The
Arc of
Weekly
Legislative Update
June
19, 2009
State Legislative
Highlights ³
Budget Update
³
Links
STATE
LEGISLATIVE
HIGHLIGHTS
Days of
Session: 159 ³
Bills Filed: 1,111
³
Bills Signed:
7
The Senate has now
largely concluded hearing Senate bills for this legislative session. It
was a fast paced two weeks of hearing bills that had been backlogged for
months. Next week those bills will move on to the House. We will
soon see how many bills make it to the finish line.
Bill highlights for
the week ending June 19:
SB
1310 (DD Council; Continuation): Passed Senate Public Safety and Human Services
Committee with an amendment granting a four-year extension to the Council, and
also recommending that the Council be renamed the Arizona Council on
Developmental Disabilities.
SCR
1006 (taxpayer bill of rights): Passed Senate Appropriations Committee on a
party-line vote.
SCR
1009 (voter protection; temporary budget suspension): Passed Senate
Appropriations Committee on a party-line vote.
For a more complete
description of bills of interest to The Arc of Arizona and their status, please
refer to the Summary of Significant Arizona Legislation, 2009, dated June 12,
2009.
Looking ahead to the
week of June 22:
HB
2344 (Vulnerable Adults; Financial Exploitation): Will be heard in Senate
Judiciary on Monday, June 22 at 1:30 PM
HB
2317 (Fiduciaries): Will be heard in Senate Judiciary on Monday, June 22 at 1:30
PM
Sunday, 14 June 2009 22:54 Guardian staff
Lawmakers
this week are set to continue their frantic push to the finish line, defined as
the end of the fiscal year and looming just 15 days ahead.
Preparations in the event of a partial government shutdown are also
under way as Republican leaders and Gov. Jan Brewer continue to try to work out
significant differences over how to balance the state budget.
This week
brings another round of Senate committee hearings, most of them packed full of
bills as senators scramble to get their own issues through and begin to hear a
few House bills as well.
For its
part, the House had only one standing committee scheduled and that was Commerce,
at 2:30 p.m. Monday. And the only item on the agenda was a measure that would
pave the way for
House
Majority Leader Rep. John McComish said the lack of committee meetings could
change as the Senate approves bills and sends them to the
House.
"Later in
the week, it will depend a little bit on what pumps out of the Senate," McComish
said. "Monday, Tuesday, I still see us pounding out a lot of third
reads."
House
committees could crank up again by Wednesday depending on Senate action, he
said.
Both
Senate and House leaders have said they'll schedule hearings and floor sessions
for Fridays and even Saturdays if necessary. McComish said he's not sure the
House will have to work this Friday but next week
"definitely."
Both
chambers are considering measures that would send public policy questions to
voters in November 2010.
The House
Government Committee last week approved a bill that would ask voters to end
government affirmative action programs, including preferential contract bidding.
That bill is slated for the rules committee and caucus. A companion Senate bill
was pulled last week from the Senate Appropriations agenda but is back on this
week.
The
Senate Judiciary Committee is set to hear SCR 1025 which would ask voters
prohibit the use of taxpayer money for candidates or campaigns for statewide
office and the Legislature, overturning the Citizens Clean Elections Act passed
in 1998.
Two other
bills set for airing in Senate Appropriations would ask voters to take a hand in
the state's financial efforts. One would allow the Legislature to take
voter-protected funds from various programs in times of fiscal crisis; the other
puts in place a spending limit for state government based primarily on
population increases.
Both
bills were pulled from the committee agenda last week, and both ideas are key
elements of Brewer's proposed budget, although the governor has envisioned a
special election this fall on use of the voter-protected funds along with her
proposed 1-cent sales tax increase.
Once
again, the Capitol lawn should be free of tents and tables as no lobbying groups
have scheduled lunches or other presentations. The Children's Action Alliance
has slated a press conference for noon on Tuesday on the House lawn and Sen.
Russell Pearce is down for an 8 a.m. event Wednesday. No word late Sunday what
that's about.
BUDGET
UPDATE
BUDGET
TALKS BREAK DOWN, AND THE GOVERNOR FILES SUIT. IN THE MEANTIME, PEOPLE
SCRAMBLE TO FIGURE OUT WHAT A GOVERNMENT SHUT-DOWN
ENTAILS.
