Arizona Politics for Conservatives: Sonoran Alliance
Arizona Politics, News, Commentary and Information with a Blatantly Conservative Worldview Presented by an Alliance of Writers, Activists, Consultants and Government Insiders.
After months of working together with the local community the state, businesses, leaders in the community, tribal communities, conservationist groups and more, Congressman Paul Gosar has introduced HR 1904, the Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act of 2011.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 13, 2011
CONTACT: Ben Carnes
May 18th: Trent Franks to Introduce Seniors Financial Security Act at Sun City Senior Center
Sun City, AZ — On Wednesday, May 18th, Congressman Trent Franks will be introducing the Seniors Financial Security Act at Banner Olive Branch Senior Center in Sun City, AZ. The Seniors Financial Security Act aims to reduce the tax burden on senior citizens by excluding Social Security benefits from seniors’ taxable income.
Introduction of Seniors Financial Security Act in Sun City
What: Introduction of the Seniors Financial Security Act
When: May 18th, 2011 at 10:45 AM
Where: Banner Olive Branch Senior Center
Address: 11250 N. 107th Ave., Sun City, AZ 85351 (map)
For further information or to schedule an interview in advance, please contact Ben Carnes at ben.carnes@mail.house.gov or, by phone, at 202-579-0005.
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Congressman Franks is serving his fifth term in the U.S. House of Representatives and is a member of the Judiciary Committee, where he serves as Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Constitution and a member of the Subcommittee on Courts, Commercial and Administrative Law. He is also a member of the Armed Services Committee, where he serves on the Strategic Forces Subcommittee and the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 13, 2011
CONTACT: Rachel Semmel
“We knew these numbers were going to be bad, but this report is sobering”
Washington, D.C. – Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ) issued the following statement after the annual Medicare trustees report was released this afternoon:
“I recall sitting in my entry level college statistics class almost 30 years ago, calculating the need to begin saving for the baby boomers immediately. Washington did not do its job then, now today’s Medicare trustees report tells us what we have known for awhile—Medicare needs fundamental reform and soon.
“This report confirms that Medicare will become insolvent by 2024, a much more sobering number that previously thought. It goes on to say that even the IOUs will be exhausted by then and ‘without major changes in health care delivery systems, the prices paid by Medicare for health services are very likely to fall increasingly short of the costs of providing these services.’
“It is clear from reading this report that a key trigger to this sooner-than-expected insolvency date is due to the failed economic policies of the Obama Administration and its government take-over of healthcare.
“It cannot be more obvious that something needs to be done now and done quickly. We knew these numbers were going to be bad, but this report is sobering. However, House Republicans are continuing to push for entitlement reforms that will fundamentally improve these programs and create sustainability through common sense modernization.”
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 13, 2011
CONTACT: Richard Cullen
Washington (D.C.) Congressman Ben Quayle (R-AZ) on Friday introduced legislation that will allow U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents to have unrestricted access to federal lands in the southwestern borderlands region. The bill is being co-sponsored by the Homeland Security Chairman Peter King (R-NY), Border and Maritime Security Subcommittee Chairman Candice Miller (R-MI), and the entire House Republican Arizona Delegation, which includes Reps. Jeff Flake, Trent Franks, David Schweikert and Paul Gosar.
From Congressman Quayle (R-AZ), vice-chairman of the Subcommittee on Border and Maritime:
“President Obama on Monday argued that his Administration is making huge strides to secure our Southern border. While we have seen some limited progress over the past few years, Arizonans—especially those living along the border—know that the border is far from secure. As we continue to push forward broader measures to secure our borders, we must immediately remove the bureaucratic barriers that hinder border enforcement. This bill provides common-sense reforms that make it easier for our border agents to do their jobs.”
