by David Safier No, I wasn't in a coma during the 2011 state legislative session. I remember the unbelievable onslaught of pro-rich, anti-poor, anti-brown, anti-women, anti-school bills proposed during that session. And even with that fresh in my memory, I have to say about this session: Advertisement Worst. Republican. Bills. Ever. Advertisement

Posted by AzblueMeanie:

Anti-abortion jihadist Sen. Steve Smith (R-Maricopa) is also an anti-immigrant extremist who wants to fill the shoes of disgraced recalled Sen. Russell Pearce. Smith is bringing back anti-immigrant measures that the business community helped to kill in the last legislature. Will the business community step up again?

The Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) reports Two anti-illegal immigration measures are back:

Sen. Steve Smith (R-Maricopa) is proposing laws that would require school districts to count the number of students who are in the country illegally and to require hospitals to report patients who cannot prove their lawful status.

The two bills were defeated last year, when the Senate also balked at legislation that supporters hoped would get the U.S. Supreme Court to ultimately discontinue the granting of automatic U.S. citizenship to children of illegal immigrants.

* * *

One of the two measures that Smith submitted Monday, SB1444, would require the Department of Education to collect data from school districts on the population of students who cannot prove citizenship or lawful residence in the U.S.

The legislation also requires the education department to submit a report to the governor and lawmakers about the information it has collected.

Under the bill, the report must include research into on those students’ “adverse impact,” as well as an estimate of the cost of educating them.

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Christian Taliban is back again, seeking to impose its religious dogma on all Americans of all religious faiths or no religious faith, by force of law. It is a clear violation of constitutional separation of church and state, which I am sure those sponsoring this bill will argue does not exist under their Christian Reconstructionist and Dominionionist theology. These are people I like to call "wrong."

Sen. Steve Smith (R-Maricopa) freely admits that he is seeking to impose his own religious dogma on everyone else by force of law. Abortion bill would alter Arizona law to define life as beginning at conception – East Valley Tribune:

The first-term lawmaker said if it were up to him, all abortions would be illegal.

"I guess I'm a purist," he said. "It's easy for me as a man to say that because I'll never be in that situation."

Smith said his reasons go back more to his religious beliefs.

"God doesn't make mistakes," he said. "I believe that God is still on the throne and that's happening for a reason, whether we get it or not."

Smith acknowledged his goal in imposing new requirements is to impose his religious dogma on everyone else:

[T]he most significant part of SB 1494 is that it would alter Arizona law to define human life as beginning at conception. And that could pave the way for abortion foes to use the Arizona statute to mount a head-on challenge to the landmark 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision declaring that women have a constitutional right to an abortion.

* * *

"It clearly tells the woman that what they're aborting is a human being," he said.

His legislation hammers that point home with a requirement that a woman be told, at least 24 hours in advance, that the abortion "will terminate the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being." And a pregnant woman also would have to be informed she "has an existing relationship with that unborn human being" which is protected by the U.S. Constitution and state laws.

* * *

Smith's legislation would apply in both cases of surgical and medical abortions, the latter involving the use of RU-486 which induces a woman to miscarry.

Less clear is how a law defining life as beginning at conception might affect the legal use of the "morning-after pill."

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Time once again for the Farley report from Rep. Steve Farley (D-Tucson):

There are many caucuses in the Arizona Legislature besides the Republican and Democratic caucuses, including the Children's Caucus, Native American Caucus, Tourism Caucus, Animal Caucus, and others organized around important issues.

There is one glaring omission, especially for a state with as many older citizens as Arizona — a Senior Caucus. So I set out to create one and find members of both parties to help. 

Living with my mother's four-year struggle with dementia (which ended in her death last April) made very clear to me that we need to work together in a bipartisan way to educate ourselves and develop policies that confront the very real issues associated with aging.

