in the Arizona House of Representatives have been leading the way in terms of "punchline" legislation (as in the kind of proposals that ensure that Arizona maintains its status as the nation's punchline).  The Senate has been a bit of an afterthought when writing about the hot mess that is the AZ legislature.

I was beginning to worry that the turnover in the Senate roster, particularly the "loss" of luminaries such as Russell Pearce, Sylvia Allen, and Frank Antenori had created a "loony deficit" in the Senate's informal-but-oh-so-real competition with the House to see which chamber is the nuttiest.

Shouldn't have worried though - not with nuts of long standing like Al Melvin, Gail Griffin, Don Shooter, Judy Burges, and more taking up the slack left by the not-so-dearly-departed Pearce, Allen, and Antenori.

Recent additions to the list of proposals before the lege this year -

SCR1012 - A resolution whereby the lege would tell the EPA to stop efforts to craft policy to combat "haze" in the air over Phoenix (haze, aka - "air pollution").  Already assigned to the Government and Environment Committee.  I expect it to pass, but don't expect it to have any impact on the EPA - they aren't known for following the policy directives of the Arizona legislature (and speaking as someone who likes to breathe clean air and drink clean water, thank you EPA!)

SCR1013 - A resolution urging the US Congress to dilute the Endangered Species Act.  Assigned to Natural Resources and Rural Affairs.  Even if passed, probably not likely to have a serious impact on the feds.

SCR1016 - A proposed amendment to the Arizona constitution declaring that Arizona can nullify and ignore any "federal action" that the people of AZ, by a vote on a ballot question, deem a violation of the US Constitution.  Not assigned to a committee as yet.  Neo-secessionism running amok.  May pass the lege; if it does, might be passed by the voters; probably won't withstand a legal challenge if it is enacted.

SB1285 - Requiring that the AZ Department of Education publicize charter schools, home schooling, and other education "options" designed to remove public funding from public schools.  In a nice touch, the measure mandates that federal funds be used to pay for the publicity, funds dispensed to states to help with the education of children from low-income families.  Assigned to Education, and Appropriations.  Nasty toward public education and vindictive toward the poor - the Republicans in the lege will trip over themselves in their enthusiasm to pass this bill.

SB1274 - Attacking early voting by requiring that early ballots be returned to the county recorder/elections department by one week before the election.  The bill removes the option to drop off ballots on election day at any polling place in the relevant county, and I think it requires that mailed ballots reach the county recorder/elections department by the same deadline (not sure about that; the phrasing and context make it a little unclear; this particular provision may apply only to mail elections).  Not so much "crazy" as it is a blatant part of a national R effort to stack election laws in their favor.  Assigned to Elections.

SCR1009 - Sen. Al Melvin's annual love letter in support of slave prisoner labor.  Assigned to Judiciary.

To be fair, the House hasn't slacked off on "da crazee" (still proposing bad bills), but the Senate is in the game now.

Good for the Senate, but bad for the people of Arizona.

Another casualty of the epidemic of gun violence sweeping the country: Civility.

From ctpost.com, written by Ken Dixon -

HARTFORD -- A false fire alarm, 45-minute waits to get into the Capitol complex, even the heckling of a bereaved parent of a Newtown shooting victim marked Monday's day-long legislative hearing on gun control.

 

From the CTPost.com piece: "Gun owner and Vietnam veteran George Rukstela, of Pomfret, wears a "Don't Tread on Me" flag on his hat to the Gun Violence Prevention Working Group hearing at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford on Monday, January 28, 2013. Photo: Brian A. Pounds"  Note: there is no indication in the article that this man was one of the people heckling the parent of a victim.

 

"The Second Amendment!" was shouted by several gun enthusiasts in the meeting room as Neil Heslin, holding a photo of his 6-year-old son, Jesse Lewis, asked why Bushmaster assault-style weapons are allowed to be sold in the state.

Yes, there are people in the US, loyal "Amurricans" one and all, who think that the most appropriate response to gun violence in the US is to heckle the family members of victims.

The coming week...

As usual, all schedules and agendas subject to change at any time and without notice; call ahead to the Legislature before travelling to the Capitol for a committee meeting or any other event to verify that it is still scheduled to take place and that your item of interest is still on the agenda.

Well, this is the week that the nitty-gritty work of pushing bad bills begins.  Not the crazy stuff (loyalty oaths, neo-secessionist stuff, anti-science measures, etc.), just the bills that are lower-profile and more insidious because of that.

No floor calendars have been posted as yet, but that will change as the week goes on.

Committee activity ("HHR" refers to a hearing room in the House of Representatives building; "SHR" refers to one in the Senate building) -

House side of the Capitol:

Rules, Monday 1 p.m., HHR4.  The first House Rules meeting of the year; this will serve as a preview of one or more future floor calendars as all measures that have been passed by another committee must go through the Rules Committee before proceeding to floor activity.  Officially, this is to ensure that all of the bills are "constitutional and proper" (basically, in a form that is acceptable in technical and legal terms).  However, the reality is that all bills that receive Rules Committee consideration are rubberstamped, regardless of their adherence to the constitutions of the US and Arizona (witness the number of successful lawsuits challenging measures passed by the lege).  This committee serves as the gatekeeper for the Speaker of the House (or for the President of the Senate, in the case of the Senate Rules Committee), who can use it to quietly kill any measure that he doesn't like - he simply makes sure that such measures are never agendized.

Ways and Means, Monday, 2 p.m., HHR1.  A bunch of bills that reduce revenue for the state, cities, towns, counties, and school districts.

Financial Institutions, Monday, 2 p.m., HHR5.  On the agenda:  three bills affecting "loan originators" that would serve to reduce the already minimal oversight of the mortgage "industry".  Former legislator Jack Harper (R-Surprise!), a long-time part of that business, ran similar bills before he left the legislature.

Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources, Monday, 2 p.m., HHR4.  Looks harmless so far.

