At the capitol

(PNI) TODAY'S AGENDA

Topic: Dueling Medicaid rallies.

What it's about: Gov. Jan Brewer headlines rally with supporters of Medicaid expansion. Rep. Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, conservative blogger Bill Whittle and Republican Party officials rally against expansion.

Details: Brewer pro-expansion rally, 11a.m., House lawn; Petersen anti-expansion rally, noon, Senate lawn.

BILL TRACKER

Today's spotlight:

Summary: House Bill 2144, CPS omnibus.

Sponsor: Rep. Kate Brophy McGee, R-Phoenix.

Status: Scheduled for debate in the full Senate.

-- Mary K. Reinhart

TODAY'S TALKER

There IS a doctor in the House …Rep. Eric Meyer, D-Paradise Valley, was on the case on Tuesday when a legislative assistant had a seizure. Meyer, a physician and former emergency-room doctor, has an office just around the corner from the incident, and was in the House when the call went out for help.

He got oxygen to the patient and helped stabilize the assistant before an ambulance arrived.

For his efforts, he got a shout-out from Rep. Doris Goodale, R-Kingman, when the House met on the floor.

-- Mary Jo Pitzl

QUOTES OF THE DAY

"We're simplifying, very complexly."

-- House Speaker Andy Tobin, R-Paulden, on efforts to streamline the state's sales-tax code.

"This is the beginning of the end." -- Gov. Jan Brewer on Senate President Andy Biggs, R-Gilbert, breaking the budget and Medicaid-expansion stalemate with his 2014 spending plan.

KEEP TABS

Follow us on Twitter to keep up with other politics junkies at twitter.com/azcinsider.

Copyright 2013 The Arizona Republic|azcentral.com. All rights reserved.For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

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At the Capitol

(PNI) TODAY'S AGENDA

Topic: Opposing Medicaid expansion.

What it's about: A group of state Republican lawmakers, party leaders and various organizations will gather in opposition to proposed Medicaid expansion to talk about the impact it would have on the state economy and health-care system.

State lawmakers expected to attend include Senate President Andy Biggs, R-Gilbert; Sen. Kelli Ward, R-Lake Havasu City; Rep. Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert; Rep. Steve Montenegro, R-Litchfield Park; and Rep. Justin Olson, R-Mesa.

Details: 11 a.m. House lawn, 1700 W. Washington St., Phoenix.

TODAY'S TALKER

Democrat Fred DuVal, a former Arizona Board of Regents chairman, announced Wednesday that he is running for governor in 2014.

DuVal, who formed an exploratory committee in February, is running on a platform of creating jobs and improving education. DuVal promised a "robust and competitive business climate; a workforce with skills for the new economy; (and) efficient government that is accountable to people."

He is the first Democrat to formally announce he is running next year. On the GOP side, former Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman announced his candidacy in January.

-- Staff report

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"I'm not going to put (Medicaid) expansion on the floor. The Republican Party in this state has said, 'Don't do this.'"

-- Senate President Andy Biggs, R-Gilbert

TWEET OF THE DAY

"From the 'GOP don't dismiss him' file: @FredDuVal has deftly launched Dem bid for AZ Governor. Underestimating him would be a mistake #AZGOP."

-- Political consultant Kurt Davis

Copyright 2013 The Arizona Republic|azcentral.com. All rights reserved.For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

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AT THE CAPITOL

(PNI) BILL TRACKER

A total of 1,145 bills were introduced in the House and Senate this session.

Today's spotlight: Resign to run.

Summary: House Bill 2157 would trigger the state's "resign to run" law only if an officeholder filed formal nomination papers for another elected office. Currently, any incumbent who is not in the last year of his or her term and who formally declares a candidacy for another office must resign to run. The bill also removes the resign-to-run requirement for any incumbent looking to return to the same office he or she currently holds.

Sponsor: Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills.

Status: Passed the House on a 40-19 vote. Moves to the Senate for consideration.

-- Mary Jo Pitzl

NEWS UPDATE

Supporters of Gov. Jan Brewer's Medicaid-expansion plan are touting it as the "fiscally conservative" plan to "protect taxpayers" and "save hospitals" in a new 30-second TV spot that began airing this week (and can also be found at restoring

arizona.com). The ad, paid for by the Arizona Business Coalition, the political arm of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce, never mentions the word "expansion" but warns viewers that they get "stuck with the bill" when people can't pay their hospital bills.

The high-stakes campaign led by business and health-care groups calls on voters to urge lawmakers to support Medicaid expansion. But local Republican Party officials are ramping up the pressure, too, warning GOP lawmakers that a vote for "Obamacare" expansion could spell the end of their political careers.

-- Mary K. Reinhart

TODAY'S TALKER

Once more, with feeling …Arizona voters could vote on another state-sovereignty issue next year, even though they rejected a similar measure four months ago.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 1016 would bar the state, county and local governments from using any manpower or financial resources to comply with federal orders that lawmakers deemed unconstitutional. It's similar to the sovereignty issue that voters decided last November, when they rejected Proposition 120 by a better than 2-1 ratio. That ballot measure declared Arizona sovereign over most of its it land, water, air and other natural resources. Sen. Ed Ableser, D-Tempe, said the measure only provokes unwarranted fear of the federal government.

