County Attorney Outlines Approach to Enforcing Employer-Sanctions Law

Website for Businesses To Go Online Tomorrow

Today, County Attorney Andrew Thomas addressed key aspects of the Legal Arizona Workers Act, the state’s so-called employer-sanctions law. The law prohibits businesses from employing illegal immigrants and provides for possible suspension or revocation of licenses for businesses that violate the law. Barring a court order to the contrary, the law will go into effect on January 1, 2008.

Thomas clarified his office’s position regarding several important questions relating to the law. He repeated his intention to enforce the law “fully but fairly.” Thomas addressed the following matters:

Timing of Investigations and a Request for Patience. Neither the County Attorney’s Office nor the Sheriff’s Office, which is assisting in enforcing the law, will commence any investigation of a Maricopa County business until the new year. Both agencies are waiting until the law goes into effect. Thomas emphasized that even when the new year begins, there likely will not be obvious and immediate signs of enforcement action by either office for some time as these potential investigations get underway. “Complex investigations of this type usually take a good deal of time,” Thomas noted. “Such investigations commonly take months or longer to complete.”

Thomas said he and the Sheriff’s Office will not be rushed into bringing cases until their investigations are brought to a thorough conclusion.“ It has taken decades for our illegal immigration problem to grow to the current proportions,” Thomas added. “The illegal immigration problem was not created overnight and will not be solved overnight. But just as Maricopa County has led the way in the fight against human smuggling, we will likewise rise to the challenge of enforcing the employer-sanctions law. We ask for patience as this new and unique law is implemented.” Thomas also noted that this law, like the human-smuggling law, will not solve the illegal immigration problem. However, “it is an important step in addressing our border crisis.”

Information and Complaints from the Public. Both the County Attorney’s Office and the Sheriff’s Office will accept all information provided regarding employers that are allegedly not in compliance with the law. This includes anonymous complaints or information provided anonymously. Both offices currently accept anonymous information about other unlawful activity, as do all Valley police agencies. The Silent Witness hotline is an example of long-standing police reliance on anonymous information regarding potential violations of the law.

However, Thomas stressed that confidential information will not be as helpful or likely to lead to an investigation as complaints from witnesses who are willing to identify themselves and assist in an investigation. Several other county attorneys have indicated they will accept confidential information in some manner in enforcing the employer-sanctions law.

Also, Maricopa County will accept complaints via the phone or e-mail. At least one county attorney’s office is requiring complainants to visit physically the county attorney’s office in order to file a complaint. Maricopa County has concerns this requirement might impact those who have trouble physically coming in person to the county attorney’s office.

Retroactivity of the Law. The County Attorney’s Office will interpret the law as applying to businesses that hire an illegal immigrant prior to January 1, 2008, and continue that employment into 2008. That is because the law uses the word “employ,” not “hire.” The law refers to and incorporates federal employment law, which uses the same term “employ” and which applies to ongoing employment instead of the act of hiring.

Nevertheless, this language must be read in light of the fact that the legislature also encouraged businesses to use E-Verify to obtain a presumption they have complied with the employer-sanctions law. Formerly known as the Basic Pilot/Employment Eligibility Verification Program, E-Verify is an Internetbased system that allows business to electronically verify the employment eligibility of their new hires. Through E-Verify, employers can show they made a good-faith effort to ensure a new employee is in the United States legally. Because of the way the program is set up, E-Verify can only be used to check the status of new hires and not for existing employees. Reading the E-Verify provision of the employer-sanctions law alongside the “employ” language, the County Attorney’s Office has concluded that the intent of the legislature was for prosecutors to focus on prospective violations. As a result, while Thomas would not rule out bringing action against employers for violating the law prior to 2008, the focus of his office, consistent with the language of the statute, will be to address violations by employers who hire illegal immigrants in 2008 and afterwards.

No Racial Profiling or Violations of Constitutional Rights. In enforcing the law, Thomas stated, he will not tolerate racial profiling or any other violations of the constitutional rights of either employees or employers. He also noted that people who file false and frivolous complaints simply to harass individuals or businesses will be prosecuted. “Many working-class Americans and legal immigrants are seeing their wages driven down by competing illegal immigrant labor,” said Thomas. “As time passes, citizens and legal immigrants alike will see their wages and job prospects improve so that they can provide a better life for their families. That is the true American dream.”

