Democrats to have one less in Arizona Senate next year?

Democratic state Senator Charlene Pesquiera of Tucson announced today she would not seek re-election. The Republican primary for her seat is already hotly contested, and this is one of the few truly competitive races in the Arizona legislature. Stay tuned.

Iraq turning into Saudi Arabia when it comes to women?

NPR reports that before the invasion in 2003, there was a higher ratio of female drivers in Iraq than any other Arab country. Now, due to roadside bombs and radical insurgents, women are driving less in Iraq, and lament the loss of mobility.

Karl Rove: is he really expecting to be indicted this year?

Karl Rove, speaking to a hostile crowd of college students in Iowa, states that he expects to be indicted by the end of the year. Whether or not it was in jest was unclear.

Cities won't be cut in state's budget

I know it's pretty useless to repost things that were already printed in the Arizona Republic, but amidst all the budget cuts being thrown around as possibilities, cutting revenues the state shares with cities will not be one of the cuts. This is thanks to Tucson Democratic Representative Steve Farley. Voters in 1992 in AZ passed a constitutional amendment requiring a 2/3rd majority in the legislature to raise revenues (i.e. taxes). Farley asked the Legislative Council that writes bills for the legislature and gives them legal advice whether cutting tax revenue that is shared with cities so that the state can keep more of it amounts to a revenue increase that requires a 2/3rd majority vote. They said it would indeed require 2/3rd, far more votes than the legislature can muster.

Massachusetts health reform reduces unpaid hospital visits

According to today's Boston Globe, the health care reform in Massachusetts that Mitt Romney signed into law before leaving office as Governor (of which he talked very little in his campaign) has led to a 16% drop in "free" visits to hospitals as 200,000 more residents of the Bay State now have health insurance. This is saving the taxpayers of Massachusetts $240 million a year in reimbursements to hospitals that treat the uninsured. However, the savings is not enough to cover the $869 million the state now pays in subsidies to help low income people purchase health insurance, also a key part of the health care reform enacted in Massachusetts.

I'm back...with a survey!

I know, I know, it is the ever-important time of year when the Arizona legislature is in session and I should be telling you about the all the proposed new laws: the good, the bad, and the downright whacky! I suppose having the flu and then being out of town is part of my lame excuse, but frankly I just haven't been concentrating on the blog much lately.

But I do have something I would love for anyone reading this, who also resides in Arizona, to do. Please take my short survey on an issue of importance to Arizona! It should take 2-5 minutes.

Cuts in the Bush budget

From the Center for American Progress

CRUEL DOMESTIC CUTS: To maintain his tax cuts for the wealthy, Bush's budget slashes 151 domestic programs. Poison control centers face a 62 percent cut, rural health programs are decimated 87 percent, and the Community Services Block Grant, "a $654 million program that provides housing, nutrition, education and job services to low-income people," is completely eliminated. A new health program for 9/11 rescue workers is slashed by 77 percent, "even though the administration has said that many workers were exposed to 'unprecedented levels of risk' for lung disease and other illnesses." The budget slices 22 percent from the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program. "The White House wants to eliminate spending for more than a dozen education programs, including Even Start, which promotes family literacy; grants to the states for classroom technology; Supplemental Education Opportunity Grants, for needy undergraduates; and a scholarship program named for the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Robert C. Byrd, Democrat of West Virginia." "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would lose more than $430 million, including...$28 million from chronic disease prevention and health promotion. A $301 million program that trains 4,700 pediatricians and pediatric specialists at children's teaching hospitals also would be eliminated, at a time when pediatric specialties, such as rheumatology and pulmonology, face critical shortages." The Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program loses $194 million, a cut of 64 percent, and "states and cities would see cuts of $1.5 billion from the $3.75 billion in grants for security, law enforcement, firefighters and emergency medical teams approved by Congress for this year."