Monday, August 23, 2021

NEW, TAKING BIPARTISANSHIP TO THE BANK: Sinema Chips In To Pay GOP Colleague's $490K Legal Fees For Pre-COVID Stock Selloff Investigation (ARIZONA'S POLITICAL SHORTS)

5:30pm: TAKING BIPARTISANSHIP TO THE BANK: Sinema Chips In To Pay GOP Colleague's $490K Legal Fees For Pre-COVID Stock Selloff Investigation

Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema sent $2,000 to the legal defense fund for one of her Republican colleagues earlier this year. Richard Burr was then part of the bipartisan group to push the hard infrastructure bill through the Senate.

The investigation into Burr's $2.3M of stock sales shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down much of the economy was closed by the US Department of Justice in mid-January. However, he had incurred $490,000 in legal bills and set up the legal defense fund (permitted under Senate rules).

Forbes' Zach Everson first reported on the Sinema contribution, in addition to the other 36 current and former lawmakers who picked up more than half ($280,000) of the attorneys' tab.

The other Democrats who chipped in were Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV), Mark Warner (D-VA) and Angus King (I-ME). (King caucuses with the Democrats and even matched his committee's contribution with $5,000 of his personal funds.)

Such across-the-aisle contributions are very rare. And indeed, the $2,000 contribution from Sinema's leadership PAC ("Getting Stuff Done PAC") is the only contribution the GSD-PAC has made to a Republican.

Sinema's leadership PAC currently has $335,000 in the bank, and her main campaign committee has $3.6M.



8/23, 11am: NEW: Sinema Digs In Hard On Fellow Dems' "Soft" Infrastructure Bill, Tries To De-Couple It From Her Bi-Partisan "Hard" Bill
Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema is digging in her heels on opposing the Democrats' two-track infrastructure plan.

After getting Senate approval for the bipartisan "hard" infrastructure bill that she helped negotiate, she is warning the House of Representatives that she is opposing the $3.5T "soft" infrastructure bill that President Biden and Democratic leadership saw as an inextricable companion measure.

Politico reported this morning on the warning shot from the 1st term Senator (who is not up for re-election until 2024):
The $550 billion bipartisan infrastructure bill “is a historic win for our nation’s everyday families and employers and, like every proposal, should be considered on its own merits,” said Sinema spokesperson John LaBombard. “Proceedings in the U.S. House will have no impact on Kyrsten’s views about what is best for our country - including the fact that she will not support a budget reconciliation bill that costs $3.5 trillion.”

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Monday, August 9, 2021

BREAKING: Maricopa County Supervisors Calls Meeting Tomorrow Afternoon To Discuss Election "Audit" Subpoenas; 20th Snap Meeting of the Year

UPDATE, 10pm: It is NOT just the subpoenas that are on tomorrow's executive session agenda. As it turns out, the Supervisors will ALSO get an update from the County Attorney's Office about the Attorney General's investigation of them regarding their subpoena responses. That investigation was prompted by Sen. Sonny Borrelli's referral.

The 3rd agenda item is to receive legal advice about the County's "authority and responsibility re: COVID-19", and "compliance with state laws and executive orders". The County Schools Superintendent is NOT listed as being part of this agenda item, as more school district governing boards have been considering whether or not to require the wearing of face masks.

Here is the full agenda:
 
The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors has called a snap meeting for 24 1/2 hours from now in order to discuss the current situation with the State Senate's election "audit" subpoenas. This is the 20th time this year that the GOP-dominated Board has held special or emergency meetings to discuss the ongoing post-election mess.

The Board has to call it an "emergency" meeting if they post it less than 24 hours before the starting time; there have been 11 such meetings this year.

Tomorrow's executive session is set for 3:00pm tomorrow, and notice went out at 2:40pm. The substantive agenda was not yet posted.

The County has provided some information responsive to the latest round of subpoenas sent out by Senate President Karen Fann and Judiciary Chair Warren Petersen. However, they have filed a number of objections to most of the demands for data.

Here are the both the subpoena and the County's response and objections to it.

