Bill 1330 Has Been.....

Held! Not as exciting as vetoed, but that means it will come back again and hopefully they are considering a different source for the money instead of arts programs.

Julie and I drove together and I practiced my speech, which I cut down furiously to meet the two minutes. Turns out 2 minutes in legal time is quite a bit longer, so that was unnecessary.

We sat listening to five other bills, related to natural resources-that was the committee. It was really interesting to see the proceedings, the formality of the speakers and then how much of the time, the senators appeared to not listen-walking around, talking to others, etc. So, after a 1:30pm start, we didn't hear our bill until after 4pm.

The bill before ours had the state mine inspector looking to fill abandoned mines with tires or anything that would be affordable and environmentally safe. He stated there were about 100,000 mines in Arizona, many from World War II.

On our bill, he stated that he needed over a million dollars over 5 years fill the mines to meet public safety concerns. Since Arizona is in a 2 billion dollar deficit, they have combed the budget and found the arts to put on the cutting board. To argue against people falling into mines and life and death situations is unfair. Both programs are worthy and the senators recognized that pitting them against each other is extremely difficult. Two of the democratic senators questioned the repeal of the Arizona Arts Trust Fund and explained the importance of the arts to the schools and the public. The chairman however was not as convinced and stated that money doesn't go to the schools. He was also concerned that schools outside of Maricopa County weren't getting money from the Commission. Not true. He asked specifically about a particular orchestra in northern Arizona, which the commission director immediately found the information and stated that they had, in fact, received commission grants. The senator also stated that many of the orchestra players could just donate their time and not get paid to perform. That's nice when your income depends on your livelihood.

Anyway, since we were at the end of the day, the senators wanted to move the process along. They asked the speakers who signed up if they wanted to speak against the bill. Several declined, but I was NOT going to pass after practicing and writing for hours. So I did speak. I included that I wrote several commission grants for northern Arizona counties to deflect some of the concern about Maricopa getting all of the money. They didn't ask questions of me, but I was really happy that I had a chance.

It might come up again and if so, I would be happy to return. For now, we'll see what the next round brings.

My special thanks to Julie and Lynn, who helped me write and revise my words and especially Julie, who was my chauffeur and is just a great friend with a common cause. Thank you.