Legislative Alert, January 26, 2010

Welcome to the weekly legislative update brought to you from the Arizona AFL-CIO.  Your participation strengthens the union movement at the state legislature and beyond!  Your participation is needed – all affiliated are invited to join the weekly lobbyist meeting to collaborate efforts and plan strategies & tactics. The weekly meeting is every Friday @ 12:00 at 5808 N. 7th Street.  The next first meeting will be Friday, January 29.

H2395 - School; Payroll Deductions; Union Dues – NO!
Thank you for everyone who made calls or sent emails.  HB 2395 was not heard today in House Government Committee.  The bill was held and can still be heard at a later date.

This bill will prevent school districts from allowing payroll deduction for Association dues.  HB 2395 will primarily impact the Arizona Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers - teachers' unions.

The specific language reads:  "The governing board may not authorize an automatic deduction from the salaries or wages of persons employed by the school district for the payment of dues to a recognized association composed principally of certificated teachers and administrators."

An insult to one union is an insult to all unions and the Arizona AFL-CIO will stand with the AEA and the AFT in opposing this bill. 

To follow this bill and read the language of HB2395 go to bill.

HB 2395 was not heard today in House Government Committee.  The bill was held and can still be heard at a later date.

The Republican Leadership Just Doesn't Get It!
The Republican leadership decided that the ultimate solution to the state's worst economic problems since the great depression was to cut taxes to businesses.  You read that right, that's correct, members the House Ways and Means committee approved an extensive package of tax breaks for business. 

The move came only after repeated objections from two Democrats on the Committee who questioned cutting state revenues during massive budget deficits. Rep. Tom Chabin, D-Flagstaff, and Rep. Steve Farley, D-Tucson said plan shifts property taxes from businesses to homeowners.

House Speaker Kirk Adams, R-Mesa, the chief sponsor said that until business taxes are more competitive with other states, Arizona will never attract and retain companies that provide high-paying jobs that aren't dependent on growth and housing.

What House Speaker Kirk Adams needs to remember is businesses will only move families to a state if the state provides quality education and quality services.  Rebekah Friend, Executive Director of the Arizona AFL-CIO stated, "We hope the companies don't drive to visit Arizona and need to use a rest stop because they are closed, yep,  we can't afford the toilet paper to keep them open!  Then there are the education rankings and yeah, we are at a race to the bottom in that area too. I don't think the companies are lining up to do business in Arizona any time soon."

Pay Day Loans HB 2161 – NO!
HB 2161 is STALLED for now.  Rep. Andy Tobin, the sponsor of HB2161, decided at the 11th hour to pull the bill from consideration.  Arizonans for Responsible Lending secured at least four 'No' votes, enough to kill the bill for the time being.

HB 2161, as it stood yesterday, would allow 400% interest rates to continue indefinitely, with no enforceable regulation to protect consumers.  Any 'reform' that continues to allow triple-digit interest rates is no reform at all.

The payday loan industry has $150 million dollars riding on this battle, in fees stripped from trapped Arizona borrowers every year.  They are not going to go away without a fight.  That's why we need you, once again, to take action.  We will keep you informed of how this bill progresses. 

Clean Elections Future is in Question
Last week a Federal judge striked down matching funds changing the way Clean Elections will function.  Political candidates who chose and qualify of clean election or run their campaign with public money appear to have made it difficult to run a competitive race. The Matching funds, an important part of the state's Clean Elections system, are now ruled unconstitutional and will not be available for the 2010 election cycle, U.S. District Court Judge Roslyn Silver concluded in a 23-page order released on Jan. 20.  There is 10 days to appeal the decision.  This comes on the same week the Supreme Court ruled on McCain Feingold. 

Campaign Finance Law on Life Support
The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Thursday that free-speech rights permit groups like corporations and labor unions to directly spend on political campaigns.  The ruling is 183 pages and covers a wide range of issues involving the process of deciding cases.

Nothing in the ruling changes the fundamental principle that unions cannot use dues money to make contributions to election candidates. The same goes for corporations and corporate funds.

Some laws that limited the ability to speak about candidates and issues are now gone, with the precise contours subject to some legal interpretation. It is possible that unions could fund independent ads that more directly discuss candidates and issues during campaigns. Unions will never come close to matching corporate firepower in such an escalation. We are routinely outspent by a factor of at least 10 to 1 -- and usually more – by the business. 

Unemployment Rates Climb in Arizona
Arizona's jobless rate jumped two tenths of a point last month, to 9.1 percent, as small gains in private sector employment were more than wiped out by losses in education.

All indications are that the situation won't get better any time soon.Figures from the state Department of Commerce show only a few sectors of the economy where hiring continues.One in particular is health care which added 1,700 jobs last month and 6,400 in the last year.

It's Official Goddard for Governor
On January 22, Attorney General stopped exploring and became an official candidate for Governor.  At this point he is the only Democrat running and the Republicans have a list that keeps growing.  The Republican candidates include, Jan Brewer, Dean Martin, Buz Mills, and John Munger. 

Gorman - Jumping Ship
Sen. Pamela Gorman, resigned her district 6 seat to launch her campaign to run for congress in District 3, John Shadeggs seat.  Gorman is the first of many who will not fulfill their term in order to run for a higher office.   In her resignation letter Gorman stated, "With my recent announcement of my candidacy for Congress in Arizona's 3rd Congressional District, I feel that both my constituents and my colleagues in the Arizona state Senate would be better served with a state senator who is not concurrently campaigning for another office." 

The list of potential candidates continues to grow with the most recent name being floated is former Secretary of State, Betsy Bayless. 

Watch State Legislature in Action
Just a reminder, Cox Cable recently began broadcasting AZ CapitolTV from the Arizona Legislature on Channel 123.  This channel is a CSPAN style channel featuring events of the Arizona Legislature and other state programming of interest such as Statehood Day.  Also, the Arizona Legislature now has an online video archive.  View and hear live and archived hearings and meetings using the State of Arizona’s live and video archive at http://azleg.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=3