Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • Page 11

Legislative wrap Gov. Janet Napolitano opened the 2003 legislative session Monday by challenging lawmakers to dig out of the state's fiscal crisis without raising taxes or balancing the I tip WPPK budget "on the I IIC backs 0f chiidren." that was classroom spending. Boost trade with Latin America. Ensure continued state services during a terrorist attack. Create a Cabinet-level children's department.

Map out a forest fire prevention plan. Napolitano spent last week detailing her plan to solve the budget crisis without new taxes or cuts. Now, the battle shifts to the Legislature. On Thursday, a InP VVPPK House-Senate I IIC HCCfl budgetpanwi flhpjin be introduced. A lu iwUU special session on the budget is expected next month.

Also on Thursday, Napolitano meets with elected officials between 10:30 and 11 a.m at the League of Cities and Towns meeting in the Capitol Executive Tower. Tom Spratt, political editor, 602.444.NEWS (6397) tom.sprattarizonarepublic.com Sunday, January 19, 2003 PAGE B6 THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC news.azcentral.com CALENDAR UNDER THE DOME PROFILE: Steve Owens, cabinet nominee the 'green' fence Monday Money. The Senate Finance Committee' will consider several reports related to the state economy and budget during its meeting at 1:30 p.m. in Senate Hearing Room 1. A report on the state of the economy will be presented by economist Elliot Pollack.

An overview of state revenues and dynamic forecasting will be offered by Richard Stavneak, director of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee. And an overview of the state income tax, sales tax and property tax will be presented by representatives of the Department of Revenue. Tuesday Natural Resources. The Senate Natural Resources and Transportation Committee will meet at 1:30 p.m. in Senate Hearing Room 1.

Among the presentations will be one by Steve Owens, new director of the Department of Environmental Quality. The Senate Committee on Government will meet at 1:30 p.m. in Senate Hearing Room 3. Presentations will include a report by Sen. Jack C.

Jackson Sr. regarding the relationship between the state and Indian nations and tribes. Where's the governor? Monday: Gov. Janet Napolitano will participate in the MLK March and Festival in Phoenix, 8-11 a.m. Tuesday: 8-9 a.m.: the Beth and Bill Show, KEZ Studios in Tempe.

10 a.m.-noon: Citizens Finance Review Committee meeting, eighth-floor conference room, Capitol Executive Tower. 12:45 p.m.: Keynote address at the 1 Maricopa Bar Association Annual Meeting and Awards Luncheon at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Phoenix. 3-4 p.m.: Press briefing in the Governor's Protocol Room. p.m.: Recognition of Excellence Banquet, awarding scholarships to Latino high school students, at the Memorial Union at Arizona State University. She will deliver the keynote address at 8 p.m.

Who's hot Walking By Mary Jo Pitzl The Arizona Republic Steve Owens says his relationship to the environment is pretty much like everyone else's. He recycles. He drives an SUV, not an alt-fuel vehicle. He thinks the Brown Cloud has worsened. And he hasn't hugged a tree recently, or even since moving to the desert 14 years ago.

"Most of our trees have thorns on them," he laughed. Owens' environmental sensitivity could come into play as he faces confirmation as head of the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, the state agency that oversees air, water and waste programs. Some lawmakers balked when Gov. Janet Napolitano nominated him, hinting that he would not be a cinch to win Senate confirmation. State Sen.

Jim Weiers said the business community views Owens' nomination as "highly suspect." "I think the word is 'green' that they use," said Weiers, a Phoenix Republican. And that is due to his long association with Al Gore, whom Owens worked for during Gore's congressional career. "I don't think there's anybody on the national scene who's seen as more green than Al Gore," Weiers said. But since 1988, Owens has practiced environmental law, usually squaring off against government regulators. His clients have ranged from mining firms to liquid-waste haulers.

