SCR 1001

Hi everyone

I just wanted to post on here the letter that I submitted to the AZ Republic, East Valley Tribune, and the Ahwatukee Footlhills News.


SCR 1001 written by Senator John Huppenthal (R) and co-sponsored with Senator Jack Harper (R) is a very thinly veiled attempt at quashing the voice of the People of the Great State of Arizona. This bill is an attempt to amend The State of Arizona Constitution by taking away the right of the people to bring forth citizen initiatives to be voted on freely by the People of the State of Arizona. One of the ‘checks and balances’ afforded by the democratic process is the voice of the people to stand up and have a voice in the way our laws are written. When our lawmakers take the initiative to forge their own agendas on their constituents, the people can stand up and help to bring a change to the laws. The framers of The State of Arizona Constitution made that provision in such a way for Citizen Initiatives to ‘check and balance’ our elected officials.

SCR 1001 would amend to State Constitution by taking away the people’s right to act independently of the legislature. It would also amend the constitution by requiring the citizen initiative be first introduced in the state legislature where it would be subject to legislative consideration and enactment.
SCR 1001 is a dangerous piece of legislation that will, in fact, take away the citizen’s voice along with their right to have a say in the direction in the laws of the Great State of Arizona. Senators Huppenthal and Harper are proposing to strip the right of the people to freely have a say in the way our laws are written. It would also take away a fundamental right to vote for the citizen intitive in the most sacred way we are guaranteed by the United States Constitution.

Hope it gets printed!

Joe

District Meeting Tonight - Were You There?

We had a district meeting tonight, and the best discussion I heard had to do with the vision that the participants have. Why are you involved? What gets you interested enough to get active? Is it a global issue? (We heard a little about global warming.) Is it national? (We heard folks talk about stopping the war and ways to get the members of Congress to listen to us.) Is it local? (We heard about issues relating to incinerators and dumps.) There are all kinds of reasons to get out and recruit willing helpers and convince people that your ideas are right. What are yours?

I didn't need to bring this up during the meeting since I can use this blog, but the thing that got me to be active in politics again was the Iraq war. The last time I was really participating was during the Vietnam era, and in the meantime I've been sidetracked by lots of other bits of life. There are things that strike you as so wrong you have to take action. Sometimes the action you're taking may not directly affect the outcome but is, at least, the thing you can do. Now that I'm active again, I can see that my efforts can pay off for lots of other issues that I feel strongly about but by themselves wouldn't have driven me into politics. I am a progressive and support progressive ideas like universal health care, a living wage, safe workplaces, support for diversity, and fair and open elections.

Now, you tell me - what pushes your buttons? What made you get up off the couch and go to the meeting tonight? What gets you out and knocking on your neighbors' doors? What matters to you?

State Party Reorganization Meeting

Yesterday was the first state party reorganization meeting I've been to, and it was an interesting process. Dems do a pretty good job of matching their goals of being diverse, pushing to include various counties and ensuring near gender parity. I noticed that there will always be one more male or female between the chair and all the vice chairs since there are an odd number of them, and the favored gender is that of the chair. There wasn't anything that drove diversity of age or ethnicity other than the hearts of the voters (which worked pretty well, actually).

It seemed a shame that the resolutions came so late in the meeting and with so little chance to review them. It was actually a bit reminiscent of the last few years in Congress, with bills being fast-tracked in such a way that nobody had time to figure out what they said. A first reading process was mentioned to me, and that sounded like a good idea. One does have to wonder, though, since the meetings are quarterly, if some things (like avoiding war in Iran) might be too late to influence in three more months at the next meeting. Not all of the state reps have email, I guess, or that might be a way to pre-work the suggested proposals. I'm also curious to hear from folks who were there if they think there might have been some value to the "friendly" amendments.

Welcome to the District 20 Democrats Blog!

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