Education, Monday, 2 p.m., HHR3.  Looks pretty harmless so far, but I'm a cynic - when this bunch starts tinkering with the state's education system, their ultimate goal is to weaken that system, not strengthen it.  And they *never* stop tinkering.  One item on the agenda: HB2458, which purports to address fraud in the use of "empowerment scholarship accounts", or ESAs.  Biggest clue that this is a meaningless bill:  one of the cosponsors is Sen. Steve Yarbrough, who isn't known for supporting any measure that could possibly increase independent oversight of the process of diverting public education funds into private hands.  A process that he finds *very* profitable.

Insurance and Retirement, Tuesday, 2 p.m., HHR3.  Three measures on the agenda, but I don't know enough about the nuances of insurance law to even speculate as to their level of badness (for the people of AZ; the bills look great for insurance companies/sellers looking to squeeze ever more money from the public).

Government, Tuesday, 2 p.m., HHR4.  This one has some obvious nuggets of ugly on it, such as HB2026, Rep. Michelle Ugenti's attack on unions by forcing the governing bodies of political subdivisions (non-school district) to specifically vote to allow payroll deduction for payment of their employees' union dues, otherwise such deductions would be forbidden; HB2330, requiring that any meetings with representatives of public employee unions are open to the public and subject to the state's open meeting requirements (contract negotiations are normally done in executive session, whether for rank-and-file employees or for management-level employees); HB2343, barring compensation of employees for union activity, even when such compensation is part of a negotiated contract.

Federalism and Fiscal Responsibility. Tuesday, 2 p.m., HHR1.  One item on the agenda thus far: HB2328, a dog-whistle measure concerning an interstate compact and a balanced federal budget.  And a requirement that any raises to the federal debt limit be referred to all of the states' legislatures for prior approval.

Agriculture and Water, Tuesday, 2 p.m., HHR5.  Looks harmless so far.

Public Safety, Military, and Regulatory Affairs, Wednesday, 9 a.m., HHR3.  Looks harmless so far.

Health, Wednesday, 9 a.m., HHR4.  A number of AHCCCS and healthcare profession-related measures that are too technical for me to understand clearly in the time available to me for this post.  A couple of the bill subjects include the word "omnibus", which mean that a lot of changes are included in the measures.

Higher Education and Workforce Development, Wednesday, 10 a.m., HHR1.  One bill:  HB2203, creating a tax credit for contributions to a state university foundation.

Commerce, Wednesday, 10 a.m., HHR5.  A big bunch of ugly here: In addition to the ones that I just don't understand (HB2166, HB2276) but expect are bad because they are sponsored by the "next time we propose a good government measure will be the very first time" crowd, there's HB2280 (prohibiting any regulation of "employee benefits" (compensation, time off, meal breaks, etc.) by any political subdivision below the state level; and the first striker of the 2013 session, a same-subject amendment to HB2147.  If enacted, it apparently would make it more difficult for an unemployed person to collect unemployment insurance benefits, but would balance that by making it easier for employers to undermine the UI claims of former employees.

Appropriations, Wednesday, 2 p.m., HHR1.  Looks harmless so far.

Transportation, Thursday, 9 a.m., HHR3.  Looks mostly harmless, but one measure worries me - HB2180.  It looks like it will make it easier to repossess vehicles on the basis of faulty paperwork.

Technology and Infrastruction, Thursday, 9 a.m., HHR5.  Presentation only, so far.

Reform and Human Services, Thursday, 9 a.m., HHR1.  Looks quiet, except for HB2331, which seeks to limit the bonding authority (ability to raise revenue) of industrial development authorities.

Judiciary, Thursday, 10 a.m., HHR4.  Apparently, Thursday is "Farnsworthpalooza Day" at the Capitol - there are five bills on the agenda.  Four are the product of committee chair Rep. Eddie Farnsworth (the fifth is a sop to Rep. Justin Pierce, the committee's vice chair).  They include HB2305, adding restrictions on petitions and petition circulators for potential ballot questions; HB2306, doubling the total limit on campaign contributions that can be collected by candidates for office.

Health, Friday, 1 p.m., offsite.  The committee will be hold a special meeting for a tour of the AZ State Laboratory and Office of Vital Records.


Senate side of the Capitol:

Rules, Monday, 1 p.m., Caucus Room 1.  Again, this committee is a rubberstamp and best serves as a preview of upcoming floor action.

Judiciary, Monday, upon adjournment of the floor session, SHR1.  Doesn't look too bad, so far.

Government and Environment, Monday, upon adjournment of the floor session, SHR3.  Doesn't look too bad, so far.

Transportation, Tuesday, 2 p.m., SHR3.  Looks harmless so far.

Appropriations, Tuesday, 2 p.m., SHR109.  Looks harmless so far.

Natural Resources and Rural Affairs, Wednesday, 9 a.m., SHR109.  Looks harmless, but keep an eye on SB1098, relating to "marijuana; cultivation; county zoning".

Commerce, Energy, and Military, Wednesday, 9 a.m., SHR1.  Looks harmless so far.

Public Safety, Wednesday, 2 p.m., SHR109.  Not so harmless - SB1086, Sen. Judy "Birther" Burges proposal to require that police officers in AZ be trained not to "motorcycle profile" (OK, provide your own punch lines for this one), and SB1112, barring the enforcement of federal firearms laws in AZ  In fact, it makes such enforcement a felony (a neo-secessionist "AZ as a national punchline" proposal).

Health and Human Services, Wednesday, 2 p.m., SHR1.  Looks harmless so far.

Finance, Wednesday, 2 p.m., SHR3.  A bunch of bills that I don't understand because they are very technical in nature, but since many affect the state's employee retirement system (ASRS), they are probably bad news for the state's  employees.

Education, Thursday, 9:30 a.m., SHR1.  A charter school cheerleading session, and three bills to make life easier for charter schools, because they've had it so hard in AZ (yes, that's sarcasm folks).


The lege's schedule of events at the Capitol for the week is here.

Q: When is anti-science education legislation not anti-science? A: When the Republican anti-science authors of the bill say it isn't. Just trust them.