In 1996, in the midst of a nasty congressional race, U.S. Rep. J.D. Hayworth's campaign charged that Owens wanted "to protect pollution profits." Owens, who lives in Scottsdale, said he never sought to shirk pollution requirements for his clients, but rather, to help them navigate the red tape. "Having worked for Al Gore on the one hand, having represented corporate clients for 14 years on the other hand, I think that will help me understand the agency better," Owens said.

He winces at a suggestion that he is the John Ashcroft of the new Napolitano administration an easy target to shoot at, and wound the governor in the process. But he doesn't deny it. "They're doing it to go after Janet," he said of his critics. Whether Owens' confirmation will be a major battle remains to be seen. In his first full day on the job, Owens and his deputy, Pat Cunningham, met with the environment committee of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce to try and blunt criticism of the new team.

Committee Chairman David Kimball had kind words for Owens, but said the committee doesn't en- Sherrie BuzbyTtie Arizona Republic Environmental lawyer Steve Owens is Gov. Janet Napolitano's choice to head the state's Department of Environmental Quality. Napolitano, who in her 10th day in office offered a plan to eliminate the state's massive budget deficit without raising taxes, slashing agency budgets or 1 cutting funds for public schools, universities or prisons. Who's not Lottery players age 18-20, who are running out of time to pick their lucky numbers. The Arizona Lottery announced a plan last week to notify retailers and Panel nominates 4 for high court A state commission nominated two judges and two prominent attorneys Friday for an Arizona Supreme Court vacancy, the first that will be filled by Gov.

Janet Napolitano. Those nominated from among six semifinalists interviewed Friday by the Commission on Appellate Court Appointments were Court of Appeals Judge John Pelander of Tucson, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge David Cole from Peoria and attorneys Scott Bales and Andy Hur-witz, both from Phoenix. Like Napolitano, Bales and Hurwitz are Democrats. Cole is an Independent, and Pelander is a Republican. The vacancy was created Dec.

31 by the retirement of Justice Stanley Feldman, who was one of two Democrats on the court and the only justice from outside Maricopa County. Bales and Hurwitz have connections to Napolitano. Bales was state solicitor general during much of Napolitano's term as attorney general. Hurwitz was a co- chairman of Napolitano's transition team and argued against her before the U.S. Supreme Court last year in a case that ultimately saw the high court overturn part of Arizona's death pen- alty sentencing law.

Hurwitz twice was a finalist for recent Supreme Court openings, which for- mer Gov. Jane Hull filled with fellow Republicans. Replacing Feldman with another Democrat would keep the court at three Republicans and two Democrats. i A selection of Cole, Bales or Hurwitz to replace Tuc-! sonan Feldman would leave the court without a justice from outside Maricopa i County for the first time in several decades. Besides McGregor, the other current members of the court are Chief Justice Charles E.

Jones, a Republican picked by former Gov. Fife Symington, and Hull's other two picks, Re-; publicans Rebecca White Berch and Michael Ryan. Jones will hit the court's mandatory retirement age of 70 in mid-2005, giving Napolitano at least one more appointment. Conservation voters laud governor's plan In the wake of Gov. Ja- net Napolitano's budget-i cutting plan this week, the Arizona League of Conser-i vation Voters issued a news release lauding her for i sparing the state's Heritage" The fund, fed by state lottery dollars, pro-i vides grants to parks, trails, urban wildlife proj- ects, historic preservation efforts and endangered-! species protection.

It's been in the Legislature's budget-cutting cross hairs 1 numerous times, although popular support has beaten off attempts to reduce the fund. The league said that protecting the Heritage Fund is one of its top priorities and was pleased the new governor kept the budget ax away from its programs. However, Stephanie Sklar, the league's executive director, noted that Napolitano's plan did include some "painful" cuts to agencies that manage land, air and water. Republic staff and Associated Press others throughout Arizona that beginning June 1, nobody under 21 will be able to play. Quote of the week "We've taken all the paper-clip money, and the extra-paper funds are gone.

