Legislative Alert, March 15, 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! All 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 meeting will be
this Friday, March 19, 2010 @ 12:00.
The Past Week
- Special Session to work on the Budget
As we reported last week, most of the committee meetings were canceled in order
to work on the budget. This Special Session, which started on Monday
afternoon, was the seventh special session of the 49th legislature. The
budget meetings focused on closing the state's budget deficit.
While the budget bills
moved through their respective committees on Tuesday, both the Senate and House
Appropriations Committees passed all of the budget bills. Things came to a
stand still on Wednesday and then moved again on Thursday, March 11th.
The House passed all 15 budget bills and the Senate passed 13 of the budget
bills. The Senate stalled from voting on HCR 1001, which would ask voters to
repeal First Things First, and HB2013, which would repeal a tax credit for
businesses.
One of the items that
was a major sticking point for many members was the transfer of the state's
juvenile corrections function to the counties. By Thursday, the juvenile
corrections item was removed from the budget package in order for work to
proceed so the legislature could pass a majority of the budget bills.
The remaining budget
items, which cut $1.1 billion from the state's general fund, are expected to be
completed today and then sent to the Governor for her signature.
The votes were along
party lines, with the Republicans voting yes for the budget cuts and Democrats
voting no against budget cuts. The Legislature's budget severely cut health and
human services and education and other vital state services and reduced state
employees' pay. It is important to note that this same legislature voted
to make corporate tax cuts permanent earlier this year. These
"temporary tax cuts" were made when times were good. Is it too
much to ask for large corporations to pay their fair share in taxes?
The Republican leadership made the wrong choices with permanent tax cuts during
a severe economic crisis. These choices have led to these cuts to
services for our most vulnerable citizens.
According to PAFCO,
cuts include the following:
- Immediate
cuts to KidsCare children with 45,000 plus children losing health
care.
- Immediate
cuts to TANF families and grandparents, 10,000 families with up to 20,000
children losing cash assistance and support per month.
- Jobs
lost. Thousands of jobs will be lost to Arizona's economy as these
cuts are implemented. 42,000 jobs will be lost by the health care
cuts alone. Thousands more by the human services cuts.
According to AEA the
budget bill included two budget scenarios, referred to as the "A and
B" budget plans. Budget A would be implemented if the May 18 sales
tax increase passes, Here are some of the massive cuts in the Budget
- Elimination
of Full-Day Kindergarten
- Reduced
inflation funding increase for K-12 education
- No
soft capital funding
- Reduction
in funding for Career Ladder Program
- Approximately
50,000 children lose healthcare - elimination of KidsCare
- Over
300,000 adults lose health care due to cuts to AHCCCS
- Thousands
of jobs lost
Bills to Watch
this Week
HB2042
Roadside Solicitation of Employment; Prohibition – NO!
HB2042 would classify,
as a class 3 misdemeanor, soliciting workers from a vehicle while impeding
traffic. It would also create a class 3 misdemeanor for entering a vehicle
attempting to solicit workers while impeding traffic. However, as it is already
a violation to impede traffic, this bill only contributes constitutionally
questionable regulations that will not hold under legal challenge.
- This
bill constitutes content-based discrimination, a violation of the First
Amendment. In R.A.V. v. City of St. Paul, 505 U.S. 377 (1992), the U.S.
Supreme Court ruled that content-based regulations of speech are
presumptively invalid. This kind of discrimination, in essence, entails
prescribing differential punishments for substantively similar actions
that differ only in their motivation. If passed, this statute, like
similar ones elsewhere, could face legal challenge based on the fact that
it punishes more severely those persons who impede traffic for soliciting
workers than others who commit the same traffic offense for any other
reason. While this statute is based on a similar City of Phoenix
ordinance, previous suits against the city regarding the ordinance did not
appear to address this specific legal issue.
- HB2042
is unnecessary. Regulations already exist to prohibit blocking or impeding
traffic. Adding additional language regarding why a driver has done so
does not strengthen the law. Moreover, even the City of Phoenix believes
that this bill would be "virtually impossible to enforce." (City
Council Report, State Legislative Update, Feb. 9, 2010)
Congressional
District 3 Update
The
list of running Republicans are: Sen. Jim Waring, Sen. Pamela Gorman, Rep. Sam
Crump, PV Mayor Vernon Parker, Ed Winkler, Paulina Vasquez Morris, LeAnn Hull
and Ben Quayle. The lone Democrat is still Jon Hulburd. Rep. Sam Crump has
officially endorsed J.D. Hayworth, a move that would make him the lone
"tea party conservative" running in the district.
