Arizona Legislature

In Light of Local Poverty, Tucson Needs Creative Direction & Progressive Economic Ideas

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Development33-sig-sm72by Pamlea Powers Hannley

Business friendly? Tucson’s been there, done that, … and got the t-shirt at Goodwill. As former City Councilwoman Molly McKasson said, we put all of our eggs in the development basket and look where it got us.

Twenty percent of Tucsonans are living in poverty.

Thirty percent of Tucson children are living in poverty.

Fifty-two percent of Tucson children live in a one-parent household.

Seventy-one percent of Tucson Unified School District students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. (Statistics from the Arizona Daily Star.)

How did we get here?

The Back Story on Tucson’s Poverty Rate

In a November 2011 “What If?” article published just a few days before the last mayoral election, former Arizona Daily Star reporter Josh Brodesky interviewed activist, writer, and artist McKasson and mused about how Tucson would be different today if she had beaten former Mayor Bob Walkup back in their 1999 match-up.

I remember that election well. Walkup– a former Hughes Aircraft executive and former head of the Greater Tucson Economic Council– was the quintessential business candidate. Bankrolled by Tucson’s business community, Walkup’s campaign successfully painted McKasson as a flighty hippie artist whose no-growth, tree-hugging, water-conserving policies would be bad for Tucson (ie, bad for business and bad for growth). Meanwhile, Walkup was championed as a business savvy savior who successfully ran a business, and, therefore, (of course!) could successfully run a city.

As mayor, the glad-handing, ribbon-cutting Walkup promoted business development, Rio Nuevo, and ill-conceived, taxpayer-funded private projects like the downtown hotel (which went down in flames, thank goodness). Except for his pro-business, pro-growth cheerleading, Walkup was a do-nothing mayor who depended upon defense funding, the occasional TREO call center moving to Tucson, and housing boom construction jobs to bolster Tucson’s chronically low-wage tourist economy. The Tucson Weekly’s endorsement of McKasson (here) eerily  predicts what happened to Tucson under three terms of Walkup. Read it and more background and new ideas after the jump.

Arizona House Busies Itself with Prayer

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by Pamela Powers Hannley The Arizona State Senate and the House of Representatives begin each session with a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance. On some level, I understand the inclusion of the Pledge of Allegiance. Since Arizona lawmakers often challenge the authority of the federal government, stating the Pledge of Allegiance may remind them that … Read more

What Would Jesus Do? He’d Pay Unemployment Tax for His Workers

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by Pamela Powers Hannley

HB2645, which was advanced by the Arizona Senate this week, would allow churches and religious schools to avoid paying unemployment tax for teachers and day care workers. Passed by the Arizona House in March, this bill would deny unemployment benefits to these workers if they were laid off or if the institutions closed.

Republicans, conservative groups, and religious schools are backing the bill. According to ABC Channel 15, "The measure marks the latest Republican-led effort to expand tax subsidies for religious institutions and limit unemployment insurance at a time when the state's jobless benefits fund is millions of dollars in the hole because of the struggling economy." [Emphasis added.] More details after the jump.

HB2306: AZ Legislature proposes increasing the influence of big money on elections

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Citizens united

by Pamela Powers Hannley

So, here's the deal…

Arizonans passed the Citizens Clean Elections Act in 1998, but since the Arizona Legislature likes to do whatever they want to do and not necessarily what the people want, they have been trying to kill Clean Elections for years.

The Supreme Court helped them out in 2010, when it said matching funds to help level the playing field for Clean Elections candidates was unconstitutional because it violates free speech. (The Roberts Court made this decision basically the same week as the infamous Citizens United case which said corporations are people and money = speech.)

Now, Rep. Eddie Farnsworth– obviously doing the bidding of corporate masters– has proposed HB2306 which would increase the influence of big money on Ariozna politics.

From Arizona Advocacy Network:

HB 2306 would double the allowable PAC contributions to candidates, thus disregarding limits set by Arizona voters in the Clean Elections Act.  Not only does this spurn voters, but it also violates the Voter Protection Act because it does not promote the intent of voters to reign in Big Money influence.

Find out how you can stop this legislaion after the jump.