I appreciate the opportunity to defend myself and respond to your newspaper’s indictment of my votes in favor of our state’s budget.

You lament the cuts that have been made and the fact that I did not pursue higher taxes as a solution to our state’s budget woes. You suggest that letting criminals out of jail earlier would save us money. And you refer again and again to “the children” as victims of the budget that was passed, particularly in the area of education.

Your advocacy for liberal solutions is not a surprise. You have endorsed my liberal opponents in every race I have ever run. You were a cheerleader for the big-spending policies of then-Gov. Janet Napolitano that dug the hole that Arizona now finds itself in. You have a knee-jerk reaction against the education reforms that would provide parents with more and better choices for their children’s education, denying them a better education for less money.

You ignore the inefficiencies that are present in our university systems that increase the cost of an education without improving the quality of that education. In many cases, these are expenses that often have nothing to do with the education of the students.

The facts are that Arizona has, for the first time in a long time, passed a budget that is honest, gimmick-free, and balanced. This is what the voters demanded, it is what we campaigned on, and it is what we were elected to do.

Your newspaper disagreed with the voters and their choices in almost every race, but today’s economic environment demands that government’s insatiable desire for taxpayer dollars be tamed and that fiscal sanity is finally restored to the public arena. Every two years the Democratic candidates for office talk about raising taxes as a core pillar of their platform. The voters continue to reject that plan because they are already overtaxed in a dismal economic environment.

We would all be better off if the politicians in Washington, D.C., took their responsibility to balance the budget as seriously as we did here in Arizona. If our economy improves and our tax receipts exceed projections then we will certainly be revisiting some of the tougher cuts that we have had to make. Until then, the East Valley Tribune had it right in their editorial when they wrote about the budget, “Whether you’re a big corporation, a small business, a newspaper or the state government, the amount of money going out cannot be greater than what’s coming in. That’s Economics 101.”

They concluded, “The Legislature’s actions aren’t going to be popular, but they are necessary to reverse government’s free-spending ways of the last decade and keep our state out of debt.”

Friday we passed the final budget for Fiscal Year 2012 – a truly balanced budget, something we haven’t had in five years. There are no gimmicks, no rollovers, and no borrowing. Senate leadership stood firm on our commitment to not allow accounting tricks in the budget. Borrowing simply increases the hole we are in and passes the buck to future legislatures and generations. These difficult but necessary decisions on reductions provide the framework for Ari zona ’s future prosperity.

In the November elections, the public made it clear that they expected the state to balance the books and not push the tough decisions down the road. That is what we did and we did the right thing for Arizona and the right thing for all our citizens.

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http://www.azalert.com/mogollonconnection/?p=816

Dear Todd,

Thank you for your letter of March 14th and your willingness to dialogue on the issues that face our great state. We have many areas of agreement and a few areas of profound disagreement, but I believe our disagreement is more a result of our responsibilities than any ideology. Like you I love Arizona and America.

Many of you are CEO’s or are in senior management positions of major corporations. Your responsibilities are to your shareholders and your employees. As a State Senator from Legislative District 18 my responsibilities are to the people of my district, the Constitution and the law. As the President of Arizona’s State Senate my responsibilities are to the people of this great state and to the men and women who serve with me in this body.

From your position, and as you articulated in your letter, your concerns deal with practical and almost entirely fiscal concerns. From your desire to focus on Arizona’s structural deficit and economic environment, to lamenting the costs your companies suffered–ostensibly as a result of boycotts against our state resulting from legislation passed in previous years.

Of course the job of an elected official is neatly and adequate defined by an oath of office that we take, in a practice that certainly does not exist in your own professions. Before we can begin to serve in this capacity, we pledge that we:

“do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution and laws of the State of Arizona; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, and defend them against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of the office of State Senator according to the best of my ability, so help me God.”

As you can tell, it is a much broader fiduciary responsibility that we are tasked with.

As mentioned before, the good news is that we have several areas that we do agree on. We all agree that Arizona must address its structural deficit and insure a strong economic environment. Your letter gives the sense that we only have time to accomplish these tasks if we are not side-tracked by efforts to deal with illegal immigration, but as the already completed passage of the Jobs Bill shows (which included the largest tax cuts in state history), your Legislature is capable of making progress on multiple fronts at the same time. We are also hard at work on producing a real balanced budget that, for the first time in far too many years, will not rely on gimmicks or gadgets to balance. We are all as excited as you are about that and the important signals it sends to the job creators among us.