From Rep. Peter King (R-NY), chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security:
“How can anyone take seriously the Obama Administration’s claim that it is intent on securing our borders when the Department of the Interior and the Forest Service hinder the Border Patrol’s access to some 40 percent of the Southwest Border? We cannot possibly succeed in securing our borders against illegal immigrants, including potential terrorists, unless our front-line Border Patrol agents can do their jobs anywhere along the border. This legislation will make our borders more secure.”
From Rep. Candice Miller (R-MI), chairman of the Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security:
“I applaud Rep. Quayle for offering this important piece of legislation. The U.S. Border Patrol should have unfettered access to every square inch of the Southwest border to detect, deter and interdict drug and human smugglers, and other illegal aliens”
From Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ):
“Given the vastness of federal land in Arizona, it’s imperative that the Border Patrol have the ability to prevent illegal immigration from occurring there.”
From Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ):
“Our Customs and Border Agents are on the front lines to protect us and preserve our security. The least we can do is ensure they are provided with every possible means for success, and this should include full and necessary access to our federal lands.”
From Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ):
“I applaud Representative Quayle for introducing this important legislation. The Administration’s failed border security policies are putting the people of Arizona at risk. This legislation removes the bureaucratic red tape that is preventing border patrol from doing their jobs on public lands throughout the state. My committees have examined this issue closely and found that illegal immigrants have done more damage to the environment than routine border patrol operations ever would. This legislation will not only make our border more secure, it enhances preservation of our state’s natural treasures.”
Background:
According to the non-partisan Government Accountability Office, 40 percent of the southwestern borderlands region is managed by federal land managers working for the Department of Interior and the Forest Service. Under current laws and regulations, border agents must obtain permission from these land managers to enforce border security measures in the protected areas. In one instance, border agents reported having to wait four months to obtain permission from land managers to move mobile surveillance equipment to an area of high illegal traffic. By the time permission was granted for that particular area, the illegal traffic had shifted to other areas. (Source: Government Accountability Office, Page 10)
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Legislative Actions as of 5/9/2011
Last Updated 5/13/2011
We did an overview of the session from a Pachyderm Coalition rating perspective. Of legislation that passed the legislature, we supported 129 bills and opposed 16 for a percentage of 89%. When these were adjusted by the weights assigned to the bills, the percentage was slightly higher at 93% which meant that we were more successful, on average, with the bills that were more important to us. Also, there were 38 bills we opposed that did not pass in the legislature. The average scores of the legislators were good this session which reflected passing a good budget and probably also increased party discipline due to having larger majorities. The performance of Senators compared to Representatives, overall, was very comparable.
This year, we decided that it was important to add one more important player in the legislative process to our ratings: the Governor, Jan Brewer. We calculated her score after the session ended. After the governor decided which bills sent to her desk would become law and which she would veto, we applied our scoring to the Governor’s actions. For all bills sent by the legislature to the Governor, we considered signing the bill or allowing it to become law without signing would be considered as a YES vote while a veto would be considered a NO vote. The Governor either signed or vetoed all bills from the Regular Session – she did not allow a bill to become law without her signature. Signing a bill we positively weighted would increase her score and vetoing it would reduce her score. For negatively weighted bills, signing decreased her score and vetoing increased her score. As with the legislators, she was rated only on the actions she could take in the legislative process by a specific, recordable action. For the legislators, it is votes. For the Governor, it is allowing bills sent to her to become law or to veto them. Of the bills we were tracking, the Governor’s vetoed 20 bills we supported and 1 bill we opposed. She signed 109 bills we supported and 15 bills we opposed.
Governor Jan Brewer’s Pachyderm score is 56.7 which we label as Republican. This is substantially below the average scores of Republican Senators and Representatives at 81.3. It is, in fact, below the score of ANY Republican legislator – the lowest is 60.6. Governor Jan Brewer is the lowest scoring Republican in the state’s legislative process.
For additional information about the ratings, visit the Pachyderm Coalition website.
2011 Arizona State Senate Rankings:
2011 Arizona State House Rankings:
