Legislative schedule - week starting 4/10/2022

We've entered the time of the session when writing this post is easy because there's almost no committee activity at the state capitol (which is good for me personally), but legislators are bored, which is NOT good for Arizonans.

When legislators have too much time on their hands, their minds turn to red meat for their base issues, aka - culture war issues.

Many of those will be receiving Rules Committee and/or floor consideration this week, and that's just on Monday, as the calendars and agendas for later in the week haven't been posted as yet.

Note: HHR refers to a hearing room in the House building; SHR refers to one in the Senate building.

Note2: Generally, I'll only specify bills that look to propagate propaganda.  Other bills may be more conventionally bad (think: corrupt or other misuses of public monies and/or authority.  My recommendation is that if an agenda covers an area of interest to you, read the entire agenda.

Note3: Each chamber's respective Rules Committee meets on Monday, the House's in HHR4 at 1 p.m. and the Senate's in Senate Caucus Room 1, also at 1 p.m.  Both committees serve as rubber stamps for bills leadership wants to be advanced and gatekeepers for measures that leadership wants stopped.

Note4: Meeting start times may be listed, but are flexible.  Before journeying to the Capitol or viewing the meeting online, verify the start time.

Note5: Watch for strikers, or strike everything amendments.  Those involve inserting language into the entirety of a bill.  Those can be introduced at any time and can make a previously harmless bill into a very bad one.  

Betcha I know what movie that they're watching in Congress tonight

Well, to be watched by the members that aren't otherwise occupied by hanging with Madison Cawthorn, doing coke, and participating in orgies.

From Politico -

No more 'dillydallying' and 'lollygagging': Congress finally puts its foot down on Russia

Congress finally came to grips this week with one simple fact about Russia’s war in Ukraine: the U.S. is in it for the long haul.

After weeks of delays, the Senate and House nearly unanimously passed legislation to isolate Moscow from the global economy in ways that some acknowledge could become permanent. It’s also the first time since Vladimir Putin’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine that lawmakers have sent sanctions measures to President Joe Biden’s desk.

[snip]

“We’re in the middle of a war,” House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Gregory Meeks lamented. “This is serious business. They don’t have time to be lollygagging. That should not happen in a time of crisis. We have found ways on the House side to work together.”

"Lollygagging"?

That reference made me think of one particular scene from one particular movie.

Bull Durham. (link goes to a YouTube video and will have ads, and is probably not safe for work, so don't watch the video there.)

In the scene, the manager, played by Trey Wilson, threw some baseball bats at his players to scare them into not "lollygagging".

He described baseball as a "simple game"

Dealing with Vladimir Putin will be less simple.

Step one: Don't be like Cheeto.  Don't kiss Vlad's ass.

Caveat: Bull Durham is one of my favorite movies evah, and is, IMO, the best baseball movie ever.

A Good News, Bad News kind of day -

First up, the (very) good news.

From CNN -

Senate confirms Ketanji Brown Jackson to be first Black woman to sit on Supreme Court

The Senate confirmed President Joe Biden's Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson on Thursday in a historic vote that paves the way for her to become the first Black woman to serve on the highest court in the nation.

The tally was 53-47, with Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Mitt Romney of Utah and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska joining Democrats to vote in favor.

The vote is here.

As far as AZ Senator's go, unsurprisingly, Mark Kelly voted to support Jackson's nomination; while, a bit surprisingly, so did Kyrsten Sinema.

Not to worry - the Terrible Twosome brought shame to Arizona.

From The Hill -

Here are the six Republicans who voted against investigating Russia for war crimes

The House on Wednesday passed a bill that would direct President Biden to prepare a report on the government’s efforts to collect and examine evidence related to war crimes and other atrocities committed during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The bipartisan legislation, dubbed the Ukraine Invasion War Crimes Deterrence and Accountability Act, passed the lower chamber in a 418-7 vote, with all those in opposition belonging to the Republican Party.

A spokesman for Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) said the congresswoman mistakenly voted against the bill, and plans to tell the House clerk that she meant to vote in favor.

GOP Reps. Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Warren Davidson (Ohio), Paul Gosar (Ariz.), Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Thomas Massie (Ky.) and Scott Perry (Pa.) all opposed the bill.

The vote is here.

As expected, Biggs hurried to spin/rationalize his vote.

