A Big Deal
Gov. Ducey has a tentative agreement with education leaders on school funding
Details remained somewhat sketchy as we were going to press on Tuesday, but it appears that Gov. Doug Ducey and education advocates have come up with a deal to settle the ongoing suit over education funding and adjust Ducey’s proposal to dig more deeply into the state land trust fund.
And before you even read this in our print edition, there’s a chance the Legislature could be in special session to approve the settlement.
The schools are settling for less than they are owed from the Legislature’s refusal to properly increase funding for inflation in recent years, but they also don’t have to wait for the case to drag through the appeals process—or risk that appellate judges conclude they aren’t owed that much. They’re also agreeing to provisions that would allow the state to sidestep inflation increases in the future, if the economy weakens.
Ducey still needs to persuade Republican lawmakers to shell out more than they’d like for schools so he can get his proposal to get more money out of the state land trust on the ballot with the support of the education community.
Democrats—in a fairly typical outcome in state politics—have been reduced to onlookers in the entire process, although if conservative GOP lawmakers balk at the deal, their votes may still be needed to get the package across the finish line. If that happens, they’ll face the choice of going along with legislation or oppose the education leaders who made a deal with Ducey.
Another Big Deal
Obama vetoes defense spending bill before finding common ground with Congress on a major budget agreement
President Barack Obama last week rejected the National Defense Authorization Act, issuing the fifth veto of his presidency.
Obama said he was vetoing the legislation for three main reasons:
• It keeps in place sequester caps on non-defense spending but gets around those caps for military operations by using gimmicks that puts some of those expenses into a special contingency fund.
• It blocks various reforms that the Pentagon has tried to use to modernize the military.
• It prevents the Obama administration from closing the Guantanamo detention center
Local reaction was mostly critical. Sen. John McCain, in a joint statement with Sen. Mac Thornberry, said it was “not only unprecedented, but it is reckless, cynical, and downright dangerous. Never before has an American president used the bill that provides pay and support to our troops and their families as political leverage for his domestic agenda.”
Democratic Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick, who wants to challenge McCain next year, called Obama’s veto “disappointing” and said she would support overriding the veto.
“Our military should never be caught in the middle of budget disputes between the president and Congress,” Kirkpatrick said in a written statement. “While I understand the concerns about this bill and its failure to fix the harmful spending cuts known as sequestration, ultimately the NDAA includes provisions that are important to southern Arizona and our national security.”
And Republican Congresswoman Martha McSally called the veto “an act of stubborn political grandstanding.”
“After fighting so hard to make sure Iran’s terrorist militia would be well-armed and funded, President Obama is now turning his back on our own American men and women in uniform,” McSally said in a press release.
One of the key provisions of the bill for Southern Arizonans was a requirement that the Pentagon continue to support the A-10 fleet, along with the EC-130H Compass Call, which are both aircraft that have been targeted for retirement by military leaders in response to limits established by the sequester.
GOP congressional leaders plan to try to override the veto, but the political dynamics have changed a bit now that the White House and congressional leaders announced Monday that they were on the verge of a budget deal that allows temporary relief from sequester caps.
Details remain sketchy on the budget deal as of press time, but it would appear to lift the debt ceiling high enough to avoid another showdown before the 2016 election.
Election Day Is Here!
Please do try to vote if it wouldn’t be too much trouble
One of the sleepiest election seasons in recent history is drawing to a close, with voters going to the polls next Tuesday, Nov. 3, to decide the fate of the county’s $815 million bond election, three Tucson City Council races, an Oro Valley recall and some school district overrides.
If you’re interested in watching the results come in with your political team, here’s what we know about the Election Night parties: The Pima County Democratic Party will be at the Doubletree Hotel, 445 S. Alvernon Way; the Pima County Republican Party will be at Sushi Garden, 3048 E. Broadway; and the county bond supporters will be at the Mercado San Agustin, 100 South Avenida del Convento.
