Michael Bryan

Michael founded BlogForArizona.net as the Howard Dean presidential campaign blog for Arizona in 2003, and has been blogging ever since. The Blog is now coming up on 20 years of continuous publication, a major achievement for any political blog, which usually have the life-spans of mayflies. Michael is an attorney living in Tucson with his wife Lauren. In 2008, Michael remade BlogForArizona into a collaborative project. Michael is now but one of the contributors to the blog and provides editorial and publishing direction in consultation with the Board of Directors and the other authors. If you want to keep up with the latest Arizona and National political news in an entertaining quick hit of news and opinion, check out the BlogForArizona twitter feed, which Mike largely curates and writes. Michael is also an AAPC member who occassionally consults on political campaigns, strategy and communications.

McSally Campaign Refunds $121,657 In Excessive Contributions, But Has No Response For How To Improve Its Identification Process

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Senator Martha McSally’s campaign has refunded an eye-opening $121,657 in excessive contributions from its unsuccessful 2018 campaign. In a separate response, the campaign told the Federal Election Commission that it does the minimum required to try to find out donors’ employer and occupation information, but has no explanation for why they have more trouble identifying … Read more

BREAKING: Arizona Asks U.S. Supreme Court For Permission To Sue California For Stealing Tax Revenues

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Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich is asking the U.S. Supreme Court for permission to sue neighboring California for stolen tax revenues. The proposed complaint alleges that California unconstitutionally taxes Arizona LLCs for doing business in California – even if that LLC is only a passive investor in another company that does business in the Golden … Read more

The right to know how tax dollars are spent

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The just released AZ Auditor General’s Office report on Arizona School District Spending – Fiscal Year 2018 states that,

“In fiscal year 2018, Arizona districts spent 54% of available operating dollars on instruction—the second consecutive increase in the instructional spending percentage in 14 years.”

It also stated that,

“Arizona school districts spent about $3,500 less per pupil than the national average and allocated their resources differently, spending a lower percentage of resources on instruction and administration and a greater percentage on all other operational areas.”

Six key takeaways from an article about the report in the AZ Daily Star are:

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$23 Billion – The Wrenching Reality

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U.S. News and World Report and CNN recently highlighted an EdBuild report that shows $23 billion dollars separate America’s white and nonwhite school districts.In other words,

“nonwhite school districts get $23 billion less than white districts despite serving the same number of students.”

More than half of all U.S. public school students are enrolled in racially concentrated school districts” which the EdBuild report defines as more than 75% white or nonwhite students. In addition, about 20% of students are enrolled in districts that are both poor and nonwhite, but just 5% of students live in white districts that are equally financially challenged. These conditions help create an average disparity in the U.S. of about 19% or $2,600 less per student in poor nonwhite school districts than those in affluent white ones.

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A Border Wall Only Imprisons Americans

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By Michael Bryan I recently read an interview with author Luis Alberto Urrea in the Tucson Weekly’s coverage of the upcoming Tucson Festival of Books and was struck by what Mr. Urrea said about the border wall in Nogales. It is applicable to the entire project of building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico: … Read more