Archive for the 'Kirk Adams' Tag
June 26th, 2009, 12:59 pm by Le Templar
 State lawmakers hope to avoid a government budget shutdown, and new protest rallies like this one in January (Darryl Webb/Tribune file photo). New details are emerging about the “handshake deal” that Gov. Jan Brewer struck Thursday with Senate President Bob Burns and House Speaker Kirk Adams. Capitol Media Services reports Republican lawmakers would get $600 million in real spending cuts to help eliminate a $3 billion deficit, and possibly a brand new income tax code with the same flat rate for everyone. Brewer would get her November statewide election on a temporary 1-cent sales tax increase. If that tax increase were adopted, most of the $600 million in spending cuts would restored.
The big problem with this plan? Several Republicans, including Sen. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, have said they won’t support possible new taxes under any circumstances. Unless Burns and Kirk make a compelling case that the other changes would eliminate the impact of the sales tax increase, the deal won’t bring in enough Republican votes to pass the Legislature.
On the other hand, Democrats want to avoid those spending cuts. But they are angry that Brewer, Burns and Adams have largely excluded Democrats from the budget talks for months. Democrats will demand serious changes to the budget plan in exchange for their votes, and that likely would drive Republicans away.
Brewer, Burns and Adams have until Monday to get out of this quandary, as enough lawmakers are now absent for previously scheduled trips there’s little hope for a final budget vote until then anyway. (Although the Legislature is scheduled to work Saturday, a rare circumstance indeed). That means we are four days away and counting from a possible government shutdown.
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Arizona government • Governor • Bob Burns • Jan Brewer • Kirk Adams • State budget countdown | Post a Comment »
June 25th, 2009, 5:44 pm by Le Templar
I usually don’t report rumors. But a couple of us in the Tribune newsroom are hearing from different news sources (and seeing reported elsewhere as rumors) that Gov. Jan Brewer has a “handshake deal” on the budget with Senate President Bob Burns and House Speaker Kirk Adams that they are trying to sell to the Republican majority in the Legislature. The Arizona Guardian says they “are nearing a tentative deal” that includes removing a proposed three-year moratorium on all local construction impact fees. That moratorium has been pushed hard by the Home Builders Association of Central Arizona as an economic stimulus to its industry, but is fiercely opposed by cities and counties.
Capitol Media Services correspondent Howard Fischer told me that Burns and Adams intend for lawmakers to work Friday and Saturday. A successful push on the budget could allow the Legislature to end its regular session in two days.
If not, the end of the fiscal year, and a possible government shutdown, is just five days away.
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Arizona government • Governor • Bob Burns • Jan Brewer • Kirk Adams | 1 Comment »
June 24th, 2009, 3:23 pm by Le Templar
 House Speaker Kirk Adams Tempers flared hot today in the House of Representatives as lawmakers rush to finish work on dozens of bills held up for months because of the budget crisis. House Speaker Kirk Adams, R-Mesa, took the rare step of appointing a new member to one committee at the last minute to keep some of those bills alive, and Democrats went to the House floor to cry “foul.”
This is the last week for standing committees to meet, so any bill still waiting in line for a hearing on Saturday will be lost for the year. Every committee must have a minimum number of its members present (called a quorum) in order to conduct any business. Today, Rep. Ray Barnes, R-Phoenix, was absent from the House Committee on Military Affairs and Public Safety. Democrats on the committee saw a chance to prevent consideration of Senate Bill 1270, which would allow most people to carry concealed guns without a state permit, and other measures they don’t like. All of the Democrats removed themselves from the room as well, leaving the committee without enough members to meet.
So during a committee recess, Adams drafted freshman Rep. David Stevens, R-Sierra Vista, from somewhere in the House hallways to become a new committee member and thwart the Democrats. The committee came back with Stevens to hear the rest of its bills, and several Republicans took some time to bitterly complain about the Democrats’ tactic.
In turn, the Democrats complained Adams had violated House rules with the abrupt change to the committee. But the general consensus by this afternoon was that Kirk’s move was allowed. Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Gilbert, pointed out on the House floor that a number of years ago, former House Speaker Mark Killian, R-Mesa, had gotten so upset with a committee chairman that Killian replaced that person with another House lawmaker while the committee was meeting.
