Horror in Boston

By now, everyone has heard of the bomb explosions near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday.

As of this writing, three of the victims have died and well more than 100 have suffered injuries, with some of the injured in critical condition.

I don't have much to say about this right now, my thoughts are just too jumbled, but I can say this -

The completely (but, I hope, understandably) selfish part of me is grateful that my friends and family who work in Boston are all OK.  News reports are that these bombs were "small" devices, but my sister Patti works over a mile away and 38 stories above the explosions, and she heard them.  And the seemingly never-ending wail of sirens.

The incredibly sad part of me extends condolences to the friends and families of those who died today, and sends my thoughts and prayers for a quick and full recovery to those who were injured.

The wholeheartedly grateful part of me says "thank you" to the first responders, Marathon volunteers, and simply courageous human beings who ran *toward* the danger to help the victims.   If there is a silver lining to be found in all of this, it is the reaffirmation that there is more good in human nature than bad.

And the unspeakably angry part of me has just one word to say to the coward or cowards behind the attack -

Run.

Coming Events: Maricopa County Democratic Party Celebrating Our Communities

Event tickets can be purchased here.

Coming Events: LD24 Sweet Synergy 2013

The guest list is growing, but is already impressive, with people like Congressman Ed Pastor, Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, State Senator Katie Hobbs, State Representative Lela Alston, State Representative Chad Campbell, Arcadia/Biltmore Constable Carolyn Lane, candidate for governor Fred Duval, and candidate for attorney general Felecia Rotellini already planning to attend.

Make the list even more impressive by adding your name to it here.

Coming Events: LD26 Chili Cook Off

Good people, good food, good causes = good time

 

6th Annual D26 Democrats Chili Cook Off

Proceeds will benefit D26, and Respect Arizona, the committee to Recall Sheriff Arpaio

Guest of Honor: Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema

Special Guests: State Senator Ed Ableser, State Representatives Andrew Sherwood and Juan Mendez, Mesa City Councilman Dennis Kavanaugh, Randy Parraz, and more!

What: Come judge the best chili, salsa, and guacamole Arizona Democrats have to offer! Enjoy a “Best of D26” Silent Auction; with donations by local Dem-friendly businesses! Turning Arizona-Blue Martinis, a cake by Honeymoon Sweets, Bocce Ball Contest, Lawn Games, and a Special Musical Performance by ASU’s Priority Male!

When: Saturday, April 20th, 2013 4:00pm to 7:00pm

Where: The Barnes House - 1104 S Ash, Tempe

Compete for Bragging Rights (and Prizes): Email the name of your chili (specify meat or vegan), Guacamole, or Salsa to: D26Dems@gmail.com

Tickets: $25 ($15 for Young Democrats; $10 for Children)

WHEN

April 20, 2013 at 4pm - 7pm

WHERE

The Barnes House
1104 S Ash
Tempe, AZ 85282
United States
Google map and directions

 

 

Purchase tickets here. 

Arizona Legislature: "Silly season" becomes "ignorant and ugly season"

Normally, this would be time for the "coming week" post, but there truly isn't much on the schedule right now.  It's subject to change (and probably will change) at a moment's notice, but right now the highlight of the week looks to be the lege's annual House v. Senate softball game on Tuesday.  It is scheduled to take place at the field at SRP's PERA Club in Tempe (1 E. Continental Drive) at 5 p.m.

However, because of the light schedule (so far), it might be wise to use this opportunity to highlight why this may be the most dangerous time in this, or any other, session of the legislature.

This past Thursday, State Sen. Judy "Birther" Burges held a hearing to denounce the UN's Rio Declaration on Environment and Development in particular, and sustainability and "green" initiatives in general, as efforts to take away American sovereignty and Americans' freedom.

Perhaps (not-so) surprisingly, things got a little colorful.

Posted by State Sen. Steve Farley on Facebook - 

The most specific thing noted in the update, Rep. Bob "body armor shill" Thorpe's urging the crowd to commit a felony (violating ARS 13-3107, also known as "Shannon's Law"), could be considered a crime in and of itself (see: ARS 13-1002).  Assuming that Thorpe actually did this (and such an assumption is necessary as the video record of the meeting hasn't been posted on the lege's website), he has all-but-absolute legal immunity for anything he says while at the legislature.

