Gov Ducey continues to try out for Team Trump

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey continues to try out for “Team Trump.” In his latest audition, he vetoed 22 bills just waiting for his signature to become laws. And he promised he wouldn’t sign until the legislature gave him a budget plan for the coming year. Good luck with that.

Ducey and Trump

Gov Doug Ducey trying out for “Team Trump.”

Here are a few of the bills in Ducey’s trash can that caught my eye:

SB 1121 imposes new requirements for the secure packaging and labeling of marijuana.

Marijuana is kind of a theme here.

SB 1408 mandates research on the correlation between marijuana use and mental illness. As if that hasn’t been studied to death for the last 60 years or so. They can save a few bucks and just Google the topic.

Here’s another one. SB 2303 mandates the health department to conduct proficiency testing of independent laboratories that test marijuana. Probably a good idea.

And then there’s HB 2414 which says the health department can inspect any medical marijuana dispensary during normal business hours. I guess that one is meant to stop any midnight raids like “the FBI’s Elliot Ness” did in Chicago.

Now, there are a few bills that don’t seem to fit with the marijuana theme; in fact, you might wonder if these were sponsored by someone who, let’s say, had a “personal” interest.

SB 1127 says you can drive faster on some state highways without facing criminal charges. I can’t wait to hear which highways would be turned into the Arizona version of Germany’s Autobahn.

HB 2296 Says your license will be suspended rather than revoked after a second conviction of reckless driving, aggressive driving, or racing. Probably on some of those highways that you can speed along without risking criminal charges.

It does make you wonder which Representative or Senator has a “problem,” don’t you think? Speeding and reckless driving while smoking or eating weed; Maybe it’s time for drug testing at the legislature?

Eventually, the 90 electeds are going to come back into session and, now that they’ve dealt with marijuana and speeding on certain highways, maybe they can get around to spending more of our tax dollars on education?

And forget about enacting the disastrous “flat tax” on personal income. That one will cost $1.9 billion with most of the tax reduction benefits going to people who are so rich you’ve probably never met one and never will.

But the real rub is that level of cut is going to be disastrous for our cities and towns which will face local losses of over $250-million. And that’s going to require local tax increases if we want to continue having police and fire protection.

And, if they go ahead with it, we’ll all be justified in asking “what have they been smoking?”

 

About Bob Grossfeld

Robert "Bob" Grossfeld has 30 years of experience as an award-winning, political strategist and media consultant. He has twice served as Senior Advisor to Members of Congress, Special Assistant to the Arizona State Senate Majority Leader, and Communications Director at the Arizona Department of Education as well as the Arizona AFL-CIO. He also launched and was the Publisher of the groundbreaking online political paper, 'The Arizona Guardian." He has produced award-winning media campaigns and strategies for ballot measures, candidates for Congress, Legislature, municipal offices, and Native American Tribes. Bob is President of POLITICARE and Founder of The Media Guys
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