Know what the most "liberal" thing about Texas is? Their definition of "disaster."

Wonder if Ted Cruz has bought some tickets to a resort?

From KXAN in Austin -

Travis County issues disaster declaration ahead of total solar eclipse

Travis County said it would take emergency measures ahead of the total solar eclipse set to take place in exactly one month.

The declaration was in anticipation of large crowds, increased traffic and strains on first responders, hospitals and roads related to the eclipse. Travis County Judge Andy Brown issued the declaration.

The total eclipse will miss AZ, but not everywhere else.  

From NASA -

According to TimeandDate.com, AZ will see a partial eclipse starting at 10:08 a.m., peaking at 11:20 a.m.., and ending at 12:35 p.m. 

Sen. Sinema says "goodbye" to the people of Arizona

Maybe the people of Arizona should advise her to not let the door hit her in the ass on the way out.

From CNN -

Kyrsten Sinema announces she is retiring from the Senate

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an Arizona independent, announced Tuesday she will leave the Senate at the end of her term this year, a move that will shake up the battle for control of the chamber in November and remove a key player who has been central to major negotiations in Congress.

Sinema has been an influential yet polarizing figure in the Senate and has frequently worked to broker compromise between Democrats and Republicans. In announcing her decision not to seek reelection, the Arizona senator said, “I believe in my approach, but it’s not what America wants right now.”

The headline should be rewritten as "Kyrsten Sinema has figured out that she has no way of getting re-elected".  Or maybe as "Kyrsten Sinema has realized that getting tens of thousands of nominating signatures in less than a month is an unrealistic task."

Of course, "independent" just means (allegedly) "for sale to the highest bidder," while "polarizing" means "she's despised only by people who who have seen her in action."

While many folks have said that her "retirement" helps Ruben Gallego, I think it helps presumed R nominee Kari Lake more - a few months ago, she polled closer to Gallego when Sinema wasn't considered.

It will be interesting to see a poll taken after Sinema's announced withdrawal.

Legislative schedule - week starting 3/3/2024

 

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 spread 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, generally at 1 p.m. and the Senate's in Senate Caucus Room 1, generally 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 that replaces the entirety of a bill.  Those can be introduced at any time and can make a previously harmless bill into a very bad one.

On Monday, 3/4 

-

House Municipal Oversight & Elections meets at 1 p.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: one bill, and in a change of pace for this committee, it seems to be relatively non-controversial and not election denier propaganda.

Senate Elections meets at 2 p.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda:  11 bills.  Remember what I wrote about the House MOE agenda?  Not true here.  Includes HB2719, a proposal to limit when municipal (and other political subdivision) bond elections can be held and requiring a minimum voter turnout then for that election to be valid.

Senate Finance and Commerce meets at 2 p.m. in SHR109.  On the agenda: a presentation and 20 bills, including HB2477, designating Pluto as the official state planet.  Pluto still isn't a planet.  The agenda also includes HB2042, this year's version of last year's infamous "tamale bill."

Senate Transportation, Technology and Missing Children meets at 2 p.m. in SHR2.  On the agenda: three bills.

House Health & Human Services meets at 2 p.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: a presentation and four bills.

House Military Affairs & Public Safety meets at 2 p.m.in HHR1.  On the agenda: four bills, including SB1025, a proposal to make it a DUI when having a BAC of greater than .04 or higher  when driving or it physical control of a vehicle for hire.  This seems redundant as police and prosecutors in AZ already have a CYA clause in AZ law to enforce.  From ARS 28-1381 (emphasis added by me) -

A. It is unlawful for a person to drive or be in actual physical control of a vehicle in this state under any of the following circumstances:

1. While under the influence of intoxicating liquor, any drug, a vapor releasing substance containing a toxic substance or any combination of liquor, drugs or vapor releasing substances if the person is impaired to the slightest degree.

2. If the person has an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more within two hours of driving or being in actual physical control of the vehicle and the alcohol concentration results from alcohol consumed either before or while driving or being in actual physical control of the vehicle.

3. While there is any drug defined in section 13-3401 or its metabolite in the person's body.

4. If the vehicle is a commercial motor vehicle that requires a person to obtain a commercial driver license as defined in section 28-3001 and the person has an alcohol concentration of 0.04 or more.