The latest evidence that the Republican crazy engine in the AZ lege is warmed up and hitting on all cylinders just two weeks into the new session:

SB1213, relating to "schools; science instruction; requirements".

When I saw that subject on the lege's website, my first thought was "oh shit - what are they up to now?".  I calmed down long enough to realize that I was getting ahead of myself and should look at the bill's content before thinking the badly about the measure.

So I read the bill, and came to the conclusion that my deepest fears about the bill were wrong.

The fears weren't unfounded, however.  Not hardly.

They were far milder than the reality of the proposal.

The text of the bill (emphasis mine):

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona: Section 1. Title 15, chapter 7, article 1, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 15-706.01, to read: START_STATUTE15-706.01. Science instruction; requirements A. The state board of education, the department of education, county school superintendents, school district governing boards, school district superintendents, school principals and school administrators shall endeavor to: 1. Create an environment in schools that encourages pupils to explore scientific questions, learn  about scientific evidence, develop critical thinking skills and respond appropriately and respectfully to differences of opinion about controversial issues. 2. Assist teachers to find effective ways to present the science curriculum as it addresses scientific controversies. Teachers shall be allowed to help pupils understand, analyze, critique and review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of existing scientific theories covered in the course being taught. B. The state board of education, the department of education, county school superintendents, school district governing boards, school district superintendents, school principals and school administrators shall not prohibit any teacher in this state from helping pupils understand, analyze, critique and review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and weaknesses of existing scientific theories covered in the course being taught. C. This section protects only the teaching of scientific information and does not promote any religious or nonreligious doctrine, promote discrimination for or against a particular set of religious beliefs or nonbeliefs or promote discrimination for or against religion or nonreligion. END_STATUTE Sec. 2. Intent The legislature finds and declares that: 1. An important purpose of science education is to inform students about scientific evidence and to help students develop critical thinking skills necessary to becoming intelligent, productive and scientifically informed citizens. 2. The teaching of some scientific subjects, including biological evolution, the chemical origins of life, global warming and human cloning, can cause controversy. 3. Some teachers may be unsure of the expectations concerning how they should present information on such subjects.
Notwithstanding paragraph C above, this bill looks an awful lot like an attempt to force religious doctrine into Arizona's science classrooms, under the guise of "teaching all sides of controversial issues" (or somesuch BS) while blithely ignoring the fact that much of the "controversy" isn't scientifically-based.  While paragraph C purports to state that the bill isn't about religious indoctrination, that paragraph is more than belied by part 2 of the intent clause in the bill.   The legislators who've signed on to this nuggest of crazy are state senators one and all - Judy "Birther" Burges, Chester "Sylvia Allen's hand-picked successor" Crandell, Rick "I don't know enough him to mock him.  Yet." Murphy, Steve "Shoring Up His Right Flank In Preparation For A Run For Governor Next Year" Pierce, Don "Tequila" Shooter, and Steve "Raking It In Hand Over Fist" Yarbrough.   Because of this bill, and the others like it that are in the pipeline, a new post category has been created -  Putting the AZ in crAZy.

Arizona legislature: the strike-everything amendment summed up in two words

One of the pitfalls of writing this blog and being otherwise involved with and observant of the legislative process in AZ is that one becomes familiar with the terminology used and forget that not everyone is as familiar with the terms being used.  As such, occasionally explanations are needed, and being somewhat lazy, and more than somewhat a wiseass, I am constantly on the lookout for short, funny, and effective ways of describing a political concept, process, or result.

Arizona's "strike-everything amendment" (also known as a striker) is one such concept that cries out for a pithy and snarky description. 

The striker is a process in the Arizona legislature whereby the language in a (usually) harmless measure is completely replaced by new language, (usually) turning it into something dreadful.

Also usually, the new language is from a bad bill that has died, so basically, a strike-everything amendment is taking crap from one body (or bill) and placing it into another body (or bill).

Turns out there is already a term for that, for a legitimate medical procedure -

Fecal Transplant.

And as a bonus, while the medical term and the procedure it describes is icky, it's far less icky than the reality of the Arizona legislature.

(hat tip to the Boston Globe for finding this, and to my cousin for posting a link to the Globe article on her Facebook page)

Arizona Legislature: jokers leave, yet it is still a national punchline

The latest edition of the Arizona legislature is missing the names of some of the nuttiest of the nuttiest (Frank Antenori - lost in the general election; Russell Pearce - lost a Republican primary; Sylvia Allen - chose not to run for reelection).

However, the "crazy caucus" of the AZ lege didn't have to rebuild.

It just reloaded.

Now it is names like Carl Seel, Steve Smith, and Jeff Dial, "leading" a new generation of neo-Cons (short for "Confederates") in pushing the worst of the worst legislation.  And pushing to keep Arizona in its now-accustomed place, as the centerpiece of the monologues of late night comedians.



State Rep. Carl Seel (center, in the striped shirt), "hangin' with his crew" at a pro-gun rally at the state capitol this past weekend.  Picture republished with permission of Dennis Gilman.

For example, and this is just a sampling -

HB2467 - adding another requirement for high school students to meet before they can receive a diploma - they have to swear an oath that is substantially the same as oaths of office for elected officials and for people joining the armed services.  Sponsors/co-sponsors: Seel, Smith, Dial, Reps. Bob Thorpe, Sonny Borrelli, David Livingston, T.J. Shope and Sen. Chester Crandell.

HB2475 - Barring from polling places election observers from national or international organizations.  Sponsors/co-sponsors: Seel, Borrelli, Livingston, Adam Kwasman, David Stevens, Debbie Lesko, Warren Petersen, and Kelly Townsend (a name to watch.  A tea party muckety-muck in the SE Valley.  She should be the source of a never-ending supply of embarrassing legislative proposals.)

HB2434 - Barring the use of any "public resource" by anyone who may not be in the state legally.  I say "may" because the standard of evidence in the bill is rather low.  Essentially, it would turn "breathing while brown" in AZ into a Class 1 misdemeanor, and a second "offense" into a Class 6 felony.  Sponsors/co-sponsors: Seel, Townsend, Lesko, and Ethan Orr.