Still, "immune" in this context doesn't mean "didn't violate the law"; it just means "not responsible for his words".

As for the part about pointing out "Sandy Bahr of the Sierra Club as a target"?  Until I see the recording of the meeting to see exactly what Thorpe said, I'll reserve comment.

Fair notice time:  If it turns out that Thorpe was advocating violence against someone because that person disagrees with him politically, that comment will be clear and direct.


All of this brings to mind the old saying - 

The devil finds work for idle hands.

 According to TheFreeDictionary.com, this means "something that you say which means people who have no work or activity are more likely to do things they should not do, such as commit crimes".

It's as if the creator of that saying had Rep. Bob Thorpe and the AZ lege in mind when they came up with it. 


Note: I've been told both that the meeting video will and will not be posted on the lege's website.  If it is, I'll link to it and do a fuller analysis and commentary.  Until, and if, that happens, I've got a few feelers out to people who were at the meeting.  However, it's the weekend, and I don't expect to hear from anyone until Monday at the earliest.

2014 candidates update

More like a "committees" update since this is based on the actual formation of political committees; since every person who has ever held or run for office in Arizona is being talked about as a 2014 candidate, that would be too long a post.

This will be a short post. :)


...Christopher Campbell of Prescott Valley (R) has formed an exploratory committee for a run at the Corporation Committee.  The name sounded familiar, so I did a little research.  One "Christopher Campbell" was a big part of the "fake Green candidates" scandal in 2010.  That Christopher Campbell was a roommate of the daughter of former Arizona House speaker Jim Weiers.  He was one of many non-Green Party members who were recruited to run as write-in candidates in competitive races in an attempt to siphon votes away from Democratic candidates.  I don't know that this is the same Christopher Campbell, but this one was active with the MCRC (Maricopa County Republican Committee) the following year, and I am not a fan of coincidence.


...State Senator Leah Landrum Taylor, the Democratic leader in the AZ Senate, has formed an exploratory committee to look at a run for AZ Secretary of State.  She is smart and well-spoken, and also term-limited out of the Senate.  Unless Ed Pastor takes a presidential cabinet post or an ambassadorship (or simply retires from Congress), a 2014 run for a seat in Congress for her seems unlikely. 



...Jim Holway of Phoenix (D) has opened an exploratory committee for a run at the Corporation Commission.  He is currently a member of the Central Arizona Water Conservation District (CAWCD), also known as the Board of Directors of the Central Arizona Project (CAP).  Will Greene of Blog for Arizona has more information here.


...Andrew Walter, a former quarterback at ASU, has filed with the FEC to run for the Republican nomination for the Congressional seat currently held by Democrat Kyrsten Sinema (CD9).  Don't know enough about him to evaluate his chances against Sinema, but it may not matter - the Republican field in that race will be crowded, and unlike Walter, most of the other Republicans in the race won't be newbies.

Word is that he's been test-driving a campaign stump speech that makes the tea party look moderate; we'll see if he sticks with that.


More to come...

Arizona Legislature: The coming week

Another quiet week, which means that all of the interesting stuff will be going on behind closed doors.  However, keep an eye on the committee schedule - if something breaks on the budget front, they'll try to ram it through with minimal public input.  Meeting notices will be posted at or near the last minute.

Speculation (stuff that doesn't even rise to the level of whispers of rumors) is that the budget is on the back burner right now while the governor's office and the Republican leadership work out the details of Medicaid expansion.  Personally, I suspect that some of the budget and health care expansion talks are intertwined (as in "we'll put this in the budget if you vote for expansion" and the like) and both may come down together.  It's just going to take a while to work out the details and gather the votes.

As of right now, I expect the legislative session to continue well into May.

Of course, this could all change Monday morning. :)

In the meantime, look for more 'the black helicopters are coming!' (and similar) events at the Capitol, as bored legislators look to keep their names in the news.


As usual, all committee agendas, floor calendars, and event schedules are subject to change without notice. Call ahead to confirm plans before traveling to the Capitol based on an agenda, calendar, or schedule cited here.

Notes:

If an agenda is summarized with "looks harmless so far" that only means that nothing on the agenda set off "bat-shit crazy" alarm bells; if the committee in question covers an area of interest to you, check out the full agenda yourself. And if I missed something significant, please leave a comment letting me know.

A hearing room designation of "SHR" means it is a hearing room in the Senate building; "HHR" means that the hearing room is in the House building.

Lastly, this summary is not, nor is it intended to be, comprehensive. Many bills have been covered, but not all of them. Again, if a committee covers an area of interest to you, please check out the full agenda yourself.


Floor activity:

Monday's Senate Committee of the Whole (COW) calendar is here; Monday's House COW calendar is here.


Committee activity:

House side of the Capitol -

Rules, Monday, 1 p.m., HHR4.  Not a long agenda; may take all of five minutes to rubberstamp.

...and that's it for the House side of the Capitol.  Which isn't much, but it is still more than the Senate side of the Capitol, which has bupkes scheduled.  So far, anyway.


Capitol (and area) activity:

The lege's calendar of Capitol events is here.  Potentially the most newsworthy item on that calendar is a press conference scheduled for Thursday by the governor's office (10:30 a.m., House lawn).

Taking place on Wednesday, but not listed on the schedule, is the Republican caucus' modern-day version of a Tupperware party - the body armor party.

The Arizona Department of Administration's list of state-level commission and board meetings is here.

Arizona Legislature: Silly season is here

At the Arizona legislature, most of the real work is done, well, "real" by legislative standards anyway.

Committee work is all but complete - there may be some presentations to hear or some executive nominations to consider, but not much else, at least until the budget comes down from the leadership and/or any part of the Governor's Medicaid expansion proposal becomes subject to legislative consideration.

There are still floor sessions every day, but the calendars for those are short or even nonexistent. 

On some days, the floor session consists of a pledge (of allegiance to the flag), a prayer (to a God, and given this is AZ,  that is rich, white, male, and Christian), and a point (of personal privilege, where individual legislators rise to speak about anything that strikes their fancy) and not much more.

However, while there is little going on at the lege, at least publicly, legislators still have to show up to the job.

Which means that they tend to be bored, and much as with, say, teenagers, "bored" leads to "mischief".

Today's example: freshman State Rep. Bob Thorpe (R-of course).

Courtesy columnist Laurie Roberts of the Arizona Republic -

In the wake of Newtown, the state of Connecticut on Thursday enacted what some are calling the strongest gun laws in the nation, including limits on the size of magazines, a ban on armor piercing bullets and universal background checks.

 

[snip]

 

Meanwhile, in the state of Arizona, a legislator on Thursday offered a response to our own massacre.

 

“In the wake of Tucson shooting, I have been researching body armor in order to inform our members about the costs and options for those wishing to purchase a vest for their person use, for example, at town halls, parades and other public events,” Rep. Bob Thorpe wrote, in an e-mail to fellow legislators. “These vests have prices ranging from about $600-$800 and options that include their weight and comfort, bullet stopping ability and colors.”

 

You’ve heard of Tupperware parties?  Thorpe, a Flagstaff Republican, has invited members of the Arizona Legislature to a body armor party. Next Wednesday, a representative of AZ Tactical will be on hand in basement of the Arizona House to extol the virtues of various vests and take orders...

While this is highly mockable (hence this post), there is one silver lining -

With his proposal, Thorpe becomes the first Republican legislator in Arizona to admit that there is a gun violence problem in AZ.

His proposed solution may constitute a giant flipping off of civil society, but whether he intended it or not, Thorpe has started a discussion that needs to be started.

Having said all of that, expect more goofy proposals in the coming weeks, from legislators looking to entertain themselves.

Arizona's version of the mutaween have Bisbee in their sights now

Courtesy The FreeDictionary.com: Mutaween - religious police in Saudi Arabia whose duty is to ensure strict adherence to established codes of conduct; offenders may be detained indefinitely; foreigners are not excluded.