That didn’t stop Democratic floor leaders David Lujan and Kyrsten Sinema from formally objecting. Sinema said the move wasn’t fair to Stevens, to the committee or the public because he had to vote on bills he had almost no time to review. Lujan seemed at least as angry about the verbal barbs tossed at the Democrats.
On the other hand, Rep. Jim Weiers, R-Phoenix (a former House speaker) said Adams was too kind to the Democrats.
“If people don’t want to go through with their responsibilities, then just remove them (from the committee),” Weiers said.
Several House members said things appear to be unraveling as the end of the fiscal year approaches (six days left) without an adopted state budget and the possibility of a government shutdown looms ever larger.
“I think everyone is letting their emotions get the better of them in these last few days down here, and we can’t do that,” said Rep. Chad Campbell, D-Phoenix.
“I have enjoyed the debate,” Rep Bill Konopnicki, R-Safford, added in a dry tone. “But we have to get to work.”
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Arizona House of Representatives • Bill Konopnicki • Chad Campbell • David Lujan • Jim Weiers • Kirk Adams • Kyrsten Sinema | 2 Comments »
June 23rd, 2009, 1:06 pm by Le Templar
The video above is the first of six from state House Speaker Kirk Adams, R-Mesa, as he explains the basic reasons behind the $8.2 billion budget adopted by the Republican-controlled Legislature. You can find all six videos posted at the website operated by House Republicans.
While Gov. Jan Brewer still hasn’t agreed to this budget, Adams appears to be looking ahead to the next stage when the public starts reacting to a state government that will spend less and do less in the coming year. His comments are cast around the idea that tough choices had be made, and lawmakers sided more often with taxpayers instead of special interests which depend on government spending for their existence.
Hat tip to arizonapolitics for calling my attention to the video series.
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Arizona government • Governor • Jan Brewer • Kirk Adams • State budget countdown | 4 Comments »
June 23rd, 2009, 10:00 am by Le Templar
Many observers expect the Arizona Supreme Court to listen politely this morning to arguments between lawyers for Gov. Jan Brewer and legislative leaders, and then refuse to get involved in their budget fight. I’m not so sure. The governor’s legal counsel, Joe Kanefield, has filed a couple of strong briefs explaining why Brewer is convinced Senate President Bob Burns is violating the state constitution by not sending her the budget bills given final approval on June 4.
The state constitution says “when” bills are passed by both chambers of the Legislature on roll call votes, such bills “shall” be presented to the governor. But the constitution provides no deadline for that to happen. Burns and House Speaker Kirk Adams are arguing they get to decide “when” occurs, and that could be as late as when the Legislature adjourns the session.
The fallacy in that argument is the Legislature could, in theory, never adjourn, and therefore legislative leaders could refuse forever to send the governor an adopted bill. That would render specific language in the state constitution meaningless, which the Supreme Court rightly refuses to do.
Burns and Adams appear to be in the weaker legal position. But they are depending on the five justices to view this as a political spat between the governor and the Legislature, not a constitutional crisis that requires court intervention.
The Supreme Court has taken that stance before on some disputes between the legislative and executive branches, especially on time-sensitive matters. As the fiscal year ends in just seven days (presumably the Legislature will send Brewer the budget bills at some point before then), the court could stand aside and let the politics play out.
We should know rather quickly, in a day or two, as the Supreme Court has a habit of immediately issuing instructions in these types of cases, followed several months later with a formal opinion that explains the court’s reasoning.
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Arizona government • Governor • Arizona Supreme Court • Bob Burns • Jan Brewer • Joe Kanefield • Kirk Adams | Post a Comment »
January 3rd, 2009, 12:30 pm by Le Templar
Senate President-designate Bob Burns
The winter holidays are over, a New Year has arrived, and much of Arizona’s political attention now turns the pending opening of a new Legislature followed shortly thereafter by a new governor (unless Janet Napolitano unexpectedly runs into confirmation problems with the U.S. Senate). This could be a legislative session unlike any other in living memory — if incoming Senate President Bob Burns has anything to say about it.
