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Monthly Meetings
Next meeting -- August 12th 6:30 PM - Pyle Center SW corner of Rural and Southern Just West of the Tempe Library |
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Welcome to the website of District 17 Democrats! Our legislative district covers most of Tempe and South Scottsdale. We are people-powered politics. We are students, retirees, educators, the working class, homemakers, professionals, and more. We are a diverse group of energized Democrats who are committed to keeping Democrats in office in District 17, Congressional District 5, and statewide. And we are planning on turning Arizona Blue in the 2008 presidential election! --> Click here for information on how you can get involved. --> Click here to view our events calendar. --> Click here to view our precinct maps. --> Click here to read our June 2008 newsletter (PDF). FREE Big Picture Film Series! Coor Building, Room 174 Arizna State University (just north of the ASU Art Museum at 10th and Mill!) Thursday, June 12th, 7:30 pm Blood and Oil This new documentary, based on the critically-acclaimed work of Nation magazine defense-correspondent Michael Klare, unearths declassified documents and highlights forgotten passages in prominent presidential doctrines to show how concerns about oil have been at the core of American foreign policy for more than 60 years-rendering our contemporary energy and military policies virtually indistinguishable. In the end, Blood and Oil calls for a radical re-thinking of US energy policy, warning that unless we change direction, we stand to be drawn into one oil war after another as the global hunt for diminishing world petroleum supplies accelerates. For more info: www.bloodandoilmovie.com Posted on June 5th, 2008 Navarro and Woods Win! Congratulations, Corey and Joel! All the tireless work by LD17'ers Joel Navarro, Corey Woods, and their hundreds of supporters paid off on Tuesday, May 20th, as Corey and Joel won the two remaining seats on the Tempe City Council. For weeks, through candidate forums, early balloting, and finally voting day, Joel and Corey maintained an unwavering focus on "community" while leaving their shoe leather in every neighborhood in Tempe. And when the ballots were finally tallied, it was clear that the face of Tempe politics had changed, and changed dramatically. Corey and Joel now join Mark Mitchell, who won reelection in March, on the council that will lead Tempe into the 2nd decade of the 21st century. Next up: the fall elections. This year we have Harry, Meg, Ed, and David fighting to retain their seats, plus a former D17 vice chair, Ed Hermes running hard for the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors. Let's keep D17 completely blue in 2008! Posted on June 5th, 2008 Legislative Highlights from Ed and Dave From State Rep Dave Schapira: This session hasn't been quite as fruitful as last year, because of much of the election- year gaming transpiring at the capitol. We are over 150 days into the session, and the Legislature has still not produced a budget proposal for the next fiscal year. Whenever the budget comes, the initial proposal will likely "slash and burn" crucial state services like education and health care. Our job is to speak out against this proposal and advocate for a bipartisan negotiation process. Fortunately, with the Governor at the helm, this will likely be the end result. In the meantime, I am still working hard on the lawmaking end. My AIMS Augmentation bill was signed into law recently, a law that allowed ~6,000 students to graduate last month that would not have otherwise. I also have four other bills still moving through the process on: teacher-loan forgiveness in shortage areas; expansion of medical professions that can provide certification for pupils with chronic health problems; opt-out of No Child Left Behind; and giving the AG power to indict suspects on crimes related to elder abuse. From State Rep Ed Ableser: I worked to get the AZ Board of Regents to re-evaluate how the Legislature funds state universities, hoping to move from the 2:2:1 ratio to a full-time student equivalency that will disperse funding more equitably. I also had three pieces of significant legislation regarding environmental sustainability pass (Solar Power Credits, Energy Omnibus bill, and Water Disclosure for Home Sales). I passed legislation to get the Universities and Community Colleges to ban the gifts on campus that credit card predators use to lure the students into applying for a credit card. Through my bill, and the courts, the Desert Nesting Bald Eagle was placed back on the Endangered Species list! Lastly, I sponsored and passed legislation that made the State of Arizona divest in any companies that support or do business with Sudan, recognizing their government's role in the genocide in Darfur. Posted on June 5th, 2008 Goin' to Denver! On March 15, hundreds of enthusiastic Democratic PCs journeyed to ASU to select district-level delegates to the Democratic National Convention in August. The over 100 PCs and guests attending the CD5 caucuses were a diverse group, which was reflected in the slates of delegate candidates. The candidates ranged from rookie activists, involved in their first campaign and first caucus to veteran activists who could say they "campaigned for FDR as a fetus!" After the candidates offered heartfelt speeches asking for support, the gathered PCs began voting. After almost three hours, balloting was complete, and five delegates and one alternate were selected. Congratulations to our 2008 delegates:
Special thanks to the D17ers and ASU Young Democrats like D17 Chair Doug Mings who volunteered their time and energy to help make the district-level delegate selection caucus such a rousing success! Posted on April 4, 2008 JUST RELEASED: Agenda for 2008 Republican National Convention
Posted on September 6, 2007 Meg’s Legislative Wrap-Up When Congressman Harry Mitchell sat in the State Senate seat I now hold, he often told us that “much of what we do here is to fix what we did not do right the year before.” Well, I intend to tell Harry that his theory was, sad to say, right again this year. For me, the past legislative session both honed my skills in compromise and, at times, forced me to draw a line in the sand on compromise. One high point was a successful collaboration of business community, organized labor, and bipartisan legislators to adjust worker-compensation benefits. On the flip side, I was disappointed that we passed no health-care reform measures for the uninsured. Tackling this issue will be critical next year. One of the most heated debates both at the legislature and in public forums has been the employersanctions bill. As one of four senators who voted against the flawed legislation that ultimately passed, I was happy to see the Governor urge lawmakers to revisit the language in a special session. The Arizona Republic (July 3, 2007) editorial simply urged “Fix the Flaws.” I agree; one challenge is to foster cooperation between both sides of this issue to ensure that this flawed legislation does not hurt Arizona. Perhaps my biggest concern is something that we Arizonans cannot control. Namely, a federal program – the “Basic Pilot” – that is supposed to help businesses verify immigration status is itself flawed and severely underfunded. We all agree that accountability is important, but it seems that there is no agreement in the Legislature that accountability should be a two-way street. I believe it is. If we expect businesses to be responsible, we need to provide them with adequate tools to help assist them in this goal. Much of summer has been spent working to build the bipartisan strength needed to fix the flaws we can address. But without the federal government’s commitment to improve their existing pilot program, our state legislation is bound to have unintended and unfortunate consequences for Arizona. –State Senator Meg Burton Cahill Posted on September 6, 2007 Proof that LD17 is Turning Blue in a Big Way Out of 72 precincts in LD17, In 2006:
In 2004:
In 2004, there were 44 Democratic elected PCs; in 2006, there were 62!! Posted on February 17, 2007 |
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Paid for by D17 Democrats.