The mutaween don't exactly have a good public image outside of Saudi Arabia, but that doesn't seem to have hurt them inside Saudi Arabia.

Clarification on 4/4:  Per a conversation in the comments section of this post with State Rep. John Kavanagh, he wrote both of the strikers submitted under his name, the "show your papers before you pee" measure and the "bigot protection" act.  Per that conversation, any impression given by the post that CATP wrote either or both measures is incorrect.

End clarification.

The Center for Arizona Theocracy Policy may not have quite as much control "influence" over civil society as they would like (and are striving toward), but when it comes to Republican elected officials, all they have to do is tug on the leash and electeds come to heel in a flash.

Witness State Rep. John Kavanagh's (R-Fountain Hills) "snap-to" when Cathi Herrod and the CATP got their apoplexy on over Phoenix' passage of an anti-discrimination ordinance - he proposed a "show your papers before you pee" bill that morphed into a "bigot protection act". 

If enacted into law, it almost certainly will be struck down by a court of law, but the CATP isn't about following the law, it's about blind adherence to dogma.

Now, it is the small town of Bisbee that has roused the ire of the grand high "poobahs" of moral rectitude in Arizona.

From the Arizona Republic, written by Lindsey Collom and Alia Beard Rau -

Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne warned Bisbee on Tuesday that his office would take legal action against the city if council members approve an ordinance tonight allowing civil unions for gay couples. 

 

The unions would be recognized only within the city limits and would grant rights given to a married couple, including property ownership, inheritance, guardianship and adoption.

 

[snip]

 

Three Republican state lawmakers -- Sen. Gail Griffin, of Hereford, and Reps. David Gowan and David Stevens of Sierra Vista -- complained to his office, saying that consituents had contacted them, expressing concern that the proposed ordinance may be in violation of the state's constitution, Horne said. 

 

On Monday, a powerful conservative advocacy group, the Center for Arizona Policy, sent city officials a similar letter and threatened to sue the city if it allows civil unions.

As the crow flies, the distance between CATP's headquarters and the AZAG's office is a little over six miles (approximately a 1/2 mile more to the state capitol) and it is a little more than 10 miles by street (approximately a 1/2 mile more to the state capitol.  Thank you Google Maps :)  ).

Anybody know the record for the longest lapdog leash?


PS - Am I the only one who thinks that it is rather "ironic" that CATP has called on Tom Horne to be the point man in their defense of the "sanctity" of marriage?


Columnist EJ Montini of the Arizona Republic offers his take here.

AZBlueMeanie of Blog for Arizona offers his take here.

Arizona Legislature: The coming week

Definitely a good week to keep an eye out for additional or updated committee agendas, if only because neither chamber's appropriations committee has an agenda posted yet....

As usual, all committee agendas, floor calendars, and event schedules are subject to change without notice. Call ahead to confirm plans before traveling to the Capitol based on an agenda, calendar, or schedule cited here.

Notes:

If an agenda is summarized with "looks harmless so far" that only means that nothing on the agenda set off "bat-shit crazy" alarm bells; if the committee in question covers an area of interest to you, check out the full agenda yourself. And if I missed something significant, please leave a comment letting me know.

A hearing room designation of "SHR" means it is a hearing room in the Senate building; "HHR" means that the hearing room is in the House building.

Lastly, this summary is not, nor is it intended to be, comprehensive. Many bills have been covered, but not all of them. Again, if a committee covers an area of interest to you, please check out the full agenda yourself.


Floor activity:
Monday's House Third Read (final approval) calendar is here; Monday's House COW (Committee of the Whole) calendar is here.

Monday's Senate Third Read calendar is here; Monday's Senate COW calendar is here.

Each of the above calendars has a smattering of controversial bills lurking among the harmless ones.

Example: HB2455, mandating that municipalities sell any firearms that come into its possession, no matter how they came to possess the gun.  For example, if someone voluntarily turns in a weapon to be destroyed, under this proposal, the municipality could only turn around and sell it.


Committee activity:

House side of the Capitol -

Commerce, Wednesday, 10 a.m., HHR5.  Presentations only.


