Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Redistricting -- Right hand doesn't know what the other right hand is doing

About the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission's request for a supplemental appropriation, Mary Jo Pitzl reported this afternoon that Senate President Steve Pierce

...said there were other costs that seemingly have gone unchecked, such as the legal fees for advising the commission on drawing new congressional and legislative boundaries. That was botched, he said, when the U.S. Department of Justice rejected the congressional map, requiring a do-over. "They're screwing up, they're not doing the job," he said.
But DOJ has not rejected the map... 
Pierce said before he signs off on any more money, he wants an accounting of how the funds have been spent so far. For that, he might want to refer to his seatmate, House Speaker Andy Tobin, R-Paulden. Tobin had the Joint Legislative Budget Committee do an audit of the commission -- he later called it a "request for information."
Among other things, that information request compared the current commission's budget with  its predecessor and concluded the current panel is spending at a slower pace. For example, the previous commission had a $6 million allocation to start its work, as authorized by the Arizona Constitution. The current one has received $3.5 million to date.
Word also came this morning that the AIRC has called a meeting for Friday afternoon to consider the possibility of initiating a Special Action in Arizona Supreme Court to compel the legislature to provide the funding necessary to pay its bills.

So, even though House Approps chair John Kavanagh introduced a supplemental appropriation bill yesterday, Pierce and Tobin -- both hail from LD1 -- apparently have a hard time getting on the same page.

I guess they have too many anti-labor, anti-woman and guns on campus bills to keep track of so, understandably, they can't be bothered to coordinate their message.

YOUR Arizona lawmakers working in HARMONY (not!) with the will of the PEOPLE of Arizona.

 

1 comment:

  1. I won't be able to attend the Friday IRC meeting and will check out the live feed when I get a chance. I did send a comment to the IRC telling them that they need to take action to compel the Legislature to provide the necessary funds to continue their work.

    I'll be reading your IRC blog posts to learn about Friday's meeting.

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