Website and Seminars. On Tuesday, December 18, the County Attorney’s Office will roll out a website devoted to providing businesses with information to assist with complying with the employersanctions law. This website will be found at website www.maricopacountyattorney.org/lawa. “The goal here is compliance, not ‘gotcha’,” said Thomas. “We want to assist the business community in learning about the law and complying with it.”

In addition to the website, the County Attorney’s Office will partner with the business community in holding seminars to provide information that will assist businesses in following the act. “We seek to help the vast majority of businesses that want to follow the law,” Thomas added. Further information will be given when these seminars are scheduled in early 2008.

Joint Appearance with Sheriff Arpaio. On Wednesday, December 19, Thomas and Sheriff Joe Arpaio will appear for a joint press conference to answer additional questions from the media about their approach to enforcing the law.

For more information contact:
Mike Anthony Scerbo, Public Information Officer
(602) 506-3170 (office) or (602) 489-6913 (cell)

Don't forget to buy something at Pruitt's before Christmas

Reminding everyone to buy something before Christmas at Pruitt's home furnishings store on Thomas near 36th St. Don't let the pro-illegal immigration demonstrators shut Pruitt's down. The protesters will be there until Christmas, and they have already made a significant dent in sales. If customers are scared away from shopping at Pruitt's up until Christmas, the protesters may be able to send Pruitt's out of business. Do your last minute gift shopping at Pruitt's - there are lots of small end pieces you could buy for a family member. It's unfair that someone could be put out of business simply for asking the Sheriff to escort illegal day laborers off his property.

Here's what's on sale Dec. 14-22:

Job openings for Senior VP of Development & Marketing Assistant at Alliance Defense Fund

Please see their list of job openings for more info. The Alliance Defense Fund is a Christian organization that defends the rights and liberties of Christians and families. Wherever you see the ACLU trying to make up rights for criminals, expect to find the ADF litigating on the opposite side.

CAP: Year recap & please consider contributing this season

'Tis the Season

I hope and pray you are enjoying this Christmas season. At the Herrod household our Christmas tree is up and the house and yard are decorated. As we enjoy the Christmas season, it's also the season for giving. A significant portion of CAP's annual budget is raised in December. Seldom do I mention our financial needs in Family Facts, but it's that time of year! And your help is definitely needed to maintain and expand our work in Arizona. Why should you consider a year-end gift, if you haven't given already? Here's a partial list of CAP's 2007 accomplishments showing what your gift can do. CAP is significantly expanding a critical part of our mission - to equip individuals to stand for righteousness in our culture - through The Truth Project. Focus on the Family has designated CAP as the Arizona coordinators for The Truth Project. CAP is strengthening our ministry to churches by adding Pastor Frank Carpenter as Church Relations Director. CAP staff led 17 Truth Project small groups, reaching 200 participants with biblical worldview training. Pastor Frank led three groups of pastors and church leaders, reaching 45 individuals. CAP's Community Action Network has expanded to include 221 liaisons to churches, schools, and pro- life agencies. CAP's legislative work resulted in six new bills being passed into law, including measures to stop the government from mandating the HPV vaccine as a condition for school attendance, and to require convicted sex offenders to register online identities with law enforcement. And perhaps more importantly, CAP's work helped to defeat bills to pass physician-assisted suicide, marriage counterfeits, and repeal school choice opportunities. CAP hosted a first-ever Bioethics Conference, drawing over 450 individuals, promoting a biblical worldview on beginning-of-life and end-of-life issues. CAP General Counsel Peter Gentala submitted a "friend of the court" brief to the Arizona Court of Appeals arguing to uphold a CAP-supported law restricting sexually-oriented businesses' operating hours. The Court ruled in favor of our opinion. CAP has expanded our legal department with the addition of attorney Deborah Sheasby. CAP brought the nationally-renowned Christian historian, David Barton, to Tucson, drawing about 400 people. I don't know how else to put this... but as I write this email to you, we are about $550,000 behind our 2007 budget goal. We've cut expenses significantly and delayed several key projects, but if things don't turn around, I will have to consider staff and program cuts. Our heart at CAP is to serve you - to be your voice in Arizona, protecting and defending our families to preserve our future. But we can't do it without your prayers... and your financial support. Please consider making a gift today. Your donation can be made online using our secure online form, or you can send a donation to CAP at 7227 N. 16th Street, Suite 250, Phoenix, Arizona, 85020. Thank you for standing with us in this important work.