On Tuesday, 3/5 

-

House Education meets at 2 p.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: three bills, including HB1477, a proposal to create a Grade Challenge Department in the Arizona Board of Regents if a student feels that they received a bad grade in a course due to political bias.

House Natural Resources, Energy & Water meets at 2 p.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda: four bills, at least two of which read as if they were written by industry lobbyists.

Senate Health and Human Services meets at 2 p.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: four bills.

On Wednesday, 3/6 

-

House Judiciary meets at 9 a.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: eight bills, some bad.  Includes SB1628, a proposal that purports to be anti-discrimination that actually enshrines it and SCR1007, a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would prohibit public entities from entering into a contract worth more than $100K with a company unless it provides a written certification that it doesn't discriminate against a firearm entity or a firearm trade association.

Senate Education meets at 2 p.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: a presentation and nine bills.  Includes a proposed striker for HB2373 (text not available as of this writing) and HB2793, requiring school boards to create rule and policies regarding student access to the internet when that access is provided by the school and to limit the use of wireless devices by students during the school day.

Senate Military Affairs, Public Safety and Border Security meets at 2 p.m. in SHR2.  On the agenda: five bills.

On Thursday, 3/7 

-

Senate Judiciary meets at 9 a.m.in SHR1.  On the agenda: two bills.

Senate Natural Resources, Energy and Water meets at 9 a.m. in SHR2.  On the agenda: three presentations and six bills, including HB2097, basically deregulating the use of "gray water" by rich people or those who live in rural settings (the "residential lots of two acres" clause merits that description).

House Appropriations Subcommittee on Budgetary Funding Formulas meets at 10 a.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: one presentation and no bills.

Committee update

This is about committees formed not placement on a ballot.  I'll do another of these posts when ballots come out.

This is not meant to be a comprehensive list; the people listed are people I have something to say about.  This is not intended as a slight toward the others, some of whom will win their races.  I just have nothing to say about them at this point.

Lesko is a former member (actually, she's a current member but isn't running for reelection this year) of Congress and the AZ state lege.

Heap is a current member of the state lege, and shockingly (OK, not really shocking news here) he has ethical issues.

Skinner was appointed as Maricopa County Sheriff and is now running for a full term.

Kamp is a former police officer and is running for a term as county sheriff.

Grove is a failed 2022 candidate for AZ AG, losing in the primary to eventual gen election loser Abe Hamadeh.

Legislative schedule - week starting 2/25/2024 Part 2

Because I was caught up in doing something else this week, this post will be done in two parts.  Part one covers Monday and Tuesday while part two (this one) covers Wednesday and Thursday. 

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 spread 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 that replaces the entirety of a bill.  Those can be introduced at any time and can make a previously harmless bill into a very bad one.

On Wednesday, 2/28 

-

House Judiciary meets at 9 a.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: nine bills, including SB1007, making it a class 5 felony for an employee or contractor of a public school or library to refer a minor to any material considered to be sexually explicit or to facilitate access to the same.  There are some other very bad bills on this agenda, too.

Senate Government meets at 9 or 9:30 a.m.(there's some discrepancy) in SHR1.  On the agenda: six bills.

House Government meets at 10 a.m.in HHR3.  On the agenda: four bills, at least three of which are pure propaganda.

House Ways & Means meets at 10 a.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda: five bills, including some that reduce revenues.

House Appropriations meets at 2 p.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda: two bills including SCR1020, a proposed amendment to the state's constitution to would continue the previous year's general appropriations bill (budget bill) if no new budget bill has been enacted by the start of the new fiscal year.  If this passes at the ballot box, we should then delete the section of the state constitution creating the legislature;  a budget is the only real reason for the lege to exist.

House Municipal Oversight & Elections meets at 2 p.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: five bills, four of which are propaganda from the school of  "Republicans have lost the last couple of elections and boy, are we PISSED."

Senate Education meets at 2 p.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: six bills, including HB2178, a proposal to have university students decide to bar their tuition and fees from going to support organizations of which they don't approve.

