Tea Party to meet Sat. Dec. 17 in Community Center.

President-elect Steve Pierce made an appearance on Channel 8’s HORIZON Wednesday night, to talk about the upcoming legislative session.

http://tinyurl.com/7h8g9nw

Senate President-elect Steve Pierce sat down with Frank Camacho to talk about the upcoming session.

http://www.azfamily.com/news/politics/politicsunpluggedstevepierce1-135033048.html http://www.azfamily.com/news/politics/politicsunpluggedstevepierce2-135033273.html

Senate President-elect Steve Pierce sat down with Frank Camacho to talk about the upcoming session.

December 5, 2011

To All Senators, Representatives, Staff, Lobbyists, and members of the public

RE: Dual Introduced Identical Bills In preparation for the upcoming Second Regular Session, we would like to forego the practice of introducing identical bills in the House and the Senate. We understand it is considered a fast track method for substitution in the opposite chamber, but it will result in a bill being further assigned to the appropriate committee when the bill crosses over and this creates redundancy in the process. We strongly encourage the Committee Chairs to coordinate on key legislative priorities and identify which sponsor and chamber will initiate the measure. We recognize there will be instances where agreements may not be made in this regard, and many issues have multiple advocates, but please make every effort to avoid dual introduction.

On a similar note, we encourage you to be conservative in the overall number of bills you introduce. The success of legislation is dependant on the commitment of its sponsor. Our goal is to continue to work within the legislative timelines and conclude our business in an efficient manner. We intend to work with all of you to facilitate that outcome.

Thank you for your consideration. We look forward to working with all of you.

Regards,

STEVE PIERCE

Senate President-elect

ANDY TOBIN

Speaker of the House

In preparation for the upcoming Second Regular Session, we would like to forego the practice of introducing identical bills in the House and the Senate. We understand it is considered a fast track method for substitution in the opposite chamber, but it will result in a bill being further assigned to the appropriate committee when the bill crosses over and this creates redundancy in the process. We strongly encourage the Committee Chairs to coordinate on key legislative priorities and identify which sponsor and chamber will initiate the measure. We recognize there will be instances where agreements may not be made in this regard, and many issues have multiple advocates, but please make every effort to avoid dual introduction.

Spice, bath salts and glass cleaner. These are all names of synthetic drugs that have been plaguing Arizona communities. And to stay ahead of the law, the criminals make minor changes to the chemical makeup of the drugs. Then smoke shops and websites sell the drugs, claiming they are not for human consumption. People are of course using the designer drugs, and many are ending up in the emergency room.

Senator Linda Gray is leading the fight to block these dangerous drugs from getting in the hands of users, mostly young people. In July, she worked with Senate President Russell Pearce to organize a meeting inFlagstaff with law enforcement from around the state. Participants learned what options exist to protect communities from new synthetic drugs. In October, Senator Gray held another meeting with experts to focus on international drug labs concocting new versions of synthetic drugs to skirt the law.

A wide-ranging group has been working on the plan, including police, prosecutors, drug lab experts, the Attorney General’s Office, the courts and the Pharmacy Association.

“We plan to work with the Pharmacy Board to add drugs to the list of controlled substances, preventing them from being sold legally. The Board follows a strict set of criteria and goes through an emergency rule-making process,” says Senator Gray.

“There are too many casualties in this battle. Calls are pouring in to poison control centers and ER visits are increasing because of these synthetic drugs.”

Senator Gray is working closely with Representative Karen Fann on this issue and they expect more details on their proposal as the legislative session nears.

Spice, bath salts and glass cleaner. These are all names of synthetic drugs that have been plaguing Arizona communities. And to stay ahead of the law, the criminals make minor changes to the chemical makeup of the drugs. Then smoke shops and websites sell the drugs, claiming they are not for human consumption. People are of course using the designer drugs, and many are ending up in the emergency room.

“We are disappointed in Governor Brewer’s decision this afternoon to not call a Special Session on redistricting. After all the unconstitutional decisions and alleged violations of law by IRC Chair Mathis, Arizona voters deserve the opportunity to revisit the concept of an independent commission drawing the legislative and congressional maps. The flaws of having one unaccountable and unelected person making such vital decisions for the state have been exposed.

Senate and House leadership have met numerous times with the Governor and her staff, and we have assured her as recently as this morning that we had the votes necessary to put a Prop. 106 repeal or reform on the ballot in February.

We urge the Governor to reconsider her decision to not call a Special Session.”

“We are disappointed in Governor Brewer’s decision this afternoon to not call a Special Session on redistricting. After all the unconstitutional decisions and alleged violations of law by IRC Chair Mathis, Arizona voters deserve the opportunity to revisit the concept of an independent commission drawing the legislative and congressional maps. The flaws of having one unaccountable and unelected person making such vital decisions for the state have been exposed.

In a ceremony on the floor of the State Senate, Jerry Lewis was sworn in on Tuesday. The Mesa Republican will represent LD 18. Arizona Chief Justice Rebecca White Berch administered the oath of office. Lewis was joined by his wife and six of their seven children.

Senator Steve Smith of Maricopa appeared on CBS 5 Morning News to discuss his proposal for teacher pay for performance

http://www.kpho.com/video?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=6483342

Senator Steve Smith of Maricopa appeared on CBS 5 Morning News to discuss his proposal for teacher pay for performance

“The Governor and the State Senate have clear constitutional authority to remove an IRC member. When the Court inserts itself into this process, it has an obligation to explain its actions clearly. On Thursday the Court not only disregarded the actions of the Governor, but also more than two-thirds of the State Senate. The Court owes the people of Arizona an explanation on their intervention, and Ms. Mathis must not return to the IRC until we get those answers.”

Call for clarity on Court’s ruling to reinstate IRC Chair.

This afternoon Governor Brewer and the Arizona State Senate filed legal motions with the Arizona Supreme Court. The Governor and Senate are requesting the Court reconsider last week’s ruling to reinstate IRC Chair Colleen Mathis. The Governor and Senate are also asking the Court to clarify the order reinstating Mathis and to stay the order.

Respondents’ Joint Motion for Expedited Consideration.

Respondents’ Joint Motion to Reconsider.

#2699273 v1 – MOTION TO STAY Reinstatement Order.

https://azsenaterepublicans.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/respondents-joint-motion-for-expedited-consideration.pdf

https://azsenaterepublicans.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/respondents-joint-motion-to-reconsider.pdf

https://azsenaterepublicans.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/2699273-v1-motion-to-stay-reinstatement-order.pdf

Senator Sylvia Allen organized an event on November 17 to remind the people of Arizona of the devastation of this summer’s wildfires and the federal government’s incompetence with forest management. Her constituents from District 5 brought a 40-foot Blue Spruce tree to the Capitol, burned and destroyed in a summer fire. Since the fires were extinguished, the media have been quick to move on to other stories, but the devastation isn’t going away for the people of Arizona.

Senator Allen made the following comments at the event.

The fire season is over but the consequences are not. Arizona forests are still in a state of emergency. We must aggressively thin and log to return our forest to pre-settlement stands of trees that our ecosystem can support.

The fires left thousands upon thousands of trees dead, and the consequences will be a clogged forest of trees that are falling over and emitting CO2 for years to come.

“Studies show that the consequences of the burned soil will impact the regeneration of the Ponderosa Pine,” say the forestry scientists at the Ecological Institute in Flagstaff.

The consequence of flooding is felt every time we have a thunderstorm. The silt has entered our streams and killed endangered fish.

The consequence to the economy of a lost summer of tourism is still being borne by our rural citizens and cannot be overstated.

Further catastrophic fires are still in Arizona’s future. Arizona’s forest is in a state-of-emergency and will be for decades if the federal government does not act now. The over- growth of trees that clog the forest must be dealt with now and the federal policies roadblocks must be removed now.

We must aggressively thin and log to return our forest to pre-settlement stands of trees that our ecosystem can support.

If the Forest Service will not act now, then the State of Arizona needs to step up in this emergency and take over management of our forestlands.

The Majority Caucus on Thursday chose Senator Steve Pierce of Prescott as the new Senate President. Senator Andy Biggs of Gilbert will remain Majority Leader, and Senator Frank Antenori of Tucson will serve as Majority Whip.

Senator Pierce is a third-generation Arizonan and a rancher from Prescott. Senator Pierce told reporters gathered outside the Caucus meeting that the Leadership team will continue the good things that Senate President Russell Pearce started. “He did a wonderful job. He did not deserve what happened to him,” said Senator Pierce.

Senator Pierce says the economy and jobs will continue to be the primary focus of the Legislature’s work.

School choice in Arizona involves several components:

1) Open enrollment for public district schools.

2) Public charter schools

3) Individual and corporate scholarship tax credits.

4) Accommodating homeschool laws.

5) Distance learning opportunities.

6) Now empowerment savings accounts for disabled students.

Scholarship tax credits or private school tuition tax credits as some may know them, have been repeatedly challenged by the teacher’s union, the School Board’s Association, and the ACLU. However, they have been ruled constitutional by the Arizona Supreme Court in 1999 (Kotterman v. Killian), the Arizona court of Appeals in 2009 (Green v. Garriott), and finally by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2011 (Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization v. Winn.)

A critical holding by both the U.S. Supreme Court and the Arizona Supreme Court was that these donations are and remain private funds not government expenditures. Thus, scholarship tax credits do not involve government assistance to private schools according to the courts. Because the average scholarship awarded pursuant to both the individual and the corporate scholarship tax credits average less than $2,500, which is less than 1/3 of what it costs from all sources to educate the same student in a public school, whether district or charter, the savings as a result of the scholarships to the taxpayers are substantial. The roughly 28,000 students who are beneficiaries of the approximately $50 million donated pursuant to these tax credits results in savings to Arizona taxpayers of millions every year. If we add the students who receive scholarships from the corporate scholarship tax credit donations the amount saved is even greater.

The corporate tax credit donations are subject to a statewide aggregate cap – about $24 million this year – and are limited by a requirement that the students receiving the scholarship come from families of modest or low income and the students must be “switchers.” They must come from a public school or be entering kindergarten.

It is also apparent from quality academic peer reviewed research that when school choice becomes meaningful, in other words when there is substantial competition; there is improvement in student academic achievement for both the student exercising the choice option as well as the student remaining in a public district school which needs to respond to the competition. We have many excellent public schools in Arizona and they are certainly capable of holding their own in a competitive environment.

In Arizona we briefly had in place a voucher program for disabled and displaced children, but it was declared unconstitutional by our Supreme Court (Caine v. Horne.) As a result of that decision, unless there is a constitutional amendment, vouchers, unlike scholarship tax credits, are simply not an option in Arizona.

Earlier this year the legislature passed and the Governor signed into law what are known as empowerment savings accounts for disabled students. These accounts involve setting aside 90% of what would have been spent at a public district school for the same student and using the funds at the direction of the parents for a variety of educational purposes such as tutoring, private school tuition, therapy, curriculum, and even for college education for these disabled students.

Sadly, the teacher’s union and the School Board’s Association have filed a lawsuit to try to slam the door on these disabled students for whom we should be increasing not limiting educational opportunities.