Goldwater Institute: Choose It or Lose It

Low tax states demonstrate path to economic success

By Byron Schlomach, Ph.D.

The choice is stark, according to a new report by economists Art Laffer and Steve Moore published by the American Legislative Exchange Council. State policymakers can choose growth and prosperity or they can choose economic hari-kari.

During the 1990s, Arizona chose growth and prosperity. Where Arizona's total state and local tax burden had risen to 11.8 percent by 1991, it has since fallen to 10.3 percent. The result has been phenomenal growth and unparalleled peacetime economic opportunity for this state.

Michigan, on the other hand, has chosen a different path in recent years. While that state historically had a lower state and local tax burden than Arizona, its governments now tax away 11.2 percent of its citizens' incomes.

Michigan is currently experiencing a multi-year, single-state recession. Lawmakers recently attempted to solve their fiscal shortfall by raising taxes on business by $1.5 billion and forgoing spending cuts. In October, unemployment stood at 7.7 percent.

In recent years, Arizona's state government has been on a spending bender, increasing gross spending almost 95 percent since 2000. And now it's time to pay the piper. Raising taxes and relying on gimmicks to keep from having to cut spending is exactly the wrong move. The Laffer-Moore analysis dramatizes this fact. Where Arizona has been gaining population, Michigan has been losing it. Arizona ranks 24th in personal income growth per capita; Michigan ranks 49th.

The Arizona Legislature can feign paralysis in our current budget crisis by claiming control of only 35 percent of the state's budget or it can work with the Governor to make the hard decisions. The former would take us down the road Michigan has chosen. The latter would bring us back to the road Arizonans chose in the 1990s. It's time to choose.

Dr. Byron Schlomach is the director of the Center for Economic Prosperity at the Goldwater Institute.

Goldwater Institute: Big Brother Bailout

Government tampering with subprime loan industry not advised

By Tom Patterson

Here's a seldom-reported fact. Our recent housing bubble was caused by government. The intended consequence was to stimulate the economy. But below-market interest rates produced above-market real estate values.

Now the government seems determined to help us out of this crisis. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., has proposed a bill that would fix the mortgage market with regulations. Hillary Clinton wants a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures and a five-year freeze on mortgage rates. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's more modest plan is to persuade lenders to forego any interest rate adjustments on subprime mortgages. But these are all just temporizing measures. If we want to keep mortgage holders in homes they can't afford, eventually a taxpayer bailout will be required.

The justification for the various subsidies and moratoriums is that they would prop up the housing market and prevent the economy from tumbling into a recession. Maybe they would. But these solutions actually perpetuate the conditions that caused the bubble and keep the market from making the necessary adjustments.

Beyond unintended consequences, there are issues of fundamental fairness. Why should homeowners who deferred other expenses and selected a house within their means subsidize those who did neither? Should people be entitled to relief if they have a subprime mortgage that they can afford? Should borrowers get help with a mortgage they received in the first place because they lied about their income?

All the cures are worse than the disease. Whether we're forcing government or rich lenders or Wall Street to pay really doesn't matter much. The bailout schemes reinforce Americans' belief that the consequences of risky behavior should be borne by government. Government should assure transparency, prevent fraud, honor contracts and butt out. For once, let the markets work.

Tom Patterson is chairman of the Goldwater Institute, a former state legislator and emergency room physician. A longer version of this article originally appeared in the East Valley Tribune.

County attorney’s crime prevention efforts valid

by Mike Scerbo
Maricopa County Attorney's Office PIO

The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office does more than prosecute criminals. For years we have put time and effort into projects aimed at preventing crime and the frequent loss of life that results. That’s why Bill Richardson’s Dec. 7 commentary in the East Valley Tribune (“Public safety dollars wasted on sideshows,” Opinion 2) got our attention.

Richardson surprisingly criticizes us for public service efforts intended to prevent drunken driving and to make sure store shelves are free of dangerous toys. While our primary responsibility is prosecuting criminals, we consider public safety and preventing crime an essential part of our mission.

Our dedicated team of attorneys prosecutes 40,000 cases a year. We also work hand-in-hand with police agencies in high-profile cases such as the Chandler Rapist. In fact, we have put considerable amounts of time and effort into the investigation, just as we did in the Serial Shooters and Baseline Killer investigations.

