Sine Die Edition: The Circus Has Left Town

From sweetheart deals for one particular deep-pocketed investor or another to digging up long dead dog bills, Arizona’s legislators crammed as much bad legislation as they could into the final moments of the 53rd Regular Session.

Before adjourning for the year, members of the House patted each other on the back and offered glowing assessments of each other for nearly an hour. Most of them wanted to be elsewhere, but they were stuck on the floor waiting for another batch of bills to be sent over from the Senate.

Earlier in the day, before voting “no” on yet one more sweetheart deal, Rep. Michele Ugenti-Rita called Wednesday “bad bill day” with good reason. She could have said “bad bill year” and she would have been right.

The universities were enriched at the expense of K-12 school kids, as Arizona’s legislators traded “yes” votes on the governor’s budget in exchange for their pet projects to be tacked on the budget or shoved through the chambers and to the governor’s desk for his signature.

Legislators managed to increase their mileage allowance, the number tax credits for investors, and the level of the public’s distrust.

There were a few bright spots, but they were few are far between as the governor’s men controlled almost every aspect of the 53rd Regular Session.

Overall, dark money and deep pockets won and the people lost.

Over 300 bills were sent to governor: