Sunday, April 2nd, 2006...9:28 am
Legislative Records
A corresponent asked where one can find Sen. Gabrielle Giffords’s voting record. This can be found on ALIS, which is not a 70’s TV series staring Linda Lavin, but the Arizona Legislature’s website.
The trouble is having to manuever through a list of hundreds of bills (way too many are introduced), but you can do a search on the bill’s title. The titles are actually pretty descriptive of what the bill is about, no “Healthy Forests” style titles here. For example: a bill dealing with the length of a yellow light is actually called “yellow signal duration.” A bill dealing with ballots by mail is titled “elections; ballot by mail.”
Another thing that is troublesome when you try to follow things is that we have something called a “strike all ammendment” in our legislature. This means that a bill can pass committee, go through “committee of the whole,” pass out of one body and have all of its text struck and replaced with an entirely different bill. For example, the impeachment resolution against Evan Mecham in 1988 started out as a memorial supporting Angolan rebels. This makes things very difficult to follow. As a student activist, my brother was involved in getting students to lobby against a bill cutting university budgets mid-session. Someone from the capitol called him up to tell him that the bill was now something dealing with well baby care and they need to stop lobbying against it.
Remember that because of this as well as other not so radical ways of ammending a bill, there may be serious differences between each “read” of the bill (they get voted on in committee, committee of the whole, and the final “third read”). Luckily, those different versions are all available on the site, listed as “introduced versions” and “engrossed versions.”
A summary of this has been available for years in a pamphlet staring a character called Arizona Bill. He’s not voiced by Jack Sheldon, nor does he play with Dave Frishberg, but he’s got a hat and boots.
The rules can be arcane, and things like the “strike all” and other manipulations can be frustrating for a citizen to follow. But a clever legislator can learn to use these as tools to get our agenda through or at the least to neuter some of the more heinous legislation. Giffords was someone that quickly learned how to do this, and that’s one of the reasons I’m supporting her for congress.
28 Comments
April 2nd, 2006 at 12:02 pm
When you say “our” agenda, are you talking about the Republican agenda? Because her voting record is an awful lot like Republican Steve Huffman’s. About 80% of their votes are the same.
Her agenda is hardly a Democratic agenda. How about health care for her employees? Oh, yeah they didn’t get full benefits. How about her purportedly huge campaing fund? Oh, yeah, it would seem half of her donations come from lobbyists. Who’s she beholden to — Wal-Mart? That’s who her big supporter Skip Wilson works for.
She is not really a Democrat and that’s why, whlie you certainly have the right to support anyone you want, she cannot be passed off as a real Dem.
April 2nd, 2006 at 12:41 pm
Whoa, was that a shot from the grassy knoll?
I swear there was a second shooter.
Should change your name from tooblue4u to “One flew over the cuckoo’s nest”
80% of her votes were “Republican”
riiiiiiiiiiight
thanks for playing though!
GOLD STAR!
April 2nd, 2006 at 2:11 pm
Cute.
You can poke fun, but I don’t find it funny that Dems are lining up behind a candidate who (look it up) votes like a R so often. Support her because she can navigate the “arcane” rules of the AZ legislature? Is that the best we can do? I don’t think so, especially if she’s working that hard NOT voting Democratic. If her main contributors are the likes of Wilson, I don’t want her in any elected office, let alone be the Dem nominee in a year we have a chance to take the House back.
April 2nd, 2006 at 2:24 pm
Her votes are the same as Huffman’s? 80% of them? Where are you getting that from? Please cite me an example where she voted counter to the Democratic caucus. If you want to call her a sell out, cite some actual evidence.
April 2nd, 2006 at 3:44 pm
Whom ever the Democrats nominate in September is not really my issue but if you want to compare someone to a Republican you could do better than Huffman. His pro-abortion stand and support for Rio Nuevo are not really bedrock Republican positions.
If you really want a valid comparison, first get the chamber right. Look at the Senate. Then use a real Republican, say Tim Bee or Dean Martin.
April 2nd, 2006 at 5:40 pm
I second Tedski on this one. Anytime you claim a person votes against the Democratic agenda a signifigant portion of the time, you should at least back it up with some actual votes.
April 2nd, 2006 at 5:55 pm
This has been the mantra of the Latas and Weiss supporters all along. Dying for the voting record so that they can pick and choose and find ways of showing that their candidate (with NO record by the way) is somehow more principled. Drives me freaking crazy…and hell…you all know that I am halfway there (smile).
