By Craig McDermott, cross-posted from Random Musings
Welcome to the first weekly legislative preview post of the year. In these posts, I go over the posted committee agendas for the week, any posted floor calendars (usually only Monday's calendars are available when the post is written on Saturday and/or Sunday), and any significant expected events at or affecting the state capitol.
This week's post will be one of the easiest –
– Most committees aren't meeting this week, or will be holding only a brief organizational meeting.
– Any posted floor calendars will be for "First Read", where bills are assigned to committees. There is no guarantee that assigned bills will ever be heard in committee.
– The biggest capitol event will be Monday – the opening of the lege and the Governor's annual State of the State address to the legislature.
Notes:
All agendas and calendars, and basically everything else at the Capitol, are subject to change at any time and without prior notice. Call ahead to confirm the schedule before travelling to the Capitol for a specific meeting or event.
"SHR" refers to a hearing room in the Senate building; "HHR" refers to a hearing room in the House building.
The main website of the Arizona legislature is here.
The list of bills filed in the lege is here.
The list of the lege's committes is here.
House committee agendas are here;
Senate committee agendas are here.
On to the post…
Floor calendars –
– There aren't any floor calendars posted as of this writing.
Committee agendas –
– House side:
Agriculture and Water – Tuesday, 2 p.m., HHR5. Organizational meeting with two presentations, no bills on the agenda.
Higher Education and Workforce Development, Commerce, Education (three committees) – Wednesday, 8:30 a.m., special joint meeting in HHR1 to hear presentations from businesses and business lobbying groups about the implementation of Arizona's Common Core Standards in Arizona's schools. Interestingly, there aren't any education-focused groups on the agenda. I must admit that I don't know much about Common Core, but the fact that groups that are primarily focused on short-term profits at the expense of long-term viability are the major supporters of Common Core undermines the academic credibility of Common Core.
Public Safety, Military, and Regulatory Affairs – Wednesday, 10 a.m., HHR3. Organizational meeting.
Health – Wednesday, 10 a.m., HHR4. Organizational meeting and presentations..
Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources – Wednesday, 2 p.m., HHR4. Organizational meeting and a presentation.
Technology and Infrastructure – Thursday, 9 a.m., HHR5. Organizational meeting.
Reform and Human Services – Thursday, 9 a.m., HHR1. Organizational meeting and a presentation.
Judiciary – Thursday, 10 a.m., HHR4. Organizational meeting.
Education – Thursday, 2 p.m., HHR3. Special meeting. Three presentations from the state Board of Education and the state Department of Education on Common Core (under Republican rule in AZ, those organizations aren't known as being exactly supportive of public education, so the blurb
written for the joint meeting above still stands) and one bill, HB2047. That bill appears to simply remove references to AIMS from Arizona law, replacing those with references to Common Core.
– Senate side:
Natural Resources and Rural Affairs – Wednesday, 9 a.m., SHR109. Organizational meeting and presentations.
Health and Human Services – Wednesday, 2 p.m., SHR1. Organizational meeting and presentation. One bill on the agenda – SB1023, providing for the continuation of the Board of Massage Therapy for another 10 years.
Judiciary – Thursday, upon adjournment or recess of the Senate floor session, SHR1. Organizational meeting.
Events –
In addition to the State of the State address and other traditional opening day events, there is one "official" rally ("official" meaning that space at the Capitol was booked) – the "When Women Vote, We ALL Win" rally. They'll be there to remind legislators that women are watching, and that further attacks on women and healthcare choice will have political repercussions.
The full week's calendar for events at the Capitol is here.