Tag Archives: Arizona Legislature

Blue Wave Washed over #AZLeg: Seven GOP Incumbents Lose Seats

Posted on November 13, 2018 by | 8 comments
AZ House Democratic Caucus

Democratic Caucus of the Arizona House– all 29 of us! Our newly elected Minority Leader is Rep. Charlene Fernandez (center in white jacket).

In the week since the 2018 Midterm Election, pundits have been judging the size and very existence of the predicted Blue Wave . To determine if the Blue Wave of newly elected Democrats was a tsunami or a just ripple, the media has focused primarily on Congressional and gubernatorial races–with little or no mention of state legislatures.

With voter turnout at 60%, there is no doubt that a Blue Wave washed over Arizona on Nov. 6, 2018. Democratic women won major victories: US Senate (Kyrsten Sinema), CD2 (Ann Kirkpatrick), Corporation Commission (Sandra Kennedy), Superintendent of Public Instruction (Kathy Hoffman), and maybe but still too close to call Secretary of State (Katie Hobbs). The incumbent Republicans for three of these seats– Corporation Commission (Tom Forese), Superintendent of Public Instruction (Diane Douglas), and Secretary of State (Michelle Reagan)– all lost in the primary. Now, Democrats will hold those seats.

In the Arizona House, the Blue Wave was more of a tsunami. Seven Republican incumbents will not be returning to the Arizona Legislature in January 2019.

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Posted in Abortion, Arizona Congressional Delegation, Arizona Congressional Races, Arizona State Legislature, Economics, Education, Elections, environment, GOP War On..., Gun Policies, Healthcare, History, Pamela Powers Hannley, Party Politics, Water

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Countdown: What Are the Most Effective Things To Do?

Posted on October 23, 2018 by | 1 comment

Did you know that ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ was a slogan of the British in 1939?  And we are not even being bombed here, so surely we can do the same.

This post is of the no-frills variety.  I know almost all readers of this post are already doing a lot – thank you for that!  Having a central list of the most effective things will let us share notes, as there is no time to lose.  Here is what I have.  Please add what you think is most effective with links or info.

  1. Canvas.  https://events.mobilizeamerica.io
    The last weekend before the election is especially important.
  2. Call.  We all hate to make calls.  Do it anyway.
  3. Postcard.  Handwritten postcards are statistically shown to increase voter turnout.  http://postcardstovoters.org  will give you national ones, or get local addresses from a campaign.  Sharon Girard’s campaign (LD8) will give you addresses if you ask mcarroll@pobox.com. Campaigns – give me your email to request postcard addresses and I will add it here!  Postcard parties with friends are a fun and relaxing way to help.
  4. Check on your friends.  http://votewithme.us is a very quick way to check your contacts to see if they have voted.
  5. Donate what you can afford.
  6. Drive voters to the polls on election day.  In Tucson the action will start at 6AM and continue until polls close.  Location TBD, check back here for updates or call the coordinated campaign (602) 298-4200.
  7. Write Letters to the Editor.  Write in sKeep Calm and Carry Onupport of our candidates.  Highlight specific issues you care about.  Reach the people who are not on social media!  Here are 10 letter to the editor pages in Arizona.
  8. Hand out Flyers on College Campuses.  Many students do not know that they can vote early right on campus.  Here is a flyer for the University of Arizona.
  9. Canvas anytime, anywhere with the Minivan 7 app.  Contact your Indivisible rep or golda@civ.works for the codes.  See how we snuck canvas in twice?
  10. Social Media is probably not the most effective thing at this point, but when you only have a little time it is there.  Sometimes I find potential voters asking where to vote, or if their identification has to match the address where they are registered, etc.  Also you can share this list 🙂

 

 

 

 

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Posted in Activism, Campaigns, Elections

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Stop Thief! Community Forum on Restoring Fair Taxes

Posted on July 30, 2018 by | Comments Off on Stop Thief! Community Forum on Restoring Fair Taxes
Arizona Legislature

HB2479 was was a sales tax exemption with an unknown price tag. Despite being hotly debated, it passed the House on a bipartisan vote.

