Kavanagh amendment targeting universities

By Craig McDermott, crossposted from Random Musings

…at first glance, it appears he may be serving as the hatchet man for the Goldwater Institute, but to give Rep. John Kavanagh his due, he's a smart man and could have thought of this all on his own.

On Wednesday, the House Appropriations Committee, chaired by Rep. John Kavanagh (R-Fountain Hills), will consider a strike-everything amendment (aka – "striker") to SB1116.

That proposed amendment reads, in part –

…universities under the jurisdiction of the Arizona board of regents may not:

1. Provide taxpayer funded programs, scholarships or courses if the purpose of the program, scholarship or course is to advocate public policy.

2. Allow taxpayer funded organizations, institutes or centers to operate on the campus of the university or on behalf of or in association with the university if the purpose of the organization, institute or center is to advocate public policy.

Based on a cursory examination of the websites of ASU and U of A, at least two possible targets of the measure seem obvious –

U of A's Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy

ASU's Morrison Institute for Public Policy

The Udall Center focuses on immigration and indigenous peoples, while Morrison tends to focus on economic and governance issues.

The institutes serve as a reasoned counterweight to both the Goldwater Institute and the nativists in the lege (of which group Kavanagh is a leading light).

And neither of those groups like the competition.

Other institutes that could also be targeted, or at least caught up as collateral damage include:

The National Institute for Civil Discourse at U of A

The Global Institute for Sustainability at ASU

I'm guessing neither one of those is the main target here, but none of the Rs in the lege will complain if they go away.

Anyway, the meeting will be Wednesday (tomorrow as of this writing) at 2 p.m. in HHR1 at the state capitol.