Tuesday, 16 June 2009 01:13 Mary K.
Reinhart
The
As
political theater, the dueling press conferences, sharp words and brinkmanship
between Gov. Jan Brewer, Senate President Bob Burns and House Speaker Kirk Adams
provide hours of entertainment.
But as a
path through one of the most difficult periods in state history, it is a
tortuous one at best.
Today
could mark yet another twist, if the governor makes good on her threat to file a
special action with the Arizona Supreme Court to compel Burns to release the
2010 budget that Republican lawmakers passed nearly two weeks
ago.
That's
not likely to do much for budget negotiations, however, which took a sharp turn
south on Monday with the governor lashing out at Burns as an obstructionist and
the legislative leaders feigning ignorance.
Brewer
claims Burns walked out of talks Sunday night. His refusal to transmit the
10-bill budget package, she says, is forcing her hand with 14 days until the new
fiscal year begins.
"I will
not allow President Burns to hold the state hostage," she said. "He has a
responsibility to send me those bills so that we can move to the next step in
the budget process."
Burns
seemed genuinely stunned by the governor's action Monday, saying he simply left
the negotiating table for the evening, not for
good.
"I have
been at many tables negotiating," the governor retorted later Monday. "I know
when somebody's going home to go to sleep and when somebody has said it is
finished."
Brewer
and Burns are old hands at legislative deal-making and budget wrangling.
Observers say Burns is simply hanging onto the bills to avoid a Brewer veto. She
acknowledged Monday that if she gets the bills she "probably wouldn't sign
them."
Here's a
worst-case scenario for Brewer and her staff: Burns keeps the budget bills until
midday June 30, then ships the package up to Brewer for her signature on the
last day of the fiscal year.
Her
choice? Shut down state government or sign a budget she believes would unravel
health and social welfare programs, harm education, invite lawsuits and risk the
loss of billions of dollars in federal stimulus
money.
Here's a
scenario Burns and Adams are trying to avoid: Brewer gets the budget bills in
the next few days and vetoes them, saying the legislative plan was unbalanced,
unworkable and unkind to children, families and taxpayers
everywhere.
The
governor's budget gets new traction and she forges a coalition with Republicans
and Democrats, pushing through much of her five-point plan, including a
temporary 1-cent sales tax increase on a fall special election ballot, and
freezing out the GOP leadership.
Brewer
said Monday she and Republican leaders had made some headway over the past few
days, including her concession not to rely on potential revenues from a future
sales tax, which may or not pass, to balance the 2010
budget.
That
leaves a $1 billion hole in the governor's budget. Brewer spokesman Paul
Senseman said borrowing and other "accounting gimmicks" are being considered to
fill it.
Burns and
Adams agreed that some progress has been made, but broad philosophical
differences remain.
"There
have been fruitful discussions,"
The two
sides are about $200 million or more apart on spending reductions, not counting
the $1 billion that Brewer's budget includes for enrollment and inflation
increases in health care and education. And, of course, the tax
increase.
Burns and
other senators said Monday that a Brewer veto would blow up negotiations and
make a partial government shutdown more likely. State agencies already have
plans in place for operating essential services without spending authority July
1.
But it
could put the two budgets on more equal footing and force a compromise. The
current negotiating plan uses the legislative budget as a starting point, with
the notion of drafting additional bills to amend the budget that passed June
4.
Democrats
so far have been frozen out of the process, but said Monday that Republicans
were making a mess of things.
"Clearly
the losers are going to be the state of
Late
Monday afternoon, Burns and Adams sent a letter to the governor saying she
wasn't getting the budget package.
"As you
know, the bills have been an important part of our discussions so far," they
wrote. "We believe it is premature to transmit the bills when we have not yet
reached consensus."
That's
the opposite of how the things usually work, with consensus reached before bills
are passed. But this year is different. Way
different.
"I've
said this before and I'll say this again - this is the most interesting session
I've ever been in," said Sen. Jonathan Paton. "I have no idea what's going to
happen next."
Tuesday, 16 June 2009 11:51 Dennis
Welch
The
Gov. Jan
Brewer moved beyond rhetoric on Tuesday and filed a special action with the
Arizona Supreme Court to force the Legislature to turn over the 2010 budget. The
Supreme Court agreed late Monday to hear oral arguments at 10 a.m. Tuesday on
both jurisdiction and merits of the case.
