Why not have a domestic-partner registry ballot issue?
Phoenix is about to have a domestic-partner registry thanks to a 6-0 City Council vote this week. Phoenix follows Tucson in granting unmarried gay and straight couples hospital visitation rights.

The catch is it will cost couples $50 once the registry begins on Feb. 9. Read the Arizona Republic article here.

While it's a small step, it's the right thing to do. Which prompts the question: Why not have a ballot issue to make the domestic-partner registry a statewide right -- with little or no charge? It would be a good way to take the gay-rights fight public on an issue that is winnable. Even better, pressure state legislators to create the ballot issue themselves. Too many Republican legislators, and perhaps a few Democrats as well, have ducked the issue. They fall back on "marriage is between one man and one women" -- a concept which has widespread public support -- and they rarely get pushed beyond that.

Progressives need to look for better ways to frame issues in Arizona. This would be a good start.

Arizona's economic picture gets bleaker
Today's East Valley Tribune front page graphically shows Arizona's -- and the nation's -- economic situation. It's bad and still getting worse.

The EVT spread highlights the $76,100 drop in the medium value of a home in the Valley in the past year, as well as the approximately 71,000 job lost here from October 2007 to October 2008. Mercifully, in-migration slowed to half its normal level. Instead of normal population increase (200,000 annually in recent years) only about 100,000 people moved to Arizona this year.

The job picture is bleak, with construction jobs leading the retreat, down 37,600 for the year. Retail followed with a loss of 17,600. There were bright spots. Health care added 10,000 jobs, and the science/technology sector was on the plus side with 2,700 more positions this year. Oddly, though, government added 6,200 jobs in 2008. Clearly retrenchment hadn't kicked in yet. The EVT article offered no insight into the surge in government jobs.

Deep in the jobs story is a comment from Scottsdale-based economist Elliott Pollack that Maricopa County still has "30,000 to 50,000 too many homes." That's in line with predictions of no growth next year.

The home price article was illustrated with a two-year graph showing the dramatic decline in prices. But the worst news -- in human terms as well as an economic indicator -- came in this sentence: "Of the total recorded activity in the resale market, 48 percent represent homes that are being taken from the owner-occupant and put into banks or investors." That's ASU realty studies director Jay Butler's polite way of saying 48% of the activity was through foreclosures.

Infrastructure sags as the future looms
It's hard talking about the need for increased spending when the economy is fragile and all levels of government face budget crises. But the future looms, as a recent study fro ASU's W.P. Carey School of Business ("Preparing for An Arizona of 10 Million People") reminds us:

"State and local government policymakers, and indeed all Arizonans, will be deciding the future of Arizona in the next few years. Arizona has the opportunity to expand its significance as an economic center and to promote economic growth and prosperity. But it must be willing to invest in the state to reach these goals."

A recent editorial in Tucson's Arizona Daily Star sums up the situation well. You can read it at this link. Here are a couple of points from it to keep in mind as we face our state's future:

Arizona's infrastructure is deficient and will not improve without decisive leaders willing to make tough, often unpopular decisions. ...

Economic slow times are an opportune time for developing infrastructure: When the economy rallies, the foundation will be set.

Short Takes ...
Announced cuts in Mesa's police department can't help but have an impact on public safety. More cuts seem likely in 2008, according to the East Valley Tribune. $7.6 million in cuts this year, $15 million next if the economy doesn't get better.

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"Southern Arizona Rep. Raúl Grijalva is being mentioned by bloggers as a leading candidate for secretary of the Interior Department," according to Tucson's Arizona Daily Star.

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Random Musings blog is already looking ahead to the 2010 Arizona political landscape, with some interesting conclusions and speculations.

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The Arizona Republic leads its Sunday edition with a warm, flattering piece on Republican Jan Brewer, who may be the next Governor if Janet Napolitano heads to Washington. A sidebar deals with Brewer's current job, Arizona Secretary of State.

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The Arizona License Plate Commission must approve an anti-abortion group's "Choose Life" specialty license plate, a Federal Court has ruled. The specialty plate battle has gone on since 2002.

Drowning Government, Arizona Style
Blog for Arizona sees dangerous times for the state if Napolitano steps down and allows Republican Jan Brewer to become governor:

An ill wind is BREWERing in Arizona. Things are going to get ugly over the next two years. This is a crowd that believes in Grover Norquist's dream of shrinking the size of government down to the size "where we can drown it in the bathtub." As the national economy falters under the weight of the failure of the supply-side, trickle-down tax cuts for the rich, no government regulations, anything goes because "greed is good" voo-doo Reaganomics, this crowd believes the answer is to double down and give us more of the same failure.

Anne Denogean, in the Tucson Citizen also sees problems for Arizona Democats:

It's a prospect that has Republicans in the Legislature - and they control both the House and the Senate - salivating. Not surprisingly, it has their Democratic counterparts nauseated with fear.

It has many progressive advocates in the state wondering what a premature departure would mean for the causes Napolitano has championed, including education, health care and the preservation of reproductive rights.

Legislature vs. ADEQ
So it turns out enough legislators with pull want the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) kept on a short leash once again. And they see themselves as the leash-tuggers. Republicans like Rep. Michele Reagan of Scottsdale seem bent out of shape because Arizona has signed on to the Western Climate Initiative which has the support of seven Western states and four Canadian provinces.

They also object to another multi-state effort, the Clean Cars program, an effort to reduce car and truck emissions. See The Republic's story.

After two days of hearings, House and Senate environmental oversight panel "recommended that no actions proceed with either the climate initiative or clean cars without legislative approval."