But there is another component to our mission, preventing crime, and we use public service announcements because they work. These announcements have tackled issues such as DUIs and drug abuse, especially meth. Day after day, our prosecutors deal with the tragic aftermath of crime. And while we work tirelessly to make sure the guilty are properly punished, wouldn’t we all be better off if those crimes had never happened?

We make these announcements because we’ve seen too many innocent lives crushed under the wheels of drunken drivers. We’ve seen too many young lives cut short by the poison that’s pushed on our youth in a media culture that sometimes glorifies criminal behavior instead of scorning it. We are worried that the continual flow of dangerous toys into this country could harm a child. Before entering government service, I spent 22 years as a reporter covering the lives ruined and lost from crimes that should have never happened. It’s important to point out that our public service announcements are financed through funds and assets seized from criminals and not through taxpayer dollars.

The county attorney’s office is not alone in using public service announcements to prevent tragedies and promote public health. There is a multi-million dollar anti-meth campaign sponsored by various Arizona counties, including Maricopa, and the state of Arizona. Arizona state government has spent millions on anti-smoking efforts. Attorney General Terry Goddard appears on radio public service announcements, funded in part through Arizona distillers, warning of the dangers of underage drinking. Gov. Janet Napolitano recently announced a massive media campaign aimed at juvenile drinking though the Arizona Underage Drinking Prevention Committee.

As a former news director, I can say that government uses these announcements because they work. They are written and produced to make a potential drunken driver think twice before getting behind the wheel. They are aimed at young people to make them consider the consequences of drug abuse before they wind up in jail or worse. The idea is to reach out to the viewer or the listener before they become a suspect, a victim, or worse yet, a statistic. It is widely recognized that crime prevention messages change behavior.

Examples of success include the coordinated efforts to fight meth. A 2006 survey by the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission found that the percentage of Arizona 12th graders who used methamphetamines or stimulants decreased from 2002 to 2006. The survey was taken a year after the county attorney’s office launched its anti-meth campaign. While we’re not trying to claim credit for the entire decline, we do believe our efforts were a major factor and helped get the ball rolling.

Before Andrew Thomas became county attorney, this office saw the value in public service announcements. Our Drug Free AZ program took on the drug ecstasy. In 2003, use of ecstasy dropped 68 percent in the Phoenix area after our parent education programs, work with the medical community, and public service announcements.

I spent decades on the radio as a reporter and now my voice is heard on our radio public service announcements on drunken driving. Richardson says the DUI effort made him “want to puke.” Bill, my intent wasn’t to make you lose your lunch. Our intent is to prevent someone from losing their life in a DUI crash.

The office investigates, prosecutes criminals, and works alongside Valley law enforcement. One thing we can’t do is turn back the clock and keep a crime from happening. But we can devote some resources to prevent crimes and hopefully save some lives in the process.

This article appeared in the East Valley Tribune on December 11, 2007

Goldwater Institute: Two Million Minds are a Terrible Thing to Waste

Hearing on minorities and special education raises concerns about 'mislabeling'

By Matthew Ladner, Ph.D.

I recently testified on minority overrepresentation in special education before the United States Civil Rights Commission. Education Week reported that the hearing "expanded into a three-hour discussion that touched on parental choice, school officials' judgment calls on special education placements, and effective early-childhood education."

It's not often that the Goldwater Institute, the NAACP, and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund are all in agreement. All panelists broadly agreed that the mild mental retardation, emotionally disturbed and specific learning disability labels can and have been badly abused.

The Commissioners asked a number of perceptive questions including, how are the failures of general and special education related? The answer is, intimately. Dr. Reid Lyon, the former chief of the Child Development and Behavior Branch at the National Institute of Health, estimates that 2 million special education children are currently mislabeled due to poor early reading instruction. Dr. Daniel J. Reschly, education and psychology professor at Vanderbilt University, testified that "reading is implicated as the first or second reason for 80 percent of special education placements."

The Goldwater Institute has called for Arizona to implement two of the reforms discussed during the hearings. First, voluntary universal reading skill screening and remediation: test all children early and remediate those that are behind. This method could help accurately identify which students actually have physical or neurological conditions appropriate for special education. Second, to combat perverse incentives and improve outcomes, implement a system of parental choice for children with disabilities.