House Government is scheduled to meet again upon the adjournment of the previous House Government.  The picture says "5 p.m." but I expect the meeting to take place far earlier that.  On the agenda: one bill.

On Thursday, 2/29 

-

Senate Judiciary meets at 2:30 p.m.in SHR1 (originally scheduled for 9 a.m., it's been moved a couple of times and serves as a reminder to keep an eye on meeting times.)  On the agenda: appointments to a couple of different judicial commissions and one bill.

Senate Natural Resources, Energy and Water meets at 1 p.m.in SHR2.  On the agenda:  a presentation and 13 bills.  The bills read as if they were written by an industry lobbyist.

Legislative schedule - week starting 2/25/2024 Part 1

Because I was caught up in doing something else this week, this post will be done in two parts.  Part one (this one) will cover Monday and Tuesday while part two will cover Wednesday and Thursday. 

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 spread 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 that replaces the entirety of a bill.  Those can be introduced at any time and can make a previously harmless bill into a very bad one.

On Monday, 2/26 

-

House Health & Human Services meets at 2 p.m.in HHR4.  On the agenda: three bills and a presentation,  Seem noncontroversial.

House Land, Agriculture & Rural Affairs meets at 2 p.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: three bills, including SB1475, taking a quarter million dollars from the state's budget and giving it to folks who have lost livestock to wolves.

On Tuesday, 2/27 

-

House Commerce meets at 2 p.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: four bills, including SB1366, proclaiming that blockchain is innovative technology and not subject to regulation while it is being tested.

House Education meets at 2 p.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: five bills.  Seems to be noncontroversial.

House Natural Resources, Energy & Water meets at 2 p.m in HHR1.  On the agenda: three bills with all reading as if they were written by an industry lobbyist.  In other words, they don't benefit society.

Senate Health and Human Services meets at 2 p.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: a presentation and six bills, including HB2183, a proposal to grant parents access to all of their minor child's medical records, even for those procedures that don't require parental consent.

The Maricopa County Attorney says that any prosecutors who charge Cheeto are "soft on crime"

I say people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

From AP -

Republican prosecutor in Arizona takes swipe at New York district attorney prosecuting Trump

The Republican prosecutor of Arizona’s most populous county took a thinly veiled swipe at a Democratic counterpart in the East on Wednesday, saying she would not agree to extradition of a suspect in the death of a woman who was fatally bludgeoned in a New York City hotel room, and that he should be tried first in Arizona for stabbing two women here.

Raad Almansoori, 26, is being held without bond while Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell’s office decides how to charge him in connection with the stabbing of two women in the county in recent days, Mitchell said at a news conference. Those two women survived.

“Having observed the treatment of violent criminals in the New York area by Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg, I think it’s safer to keep him here and keep him in custody,” said Mitchell, referring to the prosecutor who brought the high-profile case against former President Donald Trump alleging that hush money was paid during his 2016 campaign to cover up an affair.

In Maricopa County Superior Court, Almansoori's case number is CR2024-108082-001.  This is not his first encounter with the justice system.

Mitchell absolutely *hates* violent criminals...unless they're well-connected.

From KJZZ, written by Matthew Casey, dated 2/9 -

Maricopa County attorney didn't charge former prisons director with aggravated assault. Here's why

After an armed standoff with police at his Tempe home, the former director of the state Department of Corrections was not charged with aggravated assault.

The Maricopa County attorney has kept a promise to explain that decision.

Tempe police said Charles Ryan pointed a gun at officers during a standoff at his home in 2022.

[snip]

Mitchell decided, based on a trove of body camera footage, Ryan’s medical records, and talks with Tempe police leaders, that prosecutors could not prove Ryan intended to make officers fear for their lives.

Ryan pleaded no contest to a gun charge, which prosecutors wanted labeled a felony.

In Maricopa County Superior Court, Ryan's case number was CR2022-001491-001.

Mitchell has a history of carrying Cheeto's water.

From PBS, dated 10/1/2018 -

Prosecutor Rachel Mitchell says she wouldn’t charge Kavanaugh

The sex crimes prosecutor who questioned a California women accusing Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault is explaining why she would not bring criminal charges against the Supreme Court nominee.

