Hell about to freeze over?

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

It appears that the GOP insane clown posse leadership may be losing control over its caucus.

Republicans held a closed door caucus meeting on Monday for what Majority Leader Chuck Gray (R-Mesa) described as discussions about "how our leadership team is functioning." He said that fit the legal exception for "organizational" meetings to justify gathering in private.

But the full wording of that exception actually is for "organizational meetings to elect officers of the caucus," something that was not done Monday. (Someone should explore filing a complaint for violation of the Open Meetings law.)

The GOP natives are starting to get restless and may be ready to give the Accidental Governor what she demands: referral of a sales tax increase to the ballot in a November special election. GOP may be ready to OK sales tax vote

Some Senate Republicans appear ready to give Gov. Jan Brewer what she wants: Ask voters if they want to hike the state sales tax – and then hope it fails.

[S]enate President Bob Burns, R-Peoria, said Brewer has said the one thing that stands between the state and a budget for the current fiscal year she can sign is putting the issue of a temporary one-cent hike in the 5.6 percent sales tax rate on the November ballot. "We haven't been able to move her off of that."

* * *

Sen. Barbara Leff, R-Paradise Valley, told colleagues enough is enough. She said it's time for Republicans to vote to refer the issue to voters.

"If we do not in fact put that package together, we are going to be causing a property tax increase on everybody," she said. That's because one of the bills Brewer vetoed contained language permanently repealing the state property tax.

It was suspended in 2006 when the state had a surplus. But it returns automatically this fall unless lawmakers vote otherwise and Brewer signs the change into law.

"So we sit here and act really pure that we're not going to refer something to the ballot to allow the voters to decide whether or not they want to do the one-cent sales tax," she chided her colleagues. "Or we can allow everyone to be taxed without any choice."

Other Republicans said they are coming around to the belief they should put the sales tax issue on the ballot.

"The governor is so intransigent on her sales tax referral," said Sen. Al Melvin, R-Tucson. What probably makes the most sense, he said, is for GOP lawmakers to use that as an opportunity to get some of what they want.

What Melvin wants is to put another measure on the same ballot to fully or partially repeal a 1998 constitutional measure that limits the ability of lawmakers to alter any voter-approved mandate. [Governor Brewer supports this as well]

Note: What Cap'n Al is referring to is the Voter Protection Act (Prop. 105 – 1998) which protects dedicated funding sources for programs enacted by citizen initiatives from being "swept" (raided) by the state legislature. Cap'n Al thinks voters were just wrong to enact dedicated funding for programs such as children's health care and education — because the Republican legislature consistently failed to do so — so he wants you to admit the error of your ways and allow the state legislature to raid these dedicated funding sources and, coincidentally, effectively terminate these popular programs that you the voters approved by citizen initiative. This Cap'n Al is one arrogant bastard — he seems to think that only he knows what's best for you. Maybe he will caption this repeal the "Stupid Voter Act."

Sen. John Huppenthal, R-Chandler, said Republican legislators should see Brewer's insistence on a sales tax vote as an opportunity.

"Sometimes you have to take advantage of the energy that's coming against you to achieve victory," he said.

"The likelihood is, it's going to lose," Huppenthal said of a public vote on higher sales taxes. "So if you use this energy to achieve some real reforms, that's a bird in the hand."

But Sen. Ron Gould, R-Lake Havasu City, chided his colleagues for being willing to compromise their beliefs that a higher sales tax rate is a bad idea.

"If you guys need to run other stuff along with it to provide cover for yourself for voting for it, then you're going to do what you're going to do," he said. "But I'm not going to support it, no matter what."

And Gould said they run the risk of being tricked.

"I have no faith that the governor's a woman of her word," he said.

Ah, "Hoop" and Ron, spoken like true ideological extremists. These guys sound like they are one brain cell away from becoming a suicide bomber. "No new taxes!" Boom!

The state education equalization property tax issue will have to be dealt with before August 15 when tax assessments are mailed out. That still leaves the legislature plenty of time after the July 31 "drop dead" deadline for referring any sales tax increase to the November ballot.

I am still inclined to believe that there are not enough votes to refer the sales tax increase to the ballot. It is only possible if the Democrats vote in a block for the sales tax increase with a few Republican votes. But Democrats are opposed to the Accidental Governor's tax proposal, and she has not offered them anything in return for their votes. If the GOP-controlled legislature cannot give a GOP Governor what she wants, why should the Democrats enable her?

This appears to me to be more about a GOP internal civil war than any real progress towards resolving the budget impasse. We'll have to wait and see if hell is about to freeze over when Republicans bring themselves to vote for a referral of a sales tax increase to the November ballot.