Exposé Encore
Here’s another chance to see documentary on the Rosemont Mine’s new owners
Investigative reporter John Dougherty will return to the Loft Cinema this Sunday, Nov. 1, for an encore screening of Flin Flon Flim Flam, a recently completed documentary about HudBay Minerals, the new owners of the proposed Rosemont Mine project.
Dougherty examines HudBay’s history in Canada, Guatemala and Peru, as well as the impact the mine would have on the Santa Rita Mountains southeast of Tucson.
The film shows at 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 1, at the Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway.
Zona Politics with Jim Nintzel airs Sunday morning at 8 a.m. on the CW Tucson, Channel 8 on Cox and Comcast and Channel 58 on DirecTV, Dish and broadcast. This week features an encore screening of the Ward 4 City Council debate between Democratic incumbent Shirley Scott and Republican challenger Margaret Burkholder. The show also airs at 5 p.m. Sunday on KXCI, 91.3 FM.
This article appears in Oct 29 – Nov 4, 2015.
It is cynical and absurd that our representative in Congress tries to blame the Administration for injecting ‘politics’ in to the defense authorization bill. What has the Guantanamo Human Rights Violation Center have to do with protecting our “men and women in uniform?” Guantanamo recruits more terrorists world-wide than ISIS on its best day. Once again, Congresswoman McSally and Senator McCain the military to further their cold-blooded ambitions . . . and those of their corporate masters.
It’s a BAD deal.
Education is also a corporate master. All one needs to do is look at lack of accountability and the massive amounts of money spent with poor results, and it all comes into focus. More money? More problems. How many times must we repeat it?
I sent the message that follows to our 90 legislators this morning, copying the governor and treasurer, two conservative Republicans who have opposing views on the proposal.
I write as a concerned constituent, an Arizonan for twenty years who has benefited from educational opportunities throughout a longish life and who wants such opportunities for the Arizonans of today and tomorrow.
Before you settle on a proposal for funding proposed by our Governor and your leadership and questioned by our Treasurer, I urge you to think of its shortcomings: it gives the schools about 72% of the funding legally required, it imperils the State Lands Trust monies which by law already belong to the schools, it is replete with potential exemptions, it is subject to a vote of the people not even proposed until May 2016 at a cost of several million dollars, it may not meet the approval of the US Congress. Also, please take a serious look at the proposal put forth by the minority party, a plan which could be put into effect immediately without a vote of the people, would rely on funds already available and reasonably anticipated in future years, would fully comply with the orders of the courts, and has but one significant drawback: it has been proposed by the minority party.
Please keep in mind throughout your deliberations in this special session and all through your terms of service that you have been elected by the people to serve all the people of this state, that your first loyalty must be to the people and not to a party, and that the most in need of your service are our most vulnerable, among whom surely are the school children of Arizona, 85% of whom attend public schools which continue to be underfunded.
66% of 8th graders are not proficient in Math and Reading skills. Looking at those miserable numbers one would conclude that we have “over funded” public schools.
It’s time for a little rebate. But hey, how ’bout the children? Do you even give a %?&! about their ability to compete? (without redistribution from the smarter hard working ones)
Funding without accountability and focus on legal residents is not under-funding. Democrats in Congress under the Obama/Pelosi/Reid cabal did not entertain any participation of the other Party during their deliberations and passage of anything.So the comment as news about the State Legislature is obviously a slanted one.
The process has worked! A court has decided and the elected legislature has reached at least a tentative agreement. There is no proven correlation between a a$$ spigot wide open and performance of educational systems so just bandying about rankings is another inaccurate metric. We can tax and spend our way to California, New Jersey bankrupt educational performance or be cognizant of alternative solutions.
Education starts and ends at home and is nurtured there and not by overly bloated administrators, pork barrel consultants and ever more burdensome benefits….
BASIS, charter schools and metrics should rule not just more taxes and spending!!! This is a clear example of more is not better…