Your Online ASU Legislative Connection
Volume 3 Issue 2

Dear ASU Advocate Friend,

Wow!

A lot has been happening since our last advocacy update and as a Sun Devil Advocate Network member we want to keep you connected and up to date on the latest advocacy and policy news.

The Arizona Legislature is hard at work and things are really hopping at 1700 W. Washington! We have good news to share on our three key legislative priorities — funding for the Polytechnic campus, enrollment growth and building renewal have all been received well at the legislature.

Scott Smith, Director of State and Local Government Relations for Arizona State University has provided us with his latest update from the state capitol — take it away Scott!

Legislative Update

State Senator Marilyn Jarrett, a long-time legislator from Mesa, passed away last week. Senator Jarrett served in the House from 1995-2001 and had served in the Senate since 2001. Sen. Jarrett was one of the finest legislators I have worked with in my career; she was a true statesman and a tireless advocate for Arizona State University at the legislature. Senator Marilyn Jarrett will be dearly missed.

As of this writing, it is the 72nd day of the 2006 legislative session. The early focus of the legislative session has been on the English Language Learner issue. Thankfully, following three vetoes and $22 million in court fines, this matter appears to be behind us this session with the passage of House Bill 2064 and Governor Napolitano allowing the bill to go into effect without her signature.

The legislature is now shifting its focus toward the state budget. With the economic picture in Arizona remaining favorable, the state finds itself with a large fiscal surplus. As the budget work begins, legislators are examining their options for addressing the budget surplus. Our top three budget priorities heading into the session were as follows:

We are optimistic that the legislature will use some of the surplus to make significant investments in Arizona State University and continue to advocate for such at the legislature.

Two other items worth noting include the student credit hour threshold and a bill on offensive coursework. Last session the legislature enacted a 155 semester credit hour threshold which would have eliminated the state’s investment for any undergraduate student with more than 155 credit hours. This provision was aimed at eliminating state funding for “professional students.” Our most recent analysis shows that while we have 976 students with 155 credit hours or more, there are compelling reasons for compiling that many hours for the overwhelming majority of those students. Many of the students transferred those hours to ASU from either private universities or from out-of-state universities and colleges. Still, other students had transferred credits to ASU from community colleges, but those credits did not apply to their degree. To address these issues, House Bill 2816 (universities; credit threshold) has been introduced to provide exemptions from the threshold for these and several other categories, thereby reducing the bill’s fiscal impact to ASU.

Lastly, Senate Bill 1331 (postsecondary instruction; offensive coursework alternatives) was introduced to address concerns over course contents. This measure would have allowed a student to opt out of an assignment deemed personally offensive. An amendment was offered to reduce the scope of offensive coursework. We opposed all versions of the bill. The Senate ultimately rejected SB 1331. In response, the university system is examining its processes to ensure that adequate notification is provided to students about course content containing nudity, sexual references, or obscene or profane language.

As you can see from Scott’s update, the first two months of the legislative session have gone well — due in part to your continued efforts in e-mailing your legislators and helping out at ASU Day at the Capitol last month!

E-mail Action Alert to legislators — we need your immediate help today!

This is very important!

If you haven’t e-mailed your legislators yet concerning funding for our Polytechnic campus, please take just a few minutes right now to click on the link below and e-mail your legislative district elected officials — here’s the link:

http://capwiz.com/azsu/issues/alert/?alertid=8448476&type=ST&azip=85032&bzip=4825

We want to thank you if you have already emailed your legislators. So far, 143 e-mails have been generated, but we can do even better — we truly need your help today. The more e-mails we can generate to our state senators and representatives, the higher our probability of success! So please take action right now by clicking on the link above and e-mail your state senator and representatives.

ASU Day at the Capitol

The 23rd annual ASU Day at the Capitol was held on Monday, February 20. This has become quite a tradition for ASU and for the members and staff at the Arizona Legislature. It is a great opportunity for Arizona’s elected officials to hear from our Sun Devil advocates and why Arizona State University’s key policy issues are important to the state of Arizona.

The ASU Alumni Association would like to thank the volunteers listed below for giving us their time and agreeing to meet with over 30 targeted senators and representatives.

We want to thank all of you again for your efforts and your dedicated service in assisting the ASU Alumni Association by helping to educate Arizona’s legislators to the importance of higher education and Arizona State University. The feedback from a number of senators and representatives was very positive — our message was well received! A job well-done to each of you!

We also had 29 university partners join us for the exhibitor walk portion of ASU Day at the Capitol. Our exhibitor walk is a wonderful opportunity for ASU to demonstrate to our elected officials that their appropriated funding for Arizona State University is being put to wise and efficient use.

It is an effective way for each department or college to communicate and display their pet programs to our legislators. In turn, it is a great venue for our elected officials to see that taxpayers’ dollars are being used wisely to further the education of our students and improve Arizona’s economy.

The day culminated with our annual luncheon in Wesley Bolin Plaza. Hundreds of elected officials and staff joined us for a barbeque lunch in a relaxed setting and everyone really enjoyed the day and the event.

Once again, we want to thank all of you who participated in ASU Day at the Capitol and we look forward to seeing you on February 19, 2007 at the 24th annual ASU Day at the Capitol!

Phoenix Bond Election

What a great day for Arizona State University! This past Tuesday, City of Phoenix voters overwhelmingly supported Proposition 3 — which will provide $198 million in bonds for ASU to greatly expand and enhance our downtown campus. This is a critical piece in becoming the New American University. To all our Phoenix Sun Devil Advocates who supported this endeavor, we say “thank you” again!

Closing Thoughts

In the fall of 2004, the Sun Devil Advocate Network had 298 volunteers. Today, we have 1279 active members in our Network — a gain of 981 members in the past 18 months. I want to thank all of you for your help in recruiting new advocates to our cause!

But please don’t stop! The more people we can recruit to our advocacy army, the more effective we will be at the legislature. So next time you’re with a fellow alum, faculty/staff member, student or ASU supporter talk to them about the Sun Devil Advocate Network and see if you can’t get them to sign up too!

And don’t forget to go to our website right now and send that important email to your legislators on Polytechnic funding—here’s the link one more time:

http://capwiz.com/azsu/issues/alert/?alertid=8448476&type=ST&azip=85032&bzip=4825

The email is already pre-written for you and will be sent automatically to your legislative district elected officials. All you have to do is type in your name, fill in a few more fields and hit the send button! We really need your help with this today!

As always, if you have any suggestions, comments or observations you would like to share with us, just click on this link: advoteam@sundeviladvocates.org

Go Devils!

Jeff Grant, Director
Programs and Advocacy
Arizona State University Alumni Association

P.S. If you want to become an active member of the ASU Alumni Association, one of the best ways you can give back is through membership in the ASU Alumni Association. The annual dues of $45 offer an affordable way to help build ASU’s reputation. Visit www.asu.edu/alumni/membership or call 1-800-ALUMNUS.

P.P.S. If you have a different e-mail address you would prefer us to use, just email us at advoteam@sundeviladvocates.org with your new e-mail address and we’ll make the change.

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