From twitter -

It should be noted that Arizona was the only state with more than one member of its contingent to vote against the measure.

Hope Vlad got his money's worth with these two.

"Truth as joke?" or "Republicans are *such* cut ups!"

Pointed to this by Taegan Goddard's Political Wire.

From AP -

At DC roast, NH’s GOP governor skewers Trump as ‘crazy’

GOP Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire said Donald Trump is “crazy” 

and joked that if the former Republican president was admitted to a mental 

hospital, “he ain’t getting out!”

Sununu skewered Trump during the Gridiron Club’s spring dinner Saturday 

night, an annual Washington gathering featuring skits and speeches from 

Democrats, Republicans and journalists that are expected to “singe” but 

“not burn” the capital’s political elite.

“He’s (expletive) crazy!” Sununu said in salty remarks that roasted members 

of both parties as well as the Washington journalists who cover them. The 

governor added: “The press often will ask me if I think Donald Trump is 

crazy. And I’ll say it this way: I don’t think he’s so crazy that you could 

put him in a mental institution. But I think if he were in one, he ain’t 

getting out!”

AP is more genteel than I am. 

The word that they censored is "fucking".

Ummm...

Maybe someone should tweet that the Earth is flat and that the universe revolves around it.  Maybe she'll retweet/endorse that idea too.

From Twitter -

Federal Committee update (and State Committee update)

There's nothing to update here, as nominating signatures are due at the office of the Arizona Secretary of State on Monday.

I don't expect any new committees to be formed at this point, though after ballot candidates are finalized, a few may be.  Signatures can be collected without a committee, but funds cannot be raised or expended without one.

Some people, legislative candidates mostly, have qualified for the ballot already.  Statewide candidates here.  Legislative candidates here.

One Democratic candidate won't be submitting sigs.

From KJZZ -

Democratic Diego Rodriguez drops out of race for Arizona AG

Democrat Diego Rodriguez dropped out of the race for Arizona attorney general Friday, leaving former Corporation Commissioner Kris Mayes as the only Democrat in the contest.

Rodriguez announced his decision days before the deadline to submit signatures to appear on the ballot. He did not give a reason but thanked his supporters and said in a statement, "I intend to remain a part of building a better Arizona."

Legislative schedule - week starting 4/3/2022

Note: HHR refers to a hearing room in the House building; SHR refers to one in the Senate building.

Note2: Generally, I'll only specify bills that look to propagate propaganda.  Other bills may be more conventionally bad (think: corrupt or other misuses of public monies and/or authority.  My recommendation is that if an agenda covers an area of interest to you, read the entire agenda.

Note3: Each chamber's respective Rules Committee meets on Monday, the House's in HHR4 at 1 p.m. and the Senate's in Senate Caucus Room 1, also at 1 p.m.  Both committees serve as rubber stamps for bills leadership wants to be advanced and gatekeepers for measures that leadership wants stopped.

Note4: Meeting start times may be listed, but are flexible.  Before journeying to the Capitol or viewing the meeting online, verify the start time.

Note5: Watch for strikers, or strike everything amendments.  Those involve inserting language into the entirety of a bill.  Those can be introduced at any time and can make a previously harmless bill into a very bad one.  

We've entered "hurry up and wait" time at the Arizona State Legislature as the Republican leadership at the lege scurries about, crafting a state budget out of the view of the public and most of the membership of the lege behind closed doors, to be handed down in its entirety for a vote by the lege.

I don't expect that this process will take *too* long, as this is an election year - most politicians would rather be out campaigning than be at the Capitol.

As of right now, no regular committees are scheduled to meet at the lege.

From the lege's official calendar -

The one committee that is scheduled to meet is not a regular one.

On Thursday, 4/7 at 2 p.m., the House Ad Hoc Committee on International Affairs meets in HHR1.  No bills on the agenda (there never are for ad hoc committees), just a speaker from the German consulate in Los Angeles.

Cawthorn learns one of Cheeto's lessons - don't take responsibility for your own acts

If at first you don't succeed, blame someone that has nothing to do with it in the first place.

From NBC -

Cawthorn responds to GOP backlash over ‘orgy’ comments by blaming Democrats for his remarks

Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C., broke his silence Friday after days of GOP uproar over his remarks on a podcast claiming congressional colleagues were using drugs and inviting him to sex parties.