Interestingly enough,
it's already getting desperate as 3 bogus polls have been released courtesy of
Sen. Jim Waring, and one by PV Mayor Vernon Parker both claiming that they are
ahead in some way. Waring's first poll released was claiming that 50% of CD 3
would be "voting" for him, and his major opponent at 27% was Pamela
Gorman. On the other hand, Parker's poll claimed that he was Waring's biggest
threat because Parker only trails Waring by one percent. This raises the
question: who is creating these polls? If it's the candidate's campaign, then
obviously the authenticity of the poll could be manipulated to look a certain
way.
When you really dig
deep into the polls, what you will find is a huge number of undecided voters
(anywhere from 30-40 percent) and when you have the number of candidates
running, any poll that comes out from a candidate campaign is pretty much bogus
and lacks validity.
Save the
Date: March 25th, Arizona AFL-CIO Lobby Day
What:
Arizona AFL-CIO Lobby Day at the Capitol
When: March 25th 10:00am – 2:00pm
Where: Arizona State Capitol, 1700 West Washington, House Basement
Conference Room 35/38
There will be two
workshops:
- Grassroots
Lobbying
- Social
Media Training Tools for Advocacy
− Must RSVP
(Space is limited)
− Must be a member of a union affiliated w/ the Arizona AFL-CIO
Please RSVP to Wylie
Timmerman, Legislative Intern,
(602) 631-4488 ext. 230 / intern@azaflcio.org
Goddard files
$5 forms and signatures
Attorney
General Goddard's grassroots supporters gather more than 8,500 signatures and
5,300 $5 donations in race for Governor
On Friday, March 12th, Attorney General Terry Goddard filed his nominating
petitions and $5 donations in order to qualify for Clean Elections funding in
his campaign for Governor. The campaign submitted more than 5,300 $5
donations and more than 8,500 signatures, the fruits of a grassroots effort
that spread across every Arizona county and did not rely on paid circulators to
gather signatures.
"Arizonans from across our state rolled up their sleeves to get this job
done," said Attorney General Goddard. "They did it because they want
to see major changes at the Capitol; they want to see officials work together
to get the job done instead of the usual games and gimmicks."
Health Care
Reform Update
The
pressure is mounting for a vote on Health Care Reform in our nation's Capitol,
and we are now seeing evidence of a looming vote here right here in Arizona.
In this past week a
slew of Anti- Health Care Reform commercials hit our T.V. screens. These
commercials are extremely biased and lacking in facts what is the motivation
for the funder of these commercials (oil billionaire David Koch) and why
Arizona?
This week is crucial
for health care reform because it is very probable that it will pass. Speaker
Pelosi is coming forward with a clear plan to pass the bill. All around Arizona
you can hear the squabbling of how health care reform is a dirty awful thing;
where are the positive voices? Where do Arizona's Democrats stand?
Representative Harry
Mitchell in District 5 stated on November of 2009 that "Doing nothing is
not an option," and stated his intention to prevent insurance companies
from denying coverage for adults, children and the elderly alike. Yet, he has
remained mum during the most recent round of debate. Representative Ann
Kirkpatrick of District 2 has also said that she would like to prohibit
insurance companies from denying coverage to clients based on pre-existing
conditions, stop them from raising premiums, expand the children's health care
program SCHIP, and for the government to lower prescription drug prices for
Medicare. Representative Gabrielle Giffords of District 8 has been a vocal
proponent in many scuffles over health care reform. Her priorities include
preventing cuts to Medicare and maintaining reimbursement payments to doctors.
Again, Giffords has not recently commented on the debate. Representative Ed
Pastor of District 4 has came forward and restated his long support for
universal comprehensive health coverage , including legislation he has
cosponsored to create a universal and comprehensive health care insurance
system in the last three Congresses. Pastor has also said that he supports the
current bill.
We need to keep the
pressure on and we need you to take action today!
Your
member of Congress Needs to hear from you! The time to call for Health
Care Reform is now. It takes one minute! Call (202) 224-3121
Ask for your Representative
to Vote Yes!
Need a script? Here you go!
Hello.
My name is _______ and I am a voting constituent. I am calling to
urge you to support the President's Health Insurance Reform plan. As an
American I am troubled to know that there are 13.7 million people
uninsured. Too many people are forced to forgo proper treatment or
medications and lack the preventive care needed to avoid more costly care later
in life. I ask that you show the courage to leave America stronger and
healthier for the next generation, I am asking you to vote YES on health
insurance reform.
