Legislative schedule - week starting 4/17/2022

Another week of "silly season" at the legislature.

No regular committees are scheduled to meet, but the Joint Legislative Budget Committee and the Joint Committee on Capital Review are both scheduled to meet on Wednesday, April 20, in SHR109.

They're supposed to review a number of items, but as they're in the "minimal effort" portion of the legislative session, that probably won't happen.  All of the "reviews" are on the consent agenda.

[Edit on 4/18 to correct]

On Wednesday, 4/20, Senate Health and Human Services meets at 9 a.m. in SHR1 to consider a number of executive nominations.

[/end edit]

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.  

I just *love* it when industry lobbyists support Democrats

In case know, that title is sarcastic, folks.

On the other hand, it does provide solid evidence of the character of the recipient.

As if we didn't have that already.  In spades.

Got this in the mail on Wednesday -

There no "Paid for by" statement on this political mailer (caveat: nowhere on the mailer were the words "vote" or "elect" used, so this obviously political mailer may not have fit the legal definition of political communication).

The organization "We Build Arizona" lists it address as 1825 West Adams on its 2018 form 990, filed with the IRS, (downloaded from ProPublica).

Know what else is at 1825 West Adams?  The HQ of the AZ Chapter Of the Associated General Contractors of America.

They list their officers thusly -

David Martin is listed as the "chairman/director".  He also runs the AZ Chapter Of the Associated General Contractors of America.

Minter is listed as a director of We Build Arizona.  He's also the now-retired head of the Arizona Builders Alliance, an AGC affiliate

Oh, and he donated to Martha McSally when she ran for Senate.

Follow the money.

Guessing that AGC et. al. do so assiduously and only help those who help them.

Apparently, Wendy Rogers *really* hates Katie Hobbs

Election denier State Sen. Wendy Rogers has gone all in on the Big Lie and getting her hate on for Arizona Secretary of State (and gubernatorial candidate).

From Twitter -

At least Rogers puts Hobbs in good company.

From BrainyQuote -

Democratic candidates on the ballot but not facing a primary contest

In lieu of a committee update (whether or not someone may have formed a committee, unless they're on a ballot, it's irrelevant), I'll be discussing Democratic candidates who don't face primary contests; most will go on to face Republican candidates in November.  A few, by virtue of facing no other candidates in either the primary election or the general election, are presumed to be already elected*.

*Subject to change based on legal challenges and/or write in candidates.

I make no predictions concerning the outcome of pending litigation, and while write-in campaigns are tough to win (to appear on a general election ballot, not only does a write-in candidate have to win their primary, they must receive a number of votes equal to or greater than the quantity of nominating signatures they would have needed to present to have their name on the primary ballot), it *has* been done.

The Arizona Secretary of State has a list of candidates who have submitted signatures; federal, statewide, legislative.

AzBlueMeanie at Blog for Arizona has a full list of federal candidates here and a full list of state-level candidates here.

Jim Small at the AZ Mirror also has a full list of candidates here.

The map of the new congressional districts is here.

The map of the new legislative districts is here.

Caveat: I live in CD3 and LD5.

Caveat2: When candidates' names are linked to websites, most of those came from AZSOS information.

Federal candidates:

Mark Kelly, U.S. Senate, incumbent

Tom O'Halleran, Congress CD2, incumbent

Ruben Gallego, Congress CD3, incumbent

Greg Stanton, Congress CD4, incumbent

Javier Ramos, Congress CD5

Raul Grijalva, Congress CD7, incumbent

Statewide candidates:

Kris Mayes, Attorney General

Martin Quezada, Treasurer

Kathy Hoffman, Superintendent of Public Instruction, incumbent

Sandra Kennedy, Corporation Commission, incumbent

Lauren Kuby, Corporation Commission

(no primary as both will go on to the general election to face the winners of the R primary)

Legislative candidates:

Mike Fogel, State Senate LD1

Thomas Dugger, State Senate LD3

Christine Marsh, State Senate LD4, incumbent

Theresa Hatathlie, State Senate LD6, incumbent, faces no Rs in the general

Kyle Nitschke, State Senate LD7

Juan Mendez, State Senate LD8

Eva Burch, State Senate LD9

Mitzi Epstein, State Senate LD12, not an incumbent senator, but she is a member of the legislature

Taylor Kerby, State Senate LD16

Mike Nickerson, State Senate LD17

Sally Gonzales, State Senate LD20, incumbent, faces no Rs in the general

Rosanna Gabaldon, State Senate LD21, incumbent, faces no Rs in the general

Brian Fernandez, State Senate LD23

Raquel Teran, State Senate LD26, incumbent, faces no Rs in the general

David Sandoval, State Senate LD28

Cathy Ransom, State Representative LD1

Neil Sinclair, State Representative LD1

Since two candidates will be elected to the state house from each district, races with only one or teo Democrats with be considered as "no primary" and will be listed here without a further note.

Judy Schwiebert, State Representative LD2, incumbent

Laura Terech, State Representative LD4

Melody Hernandez, State Representative LD8, incumbent

Athena Salman, State Representative LD8, incumbent

Lorena Austin, State Representative LD9

Seth Blattman, State Representative LD9

Helen Hunter, State Representative LD10

Jennifer Pawlik, State Representative LD13, incumbent

Brandy Reese, State Representative LD14

Keith Seaman, State Representative LD16

Dana Allmond, State Representative LD17

Brian Radford, State Representative LD17

Sanda Clark, State Representative LD19

Andres Cano, State Representative LD20, incumbent, faces no Rs in the general

Alma Hernandez, State Representative LD20, incumbent, faces no Rs in the general

They *do* face a Libertarian candidate in the general election, but the next time that a Libertarian wins an election will be the first time.

Jesus Lugo Jr., State Representative LD23

Mariana Sandoval, State Representative LD23

Stephanie Holbrook, State Representative LD28

Scott Podeyn, State Representative LD29

The list of Maricopa County candidates is here.

Julie Gunnigle is the only Democrat running for Maricopa County Attorney,

And so it begins... UPDATED

Pointed at this by Taegan Goddard's Political Wire.

This one may have happened in Texas, but you just know that Cathi Herrod and her water carriers in the legislature (and Doug Ducey) are gleefully scheming about bringing it to Arizona.

Pretty sure some drool may be involved.

From the McAllen Monitor -

Woman arrested in Starr County on murder for ‘illegal abortion’

A woman was arrested Thursday and charged with murder for having a self-induced “illegal abortion.”

According to the Starr County Sheriff’s Office, Lizelle Herrera, 26, was arrested and served with an indictment “on the charge of Murder after Herrera did then and there intentionally and knowingly cause the death of an individual by self-induced abortion.”

[Updated on 4/10 to add]

Well, *that* didn't take long.

From The Daily Beast -

District Attorney DROPS Charges Against Texas Woman for ‘Illegal Abortion’

A Texas woman who was charged with murder on Friday for a self-induced abortion will have her charges dropped. “Yesterday afternoon, I reached out to counsel for Ms. Lizelle Herrera to advise him that my office will be filing a motion dismissing the indictment against Ms. Herrera,” Gocha Allen Ramirez, the district attorney for Starr, Jim Hogg, and Duval counties, said in a statement Sunday. “In reviewing applicable Texas law, it is clear that Ms. Herrera cannot and should not be prosecuted for the allegation against her.” Herrera was charged by the Starr County Sheriff’s Office on Friday for the “illegal” abortion, a procedure Texas has managed to ban after six weeks. “The issues surrounding this matter are clearly contentious, however based on Texas law and the facts presented, it is not a criminal matter,” Ramirez wrote Sunday.

Guessing that Herrod et. al. are still drooling.

[end update]

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.