Legislative Update 6/27/2022 and Call to Action on bad voting bill

June 25, 2022 Hi everyone! Here is an update from Sandy at the Sierra Club.  The Arizona Legislature finally adjourned Sine Die this morning at 12:25AM. This past week legislators passed a bi-partisan budget and a bi-partisan water bill. The budget was nothing to write home about relative to environmental protection, but it was better than the bare bones budget they had originally proposed. The Arizona State Parks Heritage Fund received $2.5 million not the $10 million that it should have received, the Arizona Trail received $250,000, and the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality received additional funding for the Water Quality Fee Fund to help, in theory, with its backlog of work on water quality as outlined in its performance audit. We shall see. Sadly, the budget was loaded up with border dollars including for a Border Strike Task Force and other funds. SB1740 water infrastructure financing; supply; augmentation  (Kerr) passed last night 48-1-11 in the House and 25-1-4 in the Senate. There is no doubt that it is a much better bill than when they started and it does not create a new totally unaccountable bureaucracy. The Democrats negotiated a conservation grant fund with a $200 million appropriation that can fund conservation programs and projects in cities, towns, and counties or some kind of partnership with those entities. The dollars can only be used for voluntary water conservation projects that include long-term reductions in water use, improvements in efficiency and reliability. The grants can fund education and research on reducing water consumption and improving efficiency, turf removal, rainwater harvesting, watershed protection and restoration, etc. Again, this is positive, but not enough and is overshadowed to some degree by the more than a billion dollars over three years for augmentation to bring water in from other states or countries to support business as usual -- unfettered growth, growing alfalfa and other thirsty crops in the desert, and continued invitations to data centers and other water-intensive industries to locate in our communities. SB1740 does not do anything to limit groundwater pumping or even measure it. There is no requirement for considering the environmental impacts of these water augmentation projects either. We badly need a stronger regulatory structure for water, but we just did not get it with this bill, so the Sierra Club could not support it. SB1322 NOW: TPT; use tax; hydrogen; exemption (Shope) failed on Third Read 14-11-5. It would have provided a sales tax exemption for hydrogen used as a fuel despite the fact that 99% of all hydrogen is derived from fossil fuels. Shope had changed his vote to ask for reconsideration, but they did not get back to it, so the bill died. Yay! There were a plethora of bad democracy, bad voting bills, that did not advance, but quite sadly there were several that did. HCR2015 initiatives; supermajority vote; requirement (Dunn; Biasiucci, Bolick) was amended in the Senate, but it is still bad and will be on the ballot this fall. If approved by the voters, the constitution would be amended to require a 60 percent approval by the voters for any ballot measure, including any constitutional amendment, that includes a tax. HB2243 voter registration; state residency; cancellation (also passed and is on Governor Ducey's desk. Please contact him and ask him to veto it. You can reach him at (602) 542-4331. The bill requires voter registration forms to include a statement that if the registrant permanently moves to another state after registering to vote in Arizona, the registration will be cancelled. It also provides another mechanism for county recorders to cancel registrations, possibly disqualifying voters inappropriately.

Urge Ducey to protect voting rights by VETOING HB 2492

 

HB2492 the outrageous voter purge bill we’ve been fighting just passed, and we need all hands on deck to push Governor Ducey to veto it.

This bill establishes the most extreme voter purge in the country – disenfranchising countless eligible voters for no good reason. And with the 2022 elections just around the corner, it’s critical that we act now to protect our freedom to vote.

HB2492 voter registration; verification; citizenship (Hoffman: Blackman, Carter, et al.) This bill requires people who register to vote with a passport, birth certificate, naturalization certificate, or a tribal ID to submit additional documents proving residency. It includes new restrictions for federal-only voters, including that they may not vote. This is a blantent effort to keep native Americans - who helped Biden win Arizona - from voting.  Many people on the reservation don't have street addresses.   

Please call Governor Ducey's office at Correct #:602-542-4331

Here's an idea of what to say:

Hi, my name is [YOUR NAME] and I live in [YOUR TOWN]. As an Arizona voter, I'm deeply disturbed by the voter purge bill that just passed, and I want to urge Gov. Ducey to veto it. HB 2492 would only serve to shut out eligible Arizonans -- and we should be expanding access to the ballot box, not making it harder to vote. I condemn this attack on our voting rights, and ask Gov. Ducey to veto this bill and any other voter suppression bill that comes to his desk.

If you can't get through, try his website:

https://azgovernor.gov/engage/form/contact-governor-ducey

Sierra Club 2020 Environmental Report Card

Actions by the 2020 Arizona Legislature and Governor Ducey Doing more harm than good

Sierra Club released its 2020 Environmental Report Card for the Arizona Legislature and Governor. This year’s report card broke heavily along partisan lines and while fewer harmful bills reached the Governor’s desk, the ones that did were detrimental to efforts to address the climate crisis and protect endangered plants and animals.