Demands on our respective time makes it all but impossible for me to address, in this letter, the folly of sacrificing our state’s sovereignty or of waiting for the federal government to act on a matter that they have refused to take serious action on for so many years, particularly when the President and his cabinet members have made it clear that the steps they prefer would only serve to make the problem worse. And you are likely already aware that Arizona has inherent authority and responsibility to enforce immigration laws — the states have never been pre-empted from enforcement of immigration laws, it has always been a joint responsibility.

But time does allow, and it is important to realize that, contrary to the claim in your letter, Arizona is not going it alone. Nearly half of the states in this great nation are now debating legislation that mirrors our SB1070. More than a dozen states are currently debating legislation that would prompt the Supreme Court to reaffirm the original and proper intent of the 14th Amendment. We are most definitely not alone.

The end of your letter also offers a false choice between proceeding with our own legislation OR pressing the federal government for meaningful reform. In fact, we have been pressing for meaningful reform (enforcement) for years, and we have been ignored. Doing what we can here to deal with problems while also pressing the Federal Government is the very definition of “doing all that we can.”

Your letter gives the sense that the Legislature has been doing well on this topic but that we have finally gone too far, thus necessitating a call from the business community to leave well enough alone and let the federal government handle it from here. Yet as I look at the names and signatures on the letter I do not recognize anyone who has supported any of the efforts we have made over the last nearly ten years. I do see names of those who have opposed many of the efforts we have made. If we are to be honest with each other, and we must, there are many among you who have long fought against each and every effort we have made to deal with the epic problems we face, and your call to cease and desist is neither new nor the result of any recent activity or impact.

Yet look at the progress that Arizona has made as a result of the steps we have taken. Since we have begun tackling these problems — getting Americans back to work, stopping the abuse of our welfare system, demanding our laws be enforced, and proving that Attrition by Enforcement actually works:

· We have had between 100,000 and 200,000 illegal aliens leave the state voluntarily — that means jobs for Americans and a huge reduction in costs to Arizona taxpayers.

· We have had a reduction in violent crime of over 3 times the national average.

· For the first time in state history we have a declining prison population and similar declines in our county jail populations, saving millions of dollars while creating safer neighborhoods.

· We have saved over $400 million in K-12 spending because of declining enrollment, and those savings do not yet include the 2010 numbers.

In spite of the progress made, our work is not yet done. Please allow me to bring to the attention of some of my constituents (all of you), the concerns and suffering of so many of my other constituents:

· We still spend $2.7 Billion annually to educate, medicate and incarcerate our illegal population – remember those numbers when you lament cuts we must make to state services as a result of our budget deficit.

· We are dealing with beheadings in Chandler and contract killings in Casa Grande.

· 12 brave Phoenix Police officers have been killed or maimed by illegal aliens, as well as Robert Krentz, Agent Brian Terry, DPS Officer Martin, etc.

· Countless citizens have also been killed or maimed by illegal aliens.

· There are thousands of shattered lives left behind after unspeakable rapes, kidnappings, assaults, and other violent crimes being committed by illegal aliens.

· Thousands of law-abiding, hard-working Arizonans (and their families) are unable to find work because they cannot compete in labor markets that have been undercut by illegal labor

· And much, much more…

Can you imagine how impressive a letter signed by all of those people would be? The media would never report on it, but you can be sure that their letter would implore me to take my oath of office seriously and my moral responsibility seriously and to do everything within my power to protect our people and uphold our laws.

Nor are you the only business owners I hear from. I hear regularly from hundreds of business owners who struggle to compete against competitors who gain an unfair advantage by employing those here illegally. It distorts the marketplace and punishes good people while rewarding cheats and criminals. I assume that we can all agree that this is not a just or healthy process or outcome, and those who are breaking the law should be punished for it.

You will understand that my oath of office, as well as my love for this state and its people, means that I may not and will not ignore the damages resulting from illegal immigration. I must also fulfill my duty to the lawful citizens and residents of this great state who have a Constitutional right to protection from those who break our laws.

Which brings us to the trickiest part of being a legislator — finding the compromise that allows the most progress to be made for everyone. I have no doubt that we will pass many of the bills we have been debating, although I am certain that each will be adjusted in some manner to address the concerns that you, other groups and individuals, and other legislators have. For that reason, it is important that you and everyone else stays involved and remains vocal.

Constructive advice/criticism is fine with me and it will always be welcome. But we need to have agreement from the outset that our goal is a strong state, with a strong economy, with proper respect for the rule of law, and a genuine commitment to protecting the lives, jobs, and long-term well-being of every Arizonan person and company.

So let us recommit to doing everything that we can for Arizona and its law-abiding people and businesses.

