The Center for Arizona Policy: The Shadow Legislature

Posted by Craig McDermott, cross-posted from Random Musings

They probably will consider the title of the post to be a compliment, even though it really is intended to merely point out that it is considered to be the most influential lobbying group working a legislature that is renowned for its willingness to be swayed by well-funded lobbyists.

From an article on AZCentral.com –

The Center for Arizona Policy has impacted the daily life of nearly every Arizonan in some way or another over the past 14 years.

The Scottsdale-based conservative non-profit group has had a hand in banning same-sex marriage and raising the minimum gambling age to 21, requiring elementary-school students to recite from the Declaration of Independence and prohibiting late-term abortions.

Yet most Arizonans likely have never heard of it.

The money quote (though the whole article is worth a read) –

Kelly Damron of Phoenix said she got a lesson on the inner workings of the Legislature when she went up against the center and its bills to add regulations to human-egg donation and the use of human embryos. Damron is co-chairwoman of the Arizona chapter of the infertility group Resolve.

"It just appears that citizens have no say and that the legislators are being swayed by lobbying groups," she said. "And if you're not savvy enough, there's nothing you can do to stop bad legislation. I didn't feel like I had a voice."

The article is actually pretty fair (not a hatchet job, not a puff piece), but you can be sure that one group won't like it – the legislature itself.

They don't mind selling out Arizonans to one group or another; they just don't want the voters to know about it, especially during an election year.

Later…