Roger
April 2nd, 2006 at 6:22 pm
Ok…on funding…since we are on CD8 again. As I mentioned as a comment on the Data Port and Arizona Congress Watch, the FEC quarterly deadline is now over (March 31st). The new reports for fundraising will be out soon. The amount raised, whether anyone likes it or not, is a show of candidate strength and frankly a measure of the ability and organization of the campaign . My guideposts to what we should look for:
Giffords: Had about $250,000 at Dec. Given that big donations can come in early…she should have more donations, but not as many. Still, if she is a contender she needs at least $400,000 at this deadline to look credible and strong–success should build on success–and exhibit momentum. If $400K is not reached, then this would look like a campaign that had some early friends donate, but no success in sustaining it.
Weiss: Had no figures reported in the Dec. deadline. She had not yet declared. Gabby demonstrated $250,000 in her very first report–and in a short period of time. If Weiss has the name rec/community support she says she has then it should be backed with some real fundraising success. On Art’s blog I said she needed $100,000 to look credible. However, if she is as strong as is being promoted, she should match Giffords $250,000 in her first report–to look like a contender.
Latas: Mr. Latas has a strong set of loyal (and vocal) supporters. But their campaign, like all, will need money to be successful (even if they say they don’t need it..). He had little on hand in the early reporting in Dec. even after entering the race before everyone else. By now, his momentum and strength should show itself if he is a contender and not a pretender. If he doesn’t at least have $50,000 though, then his campaign is going to look broken, stalled, or gasping for air. Especially if Patty comes up with the $250K that I think she needs now to look like a front-runner.
A little analysis…for what it is worth.
Roger
April 2nd, 2006 at 10:31 pm
Her voting record is not on ALIS.
Nada, nothing. Way gone, daddy-O.
April 2nd, 2006 at 10:34 pm
Where is this voting record on ALIS?
I went looking for it. Do you look under “Gabrielle Giffords”?
Do you have to go bill by bill?
Can you search back to 2001?
In other words, where the heck is it?
April 2nd, 2006 at 11:16 pm
Searching an ex-member’s voting record in ALIS is like pulling your nails out. The ALIS admins didn’t make it any easier by pulling Gabby’s member page so quickly either. Usually those things hang out for months or years. They have lists of sponsored bills and such that are very useful.
Frankly, I’m not willing to go to such trouble. If there is anything truly untoward in Gabby’s record, it’s on her opponents to do their oppo. I suspect the GOP is probably already doing so.
April 2nd, 2006 at 11:48 pm
Which is to say, her voting record is unavailable to the public.
Whether or not the opposition, the Republicans, or Gabby compiles it into what is called a voting record, it is not available as a legible document for mere voters to read.
April 3rd, 2006 at 12:53 am
I tried to look up a bill last year on ALIS and it was incredibly difficult to understand what actually had happened with it. Totally user-unfriendly. A definite political-consultant-full-time employment website.
TOOBLUE4U–You indicate that Giffords is not a really a Democrat. I have a hard time believing that. Can you name specific votes on which she did not vote with the majority of her party?
Obviously you should support the candidate you believe best represents Democratic principles. [For me, Jeff Latas is that candidate!] However, please beware of doing what the Republicans are doing–demonizing and purging themselves of those who some of them deem not “sufficiently” Republican. We need to all work together in the fall to send our CD 8 Democratic nominee to Congress.
April 3rd, 2006 at 7:17 am
Watch for Huffman to be well ahead of any other Republican candidate when the reports are released soon.
Also - look at the names of who’s given to Giffords. Giffords has a lot of support from the Chamber of Commerce, business community types, including a lot of Phoenix business interests. Guess she put her time up in the Valley of the Smog to good use.
If I was a Democrat, I don’t know that she supports the actual people of the district.
April 3rd, 2006 at 7:46 am
I think you are right about Huffman GOPInsider. I know that there was a concerted effort by big money Republicans to get Hellon out the race and to have one so called “moderate” go after Graf (who is going to win the primary).
As to Giffords, she certainly would worry me if I were a GOP type. She can raise the funds for the fall campaign and she does attract some business support (which by the way is good for Democrats…take a look at Janet, Pederson, H. Clinton, Mark Warner, and a host of others).