Two damaging bills reached Governor Ducey’s desk and he signed them. That is enough for him to earn a failing grade on the 2020 report card. He signed HB2686 , a measure that pre-empts local action on climate change relative to utilities within cities and counties and that was promoted by Southwest Gas to keep communities from limiting the expanded use of fracked gas within their jurisdictions. The Governor also signed HB2749, which allows data about endangered species on private lands to be kept a secret from the public. This enables big developers, mining operations, and agribusiness to hide vital information about endangered species from the people and even from other agencies.

You can find the complete report card in English here and in Spanish here.

Contact Governor Ducey

https://azgovernor.gov/engage/form/contact-governor-ducey

Arizona Governor Office, Phone

520) 628-6580

Tell Gov. Ducey & Your State Reps: No Monopolies for Utilities

Ask Gov. Ducey To Veto Power Grab By Monopoly Utilities!

HB2686 building permits; utilities; restrictions; prohibitions (Bowers) is being promoted by Southwest Gas to prohibit action by local government to limit extension of gas lines in areas for new construction and limit gas hookups in new construction. The bill is now on the Governor's desk.

We need strong local democracy that is responsive to protecting citizens. HB2686 restricts the ability of local governments to best meet the needs of their residents. The one size fits all approach proposed by HB2686 limits cities’ and counties’ ability to pursue policies that protect our health and put financial resources back in the hands of local families and businesses.

Building codes that emphasize energy efficiency and appliance standards have consistently saved individuals and families money. The Rocky Mountain Institute found that the upfront costs for new fully electric buildings are as much as 30 percent cheaper than a combination of electricity and natural gas, even in cold climates, such as northern Arizona.

Please support local communities in protecting the health of their residents and ask Governor Ducey to veto HB268

Find Sierra Club Action here. 

MORE INFO:
http://arizonadailystar.az.newsmemory.com/?publink=1c83aa47e

Our voices, Our vote for the Arizona Corporation Commission!

Some Arizona Legislators think that the people of Arizona should no longer be able to elect candidates to the Arizona Corporation Commission, the entity that regulates monopoly utilities. They want us to instead agree to allow the Governor to appoint those positions. Please contact your House members today and ask them to vote NO on HCR2041

Click here to find your district

Use that district to find your House Reps.

MORE INFO:

An appointed Corporation Commission would be more corruptible than an elected one

Weigh in @State Legislature's online Request to Speak System. 

At 11:30 AM Tuesday, February 25th, the Senate Committee on Appropriations at  will consider a strike everything on a energy, consumer protection.

SCR1010 bond elections; technical correction (Gowan) will have a strike-everything added on energy; consumer protection. The striker would refer to the ballot a constitutional amendment to limit cost recovery for renewable energy and electric vehicle charging stations. Clearly the Arizona Legislature is interested in getting in the way of progress on clean renewable energy, including that generated on your rooftop. OPPOSE.

If you are signed up for the Request to Speak, login in here. 

If not, find the directions for signing up and navigating the system here.  

There will be future opportunities to weigh in on bills while they are in committee. Check back on Desktop Activist Tucson for more Request to Speak Actions. 

Update on bills that weaken our Democracy at AZ Legislator: Call Governor to veto SB 1451

Monday night - well actually very early Tuesday morning, the first session of the 54^th Legislature (FINALLY!) adjourned sine die. This session saw some egregious attacks on democracy, but also glimpses of progress and hope for expanding access to the ballot and fighting corruption. In the coming days, we'll be putting together a full analysis of democracy issues this session. For now, here are some quick updates on bills that were alive until the bitter end.

SB1451 - (Sen. Leach)

On top of the myriad rules that already exist, SB 1451 places technical requirements on paid petition circulators for initiatives. This thinly veiled attempt to make it easier to toss disqualify otherwise valid signatures passed both chambers in the waning days of session and now sits on Gov. Ducey's desk. 

Contact Gov. Ducey: 

Email. engage@az.gov.
Phone. Phoenix: 602.542.4331. Tucson: 520.628.6580.
Address. 1700 West Washington Street. Phoenix, Arizona 85007

https://azgovernor.gov/engage/form/contact-governor-ducey

HCR2005/SCR1023 - (Rep. Kavanagh + Sen. Kerr)

These bills would have referred to the 2020 ballot a question requiring statewide initiatives to hit the statewide 10% threshold in each of the 30 legislative districts - making it nearly impossible for anyone with limited resources to qualify an idea for the ballot. Thankfully, both bills failed to receive a vote in their respective chambers.

 HB2616 - (Rep. Townsend)

Would have imposed unlimited civil fines of $25 per form per day and criminal penalties (up to a four-month jail sentence) on anyone who turned in a voter registration form after an arbitrary deadline. The bill failed to pass the House floor. Simply stated, we don’t think honest actors should face a potential criminal penalty for registering people to vote.

