PREDICTABLE POLITICS? DO SOMETHING UNPREDICTABLE

posted to AZ Week Notebook by Michael Chihak

The Arizona Legislature opened its annual session this week with a speech from Gov. Jan Brewer.

We listened to the predictable rhetoric from both political parties, and we heard the predictable responses.

How the session will go is predictable, too: the Republican super majority will do what it wants when it wants, and the Democratic minority will flail flaccidly on the frontier of effectiveness.

Enough with the predictions. How about something unpredictable? How about our involvement in the process because we’re the people most affected by what the lawmakers do?

Yes, we’ll have our say at the voting booth come November, but why not avoid the rush and contact a legislator now to express your opinion on the work being done.

There’s plenty to comment on, because even before the legislative session opened, more than 150 bills had been proposed.

A small number of them relate to the Legislature’s primary responsibility – passing a state budget. The rest delve into a wide range of matters, including what is taught and who teaches in public schools, increased or reduced penalties for various criminal offenses and bills that would expand gun rights, allow seizure of uninsured vehicles and tighten eligibility for public-paid health coverage.

It’s frankly a dizzying array, and the main action hasn’t even begun yet. The governor’s budget proposal along with the details on policy changes she wants will come today and in the weeks ahead.

There will be something for everyone to favor or oppose. Our job as citizens is to take on favor and opposition and let our lawmakers know.

That’s called democracy, and it’s more realistic than any reality show.

So get in on the action. It will be a good way to start getting in shape for that ultimate reality show later this year, the general election.

AZ GETS OUT OF SOME DEBT, AT 15% INTEREST

posted to Political Buzz by Michael Chihak

Pay off your debt.

That is the singular message coming from the experts in the wake of the nation's fiscal woes of the last few years. It's an admonition for businesses, individuals and governmental entities.

So with Republican Gov. Jan Brewer saying she wants to use some of the state's improved tax revenue money to pay off state debt, why are Democrats complaining?

Because they want the money used in other ways. For example, restore some of the $1 billion or so cut from public education funding in the last few years, or the half-billion cut from AHCCCS/Medicaid funding.

Here's the scenario:

The state mortgaged several properties, including the Capitol and the Executive Office Tower next to the Capitol, for $81 million at 3 percent annual interest for 20 years and leased them back.

Because the investors wanted a guaranteed return on the money, the state agreed to a penalty of 10 years' interest if it were paid off before 10 years had lapsed.

Now the state is bringing in much more revenue than it projected, $500 million or more just this fiscal year. Brewer says she wants to pay off the debt and "burn the mortgage" for the state's centennial on Feb. 14.

Doing so means paying the lenders $105 million. the borrowing came two years ago, so that works out effectively to a 15 percent annual interest rate.

Doesn't matter, Brewer and Republican legislative leaders say. It's better to have it paid off. The state would pay the money now or over 10 years, and it has the money now, so why not? they argue.

Democrats say why not pay it off over 10 years and use the $105 million now to restore some spending in needed areas?

Brewer and the Republican super majority in the Legislature almost assuredly will get their way on this one. Look for the smoke from that burning mortgage in a month or so.

BREWER: REDISTRICTING FIGHT'S NOT OVER

posted to AZ Week Notebook by Michael Chihak

Gov. Jan Brewer is still bristling over the Arizona Supreme Court's rejection of her attempt to remove Colleen Mathis as chair of the Independent Redistricting Commission.

Brewer said in an Arizona Week interview that she was "a little bit, to say the least, disappointed, maybe outraged" that the Supreme Court ruled against her and the Senate's Republican majority. All 21 GOP senators voted for Mathis' removal.

Brewer said the court's action is a denial of the check-and-balance system built into all facets of government, including the redistricting commission.

"I would not be surprised if we didn' see legislation to address that in the upcoming session," she said, adding that she favors legislative action of some sort to change the process.

Asked if she and other Republicans had created a perception that they didn't like competition in political races, based on their complaints that the commission was emphasizing competitiveness over other factors in drawing district lines, Brewer said:

"I don't think anybody likes competition, but we know that comes with the territory. That's what our primaries are all about, that's what the general election is all about -- competition."

At the same time, Brewer said, she stands by her claims that the commission under Mathis violated the state constitution and broke the state Open Meeting Law.

See Brewer's interview, including her complete comments on the redistricting fight, on Friday's Arizona Week, 8:30 p.m. MST on PBS-HD6.

HELL PHONE

posted to Cue Sheet by James Reel

I trust this sorry episode will be edited out of the eventual New York Philharmonic broadcast (we carry the series on Monday nights), but had you had the misfortune to be in the audience a few nights ago, you would have witnessed Mahler's Ninth Symphony being brought to an absolute halt by a ringing cell phone. Conductor Alan Gilbert stopped the orchestra and had to stare down the offender. Here's a good account of the fiasco.

LUJAN REPLACES SINEMA

posted to Political Buzz by Christopher Conover

Former State Representative David Lujan is moving to the Senate. The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors selected Lujan to take over for Kyrsten Sinema who resigned last week to run for Congress.

Lujan served in the Arizona House of Representatives from 2005 to 2010 when he made an unsuccessful bid for Attorney General.

Lujan will serve the remaining year of Sinema’s term. He is not expected to run for re-election. He will take his seat in the coming days.

TUCSON WILL REVISIT BAN ON TEXTING WHILE DRIVING

posted to Political Buzz by Andrea Kelly

After hearing the public’s reaction last night to a proposed new law that would make it illegal to send text messages while driving in Tucson, the City Council says it will take a formal vote on the idea within a month.

Council members seemed supportive of such a ban but decided to make changes to the proposal, including who would be exempt and how steep the fine could be, and then reconsider it later.

The Tucson city attorney drafted the proposal using the Phoenix city ordinance that bans texting while driving there. During the public comment portion of the meeting, county resident Mark Spear said it could be hard to enforce, and suggested the council slow down its timeline.

“I think there should be a pilot program with a review of the effectiveness and public input prior to continuing after the pilot program," Spear said.

Others spoke in support of the ban, including the chairman of the city and county bicycle advisory committee, and a local trauma doctor.

Councilwoman Karin Uhlich, who supports a ban, said she thinks it would serve as a deterrent.

“Having traveled in cities where these kinds of bans are in effect, one of the first things that gets communicated when you get behind the wheel is a cab driver or a friend or somebody saying, ‘don’t text around here,’” Uhlich said.

Similar proposals have been made to ban texting while driving statewide, but those have never made it into law, which is one of the reasons city councilmembers say want to take action locally. The council plans to take a final vote on a Tucson texting while driving ban within the next 30 days.