Arizona GOP wants the money
The Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission is still seeking additional funding -- on top of the $6 million it has already spent. The GOP is variously trying complaints of bias and the old "pay us now or pay them later" argument:
GOP leaders are now pressing hard on the issue. Congressmen Jim Kolbe and Jeff Flake -- who could challenge Napolitano in the 2006 governor's race -- criticized the governor earlier Monday for not moving on the issue.Kolbe wrote Napolitano prior to her inclusion of the commission funds issue, saying he was dismayed by her lack of action on the matter.
"Your unwillingness to take the simple action needed to resolve this problem suggests a raw, partisan approach that is unworthy of you as governor of this state," said Kolbe in the tersely worded letter. "The fact that your former law firm is representing the litigants in this case further calls into question whether your actions are in the interests of the citizens of Arizona."
Napolitano worked for the law firm of Lewis & Roca before being appointed U.S. Attorney by former president Bill Clinton in 1993. The commission faces a lawsuit from Democratic activists who do not like the way it drew legislative and congressional districts in 2002. The GOP holds a majority seats in the Arizona Legislature and eight of the state's 10 congressional seats.
"GOP presses Napolitano on redistricting commission funding" in The Business Journal of Phoenix.
Senate Majority Whip Marilyn Jarrett, R-Mesa, acknowledged Napolitano said she is concerned about giving the commission up to an additional $4.2 million. That is on top of the original $6 million the commission was given by voters in 2000 to draw the maps.But Jarrett said if the commission is unable to defend its decisions in court, that means the challengers win -- and will be entitled to demand their millions in legal fees from the state. And that, she said, could prove far more expensive to taxpayers.
"Redistricting chair to press Napolitano for cash" in Arizona Daily Sun.
The Arizona Capitol Times also reports that the Commission chair has sought an attorney general's opinion:
In related legal action, Steve Lynn, chairman of the Independent Redistricting Commission, on Oct. 23 requested a formal opinion from the Arizona attorney general on whether the commission can incur or authorize any “obligation in excess of the commission’s remaining current appropriation in anticipation of [an] additional appropriation.”Mr. Lynn also asked, “Am I subject to personal liability (plus possible additional monetary penalties) or criminal prosecution for incurring, authorizing, ordering, or voting for incurrence of any obligation or expenditures in excess of the commission’s remaining current appropriation?
“I want the commission to be able to defend its work in court and am prepared to authorize the necessary expenditures if legally permitted to do so,” Mr. Lynn wrote in his request for an attorney general’s opinion. “A stay of the trial court proceedings has been denied by both the trial court judge and a justice of the Arizona Supreme Court. Accordingly, it is crucial that I receive your answers to these questions immediately. Even brief written answers with a more detailed analysis to follow at your convenience would be most appreciated under the circumstances.”
(Disclosure: I represent the plaintiffs in the suit against the Independent Redistricting Commission over its Congressional plan.)