February 9 , 2009

The Lincoln Day "season" has begun with Saturday night's District 2 event leading off.  We again had a large crowd which welcomed Speaker of the AZ House of Representatives Kirk Adams.  Speaker Adams updated us on the budget situation and also called upon locals to get involved in the grassroots efforts of the party.

Again this year, I was fortunate to have a group of women who worked very hard to make this a successful event.  Thanks to Suzanna Case, Shirley Ciresa, Elayne Holther, Hildy Linn, Carol Meier, Sandy Sockwell, and Bella Williams.  And another thanks to the local businesses who donated items for our silent auction.

I'm also grateful for the show of support we had from Districts 1 and 3, which boosted our attendance and contributed to the enjoyable evening.  I'm looking forward to hearing Tom Liddy in LHC on the 21st and welcoming Gov. Brewer to Kingman on the 28th.

After the furious pace of the previous week, last week seemed quite tame.  The Appropriations Committee has started work on the 2010 budget, hearing from some agencies on Wednesday.  The Thursday meeting of joint House and Senate Committees was canceled, as the Governor wanted to talk with leadership of both parties that afternoon.  I'll hear the results of that meeting on Monday.

Work continues in my other two committees as we start hearing bills, and my bills start appearing in other committees.  HB2142 (County Water Authority) is the same as last year's 2132, having to do with reclassifying 3500 acre feet of water from "industrial" to "municipal."  I'm hearing from the same people who were opposed last year, even though in the ensuing year, there still has been no request to the Authority for any industrial water.  It passed Water and Energy last week and is due to be heard in Natural Resources & Rural Affairs this coming week.  I again have the support of three mayors and two supervisors, who are all committed to economic development in Mohave County and see this reclassification as necessary to achieve their goals.

Also to be heard in the same committee is HB2250 (Public trust lands, use permit).  This is a continuing attempt to allow the Veterans Memorial in Bullhead City, which sits on state trust land along the river, to get a longer lease from the state without going out to bid.  They need at least a 25 year lease in order to eligible to apply for grant money to make improvements, but at present the state can only give them a 10 year lease.  I think we have this worked out with an amendment to be added in committee -- at least I hope so.