A dangerous week ahead

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

When you start to see strike everything amendments scheduled for votes it is a clear sign that the legislative session is coming to an end. It is also the most dangerous time in the legislature, when bad ideas can be crammed through by the GOP insane clown posse leadership with little or no public debate on little or no public notice.

The Arizona Guardian (subscription required) reports that lawmakers are pushing towards adjournment this week, crowding committee calendars with some of the most controversial bills. Included among these controversial bills:

• House Speaker Kirk Adams' corporate welfare tax cut bill (laughingly referred to as a jobs creation bill) will finally be taken up by the Senate (another indication the session is coming to a close). If this bill is passed by the legislature and signed by the governor, the temporary one-cent sales tax increase the Accidental Governor has proposed for the special election ballot in May will be more than offset by what are essentially permanent tax cuts for corporations (because of Arizona's two-thirds super-majority requirement for tax measures). Oh, and by the way, the corporate property tax burden will be shifted to you, the residential homeowner. Your local property taxes will going up.
• Photo radar repeal. I have to agree with this one on constitutional and evidentiary grounds. You can't exactly confront the witness (a camera) and cross-examine the witness or attack the credibility of the witness (the programming of the camera is a proprietary trade secret not subject to discovery, according to Arizona courts). Yeah, buh-bye photo radar.
• Public campaign finance repeal. This turd is left over from former Sen. Jonathan Paton. As we have explained here previously, Jonathan's big day and Jonathan Paton attempts to kill Citizens Clean Elections, Tucson's wannabe tin horn dictator Jonathan Paton's bill is stealthily designed not to ask the voters of Arizona to outright repeal Arizona Clean Elections (he knows the voters would never approve), but to destroy its funding mechanism to effectively gut the program and render it useless. Paton's deviousness and authoritarian streak ought to give people pause and concern. This measure would go to the ballot for voter approval.
• Sen. Russell Pearce is back with his mini-TABOR (taxpayer bill of rights) bill that would impose artificial caps on government spending that would make the current fiscal trainwreck we are in look like child's play in future years. This bill is purely ideological, and is fiscally irresponsible. It is supported by the Accidental Governor.
• As we reported previously Predatory lenders back with strike everything amendment on Wednesday, the predatory payday lenders are taking one last shot at staying alive with a strike everything amendment to be heard in committee on Wednesday. Call your state legislators to "kill the bill" (amendment).
• "Sexting" penalties bill. I am not familiar with the particulars of this bill. I would hope that legislators show some common sense (yeah, I know) not to label minors with immature and poor judgment "sex offenders" that will haunt them for the rest of their lives. And isn't there some parental responsibility for giving your kids camera cell phones? I'm just asking.
• Sen. Jack Harper and Rep. Jerry Weiers' guns on campus bill. I believe this is the last of the NRA "wet dream" gun fantasy bills to come up for a vote. This is a really bad idea. Gun Crazy in Arizona.
• The fun and games begin Monday at 2:00 p.m. when the House Ways and Means Committee takes up expanding the private school tuition tax credit program, even after the investigations by the legislature, the East Valley Tribune, The Arizona Republic and Blog for Arizona's own David Safier. Republicans have conceded that they simply lied about the reason for creating the program in the first place (ostensibly to aid under-privileged children in poor school districts) and now openly admit that the program is intended to benefit the children of wealthy parents who want to send their kids to private schools at a discount. All the while reducing revenue to the state of Arizona for the general fund and public education.

I would tell you to call your legislators but this bill is a matter of political ideology/religious dogma for the GOP Taliban. This bill is going to pass.