Senate
President Bob Burns, a Peoria Republican, has been holding the budget bills that
were approved June 4 as leverage in ongoing negotiations with the governor's
office. He said Tuesday he will continue to do so.
Brewer
has said she "probably wouldn't sign" the $8.2 billion spending bill because it
cuts too deeply into education and health and human services, and could cost the
state billions of dollars in federal stimulus funding.
She has
repeatedly asked for the budget bills. On Monday, after budget talks bogged
down, Brewer warned that she would take the GOP legislative leaders to
court.
At an 11
a.m. news conference on the steps of the Arizona Supreme Court, the governor
said she's suing now because she doesn't want Burns and House Speaker Kirk Adams
to force her hand.
"I
learned at a very young age that people want to trick you," she said. "I am not
going to wait until June 30 to have them more or less trick the governor's
office by dropping a budget on my desk on the 30th and have government shut
down."
"It's our
hope that by doing this she still intends to negotiate in good faith,"
He said
the lawsuit is "not insurmountable," but "it slows the process down and affects
the tenor of negotiations."
The suit,
which names Burns, Adams, the House and Senate, and Senate secretary Charmion
Billington, claims that the Legislature has a constitutional duty to transmit
the bills to the governor. The timing, however, is
unclear.
Burns and
Adams have said they will send the 10-bill package to Brewer before the fiscal
year ends June 30.
"My
target is to get an agreement and the sooner the better, so if we can do that
today, I'm happy to let (the bills) go," Burns
said.
"If the
court decides to take the case, we'll try to make our argument that this is not
something the court ought to be involved in," he said. "It ought to be something
that should be worked out between the executive and the legislative branch,
especially as long as we're in session."
Speaking
to members of the Senate Republican caucus, Burns said there is neither the
political will nor the time to make more than minor changes to the budget the
Legislature passed nearly two weeks ago.
"The
speaker and I both have to consider: Where do the votes come from?" Burns
said. "We have to be able to get votes in pretty short notice. So, major
changes, I believe, would create real problems in that
area."
It's not
known when the Supreme Court will rule, or even if the court will take the case.
Attorneys for the governor have filed a motion to expedite a
decision.
The
55-page legal brief argues that legislative leaders are violating a provision in
the Arizona Constitution requiring them to send any measure passed by the
Legislature to the governor.
Although
the state Constitution doesn't say when a bill must b transmitted, attorneys for
Brewer argue the Legislature must transmit the bills
"immediately."
Her legal
staff also says legislative leaders are attempting to usurp the governor's power
by not letting her either sign, veto or allow the measures to become law
without her signature.
"The
executive approval stage of the legislative process is intended to provide a
constitutional check and balance, not to accord the Legislature or its leaders
an informal opportunity to reconsider legislation finally passed by both
houses," the brief said.
"The
Legislature's action so significantly encroaches on the executive department as
to violate the essential separation of powers doctrine and therefore amounts to
an unconstitutional usurpation of power."
Former
ASU law school dean and constitutional law expert Paul Bender said he believes
Brewer is right, but the Supreme Court is unlikely to get involved in what is
basically a political dispute it can't enforce.
"If they
ordered them to do it, how would they enforce that order? They're really
reluctant to order things they can't enforce," he said. "This Supreme Court does
not seem to be the kind that will go out on a limb and inject themselves into
this hot political battle."
In 2003,
for example, the court declined to take jurisdiction when then-Senate President
Ken Bennett filed a special action against then-Gov. Janet Napolitano
challenging her line-item budget veto, saying that "a measure of accountability
in the current dispute can properly be assessed against both
sides."
"I think
the governor is right legally. They should send it to her. That's what the
constitution contemplates," Bender said. "The problem for her is that I don't
think the court's going to intervene."
Bender
said Brewer's argument carries even more weight because of the constitutional
requirement to send the governor a balanced budget by June
30.
"Under
their theory they could wait until a minute before midnight and then send it to
her. That's wrong," he said. "You are supposed to get her a budget in time
for her to decide whether to veto it or not, and even to give you time to
override her veto."
FROM
THE
Could
rift over
Driver's licenses will be unavailable. Road construction
will grind to a halt. Child abuse will not be investigated. Those are some of
the scenarios state agencies are preparing for should state leaders fail
to agree on a budget by July 1.