Burns has pledged to prevent any bill from reaching the Senate floor until the Legislature has addressed the state’s massive budget problems. This promise hasn’t really discouraged rank-and-file lawmakers from writing up bills, with House members filing more than 900 proposals and the Senate adding another 550 so far.
Legislative leaders have tried before to halt all business to compel lawmakers to focus on budget matters like a laser. One prominent example was in 2002, when all bills were frozen in their tracks mid-session for about three weeks.
While this tactic makes lots of common sense to outsiders, it never has worked as legislative leaders intend. As a budget deal wasn’t immediately forthcoming, those lawmakers not involved in the closed-door negotiations (and that would be most of them) would get bored and then anxious about their special bills slowing twisting in the wind. They would start linking their support for specific budget proposals to getting their own bills moving again. Legislative leaders couldn’t appear to be giving special treatment, so they turned the spout on again, bills resumed flowing through the legislative session, and the budget would again be rushed to a finish at the end of the session.
However, it could be much different this year. Burns strikes me as committed enough or stubborn enough to withstand psychological pressure for a long time. He will have a loyal ally in this endeavor with his appropriations chairman, Sen.-elect Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, who has pointed out repeatedly that adopting a balanced budget is the only action that the Legislature is required to do by the state constitution.
And at the outset, Democratic leaders Rep. David Lujan and Sen. Jose Luis Garcia have said they support no action on non-budget bills until the fiscal woes are handled. It’s going to hard for them to take back these public statements later and criticize Burns or incoming House Speaker Kirk Adams, R-Mesa, for holding up measures not directly related to spending or taxes.
In January and February, we should see one of the most interesting sets of early days in a legislative session in Arizona history.
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Arizona government • Governor • Bob Burns • David Lujan • Jose Luis Garcia • Kirk Adams • Russell Pearce | Post a Comment »
November 16th, 2008, 8:04 pm by Le Templar
 Barrett Marson Tribune writer Mary K. Reinhart’s in-depth profile Sunday of Kirk Adams, the next speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives, revealed the answer to a question being tossed around by journalists and public relations officials alike: Is Barrett Marson in or out as the spokesman for House Republicans? Marson won’t be part of the new administration as Adams looks to replace all of the top staff members from the Jim Weiers administration.
“We’re making a clean break,” Adams told Reinhart. ”This is a good time, especially for Republicans.”
Marson has been the House communications director for more than three years, serving as Weiers’ voice to the media and writing press releases for other House Republicans as well. Marson could be annoyingly aggressive as he tried to get traditional media and bloggers to cover an issue that he believed made his bosses look good or would embarrass Weiers’ most potent foe — Gov. Janet Napolitano. But Marson is generally well-liked for his sense of humor, and always has respected the role of journalists in the politcal system even when some lawmakers didn’t. He also gained extra attention earlier this year during his one-on-one debates with state Democratic Party spokeswoman Emily DeRose on “Horizon,” the local news issues PBS show.
Still, elected leaders who defeat an incumbent, as Adams did with Weiers, typically want new key advisors who don’t have close ties to the prior administration.
A former award-winning print reporter, Marson cover state politics for several years for the Tribune and then the Arizona Daily Star. In 2001, he broke the story of then-Gov. Jane Dee Hull’s frequent weekend flights in a state-owned airplane to stay at her cabin retreat in the White Mountains. That story helped to shape a rather negative image of Hull during her final two years in office.
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Governor • Arizona House of Representatives • Barrett Marson • Jim Weiers • Kirk Adams | 5 Comments »
November 6th, 2008, 4:42 pm by Le Templar
REP. KIRK ADAMS SPEAKS WITH STATE CAPITOL REPORTERS THURSDAY AFTER BEING SELECTED BY FELLOW REPUBLICANS TO BE THE NEW HOUSE SPEAKER (Photo by Capitol Media Services).
A fair number of people were unimpressed when I wrote a few weeks ago about Rep. Kirk Adams, R-Mesa, seeking to unseat Rep. Jim Weiers, R-Phoenix, as speaker of the state House of Representatives. Few outsiders I talked to gave Adams any realistic chance of winning the House’s top leadership post, unless Republicans suffered a bloodbath in Tuesday’s election.
