This week at the Arizona Capitol, GOP lawmakers are tackling weather modification, chem trails and the powers of the Democratic attorney general.
Capitol Media Services’ Howard Fisher joined The Show on Groundhog Day to talk about what to watch for at 1700 w. Washington St.
Full conversation
LAUREN GILGER: And Howie, it sounds like there are some issues here that are really making it feel like Groundhog Day.
HOWARD FISCHER: Oh, there are certain things that haven't gone away in the almost 50 years I've covered this place. But, you know, I know you want to start out talking about, you know, things like salaries for legislators. Under the Arizona Constitution, lawmakers set the salary for the governor, the treasurer and everything else. But legislative salaries have to go to voters. Sounds good.
Last time it went to voters was in 19 — actually went to voters several times; 1998 was the last time they approved something at $24,000. They've tried several times to get voters to approve higher salaries, $30,000 and $36,000 voters have said no.
And so John Kavanaugh, who is a multi-term senator from Fountain Hills, said, I have an idea. "Tell you what we're going to do. We're going to take the original 1998 salary of $24,000. We're going to adjust it for inflation, ask voters to simply do that, and then from then on, it would be automatic. We wouldn't have to go back to voters, and we wouldn't be in a situation where voters are unhappy with us."
GILGER: This would basically double salaries, right, Howie?
FISCHER: Well, that's the point. This doesn't start from the $24,000. This says you take the $24,000 and you do the interim inflation adjustments. Now, I'm no math major, which is why I'm a journalist, but it seems to come out to around $48,000 immediately and then automatic increases after that. Now, John Kavanagh says, "Well, that's what voters intended to have us at least stay even with inflation."
I think if you put a measure on the ballot and people realize it's going to immediately double legislative salaries, I think that's DOA no matter how you look at it.
GILGER: Yeah, we'll see. But definitely a Groundhog Day issue we've seen before at the Legislature. There's also, Howie, a proposal this week that kind of might do the opposite, would require the Legislature to adjourn by April 30 each year. Which the Legislature hasn't done in a long time.
And in the idea, it sounds like would be to return to a "citizen legislature," wherever everyone can kind of go back to their day jobs for half the year. Do ... these two ideas conflict?
FISCHER: Well, in a lot of ways they do. First of all, I think the idea of a citizen legislature is long gone. I mean, you don't have a lot of folks who are taking four months off from their job working for Phelps Dodge Copper or their farm and coming down to the Capitol. Partly because of the fact that this year we're going to have 2,000 bills. Now, we're not going to hear all 2,000, but you can only pack so much stuff into a bag.
The other part of the problem becomes is even if the voters were to approve this, you can have multiple special sessions. So let's say they don't get done with the budget. Let's say they don't get done with the latest water laws. They get the governor to call them back into session, which ... starts their per diem again, their allowance ... And so I don't know that it's really effective.
It's a nice idea. I think everyone supports the idea of not having folks around. Because, what was it Mark Twain who said no man's life, health or property is safe while the Legislature's in session. I think that certainly can carry things forward here.
GILGER: OK, let's move on another topic we're going to hear a lot about this week at the Capitol, which is the attorney general, Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes and her powers. There are a few separate bills here that will try to kind of rein those in, particularly when it comes to her attempts to go after companies like Fondomonte. Which has been in the headlines for pumping Arizona groundwater for Saudi Arabia, essentially, right.
FISCHER: Exactly. What Kris is doing is she's using a law that makes certain things a public nuisance. Her argument is, look, if you're putting your straw into the ground and you're sucking out all the water and all your neighbors lack the ability to get it, because they don't have the same ability to drill a well that deep, you're creating a public nuisance.
There's some problems with that, including that, A, it's untested in terms of water law. B, in fact, state agriculture law says agriculture is by definition not a public nuisance. So she's going to try to get this into court. You know, there's some hearings coming up later this year on Fondomonte. ... She did convince Riverview Dairy and Willcox to settle a deal versus being sued.
But you get into a couple of restrictions in there. The idea that, No. 1, that if you gonna file a nuisance suit, you have to get the permission of the board of supervisors. That throws another hurdle in. And No. 2 is that if, in fact, you cannot prove your case, you can actually be sued for defamation as the attorney General, and have to pay damages to somebody — a la Fondomonte — if she loses that case.
GILGER: OK. Another kind of Groundhog Day issue that will come up at the Capitol this week, Howie, banning minors at drag shows. It sounds like the devil is in the details here.
FISCHER: Oh, definitely. I mean, you can make some arguments about what's appropriate entertainment for children. Some of what passes for drag shows seems to be a little bit over the line, no matter how you look at it.
The problem here becomes the definition of drag shows that's in the bill. It says a person who uses clothing, makeup, costuming, prosthetics to present exaggerated or stylized gender expression that's different from the person's biological sex or normal gender presentation is performing in drag.
I'm — maybe I'm old, you know, I watched the movie "Some Like It Hot," you know, where, you know, people like Walter Matthau dressed up in drag ... Mrs. Doubtfire. And for those of us who grew up here in Arizona, think of Pat McMahon on the "Wallace and Ladmo Show" dressed up as Auntie Maud.
I mean, if that wasn't classic drag and that was in front of a live audience of children. You know, I understand the desire there. I think that the definition is, shall we say, problematic at best.
GILGER: Last 30 seconds or so, Howie. Let's look forward here a moment. Gov. Hobbs is holding a press conference this afternoon about Colorado River water. We're getting very close to a deadline for states to come to a deal about basically who takes less water from it in the future. And we know Hobbs was in Washington on Friday trying to advocate for Arizona here. Do we know what happened?
FISCHER: Well, we know there was no deal. Depending on who you talk to, people say, "Well, we're very encouraged." Which is all very nice, except for the fact that, in some ways, Arizona is the outlier in this. Arizona has the most to lose because of the fact that we are the lowest priority here.
And I'm sure the governor's gonna put a happy face on it and say we're doing fine. But she's also putting money aside, as is Colorado, which is an Upper Basin state, to go ahead and take this to court.
I think that we've got a lot of difficult times ahead of us and the happy face that's being put on it, I think we very easily could end up in court. Or Interior Secretary Doug Burgum could simply run out of patience and say, "Here's what we're going to do."
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