If you would like more
information on the difference between the Senate and the House Health Care
Reform Bills Click for an explanation; http://www.aflcio.org/issues/healthcare/upload/hc_comparison010710.pdf
McCain vs.
Hayworth- Update
"March
Mud Fest"
Forget March Madness;
this month is McCain's and Hayworth's March Mud Fest. It is a whopping 4 months
until the Republican primaries, and the mud slinging has rapidly picked up its
pace. This week started out mild, with Hayworth proposing a $3 billion, 3 year
state sales tax to "help" the state solve the $5 billion dollar
budget deficit. While McCain's camp hasn't said anything about Hayworth's plan,
a McCain supporter Gov. Jan Brewer has said she "supports" Hayworth's
plan for a sales tax hike. On the other hand, now Brewer's main Republican Dean
Martin says he does not support Hayworth's idea.
Later in the week, McCain demanded that Hayworth reveal the donors who are
helping him pay of the debt he has accumulated from preparing for a potential
investigation in connection with the corrupt lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The
Hayworth camp's response was to talk about McCain's involvement with the
"Keating Five" scandal of the 1980's, and cry that "J.D.'s
family is of modest means. His family does not own multiple homes. He is not
worth many millions." Shortly after a new Hayworth radio ad aired
commenting on his strong Christian values, robo-calls sponsored
by Americans United for Change basically call McCain a rich-guy hypocrite
because of his lack of support for Health Care reform. The claws are officially
out, and as the race gains more media attention Arizonians should be forced to
ponder this question: do "we" want a millionaire or a moocher?
Hero &
Villain of the Week
The
Hero of the Week is Rep. Kyrsten Sinema for consistently calling out the
Republican leadership on the phony budget that depends heavily on voters
passing the 1 cent sales tax increase. This budget will trigger lawsuits
and ultimately will save the state nothing. For example, Republicans cut
420,000 people off of health care, which undoes a voter-passed initiative and
may also violate the State Constitution.
Sinema, the Assistant
House Democratic Leader, stated, "Republicans chose once again to eagerly
cut public safety, jobs, education and health care That's no solution when
these phony cuts will only trigger lawsuits and ultimately save the state
nothing."
Jack Harper takes the
award for Villain of the Week. During the budget debate he was quoted as
saying, "Arizona will not follow the country into socialism. If you feel
you need greater assistance and are not able to move to another state, please
turn to your local churches and give them the opportunity to show their
generosity and love."
WOW! Just WOW!
Labor Leader
David Gregory Retires
After
46 years working for the American Labor movement, David Jon Gregory will retire
on March 1, 2010. Gregory began his career in Phoenix, Arizona in the mid
1960's while working for Bairds Bread Company as a wrapping department
employee. Gregory pushed an organizing campaign that brought about a
first contract and went on to serve as the first Shop Steward and was later
elected President of Bakers Local 232. A short time later he was elected
to the top position in the Local 232 as Business Manager at the age of 20.
From Local 232,
Gregory moved on to serve as the Political Director and Lobbyist for the
Arizona State AFL-CIO who represented over 180,000 Arizona union members. In
1978 he lobbied the state legislature, Governor Babbitt and his staff working
on legislation pertaining to Arizona working families. He continued this
position with the Arizona State AFL-CIO until the mid eighties when he joined
the National AFL-CIO with headquarters in Washington, D.C. representing 13
Western states and Guam. This region represented nearly 3 million working
families and hundreds of Local unions. Gregory brought the electronic age of
politics to organized labor in the west and served mostly in the political
apparatus of the Federation for the last 24 years with focus on all Federal
Elections, Governor's and large city elections. Gregory was the first
Arizona union leader to be hired by the National organization.
During his time with
the National AFL-CIO's Political Department he rebuilt the labor movement on
Guam and stopped attempts by employer groups to pass so-called Right-to-work
legislation. Gregory stated many times that he did not see his work as a
job but more as a mission to fight for fairness in the workplace. He
obtained a BA degree from Antioch University. Gregory, a native of
Phoenix, Arizona was based out of Denver, San Francisco and Seattle over the
last 24 years before moving back to Arizona in preparation for his retirement
shared by his wife Suzanne, children and grand children.
Watch the State
Legislature in Action
Just
a reminder, Cox Cable recently began broadcasting AZ Capitol TV 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
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