Sunday, March 01, 2015

Arizona legislature: the coming week

In relative terms, this coming week is shaping up to be a quiet one at the lege.

In that there are only a couple of agendas that look to be full of "nuggets of ugly".  As opposed to the usual majority of agendas having bills that are nasty.

Having said that, watch for agendas to change, especially those for meetings that take place later in the week...


Notes:

All committees meetings and agendas are subject to change without notice, and frequently do.  If you plan to travel to the Capitol to observe or weigh in on the consideration of a particular measure, check with the lege ahead of time to confirm that the meeting that you are interesting in is still on schedule and your item(s) of interest is still on the agenda for that meeting.

Meeting rooms designated "HHR" are in the House of Representatives building.

Meeting rooms designated "SHR" are in the Senate building.

Some agendas are summarized as "looks harmless", but if they cover an area of interest to you, examine the agenda and the bills on it.  If I missed something significant, please leave a comment letting me know.

All House committee agendas can be found here. All Senate committee agendas can be found here.


On the Senate side of the Capitol -

Natural Resources, Monday, 9 a.m., SHR109.  Presentations only, at this point.

State Debt and Budget Reform, Monday, 10 a.m., SHR3.  Presentations on state revenue from a few organizations, including, for some reason, the Goldwater Institute.

Water and Energy, Monday, 2 p.m., SHR3.  Looks relatively harmless at this point.

Commerce and Workforce Development, Monday, 2 p.m., SHR1.  On the agenda: HB2346, stating that workers' compensation insurance carriers don't have to provide reimbursement for medical marijuana.


Rural Affairs and Environment, Tuesday, 9 a.m., SHR109. "Air quality rules are bad for industrial agriculture" day at the legislature.  On the agenda: A presentation on "Agricultural Air Quality Regulations by ADEQ and Industry Specialists"; HB2394, requiring that "anyone who commences a regulated agricultural activity to immediately comply with the agricultural general permit beginning January 1, 2016" (quoting the legislative summary of the bill) - currently, there is an 18 month grace period before compliance with the agricultural permit is required; HB2581, creating something called the "Prescribed Burns Liability Study Committee".

 Transportation, Tuesday, 2 p.m., SHR1.  On the agenda: HB2345, removing the requirements that motorcycles in AZ have handrails for passengers and that the handlebars of the motorcycles are designed so that the hands of the operator are below shoulder level.

Appropriations, Tuesday, 2 p.m., SHR109.  On the agenda: HB2380, a Republican grandstanding bill regarding "truth in spending" hearings.


Public Safety, Military, and Technology, Wednesday, 9 a.m., SHR1.  On the agenda: HB2377, Declaring that the Law Enforcement Merit System Council's (LEMSC) determination for an appeal of a disciplinary action is final and binding and no longer subject to review by the director of an employer agency.

Health and Human Services, Wednesday, 2 p.m., SHR1. On the agenda: HB2238, a proposal to specify in state law that a health professional does not have to participate in a third party reimbursement program as a condition a receiving a professional license (this is from Sen. Kelli Ward [R-eyeing John McCain's Senate seat] and is her latest attempt to allow her fellow travelers to discriminate against Medicare/Medicaid patients).

Government, Wednesday, 2 p.m., SHR3.  On the agenda: HB2272, allowing a retired law enforcement officer who is a member of the Arizona State Retirement System (ASRS), the Public Safety Personnel Retirement System (PSPRS), the Corrections Officer Retirement Plan (CORP), or the Elected Officials’ Retirement Plan (EORP) to purchase a firearm issued by an employer at a price determined by the employer; HB2509, making it a class 4 felony, except under specific circumstance, to take, or attempt to take, control of someone's firearm.

Financial Institutions, Wednesday, 2 p.m., SHR109.  Looks harmless so far.


Finance, Thursday, 9 a.m., SHR3.  On the agenda: HB2001, indexing income tax brackets to the state's inflation rate.  A back door tax and revenue cut, as the inflation rate tracks changes in living costs, not changes in wages (which are the basis for income, for most people anyway); HB2109, micromanaging ballot language for local bond elections; HB2538, micromanaging county special districts (flood control, library, etc.) regarding taxes.

Education, Thursday, 9 a.m., SHR1.  On the agenda: HB2180, mandating that the state board of education establish a menu of tests that schools can use to assess student achievement.

Judiciary, Thursday, 9:30 a.m., SHR109.  Looks relatively harmless at this point.


On the House side of the Capitol -

Rules, Monday, 1 p.m., HHR4.  Long agenda of bills to be rubber-stamped on their way to floor.action.

Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources, Monday, 2 p.m., HHR1.  On the agenda: SB1079, barring municipalities from preventing private enterprises from providing trash/recycling services to multifamily properties.

County and Municipal Affairs, Monday, 2 p.m., HHR4.  On the agenda: SB1069, barring municipalities and counties from requiring retail businesses to follow certain security requirements.

Children and Family Affairs, Monday, 2 p.m., HHR5.  Looks harmless so far.


Transportation and Infrastructure, Tuesday, 2 p.m., HHR1.  Looks harmless so far.

Health, Tuesday, 2 p.m., HHR4.  Looks relatively harmless.

Banking and Financial Services, Tuesday, 2 p.m., HHR3.  Looks relatively harmless, though some of the bills border on being hyper-technical and I may be missing some of the nuances here.


Federalism and States' Rights, Wednesday, 9 a.m., HHR5.  And so the streak of "not bad" agendas ends...  On that agenda: SCM1006, a love letter to Congress urging it to support the building of the Keystone XL pipeline.  Not sure how the recent presidential veto of the scheme will affect consideration; SCM1009, a love letter to Congress urging it to exempt military bases and military training facilities from complying with the Endangered Species Act; SCM1012, a love letter to Congress urging it to water down the Endangered Species Act; SCM1013, a love letter to Congress urging it to oppose any new EPA rules related to the Clean Air Act that impact electrical generating plants.

Commerce, Wednesday, 9:30 a.m., HHR1.  Looks harmless so far.

Insurance, Wednesday, 10 a.m., HHR4.  Looks harmless so far.

Education, Wednesday, 2 p.m., HHR4.  On the agenda: SB1074, requiring public school districts to allow charter schools to purchase or lease the unused facilities of public school districts; SB1286, allowing private colleges and universities to operate charter schools; SB1332, expanding school vouchers "empowerment scholarship accounts".

Appropriations, Wednesday, 2 p.m., HHR1.  On the agenda: SB1188, relating to conforming AZ law to federal tax code.  An annual bill that usually sails through the lege, but this year, there is a little push-back on it - according to the fiscal analysis of the bill by the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, it will result in a net reduction in state revenue of nearly $31 million.


Agriculture, Water, and Lands, Thursday, 9 a.m., HHR3.  On the agenda: SB1185, appropriating $250K to the AZAG's office to pay for litigation against the reintroduction of Mexican grey wolves in Arizona.

Government and Higher Education, Thursday, 9 a.m., HHR1.  On the agenda: mostly bills that are too technical for me to understand and SB1441, declaring that the official state metal is copper.

Military Affairs and Public Safety, Thursday, 10 a.m., HHR5.  On the agenda: SB1445, keeping secret for 90 days the name of law enforcement officers who kill or use deadly force.


The House has posted a COW (Committee of the Whole) calendar here and here and here for Monday.  

The Senate has posted no floor calendars at this point.

The Capitol Events calendar is here.


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