Senate side of the Capitol -

Natural Resources and Rural Affairs, Wednesday, 10 a.m., SHR109.  Executive nomination only.

Public Safety, Wednesday, 2 p.m., SHR109.  Executive nomination only.


Capitol and area activity:

The lege's Capitol Events calendar is here.

The Arizona Department of Administration's list of public meeting notices is here.

Shooter claims he frightened teacher and students because of concern over bullying; doesn't realize the irony

When reports surfaced that he stormed into a school in Yuma, scaring a teacher and a classroom full of students, State Sen. Don Shooter (R-Yuma) chose to remain silent, declining to comment when reporters contacted him.

He changed his mind on Friday.

From the Arizona Capitol Times, written by Ben Giles -

A visibly upset Sen. Don Shooter entered a classroom against a school official’s will and verbally confronted a teacher during class, frightening the students and the teacher, Yuma police reported.

 

The teacher is pursuing an assault charge against the senator, according to the police report.

 

Shooter initially declined to comment.   This morning, he issued a statement saying:  “Don Shooter, as a concerned grandfather, went to his grandson’s school to discuss several incidents of alleged bullying by a teacher. Mr. Shooter has since spoken to the principal and both parties are working to help his grandson.”

That's niiiiiice.

Here it is, March of 2013, and there's a grandfather who is willing to go to any length, face any foe, no matter how young or how frightened, to protect his (allegedly) bullied grandson.

Of course, in March of 2012, that grandfather was nowhere to be found when SB1462 came to a vote.

[cue up the irony]

That bill was designed to address bullying in schools.

[end irony]

Apparently, Shooter's grandson wasn't an issue in 2012; Shooter voted against the measure.


Now, Arizona's Republicans shouldn't fret - this incident, no matter how it plays out, shouldn't affect Shooter's work in the state senate.  He probably won't lose his committee chairmanship.

After all, he's the chair of the Senate "Appropriations" Committee, not the Senate "Appropriate Behavior" Committee.


Note1:  If such a committee actually existed, they'd have to dig deep to find enough Rs to serve on the committee.

Note2: In 2012, SB1462 passed the Arizona Senate, only to be publicly, and painfully, killed by lobbyist/unelected but de facto legislator Cathi Herrod, president of the Center for Arizona Theocracy Policy.

Who has been busy this year, too.

Sen. Don Shooter interrupts a class to confront a teacher

State Sen. Don Shooter (R-Yuma), who famously displayed his "charm" in 2011 when he showed up at a special session of the legislature in a costume of a serape, sombrero, and gun holster with a bottle of tequila.

Now, he has loosed his charm closer to home, and the Yuma Police Department is investigating.

From the Arizona Capitol Times, written by Ben Giles -

Yuma Police have confirmed they are investigating a complaint that state Sen. Don Shooter went into a Yuma charter school and confronted a teacher.

 

Sgt. Leanne Worthen, a public affairs officer for the Yuma Police Department, told the Arizona Capitol Times that police were called at approximately 3 p.m. Friday with a report that a man had entered the EOC Charter School in Yuma and verbally confronted a teacher at approximately 9:30 a.m.

 

Worthen confirmed that the man in question was Shooter, R-Yuma. No arrests have been made and no charges have been filed against the senator, and the investigation into the incident remains open, Worthen said.

According to the Cap Times' story, Shooter "got past" a school employee on door duty and interrupted a class to confront the teacher who was the target of his ire.

Even if charges are ultimately filed against Shooter (hardly a sure thing), based on the Cap Times' report, any charges will be low-level ones, and legislators still have immunity from arrest on misdemeanor charges during the legislative session.  Even after being thoroughly criticized over the matter when former state senator Scott Bundgaard invoked that immunity to avoid arrest after his infamous 2011 domestic violence "incident".

...Wonder if all of this will impact Shooter's votes on the various legislative proposals to turn schools into armed encampments? 

More to come...maybe. 

Wednesday's House Approps meeting: more than just protecting bigots on the agenda

As if his Bigot Protection Act hadn't set up tomorrow's meeting of House Appropriations to be very contentious, Rep. John Kavanagh (R-Fountain Hills) scheduled two other "interesting" items for consideration:

SB1325, turning small (< 600 students), rural (> 30 minutes and 20 miles away from the nearest "law enforcement facility) schools into armed encampments (regular agenda)

How about we call this bill the "Creating More Dead Students Act".