HB2431 - Allowing anyone who is "eligible for membership in the Arizona State Guard" to ignore any (possible) pending assault weapon, extended magazine, or ammunition measures if those things are purchased for the purpose of "maintaining proficiency of arms" within Arizona.  Under the section of AZ law referenced in the proposal, nearly everyone is eligible for membership in the AZ militia.  Sponsor: Seel.

HB2318 - Exempting from federal rules and standards, and state standards stemming from federally-funded programs, any schools, particularly charter schools, that don't accept federal funding under a specific section of the US Code.  Sponsor:  Eddie Farnsworth

HB2284 - Making a daily recitation of the pledge of allegiance mandatory for students in public and charter schools, unless a parent specifically request that their child be excused from doing so.  Current law allows time for reciting the pledge of allegiance for those students who "wish" to do so.  Sponsor: Farnsworth.

HB2283 - Mandating that when a state agency that publishes material in a language other than English, that material can only be published on the internet.  Sponsor: Smith.

HB2291 - Making it a Class 6 felony to enforce or attempt to enforce federal firearms regulations within AZ.  Sponsors/co-sponsors: Smith, Kwasman, Seel, Stevens, and Thorpe.

AZBlueMeanie of Blog for Arizona offers his take on this measure here.

And my personal "favorite" (quotes denoting the use of sarcasm, just in case you couldn't figure it out for yourself):

HB2293 - Turning hospitals and emergency rooms into immigration checkpoints, round two (or is it three?).  Sponsors: Smith, Kwasman, Seel, Thorpe.


For now, the House seem to be most active on the "crazy", but it's early.  Andy Biggs is now in charge of the Senate, and with fellow travelers like Al Melvin, Judy Burges, and Don Shooter around, the Senate Rs are sure to make their howls at the moon heard, and soon.  I expect them to catch up by the first week of February.

The coming week...

The first full week of the 2013 session of the Arizona legislature will be a lot like the abbreviated first week - many committees won't be meeting or will have brief agendas.

However, the ones that do have agendas will have at least a few bills under consideration.

As usual all schedules and agendas are subject to change at any time and without notice.

"HHR" refers to a House Hearing Room"; "SHR" refers to a Senate Hearing Room".

Also note:  I look for bills and other activity that falls into the category of "batshit crazy" or otherwise bad, in general, for Arizona.  When I summarize an agenda's items with "looks harmless, so far", it means that nothing on it twigged my Tea or guano detector, and nothing more.  If you are interested in measures that apply to one or another specific area, I strongly recommend conducting some in-depth research on your own.  Oh, and let me know if you find anything - that's how I learn. 

No floor calendars for either chamber have been posted as of this writing.

Committee activity on the House side:

- Joint Appropriations, Tuesday, HHR1, 9:30 a.m.  The Appropriations committees from both the House and the Senate will meet together to receive a presentation on the governor's proposed FY2014 budget.

- Insurance and Retirement, Tuesday, HHR3, 2 p.m.  On the agenda are HB2057, HB2058, and HB2059.  All have to do with making changes to the state's pension system and I don't pretend to have the knowledge required for an in-depth analysis of these, but HB2057 looks to be the bad one here, limiting survivor benefits and benefits to new employees.

- Government, Tuesday, HHR4, 2 p.m.  Agenda items include HB2005, HB2033, HB2082 and HB2086.  The most interesting of these is HB2082, which is from Rep. John Kavanagh (R-Fountain Hills).  If enacted as written, it would deem the names of people who win prizes from the state lottery to be confidential information, not subject to disclosure without the permission of the prizewinner.  Not saying that the items are related, but the Arizona co-winner of the recent record jackpot in the Powerball game is from Fountain Hills.  Kavanagh's move to reduce transparency here brings back a memory of a situation in Massachusetts in the early 1990s where an infamous mobster claimed to have won a large lottery prize under suspicious circumstances.  The furor over that never would have happened if the names of lottery winners were kept secret.  HB2086 is a proposal from Rep. Chad Campbell (D-Phoenix) to require municipalities that operate parking meters to keep them in good working order or the people that receive parking tickets based on a meter violation isn't responsible for the ticket(s).

- Federalism and Fiscal Responsibility, Tuesday, HHR1, 2 p.m.  The one item on the agenda so far is HB2007, Rep. Michelle "Right Hand" Ugenti's measure that would require that the official publicity documents for ballot measures notifying voters that any measure that they pass cannot be changed except under limited circumstances.

- Public Safety, Military, and Regulatory Affairs, Wednesday, HHR3, 9 a.m.  Looks harmless, so far.

- Higher Education and Workforce Development, Wednesday, HHR1, 10 a.m.  Presentations only, so far.

- Health, Wednesday, HHR4, 10 a.m.  Looks harmless so far, though HB2066 worries me a little.  It purports to simply change "archaic language" in the law, but I don't trust this bunch (geez, is that breaking news for anyone reading this? LOL).  Every so often, they try to get sneaky.  I don't think that this is one of those times, but...

- Commerce, Wednesday, HHR5, 10 a.m.  On the agenda: Current state law bars school districts from spending money to be part of an organization that attempts to influence any election.  Rep. John Kavanagh's HB2068 would carve out an exemption to that law to allow school districts to spend money to join chambers of commerce.  In other words, if this becomes law, it will be OK for school districts to spend money on an organization that almost always supports Republican candidates and causes.

- Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources, Wednesday, offsite, 2 p.m. or upon adjournment of the House floor session.  They are scheduled to tour the offices of the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.

- Transportation, Thursday, HHR3, 9 a.m.  Looks harmless so far.

- Technology and Infrastructure, Thursday, HHR5, 9 a.m.  So far, there's only a presentation on the agenda.

- Reform and Human Services, Thursday, HHR1, 9 a.m.  Looks harmless so far.

- Judiciary, Thursday, HHR4, 10 a.m.  So far, only an organizational meeting.

