AZ LEGISLATIVE SESSION JUST 4 WEEKS AWAY

posted by Michael Chihak

The Arizona Legislature will convene Jan. 9 in Phoenix and hear Gov. Jan Brewer's State of the State speech.

The legislative session comes as Arizona governmental finances are looking a little less precarious than they did during the last session. At that time, the governor and the Legislature took more than $1 billion out of state spending to erase a structural deficit that had been building for 15 years.

The deficit was created in part by the state's sorry economy, driven by the housing bubble burst, foreclosures and plummeting home prices.

In the larger, longer-range sense, the deficit came because state legislators had cut taxes a half-dozen times in the last 15 years without reducing spending.

Those big cuts may be over, at least for the time being. With sales taxes leading the way, the state's overall revenue picture is on the upswing. That's leading some legislators to rethink some of the drastic cuts they made last session.

For Friday's Arizona Week, we plan to speak with Arizona Senate President Steve Pierce, a Republican, and Arizona Rep. Matt Heinz, a Democrat and member of the House Appropriations Committee, about what they foresee.

AZ BIG-CITY MAYORS PLAN COOPERATION

posted by Michael Chihak

New Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild says his city and Phoenix have much more in common than might meet the eye.

Thus, Rothschild says, he and Phoenix Mayor-elect Greg Stanton plan to cooperate and coordinate efforts, especially when it comes to approaching state government for help.

Or, in some instances, when fending off state government's attempts to dictate to municipalities how they operate.

In an interview for Friday's Arizona Week broadcast, Rothschild cited Gov. Jan Brewer's veto earlier this year of several bills that would have imposed new procedures on cities as a sign that she believes in local control. That's a good start, Rothschild said.

He and Stanton, both Democrats in a Republican-controlled state, already have begun cooperating. They participated in one another's campaigns and fund-raising and have been in close communication, Tucson's mayor said.

It will be worth seeing how that manifests itself with the Legislature, controlled by conservative Republicans and not known for its friendliness toward local governments, specifically Tucson.

MAYOR ROTHSCHILD TAKES HIS SEAT

posted by Michael Chihak

By LUCY VALENCIA, Arizona Week Intern

Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild hit the ground running as soon as his term began today. Rothschild, wo already had been working at City Hall in the transition since he was elected last month, met this afternoon with Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry to begin working on inter-governmental cooperation.

Rothschild, 56, was sworn in at 10 a.m. today in a ceremony at City Hall.

The Tucson native, lawyer and father of three believes the only way to improve the economy is to help put people to work. He wants to give University of Arizona graduates a reason to stay in Tucson after earning their degrees.

He served as treasurer of the Pima County Democratic Party, was on the board of Casa de los Niños, Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging and Temple Emanu-El.

Rothschild has a 180-day plan to boost small business interests in Tucson, beginning with revamping the 1,000-page land-use code.

He promises 14-hour work days that will include roundtable meetings with the business community, educators and politicians from many neighborhood groups and jurisdictions.

Hear more about how Rothschild will approach his job on Friday's Arizona Week in one of two interviews with big city mayoral newcomers in the state. Also interviewed will be Phoenix Mayor-elect Greg Stanton, who will take office in January.

WHAT'S SO SPECIAL ABOUT A SPECIAL SESSION?

posted by Michael Chihak

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer says she's not inclined to call a special session of the Legislature on the issue of redistricting unless legislators tell her they want it. Legislators say the ball's in Brewer's court.

The impasse may pass today, allowing legislators to act in time to get any change measure onto February's presidential primary election ballot.

Being discussed are a number of proposals, including asking voters to repeal Proposition 106, which they passed in 2000 to set up the current Independent Redistricting Commission. Another proposal would call for expanding the redistricting panel to add more independent members.

The current panel has five members. Proposition 106, now embodied in the Arizona Constitution, requires the panel's makeup to be two Republicans, two Democrats and one independent, who serves as chair.

Independent Colleen Mathis is the chair, a lightning rod spot if there ever was one. She was lambasted, then fired by the governor and state Senate three weeks ago. The state Supreme Court reinstated her two weeks ago, and then rejected Brewer's appeal.

The constitutional and legal entanglements of it all could -- and probably will -- fill a book.

At the least, they will fill a TV program -- Friday's Arizona Week, which will update the legal and political fight and look at the myriad legal issues from the perspectives of several lawyers.

AZ ISN’T ONLY STATE FACING REDISTRICTING DILEMMA

posted by Melanie Huonker

With the legal battle between Gov. Jan Brewer and Independent Redistricting Commission Chairwoman Colleen Mathis still fresh on everyone's mind, another state is in the midst of a court battle deciding the fate of the redistricting process -- Texas.

Just as in Arizona, Republicans in Texas dominate the Legislature. According to an editorial in the Star-Telegram newspaper, Texas Republicans were determined to maximize the number of GOP candidates in office.

That’s because Texas added more than 4 million residents from 2000 to 2010, adding four seats in Congress. The majority of those are Hispanic voters, who tend to vote Democratic. In another Star-Telegram editorial, the newspaper said, “Republican lawmakers opted to accommodate party interests rather than include more districts with Hispanic majorities.”

Earlier this month, a federal court in Washington, D.C., ordered a three-judge panel in San Antonio to redraw both the congressional and legislative maps of Texas.

The matter will now be sorted out in court, a familiar scenario to Arizona lawmakers after the removal and reinstatement of Mathis.

All this has some in Texas reiterating the need for an independent group, just like the AZ IRC, to draw redistricting lines.

From the Nov. 9 edition: “The Star-Telegram Editorial Board has long supported the creation of an independent, nonpartisan body that could bring more objectivity to the process of revising congressional voting districts.”

This summer, Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R- San Antonio, helped pass a bill in the Texas Senate during special session to create a nine-member redistricting commission. However, the bill did not stand in the Texas House, thwarting Wentworth’s continuous efforts to change redistricting methods.

Will Brewer call a special session of her own in order to dismantle the 2001 voter-approved legislation that created the IRC? Some GOP state senators say they hope so, and in fact a few say she promised to do so. She says she didn't promise.

This could potentially put redistricting back in legislators' hands and drive partisan politics, putting Arizona back from where Texas lawmakers are trying to move away.

WHAT'S SO BLACK ABOUT BLACK FRIDAY?

posted by Michael Chihak

Modest gains in traditional retail sales for Arizona merchants may be enough to push them into the black. Modest means the 2-5 percent range, compared with a 5.2 percent gain in 2010.

Meanwhile, some sources are predicting double-digit percentage gains for online retailers. The Economist magazine reports in its current edition that online sales may make up as much as one-third of the country's retail purchases this holiday season.

That bodes ill for brick-and-mortar operations such as shopping malls and stand-alone small businesses. But many of them, big and small, are adapting, offering improved services, strategic discounts and, yes, even online shopping.

It's all to survive and thrive in a splintered merchandising world, says the head of the Terry J. Lundgren Center for Retailing at the University of Arizona.

Retailing center Director Martha Van Gelder says consumers are saying,. "I want it when I want it, where I want it, and I want it fast. So the retailers have had to invest a lot of money and a lot of marketing strategy in terms of how to address that."

See and hear more of Van Gelder's interview and conversations with five others with interests in the holiday shopping season on Friday's Arizona Week. The program will air at 8:30 p.m. MST on the PBS World channel.