Kirk Adams

Arizona House Speaker-elect Kirk Adams has made his selections for who will chair the House's standing committees in the next session of the legislature.

Daniel's News & Views, the blog run by state Representative-elect Daniel Patterson (D-Tucson), had the announcement posted Wednesday.

According to Patterson, the list is:

Appropriations – John Kavanagh
Commerce – Michele Reagan
Education – Rich Crandall
Environment – Ray Barnes
Banking & Insurance – Nancy McLain
Government – Sam Crump

Leaders in the Arizona House told PolitickerAZ.com they are predicting some tough choices in the next session as the Legislature and governor work out a fix on the projected $1.2 billion deficit for 2009, but say they are looking forward to working in a spirit of cooperation.

"The governor came up with about $300 million in agency cuts," said Majority Leader-elect John McComish (R-Ahwatukee). "We need to sit down with her folks and see the particulars. We don't know what will be on the chopping block."

Rep. Bill Konopnicki (R-Safford), who chairs the House Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee, added there may be another $150 million in sweeps, but after that, "everything becomes extremely difficult."

"It's not going to be a pleasant experience," Konopnicki said.

Arizona State Senate Chief of Staff Victor Riches has landed a new job, but he won't have to move the boxes to far. Riches will be moving over to the House side and taking over as Chief of Staff for incoming Speaker Kirk Adams.

Taking over for Riches in the Senate will be Wendy Baldo who has worked as a legisltive policy advisor.

State Rep. John McComish (R-Safford), who will serve as majority leader when the Arizona House reconvenes under Speaker-elect Kirk Adams (R-Mesa), told PolitickerAZ.com he see a role for outgoing Speaker Jim Weiers (R-Phoenix) in the coming session.

"[Weiers] will still have much to contribute," said McComish, who cited the outgoing speaker's "institutional knowledge" as a valuable asset to the new leadership.

The Arizona House voted to replace Weiers as speaker on Nov. 6.

Thursday night, twelve Arizona legislators were honored at the annual Governor's Celebration of Innovation awards for their work to help facilitate technology development in Arizona.

The awards, backed primarily by the Arizona Technology Council and presented by Tech Council CEO Steve Zylstra and Jan Lesher, chief of staff to Gov. Janet Napolitano, included the "Tech 10" - ten legislators who were highlighted for their contributions to technology advancement - plus two "Outstanding Legislator" awards to those who were especially influential.

Newly-elected Speaker Kirk Adams comes into power providing the hope of a new administration. But one small move could have a greater affect on his administration than he may know. It has not been determined if Adams will retain the Speaker's staff or bring in a new group. The Speaker's spokesman is currently Barrett Marson and any change in this position would be a blow to the incoming administration. If Marson wants to stay, Adams should do everything he can to retain his services. Marson has a great relationship with the press and is a tireless advocate for his boss. The new Speaker would have a hard time finding anyone in Arizona who is as well respected and has as good of a relationship with the press and understand the process at the Capitol.

The new Arizona House leadership, elected Thursday, has made no staff changes yet, but announcements are expected to come soon, according to several Capitol insiders.

Though newly-elected Speaker Kirk Adams (R-Mesa) has reportedly not made any decisions yet, who is leaving and who of outgoing Speaker Jim Weiers's (R-Phoenix) staff will remain may begin to be known later in the week.

Barrett Marson, spokesman for the speaker's office, said he wasn't sure if he was leaving or not.

"I've made no decisions and no one's told me anything," Marson told PolitickerAZ.com. "No one's come to me and said I've been fired."

Legislative preview, House districts 16-20

LD16
LD16 is solid district for Democratic candidates and current Representatives Ben Miranda and Cloves Campbell are popular within the district. Both work hard to keep their name out there and should have little problem defending their seats against Republican Raymond Williams.

At a press conference outside the Executive Tower Monday, state Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Phoenix) led a throng of supporters announcing that Protect Arizona Freedom, the organization she helps lead, has filed suit to challenge over 100,000 signatures on the Arizona Civil Rights Initiative ballot petition.

The initiative, which is the brainchild of former University of California regent and anti-affirmative action activist Ward Connerly, was submitted for review by the Arizona Secretary of State on July 3 with over 323,000 signatures. 230,047 are required to make it to the ballot.

However, PAF is trying to drive that number down by 105,107 through its lawsuit, which alleges 13 categories of violations committed by petition circulators which invalidate those signatures. Among the most serious charges are instances where PAF accuses paid circulators of using "another individual's identification to try to prove residency," and cases where a circulator "misrepresented his or her residential address," as well as practices such as duplicating signatures on numerous petition sheets.