Rachel Mitchell writes in a new memo sent to Senate Republicans that she does not believe a “reasonable prosecutor would bring this case based on the evidence before the Committee.”

Mitchell is a Phoenix-based sex crimes prosecutor Republicans hired to question Christine Blasey Ford about her claims against Kavanaugh during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing last week. Mitchell argues that that there are inconsistencies in Ford’s narrative and says no one has corroborated her account.

So...do they teach shameless hypocrisy in law school or was that already part of Mitchell's personality before her training?

The survey results (of presidential historians) are in! Unsurprisingly, Cheeto is considered to be the worst-ever POTUS.

He's certainly the worst of my lifetime*.

Technically, I was alive during the LBJ administration, but I don't have a memory of him as POTUS.  Though

From NPR -

In historians' Presidents Day survey, Biden vs. Trump is not a close call

President Biden is in a tight race to keep former President Donald Trump from reclaiming the White House, recent polls show. But that's not how 154 historians and presidential experts see it: They rate Biden in the top third of U.S. presidents, while Trump ranks dead last.

The 2024 edition of the Presidential Greatness Project Expert Survey has Biden in 14th place, just ahead of Woodrow Wilson and Ronald Reagan. Trump comes in 45th, behind fellow impeachee Andrew Johnson and James Buchanan, the perennial cellar-dweller in such ratings due to his pre-Civil War leadership.

The historians rated Barack Obama highly, and as I consider him to be the best POTUS of my lifetime, I don't disagree with them on Obama or Cheeto.  In between, however, there are some differences.

They rated Obama 7th overall and the best of my lifetime (and the highest ranked living ex-president), so I agree with that one.

Bill Clinton and Joe Biden were ranked 12th and 14th, respectively.  Clinton's ranking is a little high for my taste - top half, certainly though.  As for Joe Biden, I think he deserves an incomplete because his term is ongoing.

Ronald Reagan is ranked 16th, which is way too high - he took advantage of Richard Nixon's criminality. Society was tired and wanted someone in the White House who reminded them of the "good ol' days".

George HW Bush was ranked 19th, which was a little high, but I think that his biggest failing was that he wasn't Reagan - most of the folks who voted for him were hoping for a 3rd Reagan term.  They didn't get that.

Jimmy Carter was ranked 22nd, near the middle of the pack.  I have always thought he was underrated as a POTUS

Gerald Ford was ranked 27th; I don't disagree with that, but since he was an unelected placeholder who replaced Nixon, an incomplete might be appropriate here.

George W. Bush was ranked 32nd (which was way too high in my estimation) and until Cheeto, was the worst POTUS of my lifetime and it wasn't even close (I don't believe that it's a coincidence that both people who were the worst at being POTUS in my lifetime have MBAs - POTUS isn't a gig where the concept of right and wrong synchs up with profitable and not profitable.)  Also, W was in charge of the most corrupt presidential administration ever.

At least until Cheeto came along.

The biggest reason that I rate W ahead of Cheeto is, as bad as he was, is that I never thought he was a traitor.

Nixon was ranked 35th, which I feel is too high.  He made cynicism about politicians part of the American psyche.

Cheeto was ranked 45th.  The main reason he wasn't ranked lower is because there aren't more Presidents.

Maybe Cheeto expects to sell $350 million worth of sneakers

That's a *lot* of sneakers, even though I expect him to keep his material costs low and his labor costs lower.

He had a bad week and may be in dire need of cash.

From AP -

Trump avoids ‘corporate death penalty’ in civil fraud case, but his business will still get slammed

Donald Trump won’t face the corporate death penalty after all.

A New York judge on Friday spared the ex-president that worst case punishment as he ruled in a civil case alleging Trump fraudulently misrepresented financial figures to get cheaper loans and other benefits.

[snip]

Trump and his businesses were told they would have to pay $355 million for “ill gotten gains.” Trump’s sons, Eric and Donald Trump Jr., who help run the business, were ordered to pay $4 million each. Trump’s former chief financial officer was ordered to pay $1 million, for a total judgment of $364 million

.

He has an "interesting" way of consoling himself.