The nearly total shutdown of state government, a
possibility raised last week by Gov. Jan
Brewer, has grown
more likely this week as Republican leaders in the Legislature refuse to send
Brewer the budget package they approved June 4.
Brewer, a fellow Republican, is widely expected to veto
the bills. On Tuesday, she sued the Legislature in an effort to shake the bills
loose so she can take action.
If a shutdown happens, it will be a first. In 1992, the
state came within seconds of closing its doors as the Legislature tangled with
then-Gov.
Republican lawmakers this year have dismissed the threat
of a shutdown as a stunt designed to pressure them into backing Brewer's demand
for fewer budget cuts and a referral to the ballot for a sales-tax hike. The
state faces a 2010 budget shortfall of at least $3 billion. Agency directors
have taken the threat seriously. Brewer ordered them to develop contingency
plans to keep essential state services operating for several weeks, if
necessary.
The Department of Administration is compiling those
plans, which the governor must approve. If leaders don't come to a budget
agreement, the authority to spend money expires on July 1, the beginning of the
next fiscal year. The only way to keep even bare-bones services running would be
to enact special legislation that would allow money to flow on a month-to-month
basis.
If government does shut down, Arizonans will feel it in
several ways. An
• All Motor Vehicle Division branches would close,
preventing Arizonans from getting driver's licenses, having their cars inspected
or registering their vehicles in person. The MVD is making arrangements to make
at least some of those services available online.
• The state would be unable to take abuse reports for
children and the elderly, provide child care or cash assistance to families, or
provide services to victims of domestic violence.
• The Department of Health Services would suspend
operations, preventing officials from conducting investigations and tracking
disease outbreaks at the state level. Coordinating the response to cases such as
the recent swine-flu outbreak would be left to counties.
• All 28 state parks would likely close indefinitely.
• All state highway construction and projects would be
suspended.
• Visitation at all 13 state prisons would be suspended,
as would programs that allow inmates to perform work for cities, counties and
state agencies.
• The governor, lawmakers, attorney general and other
constitutional offices could still operate. But there would be no money or
authority for staffs to work.
• Payroll would be shut down. That could leave thousands
of state workers without compensation for work they did June 15-30 because
checks for that period will not be cut until July 3.
State Treasurer Dean Martin said that absent stop-gap
funding legislation, "all the financial operations of the state come to a halt
at midnight on June 30."
That means no ability to issue paychecks, pay bills for
such basic services as electricity and water, or even to process the transfer of
federal money that pours into the state budget.
As a constitutional officer, Martin said he would come
to work "if the building's open."
The Senate and House of Representatives buildings would
remain open because those offices, unlike state agencies, have the ability to
carry forward money from one budget year to the next.
Lists were due from state agencies last week on which
essential services they would continue, but those plans are still being
compiled, department spokesman Alan Ecker said. "It's a massive undertaking," he
said.
Agency directors were still working out how to pay for
essential services if they lose funding even for a few days. The Department of
Corrections will need funds to pay corrections officers and feed prisoners; the
DHS requires up to $250,000 a day to run the
The DHS will use Lottery funds to cover any gap in
funding, interim Director Will Humble said. Corrections Director Charles L. Ryan
said his department is working with the Governor's Office to develop a plan for
funding.
Public schools should not face
interruption, state schools chief Tom Horne said. Schools could get temporary
loans from county treasurers' offices, the normal channel through which their
funding flows.
