It has often been said that an idle mind is the devil’s workshop. During this week 16 of our legislative session, the same may be said about government. There was not much done this week, but what was done had a high element of devilishness in it.
For starters, we have the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors dragging their feet on the appointment of a replacement for ousted representative Harris.
It is not that the three names submitted to the supervisors were of unknown individuals, so that a lot of investigation should take place.
Two of the names submitted were those of the two republicans who got the highest number of votes in the general election. By anyone’s account, this was statistically a dead heat:
In other words, if the MC BOS were to choose Willoughby, there could not be a legitimate charge of going against the will of the people. Technically yes, but practically, no.
The only logical conclusion is that they are playing political games, probably the result of idle minds.
Then we have the furor over house bill HB2456. This bill extends the Arizona Schools for the Deaf and Blind for another 4 years. This bill sailed through the legislature with only one NO vote. That NO vote came from one of the most radical democrats in the senate, Senator Mendez. This is important; throughout the whole trip through committee and floor sessions this bill did not get one single NO vote, except for the Mendez vote. So, why all the furor from democrats?
Under this bill, the ASDB is extended for 4 years instead of the customary 8 years. One plausible explanation given for this is that with the runaway inflation we are experiencing, we will very likely have to visit this issue again in 4 years, instead of the customary 8. Again, this appears to be a case of too many legislators having too much time on their hands.
Then there was the vote to override Hobbs’ veto of the tamale bill, HB2509. The effort failed when a significant number of democrats circled the wagons around Hobbs. We indicated that this behavior was a distinct possibility in our review last week, which may be read by clicking HERE
It was an easy prediction, given the history of democrat behavior concerning these matters.
As far as activity for next week, nothing has been scheduled. We could have another idle week, which would give us a replay of this week. Or not, if the BOS do their duty and appoint a replacement for HARRIS.
One endeavor that will probably continue next week is the budget negotiations, and there is always a possibility, albeit slim, that an agreement will be reached. This would be both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because we need to hammer out a budget. A curse because once the budget is out of the way, there will be a mad dash to adjourn, leaving many good bills stranded. The BOS, because of their delaying, would be at least partially responsible for that, which will only add one more reason for replacing them as they come up for reelection.