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Wednesday, August 4, 2021

SUMMARY of the SIX Referenda Petitions Being Circulated By Two Different Groups


Longer version, with official summaries - and, links at the bottom:

Referendum definition – Arizona Is one of only 23 states where voters have the right to *refer* a law (after the Governor signs it) to the ballot. The law does not go into effect unless the VOTERS pass it. (It only goes to the ballot IF enough valid petition signatures are collected.)

Initiative definition – Arizona voters can collect enough valid signatures to place a proposed law onto the election ballot.

(The referendum petitions each need 118,823 valid signatures turned in before September 28, 2021. The initiatives need 237,645 valid sigs before July 8, 2022.)

1.      “PEVL Purge”, SB1485. Sponsor: Arizona Deserves Better

The best known of the passed/signed voting suppression bills, it turns “PEVL” into “Evil”.

Overview: "This petition seeks to refer SB1485 to the ballot for a vote. This bill substantially changes the Permanent Early Voting List (PEVL), now used by most Arizonans to vote. It renames the list and purges it periodically. Government notices would be sent to people based on their frequency of early voting. People who are mailed notices would be required to respond to stay on the list. If enough people sign this petition, the people of Arizona will be able to vote to prevent this bill from becoming law and keep the Permanent Early Voting List. "

 

Summary: SB1485 is trying to fix a non-existent problem.   The effect is to make it more difficult for citizens to participate in the election process… for no valid reason. For example, if a person is an infrequent voter (votes only  in presidential elections) and misses one presidential election, they can be taken off of early voting/PEVL. NOTE:  There are laws already in place to clean up the PEVL list of people who have moved (etc), and there is no “fraud problem” this law would fix.

 

2.      HB2569. Sponsor: Arizona Deserves Better

This referendum would allow counties to receive private grants to help with voter registration or early voting efforts. The Legislature does not always provide requested funding.

Overview: "This petition seeks to refer HB 2569 to the ballot for a vote. HB 2569 stops elections officials from receiving private grants to help them run elections or register voters, even if the Legislature provides inadequate funding for elections administration and voter registration. Election officials have used grant funds to purchase equipment used to provide timely and accurate election results. If enough people sign this petition, the voters will decide whether election officials should be allowed to accept private grants. "

 

Summary: In the last election cycle, grants were given to counties to support early voting. For example, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg gave grants supporting early voting efforts in Maricopa County (i.e. providing more drop box locations, etc.). The grant – with non-partisan conditions - was approved by the County Board. This new law would prevent grants being accepted in the future. The referendum’s purpose is to continue allowing grants to be accepted to fund early voting (etc) efforts in the future.

 

3.      SB1828 (Sxns 13, 15). Sponsor: Invest In Arizona

This is one of the three measures passed to try to un-do the Invest In Ed initiative passed by voters. It is the “flat tax” law.

Overview: "This petition seeks to refer sections 13 and 15 of 2021 Laws, Chapter 412 (SB 1828). Sections 13 and 15 together create new income tax brackets and rates that apply when state general fund revenue exceeds certain amounts."

 

Summary: This massive budget bill reduces state revenues by $1.9B/yr. It gives wealthiest Arizonans the biggest tax break by making flatter tax brackets. This referendum would prevent the legislature from circumventing the will of the people to fund our public education.

 

4.      SB1827 (Sxn 4). Sponsor: Invest In Arizona

This is the 2nd anti-Invest In Ed law pushed by Gov. Ducey. It cuts K-12 spending by $250M+/yr.

Overview: "This petition seeks to refer Section 4 of 2021 Laws, Chapter 411 (SB 1827). Section 4 creates a maximum combined individual income tax rate of 4.5%, inclusive of the regular income tax imposed by A.R.S. § 43-1011 and the 3.5% income tax surcharge imposed by A.R.S. § 43-1013 (which was approved by Arizona voters in 2020 as Proposition 208). If a taxpayer's total tax rate exceeds 4.5%, the regular income tax rate imposed by A.R.S. § 43-1011 would be automatically reduced to cap the taxpayer's total tax rate at 4.5%."