- Ways and Means, Thursday, HHR1, 2 p.m. or upon adjournment of the House floor session.  On the agenda: HB2111, making a change in how AZ invests public monies.  I think it is a cosmetic change, but someone who understands the nuances of investments and finance should take a look at this.


On the Senate side:

- Appropriations, Tuesday, SHR109, 2 p.m.  After the Joint Appropriations meeting in the morning to receive a presentation on the governor's budget proposal, Senate Appropriations will be holding a regular meeting in the afternoon.  The two bills on the agenda, SB1037 and SB1057, look harmless enough, but they are utterly unrelated to appropriations.  Not sure what is going on here; under normal circumstances, the Appropriations committees won't start hearing bills that really fall under the purview of other committees until late March or early April.  The other committees have a deadline to finish their work, while Appropriations can continue hearing bills until the end of the legislative session.

- Natural Resources and Rural Affairs, Wednesday, SHR109, 9 a.m.  Presentations and confirmation hearings for executive branch appointments only, so far.  Appointments under consideration: Edward Madden, Arizona Game and Fish Commission and Priscilla Storm, Urban Land Planning Oversight Committee.

- Commerce, Energy, and Military, Wednesday, SHR1, 9 a.m.  Organizational items, presentations, confirmation hearing (Carlyle Begay, Greater Arizona Development Authority), and one bill, SB1039.  SB1039 makes some changes to Arizona law relating to the Uniform Commercial Code.  The changes are rather nuanced and I don't know enough about the UCC or Arizona law in this area to fairly evaluate the impact of this measure.

- Health and Human Services, Wednesday, SHR1, 2 p.m.  Looks harmless so far.

- Finance, Wednesday, SHR3, 2 p.m.  Organizational items, presentation, confirmation hearings (Jeffrey Tyne, Arizona State Retirement System Board; Amy Fellner and Derrick Doba, State Board of Tax Appeals) and two bills - SB1028 and SB1047.  Along with the Appropriations committees, this committee will see the most truly bad legislation (not just the headline-grabbing batshit crazy stuff).  SB1028 is an example of that - it would exempt from municipal sales tax (known as a transaction privilege tax, or TPT) leases and other transactions between two related LLCs (limited liability corporations).

- Education, Thursday, SHR1, 9 a.m.  Presentations on Common Core and its implementation in AZ.  Otherwise, looks harmless so far.

- Judiciary, Thursday, SHR1, upon adjournment of the Senate floor session.  Two bills that look harmless, but they're from Sen. Judy "Birther" Burges.  Take "harmless" with a grain of salt.

- Government and Environment, Thursday, SHR3, upon adjournment of the Senate floor session.  Organizational items and presentations.


Other events -

On Tuesday, anti-choice groups will be at the Capitol commemorating the 40th anniversary of the US Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in the US, Roe vs. Wade.

Thursday, someone is holding a "Medical Marijuana Update - Press Conference" on the lawn outside the House of Representatives building.  The listing doesn't indicate who booked the time, but given that it's a morning reservation (10 a.m.), it seems likely that it is a member of the House.  And Rep. John Kavanagh is leading the way in the Republicans' fight to overturn the will of the voters.

The legislature's full weekly calendar of Capitol events is here.
The Arizona Department of Administration's list of (non-legislative) public meeting notices is here.

Budget time: "Let's get ready to rummmbbbbblllllle!"

Turns out that it was even colder here in AZ this week than even our thermometers could measure.

Musta been, 'cuz hell froze over this week.

My evidence supporting this conclusion?  Sane people, in the persons of the Democratic leadership at the legislature, actually found some good things to say about the budget proposal released by Governor Brewer on Friday.

In her budget proposal, Brewer advocates restoring a bit of the huge amount of funding cut over the last few years from the education, CPS (Child Protective Services), and health care.

From the Democratic leader in the state senate, Senator Leah Landrum Taylor -

“The governor is doing the right thing by proposing we expand Medicaid. It’s a smart business decision that’s good for our state’s economy and good for the people of Arizona .

From the Democratic leader in the state house of representatives, Representative Chad Campbell -

“The governor’s budget is a good starting point. We appear to have a foundation for a plan that could bring legislators from both parties together to finally enact a common-sense budget for Arizona . I applaud the governor for her proposal to secure Arizona ’s fair share of federal dollars through Medicaid expansion.

On the other hand, the Republican leadership has been almost silent on the proposal. 

From the Arizona Republic, written by Mary Jo Pitzl and Alia Rau -

Senate President Andy Biggs and House Speaker Andy Tobin, both Republicans, released a joint statement responding to the budget proposal. It offers no opinion of her specific proposals but hints strongly that some of her budget hikes may find some opposition at the Republican-led Legislature.

 

“The balanced budgets of the last two years have provided a wise and responsible framework designed to enhance our state’s economic growth," the statement said. "Our hope is that the final enacted budget will replicate the success we have implemented thus far. There is clear evidence that the conservative approach to state funding is the proper way to bring our state back to full economic recovery.”

Obviously, it is still early, so any predictions should be taken with a big grain of salt, but this year is shaping up to be a lot like 2009 on West Washington.

The governor's budget that year was devastating to the above areas, but it wasn't the "worst case scenario".  The Republicans in the lege held out for that worst case, leading to a budget that passed the lege after the new fiscal year had started (every fiscal year starts on July 1, and in 2009, the lege passed the FY2010 budget in the wee hours after midnight on July 1st.  They pretended that they passed the budget on time by shutting off the clocks in the chambers.  Seriously)

The locus of this conflict in 2009 was the state senate.  It takes 16 votes to pass a measure there and the Republicans held an 18 - 12 majority that year.  The GOP shouldn't have had a problem passing anything, but there were three flies in the ointment that year -

Senator Carolyn Allen (R-Scottsdale) - the last true "moderate" Republican in the lege, she refused to vote for the draconian budget pushed by the leadership of the lege because it was too harsh.  Last seen: enjoying her retirement as much as possible.