From NBC News -

Trump launches a sneaker line

Former President Donald Trump launched a line of sneakers ranging in price from $199 to $399.

If anyone was waiting for the other shoe to drop in the upcoming presidential race, former President Donald Trump just did, launching his own line of tennis shoes on Saturday.

“I’ve wanted to do this for a long time,” Trump said when he announced the launch of a sneaker line at Sneaker Con in Philadelphia.

Ummm...Nike's Air Jordan 4s look to retail for $65 - $230.

Which puts the high end of that range just above the low end of the range for Cheeto's shoes.

So...should the countdown clock be started now or should it be put off a couple of weeks?

As in, the countdown clock on the sneakers going on clearance and being sold in countries that Cheeto calls "shitholes."  For pennies on the dollar.

Speaking of which, if Cheeto wants to market something that he'll sell a lot of, I have one suggestion to make.

And I make this suggestion with all due respect.

He should sell toilet paper...with his image emblazoned on each sheet.

Of course, it won't work - even disgusting things are repelled by things viler than them.

Legislative schedule - week starting 2/18/2024

This is going to be a (relatively) quiet week in terms of committee activity.  Most of the action will take place behind the scenes as bill sponsors try to persuade committee chairs in the other chamber to put the sponsors' bills on a committee agenda.  Monday and Tuesday look to be the busiest days in terms of committee activity, though that is subject to change.

 

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 spread 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 that replaces the entirety of a bill.  Those can be introduced at any time and can make a previously harmless bill into a very bad one.

On Monday, 2/19 

-

House Appropriations meets at 1:30 p.m. in HHR1. On the agenda: 23 bills, including six with proposed strikers.  The most interesting one may be Rep. Timothy Dunn's proposal regarding private organizations and professional certifications.  There's also some pure propaganda here, like HCR2060, Rep. Ben Toma's bid to win a seat in Congress to bar undocumented immigrants from receiving public financial support.

On Tuesday, 2/20 

-

Senate Appropriations meets at 2 p.m.in SHR109.  On the agenda: 23 bills.  Includes SB1148, Sen. Anthony "Insurrection" Kern's wish to further bust the state's budget by giving a tax rebate of an unspecified amount to Arizona citizens who are over the age of 55.

Senate Health and Human Services meets at 2 p.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: one presentation and five bills.  The presentation is regarding AZ DHS' pandemic response plan (I expect a lot of pushback on that from the R members of the committee) and the bills are regarding the continuation of certain state boards/departments.

Legislative schedule - week starting 2/11/2024 Part 2

Friday is the deadline for bills to receive a committee hearing in their originating chamber* so there are some very long committee agendas this week and there's a very rare Friday committee hearing on the schedule.

* = Except for the Appropriations Committees of the respective chambers and for a couple of other exceptions, but those necessitate some serious hoop jumping by the sponsor.

In other words, there are many bad bills on agendas this week - I can't even begin to cover them all here,  I suggest reading all agendas, or at least those covering an area of interest.

Two committees are scheduled to meet twice, but the agenda for the second meeting is the same as for the first, with one exception.  That's been noted below.

Because there are so many committee agendas at the lege this week, this post will be done in two parts.  Part one (this one) will cover Monday and Tuesday while part two will cover Wednesday and Thursday (and Friday). 

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 spread 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 that replaces the entirety of a bill.  Those can be introduced at any time and can make a previously harmless bill into a very bad one.

On Wednesday, 2/14 

-

House Government meets at 9 a.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: 24 bills.  Lots of propaganda here.  Some of is anti-immigrant, some is anti-labor, some is anti-United Nations (and anti-municipalities and counties...and anti-efforts to address climate change...etc.)

House Judiciary meets at 9 a.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: 15 bills.  There's a proposed striker for HB2727 from Rep, Quang Nguyen that would expand the legal definition of sexual exploitation of a minor.  This one, even if passed and signed into law, may run into First Amendment issues.

House Ways & Means meets at 9 a.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda: Eight bills, most bad, but not all are propaganda.