The legislature and Governor accomplished the latter in 2006. This should be followed by decisive action on screening and remediation in 2008. With both of these reforms in place, Arizonans will have done more than any other state to avoid horrible stories like Magdalena's. It's time to put an end to these costly mistakes that can ruin a child's education.

Dr. Matthew Ladner is vice president of research at the Goldwater Institute.

New York Times article on County Attorney Stop DUI AZ billboards

A Starring Role for Drivers Who Drink

By JENNIFER STEINHAUER

Published: December 10, 2007

A conviction for driving under the influence of alcohol is something many people try to conceal, even from their families. But now the bleary-eyed, disheveled and generally miserable visages of convicted drunken drivers here, captured in their mug shots, are available to the entire world via a Web site.

The hall of shame is even worse for drunken drivers convicted of a felony. A select few will find their faces plastered on billboards around Phoenix with the banner headline: Drive drunk, see your mug shot here.

The Web site and billboards, which began last month, are the brainchildren of Andrew P. Thomas, the county attorney here who has served as the prosecutorial counterpart to the county’s hard-edged sheriff, Joe Arpaio, who has been known to force inmates into pink underwear.

The purposes of the billboards and the Web site, Mr. Thomas has said, are to inform the public about drunken-driving laws, and to serve as a deterrent.

“People tend to like it, and it gets a message across to the offender,” said Mike Scerbo, a spokesman for Mr. Thomas, who declined to be interviewed. “We haven’t heard any complaints.” There are five billboards near freeways in the Phoenix area, with Mr. Thomas’s name in bold letters, and more will be up soon, Mr. Scerbo said.

While other states have used shame tactics like forcing convicted drunken drivers to use special license plates or pick up roadside litter wearing a placard announcing their crimes, defense lawyers and the spokeswoman for the national chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving said they had never heard of billboards or the Internet being used as scarlet letters.

The billboards will only feature convicted felons, whose crimes, which almost always involve someone’s death, are explained in detail on the Web site, StopDUIAZ.com. But those convicted of misdemeanors can be found on the site if the localities where they were convicted are willing to provide the mug shots and conviction information.

“I just can’t believe he’s doing it,” said Mark Weingart, a defense lawyer in Tempe who has advised hundreds of people facing charges of driving under the influence. “Besides the fact that it is in bad taste, D.U.I.’s usually involve somebody with no criminal history. The downside to this person being published on the Web site is tremendous. I don’t see the point. Why doesn’t he put sex offenders up there?”

The tactic gets mixed reviews from M.A.D.D.

“Some parts of the Web site are good because they are informational and trying to provide the victim’s perspective,” said Misty Moyse, the spokeswoman for the group. However, she said, “M.A.D.D. would not want to be involved in calling out offenders. We are interested in research- and science-based activities proven to stop drunk driving.” Those activities include putting devices on the cars of prior offenders that they are forced to breathe into in order to start their vehicles, a program Arizona has also embraced.

Last year, 32 percent of fatal accidents in the state involved a driver with a blood alcohol level above the legal limit of .08, about average among states.

Mr. Thomas, a Republican, took office as Maricopa County attorney in January 2005 after a campaign that focused on themes of law and order. He has greatly increased the percentage of first-degree murder cases in which the death penalty has been called for, and has put an emphasis on tough punishments. The drunken driving program, which costs roughly $700,000, is paid for via a state justice grant and through assets seized in racketeering convictions.

Calls to roughly a dozen people featured on the site were not returned. But James Coveney, whose son is featured under the misdemeanor section, said he found the measure draconian.

“I think it’s most unfair,” Mr. Coveney said. “Those individuals go through the court system, and that is how it is resolved. I feel this is an extreme invasion of privacy.”

County Attorney To Defend Employer Sanctions Law

Office Prepares to Enforce Law Starting January 1, 2008

Now that a second lawsuit has been filed in federal court challenging Arizona’s employer-sanctions law, including as defendants all county attorneys in Arizona, County Attorney Andrew Thomas is pledging to defend the new law in federal court. Thomas’s office also is preparing to begin enforcement of the law next year barring a federal or state court order that prohibits such action.