SB1188 - (Sen. Ugenti Rita)

Would purge Arizona voters off of their county's Permanent Early Voter List (PEVL) if they do not vote by mail for two consecutive election cycles. This would have taken the “permanent” out of permanent early voting, and thankfully did not receive a vote on the House floor.

If there's one thing we can say with certainty after this legislative session, it's that the job of protecting democracy is never over. 

- Arizona Advocacy Network 

5 ways Ducey has helped Trump's cruel border policies

In recent weeks there has been a flurry of news coverage on the inhumane cruelty happening along our border. The Trump administration has made it a policy to separate children from parents who are fleeing violence in their home countries and seeking safety in the U.S. Rather than speak out against these atrocities, Governor Doug Ducey has doubled down on the “secure our borders” rhetoric. He’s done nothing to stop the separation of families, instead strongly supporting the administration’s cruel border policies. 

See the Ways Ducey Has Helped Trump

1. Other governors have spoken out against the Trump administration’s policy at the border. Colorado’s governor issued an executive order banning state resources from helping divide families at the border. Governor Ducey has taken the opposite direction and actually sent Arizona National Guard members to the border.
2. Ducey has aligned himself with Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen, who has defended separating families at the border. In April Ducey toured the border with Nielsen, who claimed there was a “crisis” happening. The governor commended Trump and Nielsen for addressing a surge in border activity. “Rather than letting this grow or build, this administration acted on it immediately,” Ducey said.
3. In May, Ducey had a nice dinner with Trump  to talk and collaborate with him on securing our border. Ducey told Trump that the Southern Arizona border was “wide open and unprotected.” In fact, the Southern Arizona border is heavily militarized.
4. In April, Ducey celebrated and endorsed Trump’s plan to deploy National Guard troops to the border. He said troops were “needed” and “welcomed.” He even wrote an op-ed thanking Trump. 
5. Doug Ducey also showed no compassion to people seeking safety during the refugee crisis. He compared people seeking refuge to terrorists and defended the comparison with paranoid claims that refugees were ISIS operatives trying to establish terrorist networks in Arizona.

How You Can Speak Out

Come to this rally today at 2pm at the State Capitol. More details here.

Can't make the rally? You can also sign this petition!

-Progress Now Arizona

Protect Cultural Resources - Ask Governor to Veto HB2498

According to the Grand Canyon Chapter of the Sierra Club's legislative update:

 HB2498 historic preservation; rangeland improvements; requirements (Cook: Barton, Bowers, et al.) passed out of the Arizona House 31-28-1. It weakens protections for cultural resources by allowing those with minimal training to provide the required review. Representative Cook's comments to muscle this through at the end were pretty offensive. He basically said Arizona was focusing too much on the tribal history. Now that is some revisionist history, for sure. This bill should be on the Governor's veto list! Take action now!

I personalized the Sierra Club's message to Governor Ducey by adding a paragraph of my own.  You can submit your own message to the contact form on the Governor's website:

https://azgovernor.gov/engage/form/contact-governor-ducey 

or email: engage@az.gov

Please veto HB2498 (historic preservation; rangeland improvements; requirements). 

Dear Governor Ducey,

One of the biggest booms to Tucson's economy has been the increased tourism created by its designation as a City of Gastronomy. Tucson is the first place in the United States to be honored with the City of Gastronomy designation. One of the reasons is because Tucson is the longest continually cultivated location in the United States (4,100 confirmed years of agriculture here in the Tucson basin.) How do we know that? Because of the archaeological finds near the Santa Cruz. Tucson has profited greatly from those and other archaeological finds. We can't leave future discoveries in the hands of amateurs. 

HB2498 is opposed by many tribal nations and archaeologists throughout Arizona. The bill requires a so-called streamlined cultural resource protection report relative to ”rangeland improvement projects,” which could include roads, fences, and more. This bill allows people with little experience or training to provide these reports, putting at risk cultural resources.

HB2498 limits the State Historic Preservation Office's (SHPO) ability to protect cultural resources relative to activities that are defined as rangeland improvements and could mean Arizona is not in compliance with §106 of the National Historic Preservation Act.

It is not always easy to recognize important historic and cultural sites, which is why there should be someone who is well-trained to do so performing the work and issuing the reports.

Thank you for considering my comments

(Your name and location here)

More Contact information:  

Phone‎: ‎602.542.4331
Fax‎: ‎602-542-1381

For fun and inspiration, read more:

6 Things Archaeologists Discovered In Arizona That May Surprise You

Tell your legislators: Stop playing games with education funding

To me the RED in Red for Ed stands for STOP playing games with our kids’ education. In his budget game, Governor Ducey moves money around like pawns from one department to another. He moved millions from infrastructure (fixing our roads!) and AHCCCS (healthcare for those who can least afford it) to pay for modest raises for teachers.