Senate Government meets at 9 a.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: 15 bills.  There are proposed strikers for SB1120. SB1170, and SB1292 (text unavailable for all of them) that may be problematical. 1292's striker is listed as a "same subject" striker, but underlying bill is about dividing Maricopa County into many counties...and is sponsored and cosponsored by a rogues' gallery of election deniers.  Aside from those, there's still a lot of propaganda on this agenda.

House Appropriations meets at 2 p.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda: nine bills

House Regulatory Affair meets at 2 p.m. in HHR5.  On the agenda: 10 bills, including HCR2052, a proposal to amend the state's constitution to insert the legislature into all agency rulemaking, giving them the authority to approve or disapprove all rules.

House Transportation & Infrastructure meets at 2 p.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: 11 bills, including HB2866, setting the price to register an EV at $135.  The price for a standard vehicle is $8,

Senate Education meets at 2 p.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: 41 bills.  Whew!  It took a while just to count them; considering them will take longer.  A mix of good bills and bills that are pure propaganda.  Good - SB1353, requiring the production of cost estimate for fund school vouchers for each year.  Bad - SB1040, proposing to create an exemption for students from paying student activity fees if they don't like them state their reason is based on conscience or religion.

Senate Military Affairs, Public Safety and Border Security meets at 2 p.m. in SHR2.  On the agenda: 19 bills, including SCR1035, a proposal to amend the state's constitution to specifically state that LEOs (actually, the term the measure uses is "certified peace officer") doesn't have to resign from public employment in order to seek a salaried elected office.

On Thursday, 2/15 

-

Senate Judiciary meets at 8 a.m.in SHR1.  On the agenda: 27 bills, including proposed strikers for two bills (language unavailable).  Much of this agenda, but not all of it, is pure propaganda.

House Appropriation Subcommittee on Budgetary Funding Formulas meets at 9 a.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: no bills, just some presentations.

House Appropriation Subcommittee on Fiscal Accountability meets at 9 a.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: no bills, just some presentations.

House Appropriation Subcommittee on State & Local Resources meets at 9 a.m. in HHR5.  On the agenda: no bills, just some presentations.

Senate Natural Resources, Energy and water meets at 9 a.m. in SHR2.  On the agenda: 20 bills, including SB1430, a proposal requiring that wind farms be located be located more than six miles from the nearest property unless that property is owned by the same entity/person that owns the property where the wind farm is located.

Senate Transportation, Technology and Missing Children meets at 1:30 p.m. in SHR2.  On the agenda: 29 bills.  Similar to Monday's agenda; the bill that is on Thursday's agenda is SB1216, but isn't on Monday's, which has a striker proposed for it (text not available).

Senate Elections meets at 2 p.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: 25 bills.  Mostly propaganda or Republican wish list bills.  Includes SCR1036 and SCR1043, a proposed amendment to the state's constitution targeting Tucson's election system (1043 would also bar ranked choice voting in AZ), and SCR1023, a proposed amendment to the state's constitution that would move all municipal elections to November.

On Friday, 2/16 

-

Senate Government meets at 10 a.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: same as Wednesday's agenda.

Legislative schedule - week starting 2/11/2024 Part 1

Friday is the deadline for bills to receive a committee hearing in their originating chamber* so there are some very long committee agendas this week and there's a very rare Friday committee hearing on the schedule.

* = Except for the Appropriations Committees of the respective chambers and for a couple of other exceptions, but those necessitate some serious hoop jumping by the sponsor.

In other words, there are many bad bills on agendas this week - I can't even begin to cover them all here,  I suggest reading all agendas, or at least those covering an area of interest.

Because there are so many committee agendas at the lege this week, this post will be done in two parts.  Part one (this one) will cover Monday and Tuesday while part two will cover Wednesday and Thursday (and Friday). 

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 spread 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 that replaces the entirety of a bill.  Those can be introduced at any time and can make a previously harmless bill into a very bad one.

On Monday, 2/12 

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Joint Legislative Audit Committee meets at 9 a.m. in HHR1.  No bills on the agenda.  Some presentations.

House Health & Human Services meets at 2 p.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: 15 bills.  There are a couple of "We hate poor people" bills - HB2502, from Rep. Leo Biasiucci, would institute a work requirement for SNAP recipients while HB2503, from the same source, would specifically instruct DES to not "seek, apply for, accept or renew" waivers of work requirements unless such is federally required or legislatively authorized.