Let us pledge to remain in contact and to keep the lines of communication open. Let us rededicate ourselves to being responsible in our choice of words and in our use of rhetoric.

Then, we can and most certainly will get results.

Please distribute copies of this letter to all the businesses that signed the Chamber’s letter.

Sincerely,

RUSSELL PEARCE

President of the Senate

As Chair of the Senate’s Public Safety and Human Services Committee, Sen. Linda Gray has sponsored her fair share of legislation aimed at protecting and preserving the well-being and safety of Arizona’s citizens. Most notable, perhaps, is Sen. Gray’s past and present support of strengthened DUI laws, including her primary sponsorship of this session’s SB 1200. Such legislation has earned her several awards from Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), and is now garnering her recognition from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

NHTSA has selected the Senator to receive its prestigious Award for Public Service as a result of her commitment to making our highways safer. According to the administration, highway fatalities are at their lowest number since 1950, thanks in large part to a significant reduction in alcohol-related driving fatalities. NHTSA recognizes that this accomplishment is due in large part to the dedication of highway safety leaders such as Sen. Gray.

“I am honored to be recognized by the NHTSA. The true reward here is seeing a remarkable decline in highway fatalities, especially the 46% reduction in DUI fatalities. The ignition interlock data shows us that the device has prevented a drunk driver from starting their vehicle literally thousands of times”. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done to protect and maintain public safety on our roadways, and I intend to continue working tirelessly toward this cause.”

The NHTSA award luncheon will be held at noon on Monday, March 28, during the 2011 Lifesavers Conference at the Phoenix Convention Center.

The stories are heartbreaking and upsetting. Arizona seniors losing most or all of their life’s savings because of the actions of unscrupulous individuals appointed to manage their finances. The time has come to reform Probate Courts in our state.

“While Senator Steve Pierce proposes a vote on defunding Clean Elections, the US Supreme Court scrutinizes the provision of matching funds and how it relates to the 1st Amendment.

The U.S. District Court in Phoenix ruled Thursday that Senate President Russell Pearce will be allowed to give oral arguments at a hearing on April 1. The hearing is to determine whether Pres. Pearce can intervene in the federal government’s lawsuit over SB 1070. Pearce is the author and sponsor of SB 1070.

Maricopa resident and District 23 Senator Steve Smith has introduced several bills that he said will help reduce the financial strain illegal immigration puts on Arizona and curtail future illicit entry into the country.

A new bill that will reform Arizona’s public safety retirement system passed out of the Senate March 3 with 21 votes. Sen. Yarbrough’s pension plan, outlined in SB1609, provides extensive results-based reforms which will provide and preserve excellent benefits for its employees.

“Freshman legislator Don Shooter, the Republican state senator for District 24, jumped full force into state politics.

“A new Arizona law allows developers to build infrastructure but tax themselves to pay for it, a novel approach to economic development that the state thinks will catch on in towns throughout Arizona. Scottsdale is hoping to use the law to gussy up a one-mile stretch of abandoned car dealerships.”

“A bill inspired by Arizona’s law SB1070 was presented on Thursday in the Senate in North Carolina, a state where the immigrant community doubled in numbers over the past decade.

Klein (R-6) spoke with Western Free Press’s Brad Zinn on March 1st. Watch as she discusses a wide array of issues, from the FAIR tax to birthright citizenship.

If you know my record at the Legislature, you know my tough approach in dealing with people who choose to drink alcohol and get behind the wheel of a car.

I was proud to sponsor the bill lowering the state’s extreme DUI level from .18 to .15 and to impound vehicles when the offender failed to get the ignition interlock as required. Mothers Against Drunk Driving has recognized me several times for my efforts to strengthen Arizona’s DUI laws. I’m also the only legislator to serve on the National Safety Council’s Alcohol and Other Drugs Committee.

Sen. Andy Biggs sat down with Ch. 12’s Brahm Resnik to defend bill abolishing Medicaid.

Sen. Smith Talks Medicaid on Ch. 12 “Sunday Square Off”

Sen. Smith debates fiscal impacts of illegal immigration with Sen. Schapira and Howard Fischer.

“The Arizona Senate today will consider major changes to three public-pension systems with a bill that would force police, firefighters, politicians and corrections officers to pay more to fund their retirements and suspend cost-of-living raises for retirees.

“It is very difficult but we are going to reduce the size and scope of state government. There are no tax increases. We are committed to doing this and to turn the state’s economy around making this a business friendly state that attracts new businesses and helps those of us that are already here. There are going to be tax reforms, and all thru government new reforms will be occurring.”