On December 7, 2007, Judge Neil Wake of the United States District Court in Phoenix dismissed a lawsuit challenging the Legal Arizona Workers Act. In the court’s ruling, Judge Wake stated that the plaintiffs had sued the wrong parties and would have had standing had they included as defendants the county attorneys of Arizona. Under the new law, county attorneys are the law enforcement officials charged with bringing enforcement actions against companies that allegedly are in violation.

The plaintiffs now have filed a new lawsuit against the 15 county attorneys in the state. Thomas is promising to defend the law once his office is served with the new complaint. Thomas stated, “Until a court rules otherwise, Arizona’s employer-sanctions statute is the law of the land. I intend to fully and fairly enforce it.” He added he would follow a two-pronged approach to enforcement: defending the law in federal court while enforcing the law come January.

The County Attorney’s Office announced in September it has entered into an intergovernmental agreement with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office for enforcement of the employer-sanctions law. Under the agreement, sheriff’s personnel will take the lead in investigations of employers allegedly in violation of the law. Thomas stated that he will provide further details in the coming days about preparations for enforcement of the Legal Arizona Workers Act. He will also provide information at that time to assist Maricopa County businesses in complying with the new law.

For more information contact: Mike Anthony Scerbo, Public Information Officer (602) 506-3170 (office) or (602) 489-6913 (cell)

Journalist Sunnucks admits media doesn't represent public on illegal immigration

While discussing Mayor Gordon's reversal on Phoenix's sanctuary city ordinance Friday night during Horizon's Journalists' Roundtable, left wing Phoenix Business Journal reporter Mike Sunnucks acknowledged that although liberal Hispanic groups don't like the change in policy, and although the media doesn't either, they don't represent the vast majority of Arizonans' views. It was quite revealing to see one of the liberal journalists on this show admit their bias.

Arizona Bloggers get-together

Just spreading the word....looks like just conservative political bloggers so far

Bloggers teleconference with Congressman Thaddeus McCotter, Chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee.

Please join us Thursday, Dec. 13 at 10:30 AM for a bloggers tele-conference with Congressman Thaddeus McCotter, Chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee.

We will be discussing GOP policy initiatives, 2008 agenda items and important developments.

Please RSVP to Bettina Inclan at Bettina.inclan@mail.house.gov to receive the phone number and access code.

Note: The House Republican Policy Committee will be having regular tele-conferneces with bloggers all across the country to discuss GOP policy and Congressional action directly with various Members of Congress.

David Schweikert for Congress hot air balloon gift idea

Our campaign has a great Holiday gift idea. One of our supporters has just donated a handful of hot air balloon flights over the valley. Contributions of $200 will receive a beautiful certificate which can be used for up to a year. Please go to my website to make your contribution and your certificate will be mailed out the following day. There are a limited number of certificates available at $200 per person. If you have any questions regarding this unique gift idea, or about the campaign, please give me a call at 480-659-9383. Many thanks, David Schweikert for Congress 15749 E El Lago Blvd Fountain Hills, AZ 85268 Paid for by David Schweikert for Congress

AZ Right to Life Pro-Life March & Rally - Jan. 20

2008 Pro-life March and Rally Living the Dream: Right to Life for All Sunday, January 20, 2008 1:00-3:00p.m. March and Rally Location: Wesley Bolin Park near the Korean War Memorial 1700 West Washington Street Phoenix, AZ85007 (near 15th Ave. and Washington St.) March Route: The March will begin at 1:00 p.m. at the Wesley Bolin Park Korean War Memorial (15th Ave. and Washington St.). As a demonstration of unity and solidarity, we will march around the Capitol back to Wesley Bolin Park. We encourage marchers to carry banners while singing and praying along the route. By marching, we will provide a very visible demonstration of support for the pro-life mission. Rally: The Rally will begin at 1:30 p.m. at the Wesley Bolin Park Korean War Memorial and will feature live music with the Ike Ndolo Band and a performance by Atomik-12. Various speakers such as emcee Cathi Herrod from the Center for Arizona Policy, keynote speaker Alan Sears from the Alliance Defense Fund, Brooke Burns from Metanoia Films, members of Congress, and others will offer powerful messages to inspire you to make a difference. Many organizations, all serving critical roles, will be present to offer resources, services and ways to get involved. Arizona's Largest Diaper Drive: Show your support for mothers and babies in need by bringing disposable diapers, formula, and/or wipes to the 2008 Rally for Life. You can also bring supplies to early drop-off locations. Please visit http://azliferally.com/diapers.html For more information or to download flyers and maps please visit www.azliferally.com