 

Summary: This budget bill would prevent our state from collecting money from the wealthiest Arizonians – to fund education. It would shrink the general fund by almost $500M/yr and cut K-12 spending by $250M+/yr. This referendum would prevent the legislature from circumventing the will of the people to fund our public education.

 

5.      Anti-voting omnibus bill. SB1819 (Sxns 4, 5, 21, 25, 33). Sponsor: Arizona Deserves Better

This picks out several of the worst election measures thrown into a budget bill. Many of these had failed to pass the Legislature earlier under regular procedures. Here’s a summary:

1a) Ordering Arizona Game & Fish Department to conduct voter registration efforts;

1b) allowing the Legislature to designate an individual or company to have access to voter registration databases and make sure that registrants who do not provide proof of citizenship can only vote for President and Congress;

2) calling for ballot paper to contain watermarks, bar codes and other *possible* anti-fraud measures;

3) spends $500,000 to investigate social media platforms and search engines to see whether they help some candidates and/or hurt others;

4) tasking the Auditor General to report on voter registration and outreach events attended by the Secretary of State and the Maricopa County and Pima County Recorders (item one also would require those elected officials to publicly report their event calendars);

5) removes Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs’ authority to defend court cases about elections, and gives it to Republican Attorney General Mark Brnovich. (Really! It shifts back after they leave those offices!)

 

6.      “Small business” tax credit bill. SB1783. Sponsor: Invest In Arizona

This clever effort to un-do Invest In Ed redefines “small business” to include nearly every wealthy individual, and allows them to take a “small business tax credit” for the amount that would have gone to education funding.

Overview: "This petition seeks to refer 2021 Laws, Chapter 436 (SB 1783). The principal provisions of this bill would: (a) allow "small business taxpayer[s]," as defined in the bill, to elect to report certain forms of income as "small business income" and pay taxes on that income at rates set by the bill and (b) establish new income tax brackets and rates for trusts and estates."

Summary: This bill would stop more than $290M/year from K-12 education – one-third of the Invest In Ed funds.

 

7.      Initiative: Voters’ Right To Know. Sponsor: Stop Dark Money

Overview: "This Voters' Right to Know Act secures for Arizona voters the right to know who is trying to influence Arizona elections using paid, public communications. It eliminates dark money barricades. Any person spending over $50,000 on statewide campaigns or $25,000 on other campaigns must disclose the original sources (people or corporations who actually earned the money) of contributions over $5,000. They must also disclose their largest donors on campaign materials. The Act will also protect local policymakers' ability to require additional disclosures. The Citizens Clean Elections Commission, a non-partisan, voter-established body, will enforce this Act. Violations could incur substantial penalties."

 

8.      Initiative: Predatory Medical Debt Collection Protection Act. Sponsor: Healthcare Rising AZ

Overview: "Caps interest rate on "medical debt," as defined in the Act; applies this cap to judgements on medical debt as well as to medical debt incurred. Increases the value of assets -- a homestead, certain household possessions, a motor vehicle, funds in a single bank account, and disposable earnings -- protected from certain legal processes to collect debt. Annually adjusts these amended exemptions for inflation beginning 2024. Allows courts to further reduce the amount of disposable earnings subject to garnishment in some cases of extreme economic hardship. Does not affect existing contracts. Does not change existing law regarding secured debt."

 

--To read full texts of any of these laws or initiatives – as well as the others on file – use this link to an updated page of the Arizona Secretary of State’s site: https://bit.ly/AZInitsAndReferenda

--Sponsoring organizations: ArizonaDeservesBetter.com, InvestInAZNow.com, StopDarkMoney.com, HealthCareRisingAZ.org

-- Explanatory Articles: Election omnibus referendum: https://bit.ly/AZp1925; PEVL Purge referendum: https://bit.ly/AZp1921; Invest In Ed referenda: https://bit.ly/AZp1926, https://bit.ly/3wuSQH9

--Prepared by Marion and Paul Weich (Questions/suggestions 602-908-9132)


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