Senator Pam Gorman (R-Phoenix) and Senator Ron Gould (R-Lake Havasu City) - not exactly moderates; they refused to vote for the budget because they didn't think it was draconian enough.  Last seen: lobbying for Big Tobacco and burning a hole in the ozone layer over LHC, respectively.

The atmosphere, at least that between the governor and the members of her caucus in the lege, was less openly hostile over the next three sessions of the lege - 2010 was an election year, and each side needed the other, so they made nice, and in 2011 and 2012, the Rs held a supermajority of the seats in each chamber, meaning that not only didn't Democratic members have a say in the process, Republican members who wanted to "free-lance" had no leverage. 

Turn the calendar to 2013, and the Republicans still control both chambers of the lege, but with significantly smaller majorities.  In the Senate this year, it will only take two Republicans digging in their heels to cause gridlock.

Add in the fact that Brewer is a lame duck whose influence at the Capitol is on the decline, and my guess is that a lot more than two members of the R caucus will be playing the "more conservative than thou" card over the next few months, with the lives of Arizona's most vulnerable and the futures of Arizona's children on the table as the stakes.


Historical budget-related information from the Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC) here and here.

Early legislative count: 251

251, as in the number of measures proposed so far in the 2013 legislature.  If past history serves as an accurate predictor, another 1000 to 1200 or so to go...

So far the Senate has 91 bills and 1 concurrent resolution (proposed amendment to the AZ Constitution), and the House has 144 bills and 5 concurrent resolutions.

Of those, 105, or nearly 42%, are "technical correction" proposals.  Those measures are ostensibly to make minor changes to current law that are "technical" changes (fixing typos, grammar errors, outdated verbiage, etc.) and not substantive changes to the law.  However, those bills pretty much never make it through the legislative process as "technical correction" bills; they exist to serve as "vehicle" bills for strikers, or strike-everything" amendments, later in the session.

Lawmakers of all stripes introduce these technical corrections bills because there is a time limit on their introduction of bills (early February, varies by chamber).  After that, they can introduce no more than seven new proposals.  However, there is no limit on the number of their bills that they can amend once they are introduced.

Hence, most of the proposals that are introduced early in the session, even many that aren't technical correction bills, are intended only as placeholders for later amendments.

It's still too early to start categorizing the bills for analysis (good, OK, bad. batshit crazy, and sneaky ugly.  Those last are all too often the ones that are resurrected by a striker when/if they die during the legislative process), but one stands out as the early leader in the race for the "most shamelessly hypocritical" bill -

SB1086.

As written, the measure would require that law enforcement training in AZ include "[c]ourses that emphasize the prohibition against motorcycle profiling. For the purposes of this subdivision, "motorcycle profiling" means using the sole fact that a person rides a motorcycle or wears motorcycle-related paraphernalia as the basis for taking any law enforcement action against the person, including arresting, searching or questioning the person, without any other legal basis under the laws of this state or the United States and the constitution of the United States or this state."

Interesting.

This measure is from State Senator Judy Burges (R-Sun City West).

The same Judy Burges who earned the nickname "Birther" for her attempts to have the US' first president of African descent barred from the ballot.

The same Judy Burges who over the last few years has sponsored or supported every measure designed to limit the health care choices available to poor women.

The same Judy Burges who over the last few years has sponsored or supported every anti-worker measure.

The same Judy Burges who in 2009, voted for the infamous SB1070, which as written, would have turned "breathing while brown" into "probable cause" if parts of it hadn't been blocked by the courts.


Now, I don't think that, in and of themselves, riding a motorcycle or wearing "motorcycle-related paraphernalia" constitute probable cause for "law enforcement action", at least an argument can be made that those things are a matter of free choice.

Unlike the color of one's skin, or the national origin of one's parents.

Unlike one's gender or, in most cases, economic class status.

Unlike the necessity of one working for a living in our society (yes, there are some adults in our society who are unable or unwilling to work, but they had better be born to an already wealthy family.  If they aren't, their lives will suck.)

Unlike one's own nation of origin, or the color of one's skin (kind of like the first item on the list;  say what you want about Burges, at least she's consistent.  Consistently bad, but consistent nonetheless.)

Apparently, Burges is OK with discriminating against people based on things that they cannot control, but is aghast at the possibility that people might be judged based on things that they can control.

The Coming Week...

Welcome to the first weekly legislative preview post of the year.  In these posts, I go over the posted committee agendas for the week, any posted floor calendars (usually only Monday's calendars are available when the post is written on Saturday and/or Sunday), and any significant expected events at or affecting the state capitol.

This week's post will be one of the easiest -

- Most committees aren't meeting this week, or will be holding only a brief organizational meeting.

- Any posted floor calendars will be for "First Read", where bills are assigned to committees.  There is no guarantee that assigned bills will ever be heard in committee.

- The biggest capitol event will be Monday - the opening of the lege and the Governor's annual State of the State address to the legislature.

Notes:

All agendas and calendars, and basically everything else at the Capitol, are subject to change at any time and without prior notice.  Call ahead to confirm the schedule before travelling to the Capitol for a specific meeting or event.

"SHR" refers to a hearing room in the Senate building;  "HHR" refers to a hearing room in the House building.

The main website of the Arizona legislature is here.
The list of bills filed in the lege is here.
The list of the lege's committes is here.
House committee agendas are here; Senate committee agendas are here.


On to the post...

Floor calendars -

- There aren't any floor calendars posted as of this writing.


Committee agendas -

- House side:

Agriculture and Water - Tuesday, 2 p.m., HHR5.  Organizational meeting with two presentations, no bills on the agenda.

Higher Education and Workforce Development, Commerce, Education (three committees) - Wednesday, 8:30 a.m., special joint meeting in HHR1 to hear presentations from businesses and business lobbying groups about the implementation of Arizona's Common Core Standards in Arizona's schools.  Interestingly, there aren't any education-focused groups on the agenda.  I must admit that I don't know much about Common Core, but the fact that groups that are primarily focused on short-term profits at the expense of long-term viability are the major supporters of Common Core undermines the academic credibility of Common Core.