Last, I think you will find a wide variety of donors on her list and from all walks of life. A lot of Professors, small business types, and others.
Your comment about not supporting the people of the District ridiculous.
April 3rd, 2006 at 8:35 am
Guess what? Gabby’s record is unavailable to the public, and is seen only by insiders.
To say it is available on ALIS, is like saying your tax record can be found at the IRS.
April 3rd, 2006 at 8:49 am
Oh well, damn, you might ask tooblue4u who seems to know and call her voting record “republican” (grin).
OR…you might just trust her, trust what people say about her, and trust what she says. All of this instead of looking for some damaging info. to use against her in the campaign.
I mean, aren’t we all being asked to trust Jeff Latas and Patty Weiss? They have no record whatsoever.
April 3rd, 2006 at 8:53 am
Trust, but verify!
Transparency and light is better than the dark.
Lets see the investments of all of the candidates.
Lets see what excites the FEC list for all of the candidates.
Lets have a debate, not a cheerleader rally.
April 3rd, 2006 at 3:13 pm
Just who is the arbiter of who is and is not a “real” Democrat…
or Republican…
or Communist…
or American…
or Pole…
Pray tell, what are the criteria? Where does the threshold lie?
And where does one go to find this criteria? Is it written in stone somewhere?
April 3rd, 2006 at 3:54 pm
As to the Republican Party it is written down in the party platform.
April 3rd, 2006 at 6:05 pm
hhahahahahaha nice one Phx!!!
April 3rd, 2006 at 6:43 pm
I guess President Bush hasn’t missed the part about limiting the power of the federal government? deficit spending? The debt ceiling has gone from approximately $6 trillion to $9 trillion [during the Bush Presidency], with deficits continuing with no end in sight–Iraq War, tax cuts, etc. It doesn’t help national security to be borrowing yearly from the Chinese [and many other countries] to finance our deficit spending.
April 5th, 2006 at 11:19 am
If the Giffords campaign is running on experience and record, which they claim to be doing, why don’t they publish the voting record.
April 5th, 2006 at 9:22 pm
Why they don’t publish has been suggested in these comments, which is that bits and pieces will be taken out of the context in which they occurred and placed into a different context to say whatever is desired.
This is not rigorous and proves nothing, but maybe a year ago or so I remember reading some conservative gop websites that graded politicians, and they gave Giffords all sorts of F’s. That doesn’t suggest a Red voting record.
The record is no secret, and not sure about the smaller branches, but the librarian downtown can get you started. Don’t recall the name of the publication, but it’s easier than reading 5 years of the daily paper. Enjoy!
April 5th, 2006 at 10:26 pm
Why should plain old voters have to drive to Phoenix for the Gabby Record, when she could post it in an afternoon?
Why should some wonder if her investments influence her votes when no one can see either her investments or her votes?
Does Jeff Latas have stock in airlines or defense?
Does Alex Rodriguez have warrants, options or stock in Raytheon?
Does Patty Weiss hold investments in pharma or media?
Gabby should lead the charge, and either divulge or divest.
If We the People have to dig her record up and post it, it will be much more negative than if Gabby goes transparent and lets us know about her votes, investments and real estate.
Remember when Dennis DeConcini’s family and friends bought a bunch of worthless desert that happened to be in the exact path of the Central Arizona Project?
How will all that El Campo land impact the Rio Nuevo project downtown?
Did El Campo ever knowingly hire illegal aliens?
Will anyone even care or do we trust these candidates with our faith?
April 8th, 2006 at 5:37 am
Giffords declined, after repeated attempts to get her campaign to take part, to answer a questionaire from the Progressive Democrats. Which means she doesn’t want their endorsement or doesn’t care about their agenda. Latas, Schacter and Weiss all answered it. They are not DINOs. I see this race as of national not merely local importance, which is why I continue to harp on the need to vote for a real Dem, not a recent convert with a conservative background, big-business donors and an apparent disdain for progressive groups.
April 8th, 2006 at 6:41 pm
Is the “story” of this questionnaire published anywhere? By story I mean the details–who wrote it and what were the questions, who responded, and what the responses were for each of those who did.
I think folks would find this interesting–including who didn’t or wouldn’t provide answers.
April 8th, 2006 at 6:46 pm
Whoops, last statement not worded well. Meant to say that folks would also be interested in who responded and who did not.