SB1363, expanding Arizona's school voucher program "empowerment scholarship accounts" (special agenda)

Let's call this one the "Yarbrough Revenue Enhancement Act".


Hmmm...how about a pop-culture inspired prediction?

My Buzzword Bracket for tomorrow has for its Final Four (predicting the words used most often by the Rs in the room) -

Liberty

Bible

Protect

Business

And no matter which one emerges as the champion (I'm betting on "Business"), the people of Arizona will go down to defeat, submarined by their own elected legislators.

Kavanagh changes his bathroom bill; scraps jail for transgender people in favor of protection for bigots

Wow.  It seems that Rep. John Kavanagh is mellowing with age.

Last week, he wanted transgendered people to go to jail for daring to go to the bathroom.  This week, he just wants to protect people who discriminate against the transgendered.

He has amended the agenda for this week's meeting of the House Appropriations Committee to include a proposed striker to SB1045 -

Strike everything after the enacting clause and insert:

"Section 1.  Title 41, chapter 9, article 3, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 41-1444, to read:

START_STATUTE41-1444.  Privacy; public place; public accommodation; state preemption; definitions

A.  The regulation of access to privacy areas in places of public accommodation based on gender identity or expression is of statewide concern and is not subject to further regulation by a county, city, town or other political subdivision of this state.

B.  A county, city, town or other political subdivision of this state shall not enact or enforce an ordinance or policy that requires a person or business to regulate access to privacy areas based on gender identity or expression.

C.  No person or business shall be civilly or criminally liable for denying access to privacy areas based on gender identity or expression.

D.  This section does not prohibit a person or business from allowing access to privacy areas based on gender identity or expression.

E.  Any ordinance or policy that relates to access to privacy areas based on gender identity or expression that is inconsistent with this section is void and of no force or effect.

F.  For the purposes of this section:

1.  "gender identity or expression" means either:

(a)  An individual's self‑identification as male, female or something in between and includes an individual's appearance, mannerisms or other characteristics only insofar as they relate to gender with or without regard to the individual's designated sex at birth.

(b)  Any other substantially similar self‑identification of gender.

2.  "Privacy areas" means areas in places of public accommodation where access is restricted based on sex, including a public restroom, bathroom, shower, bath, dressing room or locker room.

Sec. 2.  Emergency

This act is an emergency measure that is necessary to preserve the public peace, health or safety and is operative immediately as provided by law."

Oh yeah - in a particularly nasty touch, Kavanagh apparently thinks that bigots are in such dire need of protection from the transgendered (and from Phoenix' anti-discrimination ordinance, which is really what this is all about) that it is an emergency situation.

For the emergency clause to go into effect, however, it will take a 2/3 vote of each chamber of the legislature. 

Since I'm pretty sure that every D in each chamber will vote against this, that won't happen.  On the other hand, I'm also pretty sure that every R at the lege will support the legalization of hatred, so the bill will pass, and Governor Jan Brewer will probably sign it.

It just won't go into force until 90 days after the end of the legislative session.  The lag time is meant to allow time for legal challenges, and that may be Kavanagh's rationale - he's fully aware that if enacted, his proposal will face many legal challenges.

The "emergency" situation that the clause may be intended to address is a concern that the bill could be stayed or overturned before it goes into effect, and that could put a crimp in the amount of adulation (and campaign contributions) he receives from the supporters of the Center for Arizona Theocracy Policy.

Note:  In case you didn't already figure it out, the "mellowing with age" crack at the beginning of the post was sarcasm.


Dennis Welch of KTVK (channel 3) has less opinionated coverage here.

Mary Jo Pitzl of the Arizona Republic has a story here on how Kavanagh's attempt to regulate bathroom use has apparently inspired a recall effort against him.

Arizona Legislature: The coming week

Things are quieting down on the committee activity front.  We've reached the point in the session where only the respective Appropriations committees are allowed to consider legislation.  Other committees will meet, but mostly to hear presentations or to consider executive branch nominations.  To consider legislation, they'll need the permission of their respective chamber's leadership.