His first year in office, Gov. Ducey cut $100 million from education to give big tax cuts to corporations. Republicans claim that the tax cuts are necessary to get employers to come to Arizona. But companies are made of people with families. What company wants to come to Arizona when education spending is ranked 49th in the nation? 

Arizona students are being forced to attend class in crumbling school buildings and study from outdated and damaged text books. There are even reports of schools without working air conditioners! Our students deserve to learn in an environment that will allow them to succeed, without making our underpaid teachers pay for their own supplies. 

Our educators have some reasonable demands:

• 20% raise for all teaching and certified staff
• competitive wages for all classified staff
• return school funding to 2008 levels
• no new tax cuts until AZ per-pupil spending reaches national average
• yearly raises until AZ reaches the national average! 

Don't let Gov. Ducey treat his budget for education like monopoly money. Tell our legislators to accept the teachers' demands and work with the Democrats to come up with a feasible plan to fund education now and in the future.

Legislators to call:

Vince Leach: 602-926-3106

Jill Norgard: 602-926-3140

David Livingston: : 602-926-4178

Regina Cobb: 602-926-3126

JD Mesnard: 602-926-4481

TJ Shope: 602-926-3012

John Allen: 602-926-4916


May 3, 2018 Video Update here

Tell Gov. Ducey: Don't help Trump terrorize border communities

The petition to the governors of Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas reads: "Don't help Donald Trump terrorize border communities. Call back your National Guard members and refuse to deploy any more of them." Add your name:

A caravan of refugees – mostly families and children – are heading towards the U.S.-Mexico border and Donald Trump wants to use military force to stop them.1 These people are not military combatants. Most are fleeing violence in Central America and legally seeking asylum in the United States. Trump is exploiting these immigrants to rally his racist base of supporters and justify sending the National Guard to police the country's southern border. We must speak out now to stop him. Gov. Ducey has already deployed some national guard members, but he has the power to call them back and block Trump's request.2We have the power to force him to act. Immigrant rights groups in Arizona are already rising up against Trump's plan to militarize the border. Speak out now to keep up the pressure. Tell Gov. Ducey: Don't help Trump militarize the southern border. Call back your National Guard members and refuse to deploy any more for them. Click here to sign the petition. To be clear, the real threat to our country isn’t coming from across the Mexican border. It’s coming from the White House. The Trump administration's cruel attacks on women’s health and rights, immigrant rights, civil rights and voting rights are all attempts to disenfranchise people of color, keep men in power and undermine our democracy. Trump expanding the militarization of the Southern border has nothing to do with keeping our country safe. It's just another racist attack against immigrant communities. The southern border is already heavily militarized. Adding more boots on the ground and giving Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents more resources would only endanger the lives of the people who live in border communities. CBP officers have a long record of using physical and sexual abuse to punish people they encounter along the border with virtually no consequences. They also destroy water jugs, food donations and force migrants to cross dangerous terrains where they are more likely to die of heat exhaustion and dehydration.3 It's important to remember that the White House has deployed the National Guard to police the southern border before, but with a racist, fascist occupying the Oval Office this operation could be deadly.4 We cannot sit by while Trump continues to manufacture a state of emergency on immigration to supercharge his dangerous deportation forces and appease his xenophobic base of supporters. Gov. Ducey still has time to do the right thing. Speak out now to make sure he acts. Tell Gov. Ducey Don't help Trump militarize the southern border. Call back your National Guard members and refuse to deploy any more of them. Click the link below to sign the petition. https://act.credoaction.com/sign/nationalguards_border?t=7&akid=28112%2E3130208%2Ecp_LmP - Nicole Regalado, CREDO Action Add your name: References: Khushbu Shah and Madison Park, "Caravan won't end in Mexico. Some migrants will risk trip to US border," CNN, April 5, 2018. Carson Frame and Ben Adler, "California Deploys National Guard; Troops Already At Texas, Arizona Borders," NPR, April 11, 2018. Tina Vasquez, "Border Patrol’s Destruction of Humanitarian Aid Is Killing Migrants," Rewire, Jan 18, 2018. Dara Lind, "Trump’s National Guard border buildup, explained," Vox, April 10, 2018.

SB1493 environmental quality; dredge, fill permits is now on Governor Ducey's desk.

SB1493 environmental quality; dredge, fill permits is now on Governor Ducey's desk. 

Please call Governor Ducey and ask him to veto SB1493. You can reach his office at (602) 542-4331.

The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) is pursuing control of an important Clean Water Act program that helps to protect washes and wetlands. The Sierra Club is concerned that the agency does not have the resources to properly fund and enforce these programs and that there will be inadequate consultation with tribal entities, and inadequate consideration of endangered species and cultural resource protections.

SB1493 environmental quality; dredge, fill permits allows ADEQ to pursue state control of the Clean Water Act dredge and fill permit program that protects wetlands and washes and ultimately our waters. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that the state would have a robust public process and it is quite likely the state would try to eliminate any consultation related to endangered species. Further, the state has no comparable National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review, so no real evaluation of alternatives would be required.