The first expression of this nascent caucus is a trio of bills I introduced yesterday, each of which was co-sponsored by Republicans Kimberly Yee (Phoenix), Rick Gray (Sun City), and Cecil Ash (Mesa):

HB2713 establishes the Arizona Long-Term Care Trust, a program whereby taxpayers can set aside funds from their paycheck into a savings account that can accrue tax-free interest and be withdrawn for long-term care expenses when needed. Increasing numbers of us are needing long-term care of some kind, and we are going to face a major financial crisis as a society due to increasing costs unless we find a way to pay for it. This trust makes saving for long-term care more attractive to all of us.

HB2714 requires that financial institutions with reasonable suspicion that an elder is a victim of financial abuse must report that suspicion to the Attorney General's office for possible investigation. Elder financial abuse has become an increasing problem across the country as more vulnerable adults are depending on others for their financial decisions, some of whom do not have the elders' best interests in mind. Door-to-door and other financial scams that take advantage of trusting seniors would especially be targeted.

HB2715 establishes a registry of caregivers of seniors and the developmentally disabled in both institutional and at-home settings who have a substantiated history of abuse toward their clients. Currently abusive caregivers are hard to track in a business that has high employee turnover rates. This would enable seniors and care facilities to find out any past history of abuse before any hire.

These are strong, bipartisan bills that help seniors and those who love them. They deserve a fair hearing. Sadly, the Speaker of the House Andy Tobin (R-Paulden) appears to be making Democratic bills' road to passage very difficult this year through unfavorable committee assignments. 

by David Safier We already knew Arizona Republicans hate teachers and the unions representing them. We also knew they hate the unionized government workers who keep the wheels of state turning and provide services to Arizonans. Now we know they hate the police and firefighters as well. They want to crush them, decimate their unions, … Read more

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Heads up people! This is the bid by Jan Brewer to be the Scott Walker of the West that I have been warning you about for months. Jan Brewer seeks to go well beyond the assault on collective bargaining rights that led to the pending recall election of Scott Walker in Wisconsin. She wants to do away with more than 100 years of civil service merit selection system protection to return to the spoils system of political patronage and the days of Tamanny Hall.

And once again, it the evil bastards at the Goldwater Institute, a partner of ALEC, that has drafted the model legislation. You can bet that their media arm at the anti-union Arizona Republic will be all for this.

Brahm Resnik from Channel 12 news reports Brahm Resnik blog – Sweeping bills attack public employee unions:

Arizona’s Republican Legislature could virtually wipe out public employee unions in a sweeping new package of legislation far broader than the collective-bargaining bills that shut down Wisconsin’s Capitol last spring. 

The bills would:

–Make it illegal for government bodies to collectively bargain with employee groups. Public safety unions would be included in the ban.

—End the practice of automatic payroll deductions for union dues. 

—Ban compensation of public employees for union work.

Wisconsin’s collective bargaining law enacted last year made unions effectively irrelevant by limiting issues that could be bargained by a government and an employee group. Arizona’s bills would do away with collective bargaining entirely and also go beyond Wisconsin law by including public safety unions.

Coupled with Gov. Jan Brewer’s plan to do away with civil-service protections  for state employees, the new legislation could make Arizona ground zero for union protests during this election year.

The Goldwater Institute  worked with state lawmakers to draw up the bills. The libertarian think tank has churned out research and reports over the past few years highlighting what it views as excesses in public-sector employment.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker was the guest of honor at Goldwater’s annual dinner last November. Walker had some advice for Arizona legislators when I interviewed him on “Sunday Square Off.”

The package of bills is scheduled for a hearing at 9 a.m. Wednesday before the Senate Government Reform Committee.

Watch for more on this story on 12 News at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

I don’t know what the Occupy movement has been doing of late, but this is your call to action. The Madison Revolution in Wisconsin needs to be brought to bear on the Capitol in Phoenix. This assault on the working people of the American middle-class cannot be allowed to stand. It’s time to take a stand against the radical extremists of the right. They want Arizona to be ground zero? Bring it! Everyone to the Capitol on Wednesday.

Action Alert from the Arizona AFL-CIO below the fold.