Tag Archives: ABOR

Rep. Finchem seeks to dismantle ABOR – kill this bill

Posted on March 23, 2018 by AZ BlueMeanie | 1 comment

The Arizona Daily Star Political Notebook reports:

Republican Rep. Mark Finchem of Oro Valley is once again looking to break up Arizona Board of Regents and give control of the three state universities to the Governor and the state Legislature.

Fresh off of his failed attempt at similar legislation last year, Finchem crafted a strike-everything amendment to create three separate governing boards to make policy, funding and tuition decisions for Northern Arizona University, Arizona State University and the University of Arizona.

Those boards would be appointed by the Governor — with four members coming from the business community and three from the academic community.

University and ABOR officials lamented that the bill would set up the possibility that the universities would openly compete with each other for resources.

Finchem’s amendment was adopted on an unrelated bill heard in the Senate Natural Resources, Energy and Water Committee this week, allowing it to skip public hearings in the House. The bill still must be approved by the full Senate, then return to the House for a final vote, before landing on Gov. Doug Ducey’s desk.

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Posted in Activism, Arizona State Legislature, AZBlueMeanie, Budgets, Constitution, Education, GOP War On..., Legislation, Lobbying, Party Politics

Tagged ABOR, universities

Ducey v. Brnovich on ABOR tuition lawsuit

Posted on September 16, 2017 by AZ BlueMeanie | 3 comments

Doug Ducey, the ice cream man hired by Koch Industries to run their Southwest subsidiary formerly know as the state of Arizona, is an ex officio member of the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR), recently sued by Attorney General Mark Brnovich in a publicity stunt over high tuition rates at the state universities.

Governor Ducey says his AG Mark Brnovich is full-o-crap. Ducey stands by ABOR, says tuition rates are constitutional:

Arizona’s three universities are in compliance with constitutional requirements to keep instruction “as nearly free as possible,” Gov. Doug Ducey said Thursday, despite what Attorney General Mark Brnovich contends.

* * *

More to the point, the governor said he believes the regents, in setting tuition — and even in imposing sharp increases during the past 15 years — are keeping the cost of instruction within what the constitution requires.

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Posted in Arizona State Legislature, AZBlueMeanie, Budgets, Congress, Constitution, Courts, Economics, Education, GOP War On..., Governor, Immigration, Party Politics, President, Propositions, Taxes

Tagged ABOR, DACA, tuition

ABOR should implead the Arizona legislature as an indispensable party in tuition suit

Posted on September 13, 2017 by AZ BlueMeanie | 10 comments

I posted about this lawsuit over the weekend, AG Mark Brnovich creates a ‘straw man’ for our lawless Tea-Publican legislature on higher ed funding.

The head of the state Board of Regents, Bill Ridenour, blasted Attorney General Mark Brnovich for what he said is a publicity stunt Friday — he called it “political pandering” — in suing the board and blaming its members for the steep hike in tuition in the last 15 years. ABOR chairman calls tuition lawsuit a publicity stunt:

“The AG’s lawsuit, while it makes for good headlines, does nothing to change the burden for students and their families,” he said in a prepared statement. “The suit is full of attacks, but offers no constructive remedies.”

Ridenour said Brnovich is right on at least one issue: The “seismic” shift in cost from the state to students to attend one of the state’s three universities.

What’s wrong with the litigation, he said, is that it seeks a solution from just the regents, ignoring the role he said lawmakers have played in the 300-plus percent increase in tuition since 2003. And Ridenour said if the issue is going to be hashed out in court, then the lawsuit needs to involve more than the regents.

“If it goes to that extent, the Legislature is an indispensable party,” he told Capitol Media Services.

Ridenour is absolutely correct. ABOR should move the court for impleader of the Arizona legislature, because the constitutional provisions for which Brnovich is suing ABOR are actually express directives to the Arizona legislature:

Article XI, Section 6: The university and all other state educational institutions shall be open to students of both sexes, and the instruction furnished shall be as nearly free as possible. The legislature shall provide for a system of common schools by which a free school shall be established and maintained in every school district for at least six months in each year, which school shall be open to all pupils between the ages of six and twenty-one years.