- Sandy Bahr, Sierra Club

Section 404 of the Clean Water Act establishes a program to regulate the discharge of dredged and fill materials into waters of the United States, including wetlands.

ACTION ALERT: Tell Governor Ducey now, "No hiding Dark Money." Veto HB 2153

The fight to stop HB 2153 is not over.

HB 2153, the bill that tries to block local governments from enforcing their own dark money disclosure requirements, is sitting on Governor Ducey’s desk.

Call Governor Ducey at 602.542.4331 and tell him to side with voters AND VETO HB 2153.

Who is writing our regulations? 

Arizona is getting national press attention for all the wrong reasons – because of HB 2153:  

Newsweek: ‘Dark Money’ in the States: Arizona GOP Blocks Cities from Implementing Transparent Elections

The Nation: How a Small City Is Taking on the Big Power of Dark Money

Salon: Arizona Republicans fight to protect dark-money donors from voters

Governing Magazine: The New Fight Over 'Dark Money' Campaign Donations

- Arizona Advocacy Network
http://www.azadvocacy.org/

I am posting  Arizona Advocacy Networks action alert because dark money has made fighting for our planet so much harder.  I saw this when Sustainable Tucson spoke up against TEP's attack on rooftop solar at the Arizona Corporation Commission - only to find out that the majority of the commissioners were bought by Big Oil. More recently, the members of our advocacy team ran up against barriers as we tried to stop TEP from installing 10 gas fired engines. In fact, all of our advocacy with the state legislature will fall on deaf ears if our legislators are allowed to accept dark money. 

So, please,  take 2 minutes to call Gov. Ducey and tell him veto HB2153.

602.542.4331 

Jana, Desktop Activist Tucson

#nodarkmoney

Demand Universal Background Checks as part of the Governor's plan!

Gun show at Pima County Fairgrounds

Okay friends...this is a viable chance to make a difference. Without background checks on every gun sale, “prohibited possessors” can easily obtain any kind of weapon...at a gun show, in a parking lot, from online sales sites, just about anywhere.

I went to a gun show at Pima County Fairgrounds and in a building with probably 40+ vendors there were only 3 licensed dealers (the only sellers required to do background checks under current laws). Plus there were casual sellers in the parking lot and walking the aisles in the building.

So you can see that background checks on ALL sales are crucial to reducing gun violence and creating safe communities. Please take the easy actions below. And please pass this info on to your friends. 

- Peggy, Gun Violence Prevention Arizona

Legislation is being written to implement the elements of Governor Ducey’s proposed Safe Schools Plan, and it’s time to make our voices heard on one critical element missing from the plan: Universal Background Checks!

Call or email the Governor and YOUR representatives and senators TODAY and demand that Universal Background Checks be included in Governor Ducey’s Safe Schools plan.

Requiring background checks for ALL gun sales protects everyone. People who buy and sell guns from private sellers rarely know who they are dealing with. They could be buying a gun that was stolen or used in a crime. They could be selling to someone who could not pass a background check.

Universal Background Checks are NOT used to create a registry that would allow the government to take guns from people. With the number of guns in circulation, this would be virtually impossible and in direct violation of the 2nd Amendment right to own and bear arms. In other words, it’s not going to happen!

They are intended to make it much harder for people who are prohibited possessors (felons, domestic violence abusers, non-citizens, people who have been adjudicated mentally ill) from getting access to guns. Since the enactment of the Brady law in 1994, nearly 2.5 million prohibited possessors have been stopped.

The vast majority of Americans, including a significant majority of gun owners, support universal background checks - and Arizonans deserve to have this gun safety measure included in the plan to make not only our schools, but all of our communities, safer.

Please make these calls TODAY! We still have a chance to be part of the bill-writing process and need to make our demands heard! If you live in a district where you feel your views are already heard and represented, CALL ANYWAY! Those who are opposed to any kind of firearm regulation are flooding our legislators with emails opposing any new laws. It is vitally important for ALL legislators to know how the people they represent feel about this issue!

If you are not sure which Legislative District (LD) you live in, use this link to find out: https://azredistricting.org/districtlocator/

Once you know your LD, go to azleg.gov/memberroster and find your legislators. You have 2 Representatives and 1 Senator.

The Governor’s phone number is 602 542-4331.

SHARE this email with your network of family and friends.

- Gun Violence Prevention Arizona 

Ask Gov. Ducey to veto HB2005 an anti-clean energy, unconstitutional bill promoted by APS!

Updated: Arizona Gov. Ducey signs bill to undermine RPS ballot proposal

This was the last week for hearing bills in most committees. What that often means, and certainly was true this week, is that it was strike-everything amendment madness, a tried and true way to resurrect bad ideas or introduce bad bills with little or no time for public scrutiny.

