Special Session Update: A critical week

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Arizona Legislature opens the fourth week of the Special Session on Monday with another "pledge and pray" session, and maybe some discussions on the budget.

Political reporters are content to simply parrot the line given them by legislators of both political parties that "we are making progress" on budget negotiations (designed to create the impression that they are actually doing something) without pressing legislators on the questions "what progress exactly? What are the details?" No one is saying.

The Democratic legislators with whom I spoke over the weekend indicated to me that they do not foresee any budget agreement being reached this week.

This is a critical week in that Friday, July 31 is the last day that a special election for the Accidental Governor's sales tax increase proposal can be referred to the November 3 ballot. The Democratic legislators with whom I spoke believe that the GOP insane clown posse leadership and the Grover Norquist Republicans will simply run out the clock on the Accidental Governor, as I have said here previously. We'll know for certain by the end of the week.

The Accidental Governor's last friend and supporter, the Arizona Republic, opined on Sunday Let the people decide question of sales-tax hike. The Republic cited the Public Opinion Strategies poll from last week indicating that 64 percent of those surveyed said they would support the three-year hike in the state sales tax favored by the Accidental Governor. Poll: Ariz. voters would OK tax hike

All the more reason why Republican legislators will run out the clock and not allow the voters to decide this issue. Passage of a tax increase by voters would undermine their ideological beliefs that people want lower taxes and less government spending. They are not about to allow the voters to reject their ideology. They want to cut government spending further – now. Republicans will try to force their ideological position on the Governor in August.