LD9 House incumbents– Dr. Randy Friese and I– will be the featured speakers at the Stop Thief community forum on tax giveaways on July 31 at the IBEW Hall.

As many of you are aware, Arizona is upside down on its mortgage. Thanks to years of Republican tax cuts, our state gives away more than $13 billion in taxes and spends just $10 billion to run the state. For years, the people of Arizona believed the lie that our state is broke. Now the veil has been lifted. The people realize that our state has plenty of revenue. The problem is that the majority of our Legislators vote to give the money away–rather than spend it on much-needed services– like public education.

Austerity is a lie. Arizona has the money to fund public education. The problem is: the Legislature gives our taxes away. It’s time to end crony capitalism in Arizona.

When the Arizona budget comes up short because of the tax giveaways, loopholes, and sweetheart deals, Republicans cut funds from K-12 education, the universities, the community colleges, healthcare, and environmental protections. OR they suggest raising sales tax to fill in the budget gaps caused by tax cuts for the rich and for the corporations. (Unfortunately, some Democrats go along with more tax cuts for the powerful and more sales tax for the rest of us.)

The Arizona Legislature should be funding the People’s To-Do List– education, healthcare, infrastructure, and safety and security– not the corporate wish list.

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Posted in Arizona State Legislature, Budgets, Community, Education, Ethics, GOP War On..., Healthcare, Justice, Pamela Powers Hannley, Political Events

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#ICYMI: Watch the LD9 Clean Elections Debate (video)

Posted on July 25, 2018 by | Comments Off on #ICYMI: Watch the LD9 Clean Elections Debate (video)
Rep. Pamela Powers Hannley

LD9 House incumbent Rep. Pamela Powers Hannley

The Citizens Clean Elections Commission (CCEC) organizes and hosts debates for all elections in which at least one Clean Elections candidate is running. In Legislative District 9, three of the five people running for office are Clean candidates: Jim Love, Victoria Steele and me. The other two people who are running for house– Rep. Randy Friese and J.P. Martin– are running traditional.

Since early ballots for the August 28 primary election will be mailed on August 1, the CCEC has been hosting many debates in the past month. On July 19, the LD9 candidates had their debate.  (The LD9 video link is here and the embedded video is below. To watch other CCEC debates go here.)

CCEC debates include some questions that are asked of all candidates and other questions that are asked of specific people. I have annotated the debate with time stamps– in case you want to focus on particular topics. Since there were several audience questions about guns in schools, the environment and prison reform, I have grouped those questions and answers.

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Posted in Arizona State Legislature, Budgets, Campaigns, Debates, Drug Policy, Economics, Education, Elections, environment, Gun Policies, Healthcare, Labor, Legislation, Pamela Powers Hannley, Party Politics, Political Events, Poverty, Primaries, Taxes

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#TaxCuts & Deregulation: How Did Your #AZHouse Rep Vote?

Posted on March 2, 2018 by | 1 comment
Arizona House

Speaker J.D. Mesnard visits the desks of Republican members who have not voted yet.

The volume of bills heard in the Arizona House this past week was down significantly from the crossover week flurry, but we still voted on some doozies.

Tax cuts, sales tax giveaways, deregulation on the edge of risky business, “efficiency savings,” and miscellaneous wacky bills abound.

The capital gains tax cut, which benefited only the wealthiest Arizonans, was a party line vote, with all of the Republicans voting for tax cuts for the 1%. Other than that, the tax giveaways have passed with bipartisan support and bipartisan opposition. Votes shift here and there depending upon the cost of the tax giveaway and the stated beneficiary, but the most consistent votes against giving away taxes are cast by Progressives and Libertarians– the same people who killed several tax giveaway bills in 2017. Several of these votes can be seen below the fold and in my Marijuana to Bump Stocks to Tax Giveaways: How did your #AZHouse Rep Vote? blog post from last week.

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Posted in Arizona State Legislature, Constitution, Debates, Economics, Elections, Ethics, IOKIYAR, Legislation, Pamela Powers Hannley, Taxes

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