The APS drafted strike-everything amendment on HB2005 advanced through both houses, again along party lines, and is on the Governor's desk. The bill is pretty clearly unconstitutional due to its infringement on the constitutional authority of the Arizona Corporation Commission and per the Senate Rules Attorney. Still, they ignored her and passed it along. HB2005 public service corporations; penalties seeks to undermine and effectively preempt enforcement of the Clean Energy for a Healthy Arizona initiative (50% renewable energy by 2030).

Please contact Governor Ducey today and ask him to veto HB2005.

Click this link to ask Governor Ducey to veto anti-clean energy, unconstitutional bill promoted by APS!

You can also contact him here: 

https://azgovernor.gov/engage/form/contact-governor-ducey

Tweet him at:

https://twitter.com/dougducey?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

@dougducey

- Sandy Bahr, The Sierra Club

Read azcentral article: Bill to defang clean-energy ballot initiative is headed to Ducey's desk

Ask Gov. Ducey to use VW funds to accelerate electric school bus adoption in Arizona.

electric buses 

Arizona's money from the Volkswagen emissions cheating settlement is now available. That means it is time for Gov. Ducey to apply for these funds for clean transportation programs -- like clean, climate-friendly, electric school buses!

We have a historic opportunity to turn Volkswagen's outrageous emissions cheating scandal into something positive for our kids, schools and communities. After Volkswagen got caught cheating on vehicle emissions tests, they are being required to pay back the consumers and states they harmed with a $14.7 billion settlement.

Please ask Gov. Ducey to put the funds to immediate beneficial use by purchasing zero-emission electric school buses. This will protect hundreds of thousands of kids who ride school buses from toxic diesel pollution that worsens asthma and other respiratory illnesses.1 It's also a key step toward confronting the growing impacts of fossil-fuel driven climate change, like severe storms and catastrophic wildfires.

Ask Gov. Ducey to use VW funds to accelerate electric school bus adoption in Arizona.

Gov. Ducey has until Friday, December 1, 2017 to claim Arizona's share of the settlement. But exactly how Gov. Ducey chooses to use the money is key.

Already, fossil fuel interests are going after these settlement funds for things like natural gas and "clean diesel" vehicles -- the very thing that got us in this situation in the first place. We cannot miss the opportunity to work for zero-emission electric school buses!

Tell Gov. Ducey to claim Arizona's funding for electric school buses now!

- Lisa Hoyos and John Friedrich, Climate Parents

(1) Asthma and Diesel [Abstract]. (2016). doi:10.18411/d-2016-154

123 of Ducey's State Budget: tax cuts for corporations as schools crumble/state trust lands for prison beds/KidsCare loophole

Budget Week officially started yesterday, and I’ve got a whole lot of details to share with you, most of which clearly demonstrate Governor Ducey’s wrong priorities. Bottom line: He’s willing to shortchange universities, teachers, and families in crisis because he’s afraid to negotiate with Democrats. And he’s giving away another $107.2 million in corporate tax cuts.

And you’re not going to believe his new source of funding for private prison beds.

Governor Ducey 

> After a couple of months of wrangling amongst Republicans behind closed doors, Governor Ducey’s budget — negotiated with the legislative majority — finally came into the light yesterday. The schedule: It will be heard in House Appropriations today at 8am, and in my Senate Appropriations committee today at around 12:30pm. Extremely limited public testimony will be taken, then it will head to final votes on the floor on Thursday, with adjournment Sine Die either later that day or early next week.

They are promising no late-night sessions, but I’ll believe that when it happens. If you want to watch the proceedings live, you can tune in to the live legislative video here.

As we have traditionally done, last night we Legislative Democrats hosted a public hearing on the budget details, as laid out by the inimitable Richard Stavneak, director of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC). We invited the media and public to attend as all our members asked detailed questions and the proceedings were televised.

Here are some key takeaways:

> Our state budget — even not adjusting for inflation or population growth — is smaller than it was in 2007. Why? Massive corporate tax cuts and loopholes, which were used a a pretext for massive cuts in education at all levels, but did not deliver the job and wage growth the proponents promised. Have we learned our lesson and stopped such nonsense? Nope. There is $107.2 million in new corporate tax cuts in this year’s proposed budget, primarily in three areas: 1) corporate income tax rate reduction, 2) the increased corporate sales factor, and 3) the 20% growth in the cap on private school corporate tax credits.

> There is no sign at all in the budget of the promise Governor Ducey made in January to restore 24 months of eligibility for TANF benefits for families in crisis as they look to get on their feet again, often after a domestic violence incident. 70% of these funds go to children. You’ll recall he cut that eligibility to 12 months last year, the meanest cut in the nation.

> The Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest announced last week that they are suing the state on behalf of public school boards for the billions of dollars in building maintenance funds unconstitutionally withheld by the state over the past eight years. TUSD alone lost $120 million over that time, and consequently their facilities are in danger of collapse in many schools. One classroom roof at Carrillo School literally collapsed while students were present.

