It's a first in the 50th Legislature, in which Democrats are so outnumbered that their voice has been little more than a squeak.
But House Minority Leader Chad Campbell says he and his colleagues are releasing a spending proposal because of what he calls a "hoarding" plan by Republicans with what is the state's first surplus in several years.
The Dems want to spend money restoring some of the big cuts that were made in the last four years to education, health care and child care.
The Democrats say their plan is more responsible than both the Republican legislative plan and GOP Gov. Jan Brewer's proposal because under the Democratic plan, there would be a smaller deficit come 2015.
That's the year after the state supposedly will fall off a "fiscal cliff," as the Republicans have been consistently describing it.
What are the percentage chance that Democrats will get anywhere with their plan? Let's just say it's a round number, a really round number.
Arizona Republican legislatorsArizona state budgetChad CampbellGov Jan Brewerfiscal cliff,
The Arizona Republic's Laurie Roberts sums up in her column Tuesday the case involving Tucson Democratic Rep. Daniel Patterson and his jurisprudence issues.
Roberts calls the case "an embarrassment, an outrage, a disgrace" and says Patterson is either "the world's most misunderstood man ... or he's a total jerk."
Patterson is charged with four misdemeanor counts of domestic violence in connection with a complaint filed by his girlfriend.
It isn't his first brush with the law, as Roberts points out. She says his ex-wife gained a court order protecting her from him a few years ago.
He gets his day before the House Ethics Committee at the state Capitol today and his day in court in Tucson Thursday. He is claiming legislative immunity. House Speaker Andy Tobin Monday stripped Patterson of his committee assignments.
Patterson is in his second term representing District 29 in central Tucson.
Arizona Week will look into the state's housing market on Friday, including a review of the latest foreclosures report, residential real estate prices and other aspects of the beleaguered market.
The state has been among the worst nationally in foreclosures and the crash of the housing market, with the Phoenix metro area leading the way.
The Phoenix economy was underpinned for decades by growth and home construction. But the burst of the housing bubble in 2008 ended that and sent the market into a tailspin.
The January foreclosure report from RealtyTrac, an Irvine, Calif., company that tracks real estate, foreclosures and other aspects of the residential market, showed nearly one in every 325 houses in Arizona was foreclosed upon. That was nearly 9,000 total foreclosures, including 5,987 in Maricopa County alone.
For Friday's program, we will talk with real estate specialists and others to gain a picture of the situation now and a look to the rest of the year.
Don Bivens is out with his first TV ad and the spot is already drawing national attention. The Washington Post writes that Bivens is the first democratic candidate in the country to use Rush Limbaugh’s controversial statements about a Georgetown law student in an ad.
The ad targets what it branded as the “GOP War on Women” as well as Republican candidate Jeff Flake. Bivens told Arizona Public Media that he is using the clip of Limbaugh to target the “extreme social agenda” of Jeff Flake and other Republicans in Congress.
Bivens ad targets Flake even though both candidates must make it through their respective party primaries before advancing to the general election.
Here's a very interesting little article on the effect sound has on the way we perceive taste. Noise apparently makes us less sensitive to salt, which is another reason bar food is oversalted--besides the usual explanation that it's intended to make you thirsty and order more drinks. It also proposes that the roar of the engines is what makes airplane food taste so icky. And perhaps this also explains why the restaurants I enjoy most have only a low murmur of conversation and no music blaring over the sound system; the pianist in the next room half-heartedly going through Andrew Lloyd Webber's greatest hits is only a minor inconvenience.
Of course, my boss would never endorse any suggestion that you turn off the radio to make your breakfast taste better ...
Arizona Week Friday features three state economists all expressing optimism about the state's economy for the next couple of years. Watch here.
One says there won't be another recession, another says governmental incentives will begin to show their worth this year, and a third says she is optimistic but thinks the state has a ways to go in technology transfers and innovation.
On the program:
State Director of Economic Analysis Aruna Murthy.
Private-sector economist Jim Rounds.
University of Arizona research economist Lora Mwaniki-Lyman.
And journalists Jahna Berry, who covers the job market for the Arizona Republic, and Jeremy Duda, who covers the governor's office for the Arizona Capitol Times.