STATE
LINKS
v
General Legislative
Information: http://www.azleg.gov
v
Democrat Budget
Proposal:
http://www.strongerarizona.com
v
Governor’s Budget
Proposal: http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/49leg/1R/proposed/S.1188RP2.pdf
v
House & Senate
FY10 Budget Proposal:
http://www.azleg.gov/jlbc/HouseSenate6-3.pdf
v
FY10 Budget Bill
Policy Summary: http://www.azleg.gov/jlbc/housesenatebrbsummary060309.pdf
FEDERAL
CONGRESSIONAL
HIGHLIGHTS
|
Please call or email your Members of Congress and
urge them to include Long Term Services and Supports in Health Care
Reform. Members of Congress from (Community Choice Act - www.passthecommunitychoiceact.org and Class Act - www.passtheclassact.org). REMEMBER: Long Term
Services and Supports in |
|
Click on this link to compose
your letter: |
HEALTH CARE
REFORM:
Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT), on behalf of Sen. Edward
Kennedy (D-MA), Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP)
Committee, released a draft version of the Affordable Health Choices Act,
comprehensive legislation to overhaul the nation's health care
system. The draft legislation, which is modeled on
Massachusetts law, includes:
* A universal mandate requiring all individuals
to have insurance, with exceptions for hardship cases;
* Subsidies to enable
low-income individuals to purchase insurance;
* Establishment of a state
"Gateway" system to assist individuals to purchase private insurance;
*
Guaranteed issue with a prohibition on pre-existing conditions exclusions for
all plans;
* A prohibition of lifetime caps; and
* The major elements of
the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act, to establish
a national long term services insurance program.
The HELP
Committee held a two-day hearing on the bill with approximately 20 witnesses
representing small and large businesses, medical providers, the insurance and
pharmaceutical industries, and consumer groups, including the Consortium
for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD).
The most controversial elements of the legislation, which Republican Committee
Members oppose, are its employer mandate and its establishment of a government
run insurance plan. The disability community is concerned that the benefits
categories set forth in the bill do not include durable medical equipment (such
as wheelchairs).
In his weekly address, President Obama
proposed an additional $313 billion in cuts to Medicare and Medicaid over the
next 10 years to help offset the cost of health reform. The
President's FY 2010 budget initially proposed a $634 billion reserve fund to pay
for health reform over the next ten years. Much of the reserve fund's proposals
came from Medicare and Medicaid savings. The new $313 billion proposal includes
$110 billion from productivity adjustments to the payments of Medicare
providers; $106 billion in cuts to the disproportionate share hospital program
for Medicare and Medicaid (that treat many uninsured patients); $75 billion in
unspecified reductions to Medicare prescription drug spending; $14.4 billion in
cuts to nursing homes, long-term care hospitals, and inpatient rehabilitation
hospitals; $6 billion in cuts to physician imaging services (MRIs and CT scans);
and $1 billion in savings from reducing fraud and abuse. The President's
proposals total $948 billion over 10 years to pay for health care reform, which
some estimate may cost $1.5 trillion.
Community Living Assistance Services and Supports
(CLASS) Act of 2009
Bill # S.697 H.R. 1721
Summary:
A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to help individuals with functional impairments and their families pay for services and supports that they need to maximize their functionality and independence and have choices about community participation, education, and employment, and for other purposes.
Community Choice Act of 2009
Bill # S.683 H.R.
1670
Summary:
A bill to amend Title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide individuals with disabilities and older Americans with equal access to community-based attendant services and supports, and for other purposes.
Your Congress Member will be
home during the July 4th break. Please take the time to contact
your member of Congress while they are home and ask them to support the CLASS
Act (S.697 in the Senate or HR 1721 in the House) and The Community Choice Act
of 2009 (S.683 in the Senate or HR 1670 in the House). There are NO
members from the
ADA
The Disability Policy Collaboration (DPC) of
The Arc and UCP will be developing comments in response to the Equal Employment
Opportunities Commission's (EEOC) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for the American
with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA) of 2008.
The ADAAA proposed regulations are expected to be released on June
17.
ADA/Employment Meeting
On Wednesday, June 17 the EEOC held a public meeting
to discuss their proposed regulations for the
Voting
Report
The
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d09685.pdf
For more detail
information follow the The Arc
http://www.thearc.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=360
Important links:
Link to the President of the
President Barack Obama http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/president_obama/
Links to the
Senator Jon Kyl http://kyl.senate.gov/
Senator John McCain http://mccain.senate.gov/public/
1st District
Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick http://kirkpatrick.house.gov/
2nd District Congressman
Trent Franks http://www.house.gov/franks/
3rd District Congressman
John Shadegg http://johnshadegg.house.gov/
4th District Congressman
Ed Pastor http://www.pastor.house.gov/
5th District Congressman
Harry Mitchell http://mitchell.house.gov/
6th District Congressman
Jeff Flake http://flake.house.gov/
7th District Congressman
Raul Grijalva http://grijalva.house.gov/
8th District
Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords http://giffords.house.gov/