Republicans actually did better than expected Tuesday, and they have expanded the number of House seats they control. But Capitol Media Services is reporting that Adams defeated Weiers anyway today in a private meeting of incoming Republican House members.
Among the people who should be thrilled by this news is Gov. Janet Napolitano. She and Weiers have developed a rather intense dislike of one another during her six years in office. Napolitano and her Democratic allies tried both in 2006 and this year to knock Weiers out of the House with candidate challenges in his home district. But they failed.
While Adams isn’t any closer to Napolitano philosophically, he’s more likely to have an on-going working relationship with her — if she doesn’t leave Arizona for Washington, D.C., for a post in Barack Obama’s presidential administration.
Here’s Capitol Media Services’ first report:
House Republicans ousted speaker Jim Weiers on Thursday, choosing a Mesa lawmaker who promised a more effective effort to enact `”good Republican policy.” And that, said Kirk Adams, means adopting Republican budgets — budgets that have less spending and are actually balanced against revenues, “not one that has a $1.2 billion hole in the moment that it’s passed.”
Adams said he believes he — and the other Republicans — have a mandate from voters to pursue those policies by virtue of the fact that it appears that the GOP picked up two seats in the 60-member chamber. That gives them a 35-25 edge over Democrats. The lifelong Arizona resident said he is not planning to exclude the minority Democrats.
“They certainly should have a voice and it should be an open and transparent process,” he said.
“It should be respectful of everybody’s opinion,” Adams continued. “But at the end of the day, when we vote on those
bills or we vote on the budget, we also need to respect the will of the voters.”
And Adams said that shift occurred “in a year, in a country, where it wasn’t a good year for Republicans anywhere else, except perhaps in the Arizona Legislature.”
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Governor • Gov. Janet Napolitano • House Speaker • Jim Weiers • Kirk Adams | Post a Comment »
September 12th, 2008, 4:40 pm by Le Templar
 
KIRK ADAMS STEVE YARBROUGH
I recently wrote about two state senators from the East Valley entering the competition to be the next president of the Arizona Senate. Well, two House members from the Mesa-Chandler area apparently are preparing to challenge House Speaker Jim Weiers, R-Phoenix, for his post, assuming all three are re-elected Nov. 4.
Reps. Steve Yarbrough, R-Chandler, and Kirk Adams, R-Mesa, are both committee chairmen and effective at getting their issues through the legislative process. A spokesman for Weiers tried to pass off the two challengers as “friendly competition.” But Adams, at least, seems pretty serious to me, given he’s put together this rather nifty 16-page booklet on how Republicans could stop losing so many budget battles to Gov. Janet Napolitano and Democratic lawmakers. (Hat tip to espressopundit.com for reporting this first).
Adams wants to take advantage  of the widespread anger that Napolitano drove the legislative budget process two years in a row, despite Republicans holding more legislative seats. Weiers was among those outraged in July when a handful of Republicans again worked with Democrat lawmakers to pass out the governor’s budget proposal. But Adams is implying that Weiers’ leadership (or lack thereof) contributed significantly to Napolitano’s victories.
“You have to ask yourself what’s the purpose of being in the majority,” Adams told me Thursday. “You can’t keep blaming what happens on a few wayward Republicans.”
Adams’ little white paper specifically calls for the House speaker to be far less than aloof from fellow Republicans, to attend all or most of that party’s caucus meetings throughout the session and to take direct charge of the major issues. Adams also wants the chairman of the House Appropriation Committee to lead any negotiations with the outside parties (Napolitano’s office and Democrat lawmakers). Of course, that’s easy to say with Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, leaving the House next year because of term limits. A new appropriations chairman appointed by Adams would have to be more willing to bend to the wishes of House leadership than Pearce ever was as appropriations chairman.
I haven’t been able to reach Yarbrough to hear his thoughts about running for speaker. Adams said the two haven’t discussed the possibility of uniting behind one candidate to improve a challenger’s chances of upsetting Weiers. But Adams was rather deferential.
“I think Steve would make a very good speaker who would serve our caucus and the state of Arizona very well,” Adams said.
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Arizona government • Arizona Legislature • House Speaker Jim Weiers • Kirk Adams • Republican majority • Steve Yarbrough | Post a Comment »
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