Public Safety, Military, and Regulatory Affairs - Wednesday, 10 a.m., HHR3.  Organizational meeting.

Health - Wednesday, 10 a.m., HHR4.  Organizational meeting and presentations..

Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources - Wednesday, 2 p.m., HHR4.  Organizational meeting and a presentation.

Technology and Infrastructure - Thursday, 9 a.m., HHR5.  Organizational meeting.

Reform and Human Services - Thursday, 9 a.m., HHR1.  Organizational meeting and a presentation.

Judiciary - Thursday, 10 a.m., HHR4.  Organizational meeting.

Education - Thursday, 2 p.m., HHR3.  Special meeting.  Three presentations from the state Board of Education and the state Department of Education on Common Core (under Republican rule in AZ, those organizations aren't known as being exactly supportive of public education, so the blurb written for the joint meeting above still stands) and one bill, HB2047.  That bill appears to simply remove references to AIMS from Arizona law, replacing those with references to Common Core.


- Senate side:

Natural Resources and Rural Affairs - Wednesday, 9 a.m., SHR109.  Organizational meeting and presentations.

Health and Human Services - Wednesday, 2 p.m., SHR1.  Organizational meeting and presentation.  One bill on the agenda - SB1023, providing for the continuation of the Board of Massage Therapy for another 10 years.

Judiciary - Thursday, upon adjournment or recess of the Senate floor session, SHR1.  Organizational meeting.


Events -

In addition to the State of the State address and other traditional opening day events, there is one "official" rally ("official" meaning that space at the Capitol was booked) - the "When Women Vote, We ALL Win" rally.  They'll be there to remind legislators that women are watching, and that further attacks on women and healthcare choice will have political repercussions.

The full week's calendar for events at the Capitol is here.

AZ House Speaker Tobin calls Chad Campbell "insincere" and "immature"...

...and says Campbell should have cleared his proposal to address the epidemic of gun violence sweeping the state and nation with Tobin first.

On Sundays here in AZ, like most of the country, local TV stations broadcast their political or public affairs programming, usually early in the morning.

Phoenix station KPNX (Channel 12 to those folks who aren't into alphabet soup early in the morning) broadcasts a program called "Sunday Square Off" at 8 a.m. local time.  The host is Brahm Resnick, a recently naturalized Canadian immigrant.  He's pretty even-handed, letting his guests say what they're going to say without interfering with them, but not afraid to press someone for details when they are being vague on an issue (given that he usually deals with politicians, that happens.  Frequently. :) ).

The show, while aired on Sunday, is recorded on Friday, which means that Resnick and his station can post teasers and previews on Saturday.

Which they did this week, here.

A transcript of the relevent part of the teaser -

Resnick - Now do you doubt his sincerity?

Tobin - Oh well sure, this is about him running for governor.  I'm very disappointed and it's immature..."here's my plan" and all you press guys show up and they put microphones in his face.  So he gets attention and that's OK.  Well how about picking up the phone and saying "hey Andy, what about something like this?"

Something tells me that the upcoming session of the lege will be a long and contentious one, judging by the fact that the Republican leadership is already resorting to name-calling.

Oh, and the leader of the caucus that barely acknowledges the existence of, much less deigns to speak to, Democratic members of the House and their constituents, whining about it when somebody doesn't talk to *him*?

Is there such a term as "operational hypocrisy"?  If not, there is now, and Tobin is serving up a big steaming pile of it...

Hugh Hallman, former mayor of Tempe, "pondering" a 2014 run for governor

From the Phoenix Business Journal, written by Mike Sunnucks -

Former Tempe mayor Hugh Hallman is looking at running for Arizona governor in 2014.

 

The Republican said on his website today he is pondering a run.

 

“Over the next few months, I will be traveling the state of Arizona to speak with and listen to people from all walks of life about what’s really important to them in their state government, and how we can address our priorities successfully,” Hallman said. “At that time, I will make a final decision about pursuing elected office. I have one particular elected office very clearly in mind — the office of governor of Arizona.”

If he runs and gains the R nomination next year, he could suffer the embarrassment of losing Tempe, his hometown, in the general election.  As mayor of Tempe, he kept a lid on the anti-constituent craziness that permeates internal Republican politics these days, but to get through the Republican primary, he'll need to cut loose with the nihilist rhetoric of the Rs' social and fiscal agendas.

That will cost him votes in Tempe. 

Lots of votes.

Sunnucks' piece went on to list a few other rumored candidates -

On the Democratic side:  Dr. Richard Carmona, former US Surgeon General and 2012 Democratic nominee for US Senate; Fred Duval, businessman, author, and former President of the Arizona Board of Regents; and Greg Stanton, mayor of Phoenix.

On the Republican side:  State Treasurer Doug Ducey and AZ Secretary of State Ken Bennett.


Possible additions/subtractions to that list:

Greg Stanton has stated that he is not running for governor in 2014 (that doesn't mean he won't change his mind at some point, but 2014 really might be too early for him to go for the governor's job.)

State Representative Chad Campbell, the Democratic leader in the AZ House, is also eyeing a run.  Like the others mentioned here, he may end up not running for governor (right now, they're all "pondering"), but he is probably more likely to run than Carmona is, at this point.

Felecia Rotellini, the impressive Democratic nominee for AZ Attorney General in 2010, is being talked up as a potential candidate.  I think that she is more likely to mount another run at AG, but it's still early - anything could happen.

Scott Smith, the Republican mayor of Mesa.  Has had success during his administration (Mesa is no longer the political, social, economic, intellectual, and cultural laughingstock of Arizona) and is young enough (mid to late 50s) that he could wait until 2018.  On the other hand, the wheels could fall off in Mesa at any time (or, more likely, the Arizona legislature could slash Mesa's tires at any time), so he may be best served by running in 2014.

