Why do Southern Arizona Republicans hate democracy? Tell them to respect the will of Tucson’s residents
June 7, 2009
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: On Monday, Sen. Jonathan Paton and his Senate Judiciary Committee will consider SB 1123 which would require the City of Tucson to conduct "nonpartisan" city council elections and elect council members by ward only. The bill is sponsored by partisan Republicans Sen. Jonathan Paton, Rep. Frank Antenori and Rep. David Gowan (LD
First ed stim money concerns, now health care
June 7, 2009
by David SafierYesterday I posted that a billion worth of fed stim money may be in jeopardy because of the sweeps of education funding written into the Republican budget — you know, the one they passed, then said, "We didn't really mean it, Guv. We'll hold onto this one. Let's do lunch, OK?" Now it's
Maybe pigs are jumping really high?
June 7, 2009
by David SafierScarpinato has a piece in this morning's Political Notebook about the Goldwater Institute's Byron Schlomach agreeing with Dem legislators about lowering and broadening the state sales tax. "The current sales tax is highly distorting because it is not broadly applied," says Byron Schlomach, director of Goldwater's Center for Economic Prosperity. "Therefore, I congratulate
Hey, I never made $125,000!
June 6, 2009
by David SafierA New York charter school opening in September will be paying its teachers $125,000 a year. I wrote about this months ago when the story first appeared in the NY Times, but now they've hired the teachers and are ready to go. The school will give preference to neighborhood kids — and it's
Arizona Senate Schedule of Committee Hearings 6/8 – 6/12
June 6, 2009
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: The state Legislature will embark Monday on a mad dash to consider hundreds of new laws before the end of the month, including abortion restrictions, looser gun regulations and changes to how local elections work. Burst of activity expected at Capitol In the [next] three weeks… hundreds of bills they hope to
A few more early filers
June 6, 2009
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Since the last SWAG Re: Early Filers for 2010, there have been a few more campaign committees filed. Governor Johnnie E. Robinson III – Republican Superintendent of Public Instruction Gary Nine – Republican Arizona Legislature LD12 Angela Cotera – Democrat – House LD25 David Stevens – Republican – House LD30 David Gowan
This won’t be on the test
June 6, 2009
by David SafierA local group, Opening Minds Through the Arts, has this crazy (meaning well researched) idea that children benefit from art education in the schools, especially when it's an integral part of the curriculum, not something stuck on at the end of the day. I know little about the program myself, but it looks
Putting our stimulus money in danger?
June 6, 2009
by David SafierAccording to ASU News: Although this budget is intended to remain in compliance with the qualifications for federal stimulus funds under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), the result of such fund seizures – along with a rollover of $100 million in university funding from the fiscal year 2009 to