Article XI, Section 10. The revenue for the maintenance of the respective state educational institutions shall be derived from the investment of the proceeds of the sale, and from the rental of such lands as have been set aside by the enabling act approved June 20, 1910, or other legislative enactment of the United States, for the use and benefit of the respective state educational institutions. In addition to such income the legislature shall make such appropriations, to be met by taxation, as shall insure the proper maintenance of all state educational institutions, and shall make such special appropriations as shall provide for their development and improvement.

I cannot imagine that the court would not grant ABOR’s motion to implead the Arizona legislature as an indispensable party.

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Posted in Arizona State Legislature, AZBlueMeanie, Budgets, Constitution, Corruption, Courts, Economics, Education, Ethics, GOP War On..., Governor, Legislation, Party Politics, Scandals, Taxes

Tagged ABOR, AZ attorney general

AG Mark Brnovich creates a ‘straw man’ for our lawless Tea-Publican legislature on higher ed funding

Posted on September 9, 2017 by AZ BlueMeanie | 16 comments

It was recently reported that “State support for students at Arizona’s three public universities has fallen by 53.8 percent since 2008, more than three times the national decline over the same period, according to a new report.” Arizona cuts to college student support still among steepest in nation:

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said the Arizona cuts were the most extreme example of a national trend that has seen a total reduction in state aid of nearly $9 billion over the 10 years, as states scrambled to close budget gaps caused by the recession.

Despite efforts by states in recent years to reverse the trend – including in Arizona, where state support per student rose 4.25 percent last year – the report’s authors said they worry that those increases are slowing down.

“The clear majority of states have been reinvesting and that has been a broad trend over the past few years,” said Michael Mitchell, a senior policy analyst at the CBPP, in a call on the Wednesday report.

“But there are indications that we can see that this reinvestment is trailing off and the amount of reinvestment that we’ve seen over the past few years just hasn’t been enough to make up for the drastic magnitude of cuts over the time period we’re looking at,” he said.

Those cuts average 16 percent per student nationally since 2008, the report said.

Arizona’s 53.8 percent reduction was largest in the nation, with Louisiana next-closest with a 44.9 percent reduction. In terms of an actual dollar reduction, however, Arizona’s per-student cut of $3,450 was fourth-highest, behind Louisiana, New Mexico and Alabama.

While the cuts have been partially offset by increases in federal aid – an average Pell grant grew 23 percent during the period – steady increases in tuition continue to make college unaffordable for many, according to the report.

“We have seen increases in federal student aid, but in states where tuition costs have increased rapidly those additional federal investments have not kept up with rising college costs,” Mitchell said. “The net cost of attendance has increased even for low-income students at four-year colleges.

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Posted in Arizona State Legislature, AZBlueMeanie, Budgets, Constitution, Corruption, Courts, Education, Ethics, GOP War On..., Governor, Legislation, Party Politics, Propositions, Racism, Scandals, Taxes

Tagged ABOR, Proposition 300, Russell Pearce, universities

UA students & activists ask DeConcini: ‘Why did you sell your soul to CCA?’ (video)

Posted on December 6, 2012 by Pamela Powers Hannley | Comments Off

by Pamela Powers Hannley

Today, the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) is meeting on the University of Arizona campus. One of ABOR's most infamous members is former Senator Dennis DeConcini.

Why is DeConcini being villified through social media and the blogs? Because he's also a stockholder and member of the Board of Directors of the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), which builds, owns, and manages private prisons across the country.

Arizona has multiple CCA prisons— thanks to close ties between CCA and Governor Jan Brewer, former State Senate President Russell Pearce, American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) boosters in the Arizona Legislature, and DeConcini. More background and a video shot on the UA campus, after the jump.

Anti-CCA activists have been turning up the heat on DeConcini to pressure him to resign from the CCA board. Here's some background from Fuerza, the group that organized two protests around today's ABOR meeting…

CCA is the nation’s largest private prison company and leading jailer of immigrant detainees. With a recent contract for 1,000 new Arizona state prison beds and six existing facilities in Arizona, the company profits from continued mass incarceration and immigrant detention. Lifetime Tucson resident and three-term Democrat Senator Dennis DeConcini is a CCA shareholder and Board member and profits directly from the incarceration of Tucson families.

DeConcini's direct involvement with CCA is a real problem not only for him but for Democrats because he's rich enough to donate to many political campaigns. Normally, having a former Senator on your side would be seen as a good thing, but DeConcini's touch is toxic these days. I hope other Democrats are realizing this.