Arizona Right to Life 3700 North 24th Street Phoenix, Arizona 85016 602-285-0063

Rep. Shadegg to Join AFP Foundation at Taxpayer Awards Luncheon, Dec. 15

Please join us for the Arizona Taxpayer Awards Luncheon Saturday, December 15, 2007 There are less than two weeks to go until the grassroots event of year! We hope you will join us on Saturday, December 15th, to celebrate the best of Arizona in 2007. We have an all-star line up of presenters that will inform and entertain. U.S. Congressman John Shadegg has been a consistent voice for smaller and more responsive government. He has led the fight in finding realistic solutions to social security and health care. Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson cut taxes on income, gasoline, and capital gains, and halted the growth of New Mexico government during his term in office. He is the only governor to have climbed Mount Everest. State Treasurer Dean Martin is the Chief Financial Officer for the State of Arizona, overseeing over $12.1 billion in assets under management. As a Senator, Martin was a consistent Champion of the Taxpayer passing the largest income tax cut and property tax cut in Arizona history. Mutual fund manager Tom Borelli created the Free Enterprise Action Fund to counter the left-wing activist groups that are transforming public companies into agents to advance the liberal agenda. In addition, a number of other leading voices for individual liberty will participate. This includes the Institute for Justice, Medical Choice for Arizona, Alliance for School Choice and the Free Enterprise Club We will also unveil the 2007 Arizona Legislative Report Card and hand-out awards, such as the Kendrick Courage Award and the Empty Wallet Award. The 2007 Friend of the Taxpayer awards luncheon will be held Saturday, December 15th, at the Scottsdale Plaza, 7200 N. Scottsdale Road. Registration begins at 10:30 a.m., the event begins at 11:30 a.m. Lunch will be served. To RSVP online, click here. For a printable mail-in registration form, click here.

PAChyderm Coalition meeting - Dec. 19

PAChyderm Coalition MO

Christmas Dinner

Wednesday December 19, 2007

Please note the new location:
Deer Valley Airport Restaurant
702 W. Deer Valley Road
(7th Ave & Deer Valley)

Dinner - 6:00 P.M.

Dinner will be an "order off the menu"

Meeting begins at 7:00 PM

Howard Levine
will present his new legislative/

legislator ranking system.

Mark you calendar and plan to join us to spend some good time with
good friends during this most glorious season!

Goldwater Institute documents more than 36 racial, gender preference programs

Racial Preferences Rampant in Arizona Government

A debate is brewing in Arizona over a voter initiative aimed at ending racial and gender preferences in government employment, contracting, and at universities. Opponents of the Arizona Civil Rights Initiative say there are no preference programs in Arizona to end and the initiative is a solution in search of a problem.

The Goldwater Institute investigated this question and found more than three dozen gender and racial preference programs currently being used by various levels of government. A policy brief issued today, Dividing Line: Racial Preferences in Arizona, provides a list of preferences employed by the state's three public universities, in K-12 education, and government contracting and employment. The brief was researched and written by Clint Bolick, director of the Goldwater Institute Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation, and John Robb, a former Goldwater Institute Ronald Reagan Fellow.

While many of the preference program descriptions are vague about the extent to which race or gender will be the determining factor for selection, some are not. For example, the Arizona Board of Regents' hiring procedure has clear preferences: "Between equally qualified candidates, preference shall be given to candidates whose hire will help correct under utilization as identified in university affirmative action plans."

Government contracting preference programs are equally direct. Programs like the City of Phoenix's Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprise Certification Program provide contracting advantages to businesses that are at least 51 percent owned by women or minorities. If companies qualify for this certification, they are automatically awarded a 2.5 percent "bid incentive" on contracts ranging between $250,000 and $500,000. This incentive allows their bid to be up to 2.5 percent higher than competing bids and remain in consideration. Under those circumstances Phoenix taxpayers could pay $6,250 to $12,500 more for a service. Tucson's preference-based contracting system allows for even higher bid incentives, between five and seven percent based on the size of the contract. Phoenix can also reserve contracts that are only open to these certified businesses.

The list of preferences identified in Dividing Line in far from comprehensive; it was pulled together by a cursory search of government agency and university program descriptions publicly available on the Internet. The list does, however, begin to answer questions about the use and pervasiveness of racial and gender preferences in Arizona.