But in a lengthy statement, Cawthorn attempted to distance himself from his own comments by suggesting it was Democrats and the media that made the allegations about cocaine use and orgies.

“My comments on a recent podcast appearance calling out corruption have been used by the left and the media to disparage my Republican colleagues and falsely insinuate their involvement in illicit activities," he said in statement posted to Twitter.

Now, I may be a thoroughgoing wiseass, but even I won't speculate as to the truth of Cawthorn's "cocaine and orgies" allegations...unless "snorting K Street lobbyists' money while engaged in a group screwing over of the American people" qualifies.

Of course, Cawthorn doesn't seem like a big 'metaphor' guy.

Maybe Rep. Kevin McCarthy needs to engage the services of a colorectal surgeon

He seem to have a brash asshole to deal with, and an asshole is still an asshole.

From TalkingPointsMemo -

The Uncanny Fall of the Feral Man-Boy Madison Cawthorn

I’ve been fascinated by the evolving Madison Cawthorn ‘scandal’. As TPM Readers know as well as anyone, House Republicans saying batsh*t insane stuff pretty much weekly. They not infrequently make statements in support of fringe racist and domestic terror groups. They endorse borderline sedition (light treason, if you will). These pass with as little trace as a brief summer shower. Yet here we have Cawthorn whipping out this weird Boogie Nights reverie about cocaine-filled orgies among his colleagues in Congress, a den of iniquity the brash young man-boy Cawthorn says he is striving to keep himself pure from. And yet this looks to be on the verge of making him a political dead man walking among congressional Republicans. Kevin McCarthy said yesterday that Cawthorn has “lost my trust” and that if he doesn’t shape up he could be stripped of his committee assignments or worse.

McCarthy and Politico describe this as just the latest of Cawthorn’s misdeeds. But the truth is that I haven’t heard McCarthy or any other congressional Republican express any problem with Cawthorn until this comment. How is it this that is just a step too far? Maybe I’m naive but I don’t think anyone believes that there’s a big swinger cocaine scene up on Capitol Hill, as he claimed. A few people? Sure, maybe. But I don’t think that would spur this kind of furious response. I assume this would just be more nonsense everyone would ignore. But far, far from it. Now North Carolina’s senior Senator, Tom Tillis, says he’s backing Cawthorn’s primary opponent. In the context of electoral politics, that’s little short of a death sentence.

WebMD has a list of such surgeons in DC; of course, McCarthy and most of the members of his caucus have their craniums lodged so firmly up the butts, the surgeons may not be able to help him or them.

Dougie declares his candidacy for the R nomination for *something*; I'm not yet sure for what, but he's running for it.

From AP -

Arizona governor signs bills limiting abortion, trans rights

Arizona’s Republican governor signed a series of bills Wednesday targeting 

abortion and transgender rights, joining a growing list of GOP-led states 

pursuing a conservative social agenda.

The measures signed by Gov. Doug Ducey will outlaw abortion after 

15 weeks if the U.S. Supreme Court allows it, prohibit gender confirmation 

surgery for minors and ban transgender girls from playing on girls and 

women’s sports teams.

From NPR -

Arizona Republicans enact a controversial new proof-of-citizenship voting law

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey on Wednesday signed legislation to expand U.S. citizenship voting requirements in the state, a measure that critics warn will jeopardize the voter registrations of thousands of Arizona residents.

In signing House Bill 2492, Ducey disputed testimony from local officials and voting rights advocates who say an unknown number of voters — predominantly older, longtime Arizona residents — will be purged from the state's voter rolls because the last time they registered to vote, there was no requirement to provide proof of citizenship. Critics say those voters would then need to register again.

If nothing else, Ducey has announced that he's got at least one thing in common with each member of the GQP base - he's as much a hater as any of them.

Candidates aren't the only choices that will be on the ballot

This post isn't meant to a competitor to Blog for Arizona's post on the same topic; it's more a supplement.

It's unlikely that all of these will obtain enough signatures to make it to the ballot; these are just open filings with the Arizona Secretary of State. 

There were some efforts to recall specific elected officials (which failed) and to refer some legislative misdeeds to the ballot (many of which succeeded, but have been litigated in court).  Those are not included here.

The initiative and referenda applications:

Name: Arizona Spartan Amendment 

Organization behind the initiative: Arizona Spartan Amendment Project

Petition Serial Number: C-01-2022

This one seems to based on right-wing conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.

Name: THE ARIZONA GENOMES STEWARDSHIP ACT, 2022

Organization behind the initiative: C.O.W.W. (Citizens Of Western Watersheds)-PAC

Petition Serial Number: C-02-2022

Name:  Prevent Cruelty To Farm Animals

Organization behind the initiative: Arizonans Against Farmed Animal Cruelty

Petition Serial Number: I-01-2022

Name: This Voters' Right to Know Act

Organization behind the initiative: Voters' Right to Know

Petition Serial Number: I-04-2022

Name: Predatory Debt Collection Protection Act

Organization behind the initiative: Arizonans Fed Up with Failing Healthcare (Healthcare Rising AZ)

Petition Serial Number: I-05-2022

Name: Arizonans for Voter ID

Organization behind the initiative: Arizona Free Enterprise Club

Petition Serial Number: I-08-2022

The AZ Free Enterprise Club competes with The Goldwater Institute and the Republican caucus of the Arizona State Legislature for the "We're all about enhancing corporate profits at the expense of real people" Award; as such, I'll be opposing this one if it makes it to the ballot.

Name: Students for Affordable Tuition

Organization behind the initiative: Students for Affordable Tuition (Arizona Students' Association)

Petition Serial Number: I-09-2022

Name: The Arizona Fire District Safety Act

Organization behind the initiative: Support Arizona Fire Districts (Sponsored by the PFFA)

Petition Serial Number: I-12-2022

This one may make it to the ballot another way - there's a striker, or strike-everything amendment, to SCR1049 floating around the legislature that does the same thing.

Name: Easier to Vote, Harder to Cheat

Organization behind the initiative: Easier to Vote, Harder to Cheat Committee

Petition Serial Number: I-15-2022

This one is fronted by Lee Miller, who is a lawyer who works with Dennis Wilenchik, who repped Cyber Ninjas during their fraudit of the 2020 election in Maricopa County.  If this one makes the ballot, I will be voting against it.

Name: Arizonans For Free and Fair Elections

Organization behind the initiative: Arizonans For Free and Fair Elections (ADRC Action)

Petition Serial Number: I-16-2022

A federal judge ruins Cheeto's day

From CNN -

Judge: 'More likely than not' that Trump 'corruptly attempted' to block Congress from counting votes on January 6

A federal judge said Monday that former President Donald Trump and right-wing attorney John Eastman may have been planning a crime as they sought to disrupt the January 6 congressional certification of the presidential election.

"Based on the evidence, the Court finds it more likely than not that President Trump corruptly attempted to obstruct the Joint Session of Congress on January 6, 2021," Judge David Carter wrote Monday.

Now, I'm far from being an expert on the legal system (as anyone who knows me can attest :) ), but it sounds like that the probable cause threshold has been reached.  Just a guess here, but I think subpoenas are about to become warrants.

It couldn't happen to a nicer guy. :) :)

The AZGOP may some need some lessons on both history and delivering insults

From Twitter -

Two points here:

1. Equating Joe Biden to an underrated president (and the best ex-president ever) isn't necessarily a bad thing for Biden.

2. Don Rickles may not be available for "insult" lessons (he died in 2017) but journalist Robert Caro *is* available for "history" lessons; of course, the AZGOP may not be willing to hear from him - as far as I can tell, he never worked for the Washington Examiner (the source of the story in their tweet).

Note: the linked video is from 2003, but I loved his LBJ books, so I'm including it.

Matt Gaetz proves that he's an idiot. Again.

From Twitter -

Guessing that right about now, Cheeto is throwing a tantrum...or asking Vlad for some Russian hookers

From Newsweek -

Trump's Georgia Rally Sees 'Smallest Crowd' in State Since 2016: Reporters

Former President Donald Trump's Georgia rally on Saturday failed to draw the

 

number of supporters he has been accustomed to in the southern state,

 

according to multiple journalists covering the event.Trump held the event 

 

in support of several of Georgia's Republican primary candidates in 

 

Commerce, Georgia, which is about an hour drive northeast of

 

Atlanta. While the former president has regularly seen tens of thousands attend

 

his events in the state, as well as other states across the country, journalists assessed

 

that the crowd size was underwhelming this weekend.

Of course, Vlad has his own problems.