That permission will be granted, but not often.

Now, the primary activities at the lege will be backroom work on the state's budget and members trying to finagle favored measures (ones that are still alive, anyway) onto a floor calendar for final consideration and passage.

Oh, and catching up on reading.  Any member of the lege who isn't a member of Republican leadership is going to have an increasing amount of free time on their hands in the coming weeks.


As usual, all committee agendas, floor calendars, and event schedules are subject to change without notice. Call ahead to confirm plans before traveling to the Capitol based on an agenda, calendar, or schedule cited here.

Notes:

If an agenda is summarized with "looks harmless so far" that only means that nothing on the agenda set off "bat-shit crazy" alarm bells; if the committee in question covers an area of interest to you, check out the full agenda yourself. And if I missed something significant, please leave a comment letting me know.

A hearing room designation of "SHR" means it is a hearing room in the Senate building; "HHR" means that the hearing room is in the House building.

Lastly, this summary is not, nor is it intended to be, comprehensive. Many bills have been covered, but not all of them. Again, if a committee covers an area of interest to you, please check out the full agenda yourself.


Floor activity:
Monday's House Third Read (final approval) calendar is here; Monday's House Committee of the Whole (COW) calendar is here.

Monday's Senate COW calendars are here and here.


Committee Activity:

Senate side of the Capitol -

Rules, Monday, 1 p.m., Senate Caucus Room 1.  Long agenda to be rubber-stamped.

Transportation, Tuesday, 1 p.m., SHR3.  Executive nomination only.

Appropriations, Tuesday, 2 p.m., SHR109.  Long agenda with many bills and many strikers.  On the agenda: a striker to HB2111 relating to a large number of changes to Arizona's laws regarding the transaction privilege tax (TPT, aka sales tax).  I think that this is one that the state's cities and towns are opposed to (there are a couple of versions of this floating around the lege and I'm not sure which this one is); a striker to HB2208, reducing the tax on insurance premiums (this is a measure that someone is really hot for as it keeps coming up this session); a striker to HB2232, allowing counties, cities and towns to forego publishing public notices in a newspaper in favor of publishing them on the internet; a striker to HB2245. expanding the definition of criminal trespass.

Natural Resources and Rural Affairs, Wednesday, 10 a.m., SHR109.  Executive nomination only.

Public Safety, Wednesday, 2 p.m., SHR109.  Executive nominations only.

Finance, Wednesday, 2 p.m., SHR3.  Executive nominations only.


House side of the Capitol -

Rules, Monday, 1 p.m., HHR4.  Long agenda to rubberstamp, but should serve as a good preview of some of the bad bills that will reach the floor later this week or sometime next week.

Commerce, Wednesday, 2 p.m., HHR5.  No legislation to hear, just propaganda presentations on the effect of environmental laws on Arizona businesses.

Appropriations, Wednesday, 2 p.m., HHR1.  On the long agenda: HB2334, repealing energy standards for portable electric spas, residential swimming pool pumps, and the like.  Sponsor Rep. Steve Montenegro has attached an "emergency" clause, meaning that if it gains 2/3 support in both chambers, it becomes law immediately upon the governor's signature;  a striker to SB1432.  The agenda currently lists the striker as one that has to do with "behavioral health examiners board; continuation" (no text available at this time) but it more likely will be a striker from Rep. John Kavanagh that has become known as the "show your papers before you pee" proposal. 

His proposal would make a person of one gender entering a bathroom, locker room, or changing room marked as for use by the other gender guilty of disorderly conduct, a class 1 misdemeanor, something that could earn someone up to six months in jail.  Kavanagh's proposal looks to be to counteract the anti-discrimination ordinance recently passed by the city council in Phoenix.

Guess we can call Kavanagh's proposal "pro-discrimination", or at least "anti-anti-discrimination".

Should be a colorful meeting, to say the least.


Capitol events:

The lege's calendar of Capitol events is here.

The Arizona Department of Administration's list of state-level public meetings is here.