Thread: Governor's proposals for 2006 steal from GOP's playbook, att

Governor's proposals for 2006 steal from GOP's playbook, attack illegal immigration.
Gov. seizes the middle: 'We 'll impose rule of law at the border'
BLAKE MORLOCK

Tucson Citizen



Gov. Janet Napolitano grabbed about as much of the political center as she could in a 30-minute State of the State address opening the 2006 legislative session.

The first-term Democrat, on the cusp of a re-election bid, seized on frustrations about illegal immigration and pushed an enforcement stance expected to play well in the Republican-dominated Legislature.

She called for expanded deployment of the Arizona National Guard at the border - provided the federal government pays for it - and a crackdown on businesses that knowingly hire illegal immigrants.

She proposed $100 million in state spending, including more money for police in communities hardest hit by illegal immigration.

"We will step up where the federal government has let us down and impose the rule of law at the border," she said.

Outside, thousands protesting what they see as rising anti-immigrant sentiment underscored other political and economic realities of the immigration debate.

Related images:

Thousands protest outside opening day of the Legislature

Phoenix resident Nadia Meza, 30, noted that protesters "don't want to be illegal, either," and she called for a guest worker program to allow more immigrants to come through legal channels.

Inside, Napolitano focused on outlining an agenda that could steal some Republican thunder:

Cracking down on sex offenders. Collaring methamphetamine dealers. Backing a small-business initiative to make health care more affordable. Instituting a three-day tax holiday to help parents outfit their children for new school years.

"It's time to recommit to the work we do for Arizona, creating a state that is safe, strong and prosperous," she said.

Republicans weren't clapping during the speech, but afterward some said they were impressed.

"She's taken the lead and has the momentum right now," said Pete Hershberger, a moderate Republican from Tucson.

There was not a murmur of disapproval from Tucson Mayor Bob Walkup.

"It had something for everyone, R's and D's," Walkup, a Republican, said. But, he rejoined, "The devil is in the details."

Napolitano's agenda seized on Republican priorities outlined last week: tax cuts, raises for state employees, paying back programs borrowed from in previous years to balance the budget. And, of course, the border.

Senate President Ken Bennett said he and his colleagues were "pleased to the point of being ecstatic" that Napolitano would agree to the idea.

Yet she put her own spin on these ideas.

For instance, she came up with the same figure Republicans did for border spending: $100 million.

But she said Arizona must address the demand for cheap, illegal labor, and she called for the punishment of businesses that knowingly hire illegal immigrants.


Tuesday, January 10, 2006


House Speaker Jim Weiers said penalties were in order only if protections were in place for the rights of entrepreneurs.

"You can't put good, hardworking businesses at risk who have done everything they can do to hire legal residents," Weiers said.

Bennett and Weiers applauded her call for a raise for state employees and for bolstering a "rainy day fund" as the state collects a budget surplus that could reach $1 billion.

Napolitano could face a clash over the extent of tax cuts. She favors $100 million in cuts under certain conditions, but House and Senate leaders want $250 million in cuts with no strings attached.

Other Napolitano ideas are likely to meet with Republican resistance.

Weiers panned a plan to reduce vehicle registration fees for owners of fuel-efficient cars because he said it punishes large families who need big cars and poor people who can't afford new ones.

"This really smacks of class warfare," he said.

The scope of Napolitano's agenda must meet political and fiscal reality, Weiers said.

"The governor has the luxury of coming up with a wish list," Weiers said. The Legislature has a more difficult role, he said: "It's a harder being the parent than the child."

In a news conference after her speech, she said, "Everything I discussed is in my budget, and the budget is balanced."

She refused to get into specifics about the measures outlined during her State of the State address until she presents her budget next week.

Her 30 policy proposals, delivered in rapid fire, would:

• Give raises to every public school teacher in Arizona and make sure they all earn at least $30,000 a year.

• Build a veterans cemetery in northern Arizona.

• Make sure all victims of domestic violence could find shelter in their community.

• Make all-day kindergarten available to every child whose parents want it.

In one of her speech's most defiant moments, she dubbed illegitimate any debate about providing enough beds for domestic violence victims.

"When two-thirds of the women who are victims of domestic violence cannot find shelter, our job is simple," she said. "Provide more beds. Find them. Build them. Buy them. But we must take these women - and their children - in."

The Arizona Republic and The Associated Press contributed to

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/news/local ... gis_main/0

I wouldn't trust her as far as I could throw her.

She was against Prop 200 and when it passed she did everything in her power to see that it wasn't implemented.

Governor's proposals for 2006 steal from GOP's playbook, attack illegal immigration.

This must be from the super-duper, double secret , quadruple DES encrypted GOP playbook.

It's so secret that no one in the GOP has ever heard of it.