House Land, Agriculture & Rural Affairs meets at 2 p.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: 19 bills, including some in the "even feds need to laugh sometimes" genre.  HB2376 seeks to bar the transfer of any private real property in AZ to the federal government or any of its arms without the specific approval of both chambers of the legislature and the governor, HB2377 would require the state's auditor general to determine the cost of managing all federally-controlled land in AZ, except for land that is controlled by the DOD or the Bureau of Reclamation.  And to assume that all such land, with the heretofore-mentioned exceptions, is transferred to AZ control.  Both schemes are from Rep. Lupe Diaz.  Also on the agenda are some love letters to the feds:  HCM2004, asking the feds to give equivalent land to the state or relevant county when it acquires state or county land; HCM2005, asking that the feds transfer 30% of all federally-controlled land in western states to those states; HCM2006, asking that Congress declare that the feds cannot make "any new national monument, national park, wildlife refuge, conservation area, area of critical environmental concern, wild and scenic river, wilderness, wilderness characteristic area or any other federal reservation or special use designation within Arizona's border and from withdrawing or reserving any additional federal mineral, land, water or other national resource rights within Arizona's border" without the specific permission of Congress, the AZ legislature, and the board of supervisors of any affected counties; HCM2007, asking that the President void the creation of the Grand Canyon National Monument area; and HCM2008, asking that the Antiquities Act be repealed.  Under that act, the Grand Canyon National Monument area was created.

House Military Affairs & Public Safety meets at 2 p.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda: nine bills, including HB2748, Rep. Joe Chaplik's proposal to criminalize immigration and to indemnify municipal officials and/or employees from civil liability under state and federal law for enforcing Republican anti-immigrant measures.

House Military Affairs & Public Safety meets again at 2 p.m. or upon the adjournment of the first committee meeting in HHR1.  On the agenda: five bills, including a proposed striker for HB2329.

Senate Elections meets at 2 p.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: 20 bills, mostly propaganda.  My personal (least) favorite is SB1158,.changing AZ law so that a candidate for president cannot be removed from a general election ballot for violating the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  One bill that seems to be directed at a specific person is SB1662, from Sen. David Gowan, a proposal to make someone who owes more than $1,000 ineligible to be a candidate for or to hold elected office.  I don't know if this is targeted at a potential general election opponent for Gowan, a primary opponent, or if he's carrying the water for someone else.

Senate Finance and Commerce meets at 2 p.m. in SHR109.  On the agenda: 30 bills, some of which are pure propaganda.  Also includes a proposed striker for SB1034 and a proposed striker for SB1689.

Senate Transportation, Technology and Missing Children meets at 2 p.m. in SHR2.  On the agenda: 28 bills.  Lots of propaganda bills and/or bills that are simply bad. 

On Tuesday, 2/13 

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Senate Health and Human Services meets at 1:30 p.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: 27 bills, including three with proposed strikers.  Lots of propaganda here - some anti-vaxxer, some anti-LGBTQ (mostly T).

House Commerce meets at 2 p.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: 14 bills, including HB2282, another expression of Republican hatred for unemployed, aka poor, people.  The bill proposes to expand requirements for collecting unemployment insurance payments in Arizona while also expanding the factors for disqualifying people from doing just that.  The current maximum benefit is $320/week.

House Education meets at 2 p.m. in HHR4,  On the agenda: eight bills.  Most seem OK.

House Natural Resources, Energy &Water meets at 2 p.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda:  22 bills, with most reading as if they were written by an industry lobbyist.  One that may have been written by an industry lobbyist but is also pure propaganda is HCR2050.  It proposes to amend the state's constitution to bar municipalities, counties, and other political subdivisions from banning the manufacture or use of a particular device based on its energy source.

Senate Appropriations meets at 2 p.m. in SHR109.  On the agenda: two bills.  SB1188 is one of them.  It's Sen. Sonny Borrelli's attack on the state's Department of Gaming.  He's got a history of antipathy toward the department - he thinks its a tool of tribal nations in AZ.