There used to be a formula for “Building Renewal” for schools, but it was funded at around 10% since 2008. The legislative majority decided to “fix” the problem not by providing full funding, but by eliminating the formula. If the formula were still in existence today, it would indicate that $289 million would need to be spent to keep our kids’ classrooms safe.

The amount in this year’s budget? $17.2 million. Less than 6% of the formula. We must do better than that.

> Speaking of formula funding, community colleges in Pima and Maricopa Counties have been cut off from state funding for years, with Maricopa losing $68 million a year, and Pima losing $22 million a year. This budget creates a funding formula for Pima and Maricopa community colleges, but then refuses to fund it. Watch as Governor Ducey uses this to claim his support for community colleges.

> There is $200,000 in the budget to pay for lead testing in schools. Which is good. Except there is no money to pay for remediation of the problem if the test come up positive for lead poisoning.

> Remember back in January when Governor Ducey proposed a 0.4% teacher raise to “solve” our teacher retention crisis? We are 50th in teacher salaries in the country. This budget is now proposing 1% teacher raises this year ($18 per paycheck on average before taxes and payroll deductions) and rising to 2% the following year ($36 per paycheck on average before taxes and payroll deductions). This is not nearly enough.

But there is enough available in the budget, even after this year’s massive corporate tax cuts, to pay teachers a full 4% more, starting this year. For example, just one of Governor Ducey’s budget items is a scheme to pay high-reforming public schools bonus money and ends up giving two-thirds of its funding to schools in the richest districts. Like vouchers, it is another transfer of taxpayer money from the have-nots to the haves. Eliminate this unfair experiment, and we could go a long ways toward that 4% raise, ten times the amount Gov. Ducey proposed in his January budget.

And there are many other smaller items, that gathered together can make up the rest. Here are a couple of questionable expenditures:

> A 33% raise for the director of the Automobile Theft Authority. No other public employees receive raises in the budget.

> And here’s a fun fact, uncovered during a last night’s budget presentation: Governor Ducey hid a provision in his Prop 123 that funds private prison beds from state trust lands to the tune of $4 million per year. I think most people would agree that $4 million would be better spent for teacher raises.

The funds are available. Why is Governor Ducey fighting so hard against 4% teacher raises and $92 a month for families in crisis? Perhaps you’d like to ask him that.

> We have had for many years a GIITEM fund for law enforcement against criminal gangs, given to county sheriffs throughout the state. For many years, Republican Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio received the lion’s share of these funds due to his political connections with the Legislature.

Last year, Sheriff Joe was defeated by Democrat Paul Penzone. Not coincidentally, for the first time ever, this budget now eliminates all GIITEM funding for Maricopa County — $1.6 million. In Pima County, a Republican Sheriff replaced a Democratic Sheriff last November. This budget gives $400,000 more in GIITEM funding to Pima County. Looks like politics trumps public safety in Ducey’s Arizona.

> Remember last year when Democrats were able to convince just enough Republicans to help us restore KidsCare health care coverage to more than 30,000 children in poverty? Governor Ducey and the legislative majority found a way in one line of the budget to take it away. The line says that the program is frozen as soon as the federal match rate falls below 100%, even to 99%. I’m thinking that Gov. Ducey’s DC friends have already assured him that is their intention.

> Another sneaky line in the budget aims to stop Planned Parenthood from applying for federal grants to distribute birth control. I suppose now that Governor Ducey and the majority have taken away nearly every right to reproductive choice, going after our birth control is the next step.

> For universities, Gov. Ducey’s budget continues to short our financial aid trust fund by $20 million a year, shutting needy students out of tuition assistance, and he demands that all three universities start a new tuition-free Teacher Academy, but provides no funds. Consequently, it must be funded by the tuition of other students who are not studying to be teachers.

> And let’s not forget HURF — the money the state gets from gas taxes that are required by the Arizona Constitution to be used only for roads. Governor Ducey wanted to swipe $90 million in HURF to balance his proposed January budget. Although an improvement, this budget still swipes $60 million from the state highway fund.

Feel free to tune in or even join us live in the public gallery.

Steve Farley
Arizona State Senator, District 9, Tucson

Governor Ducey rammed SB1431 — the statewide private school voucher bill — through the legislature and signed it

I got this e-mail from Friends O'Farley…

Last Thursday sent a shockwave through students, teachers, and parents — Republicans, Democrats, and Independents alike — all over the state. After politically threatening holdout Republicans, Governor Ducey rammed SB1431 — the statewide private school voucher bill — through the legislature and signed it into law that night.

The first people to tweet congratulations to the Governor were Jeb Bush and President Trump’s Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. It’s clear that, in privatizing our public school system, Doug Ducey is serving his DC friends, not AZ kids.

This is marks the beginning the wholesale privatization of our public school system, which can only be reversed by unseating the Governor and the legislative majority at the next election.