Steve Pierce, former president of the AZ state senate (he won reelection to the Senate, but lost the R caucus vote for a return to the senate presidency) and rancher in Yavapai County, is rumored to be eyeing the race, but a candidate who isn't from Maricopa or Pima counties has an uphill path.  Add in the fact that while former legislators *have* made it to the 9th Floor (Jan Brewer, Jane Hull), they didn't get there directly, going through other offices first, and he may be least likely to run of anyone mentioned in this post.

Gary Pierce (no relation to Steve), member and former chair of the Arizona Corporation Commission, is also rumored to be interested in the governor's office.  Those rumors received a boost when fellow R Bob Stump was elected as chair of the ACC, presumably to allow Gary Pierce the time to explore a run.


In other 2014 news, maybe we should rename the office of the Arizona Attorney General as the office of Arizona Eternal Optimist:

Tom Horne has formed a reelection committee.

Good God, this is going to be fun.  :)

How NOT to advocate against beefing up common sense gun laws

Yes, this guy is a little extreme, even for the firearms enthusiast/fetishist crowd.  But only a little.

Q & A with Representative Chad Campbell

The start of the 2013 session of the Arizona legislature is less than a week away, and it promises to be a colorful and interesting session (interesting for political geeks, anyway :) ).

In the interest of gaining a little insight into the minds of some legislators and what to expect for the upcoming session, I contacted the legislators from LDs 24 and 26 (I live in LD24 and have known the incoming legislators in LD26 for years) with a number of questions.

The responses will be posted here.

First up:  Representative Chad Campbell (D-Phoenix), the House Democratic leader (questions in black, responses in blue) -

Picture courtesy AZHouseDemocrats.com

What unique perspective or background do you bring to the legislature? I think one of the unique perspectives I bring to the legislature is the fact that I have worked in the public, private and non-profit sectors. I’m one of the few members of the legislature who has this type of experience. I believe this experience gives me valuable insight into how all of these sectors interact with one another and how they impact our community and economy. This is important as we face challenging times which require innovative solutions and partnerships between the three sectors.

 

What will be your priorities for the 2013 session of the legislature? 

1. Increasing and identifying new funding for our schools. 2. Working to improve and strengthen our health care systems. 3. Increasing transparency and accountability at all levels of government, which also means ending handouts to special interests such as private prisons. 4. Providing leadership with a long-term vision, a blueprint for lack of a better term, for our state. We have suffered from leadership that has only made short-sighted decisions over these last few years. That cannot continue.

 

What bills do you plan to introduce? 

There will be several so I can’t list them all out here. Suffice it to say they will all relate to my priorities listed in the above question one way or another.

 

It is difficult for Democratic members of the legislature to have their proposals actually move through the legislature, especially without the support of some of the Republican members. What areas of common ground do you expect/hope to find with Republican members? 

I hope that we can find some common areas around school safety issues in light of the recent tragedy, as well as overall increased funding for our schools. One other area I would like to see some agreement on is tax reform that helps small businesses and families. It’s time to close out many of the loopholes in our tax code that are benefitting only the few and make it a simpler, more effective tax code. This shouldn’t be a partisan issue, it’s just good economics.

 

As in the recent past, expectations are that some "cutting edge" measures will be considered by the legislature this year. Have you heard of any specific proposals that may bring unwanted attention to Arizona? 

Well, we’ve already heard of ludicrous proposals to arm teachers on school campuses, and unfortunately that may be just the tip of the iceberg on this issue. I also expect more bills aimed at demonizing the immigrant community, attacking women’s rights, and additional corporate welfare. We will be there to fight these bad ideas every step of the way.

 

Regardless of the other issues that may arise during the session, the state's budget is always the most contentious. What areas of the budget would you like to see strengthened? What area(s) do you think could withstand a cut? Do you have any ideas for introducing long-term stability to Arizona's budget? 

We really can’t take any more cuts to our budget, and right now we have a surplus so there is no need for it. We need to add funding to our schools, health care, infrastructure, law enforcement, state parks and a whole other litany of programs and areas. One area that does need to have funding reduced is money going to our prisons, specifically private prisons. Prison populations are stable and there is no need for additional beds at this time. Yet, Gov. Brewer and the Tea Party led legislature gave private prisons $50 million last year. This is just one example of the continued bad decision making we’ve seen from the GOP over the last several years.

What we need is a long-term plan for our state. This means a modernized tax code that is fair for everyone which produces the revenue we need for schools, healthcare, infrastructure, and sustainable economic development programs that will make Arizona competitive. We also need to introduce and embrace innovative solutions that are plaguing our schools, health care providers and business sector. We must no longer keep repeating the same mistakes of the past. Arizona must head in a new direction that is not dominated by ideology, but by common sense and logic. I will be unveiling a blueprint for Arizona’s future sometime in the near future that does exactly that.

 

If your constituents want to contact you, what is your office address, phone, and email?

House Minority Leader Chad Campbell
1700 W. Washington
Phoenix, Arizona 85007
602.926.3026
chcampbell@azleg.gov

Freshman Republican Legislator throws down...on the entire state of Iowa

Republican Phil Lovas (R-Peoria), a Representative-elect in the new LD22 (basically the old LD4) has prefiled HB2017.

If passed, it would move the date of Arizona's presidential preference primary to the same date as Iowa's presidential caucuses, unless Iowa is no longer "first in the nation", then it would be held earlier.

These schemes crop up every four years or so.  Often, they even result in intra-party showdowns and brinksmanship (like when Florida was penalized half of its delegates to the national convention by the GOP), but they rarely result in real changes - Iowa has the first presidential caucuses and New Hampshire has the first presidential primaries.

Why?  I don't have a simple answer (and I truly don't believe that there is a simple answer here), but I do have an observation:

The proponents of these schemes always seem to argue that Iowa and New Hampshire don't necessarily have to be "first in the nation", but they never seem to have a good argument why their state should be.

Apparently, it's Arizona's turn to whine.


For the record, I don't think that there is any coincidence that the person proposing the particular bill is from the same area as Jack Harper, the soon-to-be former state legislator and constant source of subject material.

There's just gotta be something in the water there...