SCR 1016 passed 16-12, with Republicans in favor and Democrats opposed. If the House approves the measure, it will appear on the November 2014 ballot.

-- Mary Jo Pitzl

UPCOMING DEADLINES

March 22: Last day for House consideration of Senate bills; Senate consideration of House bills.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"We're not going to use this as a tool to advance our agenda."

-- Assistant House Minority Leader Ruben Gallego, saying Democrats have unqualified support for Gov. Jan Brewer's Medicaid expansion

Copyright 2012 The Arizona Republic|azcentral.com. All rights reserved.For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

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Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, Republicans Stay on Message

John Raoux/Associated PressAttorney General Eric Holder

Whatever you think about the House Republicans, you have to admit they stay focused. Yesterday, while the rest of the country was distracted by the Supreme Court decision on the most important piece of social legislation in generations, the House Republicans were concentrating on the big picture – the personal and political destruction of President Obama.

They weren’t dithering with softballs like fixing the student loan problem, or getting Americans back to work, or preventing violence against women. Not at all. Within a few hours of the Supreme Court announcement, House Republicans voted to hold Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. in contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over documents relating to an investigation into a botched drug and gun-running probe known as Operation Fast and Furious.

The White House made a mistake last week when it blocked a subpoena by invoking executive privilege, for which it had a weak constitutional claim. But Mr. Holder has already disclosed more than 7,600 documents. If there were some missing that were vital to the investigation by Rep. Darrell Issa and his House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, everyone would have been better served by an agreement between Congress and the White House to produce the documents.

That is especially true for the public. Last time I checked, that’s what everyone involved in this absurd partisan affair is supposed to be serving.

The Republicans are, of course, being wildly hypocritical about this whole thing. Many of the ones who are howling about Mr. Holder were quick and ferocious in their defense of President George W. Bush and his Attorney General Alberto Gonzales when he stonewalled Congress on documents and repeatedly misled them on issues like torture, warrantless wiretapping and the political purge of the U.S. Attorneys’ ranks.

But Mr. Issa had a plan that began even before he took over the chairmanship of the oversight committee – to tie up the Obama administration with non-stop investigations. “I want seven hearings a week, times 40 weeks,” Mr. Issa exulted at the time. He said he was going to be evenhanded, but he also called Mr. Obama ”one of the most corrupt presidents in modern times” – which is ridiculous.

And he has since shown that he planned to wield his gavel as a partisan weapon. Holding the attorney general in contempt fits perfectly into that plan. And it was a nice way to try to distract people from the huge loss the Republicans suffered at the Supreme Court yesterday. Fortunately, it didn’t work. No one paid attention.

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Biden-led budget talks resume on Capitol Hill (AP)

WASHINGTON – Vice President Joe Biden and GOP negotiators sparred over taxes Thursday in a private meeting that exposed their wide differences as the clock ticks on negotiations to let the government resume borrowing more than $100 billion a month to pay its bills.

Both sides hope to pass the measure well before an early August deadline to avoid a first-ever, market-rattling default on U.S. obligations.

It was the sixth meeting between Biden and top lawmakers. With the talks moving slowly, they agreed to pick up the pace with three meetings next week.

In the 2 1/2-hour meeting, Biden and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner made a pitch for more revenue. Republicans resolutely oppose anything that could be called a tax increase.

"Any balanced packaged has to end big loopholes like subsidies for the oil and gas industry," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., one of two House Democrats participating in the talks.

Last month, Biden told reporters: "I've made it clear ... revenues have to be in the deal." Republicans involved in the talks, however, say they believe Biden is mostly going through the motions.

Still, the White House push for revenues is noteworthy because Democrats will have to provide votes to get the final measure passed because many tea party-backed House Republicans are likely to oppose any measure to increase the debt limit.

The vote is already so unpalatable for Republicans that it's difficult to imagine GOP negotiators going along with new taxes and risk the wrath of the tea party and anti-tax activists even if it means Democrats will offer up larger spending cuts.

Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, who's representing House Republicans in the talks, told the administration that tax increases can't pass the GOP-controlled House.

Republicans have complicated the talks with a demand that any increase in the borrowing limit be matched with spending cuts of equal or greater size, though the cuts could be over the next decade or more.

Under current estimates it'll take at least $2.4 trillion in new borrowing simply to could keep the government afloat until 2013 and guarantee that lawmakers wouldn't have to make another politically difficult vote before next year's elections.

There's no sign the group is discussing cuts of that magnitude. Biden has said he thinks the group can come up with more than $1 trillion in deficit savings.

Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has pledged that any deal that wins his vote will have to wring savings from Medicare. Defending the politically sacrosanct program, however, is emerging as a hot issue in Democratic efforts to retake the House and keep control of the Senate.

Negotiators say the meetings have been constructive, but no agreements are in place despite calls by both President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, for one by early July.

Cantor said the meetings next week would demonstrate "if we can get a result." Spokesman Brad Dayspring said Cantor remains hopeful.

Cantor and Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., are trying to keep the focus on spending cuts.

"We believe that many of the problems surrounding the lack of job creation and growth in this country have to do with the fact that there isn't a credible plan to manage down the debt and deficit in this country," Cantor said.

Biden left without making any comment.

Failure to raise the nation's debt ceiling could lead to a first-ever U.S. default on its obligations, sure to roil stock markets and, economists warn, possibly push the teetering economy back into recession.

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