Read on for the details of this disastrous policy. Here is my floor speech, delivered last Thursday during the debate over SB1431:

Governor Ducey, I know you are listening, so I'm talking to you.

You call yourself an education governor. But you first came to prominence in our state as the leader of a successful effort to slash a billion dollars a year from our public schools.

Then you swooped in with a plan to save our public schools from the financial hole you originally created for them - Proposition 123.

Prop 123 took money from the future that was already set aside for schools in order to pay for the present desperate needs that you had created. It amounted to 70% of inflation and enrollment growth.

Which had already been ordered by voters 17 years ago to be paid and had not been paid since 2008.

Even with Prop 123 in place, our per pupil state support for K12, adjusted for inflation, has been slashed by 21% since 2008.

And I see the results in my daughter's school, Tucson High.

> 10% of the classrooms are locked away because they are hazardous to inhabit and there is no money to fix them.

> The average age of computers is 12 years old, and there are not enough for more than one third of the students. Because of lack of computers, AZMerit testing is a logistical nightmare and students not being tested are attending three-hour classes while others test.

> There are six counselors for 3,200 students.

> Teachers with eight years experience and a masters degree are earning $37,000 a year.

> 44% of Arizona teachers leave after two years.

Our entire system is in crisis.

Throughout the Prop 123 campaign, Governor, which I supported because it was all you left for us to support, you kept saying you were committed to Step 456. You never said exactly what that was.

Now we have before us your Step 456, and it is utterly shocking. You are proposing the wholesale privatization of our public school system.

This is nothing less than a tax of $5,400 a year on each public school student, redistributed as debit cards to the parents of other students who are rich enough to afford the extra $10,000 to $15,000 a year in tuition to attend a private or religious school.

Governor, you may say that this is about choice. But currently, 94% of Arizona parents choose to send their children to public schools.

Once you have gutted those public schools through your education policies, capped off by this one, those of us who have chosen to send our kids to public schools will be left with no good choice.

Either leave our kids at a neglected school with decaying resources, or beg, borrow, or even seek predatory lenders to scrape up the rest of the tuition to try to send our kid to a private school, which can turn away kids for any reason and will be filling up to capacity with students fleeing from the public schools you have gutted.

With this bill, on top of your other education policies, you are paving the way toward this dystopian future of dwindling opportunity and a widening chasm between the haves and the have nots.

Governor Ducey, you have resorted to wielding intense pressure and political threats to members of this body who have stood strong up to this point and voted their conscience. That is wrong.

You are ignoring the outcry of millions of Arizona citizens who need a foundation for the future and parents who choose public schools for their children. That is wrong.

You are dismantling the most effective tool we have ever built for lifting people out of poverty and delivering opportunity. That is wrong.

You are pushing a bill that will destroy Arizona public education as we know it. That is wrong.

I urge you, Governor Ducey, and urge all the members of this body, to reject SB1431.

—> Sadly, the Governor did not take my advice. SB1431 bill passed by the bare minimum of 16 votes in the Senate and 31 votes in the House, then was signed by Governor Ducey to cheers from his DC friends and jeers from AZ parents.

Several of the Republicans who had previously stated opposition to the statewide voucher scheme hadflipped after the Governor threatened to veto their bills and leave nothing for their districts.

One of the holdouts, Senator Bob Worsley, negotiated a cap of no more than 30,000 children eligible for the vouchers by 2022. That won his support. But as I pointed out on the floor, the cap could disappear with a one-line provision in the upcoming budget in the middle of the night, or at any other time.

Sure enough, before the ink was dry on Governor Ducey’s signature that very night, the right-wing Goldwater Institute sent out a fundraising email where they bragged, “There is a cap at 5,000 new kids per year; we will get it lifted."

Boom.

While the speed and brazenness of this braggadocio was breathtaking, it was hardly surprising. The Goldwater Institute has eliminated caps and restrictions on these voucher programs each of the 11 years I have served in the Legislature. This program was characterized at the start as just a tiny program to help a very limited group of severely disabled kids. Several steps later, all 1.1 million students in the state are now eligible — presuming their parents have the cash to pay for the rest of the tuition.

The Goldwater Institute’s stated goal is the complete privatization of public education. They are now well on their way.

It’s time for change in Arizona state government.

—> On another vitally important topic, health policy, Governor Ducey is struggling with his understanding of the issue. He came out with this amazing statement yesterday on the Mac and Gaydos show on Phoenix’s KTAR radio:


"Nobody wants to be on government healthcare. We want to transition people to the private sector. We do things at the Medicare level a lot better than we do things at the Medicaid level."

A) Medicare is "government healthcare" last I checked.

B) Medicaid in Arizona is called AHCCCS and is run by the state government. Which is run by the Governor.

Perhaps we could use a governor whose understanding of health policy goes beyond simply attacking Obamacare?

Steve Farley

Senator, District 9, Tucson