Clint Bolick contends that government-sanctioned preference programs are not appropriate. "Only when the superficial, cosmetic, and corrosive quick-fix of racial preferences is removed from the realm of permissible policy will government take the steps necessary to ensure truly equal opportunity," Bolick said.

Dividing Line: Racial Preferences in Arizona is available online or by calling (602) 462-5000.

The Goldwater Institute is an independent public policy research and litigation organization whose work is made possible by the generosity of its supporters. Please click here to make a tax-deductible contribution.

Contact: Starlee Rhoades Director of Communications srhoades@goldwaterinstitute.org (602) 462-5000 x 226

Contact: Clint Bolick Director, Center for Constitutional Litigation (602) 462-5000

AZ Right to Life Christmas open house - Dec. 12

Merry Christmas Friends of Life, We thank you for your committment to life throughout the year and invite you to join us at our annual Christmas Open House. The staff and board members of Arizona Right to Life look forward to meeting all of our wonderful volunteers, generous donors, and supportive pro-life friends for an evening of food, fun, and fellowship at the AZRTL state office. Event: AZRTL Christmas Open House Date: Wednesday, December 12th Time: 4:00-7:00pm Location: AZRTL Main Office 3700 N 24th St. Suite 100 Phoenix, AZ 85016 Map Best Holiday Wishes, Trent Horn Program Specialist Arizona Right to Life Contact AZRTL for more info at (602) 285-0063 or trent@arizonarighttolife.org.

Sign petition to open up Clinton library archives

Just three years ago Hillary Clinton went on record with Larry King to say that all the records contained in the Library would be released to the public. Maybe she changed her mind when her bid for the White House became a reality.

Nearly three years after the opening of the Clinton Presidential Library and the ensuing Freedom of Information Act Requests, less than half of one percent of the library's documents are open for review. On the campaign trail, Clinton consistently speaks to her level of experience; yet, she will not allow details of that experience to be reviewed by the public. The American people deserve to know what information is being guarded in these libraries.

Tell Hillary Clinton that she can't hide her record from the American people. Our goal is to have thousands of people sign this petition before December 31, 2007, in hopes that it will inspire Hillary to agree to share the library documents as her New Year's resolution.

Sign the Library Lockdown petition today and get your very own Hillary Clinton Library Card.

James Richardson
RNC eCampaign
(202) 280-9190
jrichardson@rnchq.org

Republican National Committee | 310 First Street, SE | Washington, D.C. 20003
p: 202.863.8500 | f: 202.863.8820 | e: info@gop.com

Paid for by the Republican National Committee. 310 First Street, SE - Washington, D.C. 20003 - (202) 863-8500 www.gop.com Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

More on liberal governor Napolitano's past history of banning Christmas

Renaming "Christmas tree" to "holiday tree" is nothing new for our liberal governor Napolitano. A few years ago when she was Attorney General, she banned all words of "religious significance," Christmas trees, Santa Claus, Star of Davids, and nativity scenes from everywhere except within employees' cubicles or offices. The receptionists could no longer have Christmas trees in lobby areas or put decorations on their desks. As an attorney, Napolitano should have known better. Besides the fact this was political correctness gone too far, it violated the Constitution's protection of free speech in government workplaces.

Outraged employees protested, and near one receptionist's desk put up a picture of Bigfoot that said "Season's Greetings from Bigfoot." In place of the former regular Christmas tree, they moved a plant over that bore an uncanny resemblance to the Loch Ness monster with the sign, "Happy Holidays from the Loch Ness Monster." One employee drafted an appeal from Santa Claus. Local talk radio shows organized a group of Christmas carolers to go sing Christmas carols outside the AG's office for Napolitano. The ban even made the New York Times. The Catholic League got involved and contacted the governor at the time, Jane Hull, which probably got Napolitano to back down and eliminate the part of the ban against "items of religious significance."

This wasn't Napolitano's only attack on religion as AG. Under her administration, the use of religious words in email was prohibited. When employees pointed out that not only did a blanket prohibition on religion over email violate the Constitution, but you couldn't even email your family or friends to say "meet you at church tonight" she backed down. With this latest renaming of the Christmas tree at the Capitol and refusal to back down, it's clear her arrogant hostility toward America's most revered traditions and religion hasn't changed. Arizonans need to remember that when she runs for Senate.