There's just nothing left." Attorney General Terry Goddard Explaining why his office is laying off up to 60 workers Steve Owens Age: 47. Education: Bachelor's degree in public policy from Brown University, 1978. Law degree, Vanderbilt University, 1981. Family: Married to Karen Carter Owens; two sons. dorse candidates.

"The fact that he's been around here for 14 years, and he's knowledgeable with the environmental rules, regulations, the statutes that's a tremendous asset to the job," Kimball said. Cunningham joined the DEQ team at Napolitano's request. He had worked with her at the Attorney General's Office, including service as chief counsel for the environmental-enforcement section. Owens also is keeping the three division chiefs who have overseen the agency's air-quality, water-quality and waste programs in recent years. Owens, who is paid $124,500 a year, brings some policy credentials of his own to the environmental-agency job.

He recently completed a 10-year term on the Clean Air Act Advisory Committee of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and has been asked to continue serving. The panel hashes out details of how air-quality regulations are to be POLITICAL INSIDER the audience summed up the letter: "This just shows the insensitivity of this White House. Wow! To address a leader of a sovereign nation as 'Dear Joe' is just incredible." Then again, maybe Dubya was just being plain-spoken. Note to self: From now on, address all Insider correspondences to the White House as Dear George.

Call him El Commandante During Thursday's first House floor debate, Majority Leader Eddie Fams-worth paused during the proceedings to introduce a visiting dignitary. Col. Lucio Gutierrez, the new president of Ecuador, was "in the House," as the kids say these days. Actually, it wasn't Gutierrez, just Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa.

But it was an honest misunderstanding considering The Republic had mistakenly run a picture of Pearce that morning with an article about Gutierrez. Farnsworth congratulated Pearce for assuming power like a true conservative, meaning that he expended no state resources. The scowl on Pearce's face in the photo was certainly worthy of a Third World dicta the administered, giving Owens a ringside seat for some of the biggest issues to affect Arizona air policy. For example, by April, Napolitano must sketch out the boundaries for the area that will be affected by clean-air regulations for a new ozone standard. She'll rely on Owens and his staff in crafting a recommendation to the EPA.

The implications are big: Which communities will have to abide by vehicle-emission test, trip-reduction programs and business restrictions. Owens said his continued membership on the EPA committee could help the state. "It's an opportunity, at least theoretically, to be an advocate for Arizona," he said. Owens, 47, came to Phoenix in 1988 from Tennessee. His path from the close-knit Southeast to the wide-open Southwest was influenced, at least in part, by Napolitano.

Owens was dispatched to Phoenix in spring 1988 to round up delegates for Al Gore's presidential bid. Napolitano was the local Democratic Party volunteer working on delegates. While in Phoenix, Owens rekindled his relationship with Karen Carter, whom he had known in law school and was now practicing law along with Napolitano. Before the year was up, Carter and Owens were married, and he was packing for Phoenix. tor, but, alas, the Appropriations chair only wishes he could apply Ecuador's treasury to the state's $1.3 billion deficit.

Pearce's seatmate, Sen. Mark Anderson, urged colleagues to keep their eye on Pearce, lest the power go to his head. Anderson said he would be "watching the budget carefully for any line items for military hardware for the nation of Ecuador." Hiring some high-powered political talent The book is still out on new ASU President Michael Crow as an admiral of academia but he has already displayed some moxie when it comes to navigating the murky waters that is Arizona politics. The Insider has learned we love that phrase that ASU has hired former congressman and GOP gubernatorial candidate Matt Salmon to consult with some of his former buddies at the Arizona Legislature. Salmon will be trying to grab as many state and federal dollars for a proposed $250 million project that would have several buildings dedicated to research on ASU's main campus.

"President Crow is a breath of fresh air," Salmon told the Insider. "He wants ASU to be an economic engine as well as a place of learn- Dear Joe: Our president not much on protocol Political Insider is a tongue-in-cheek look at the past week in Arizona Politics The inauguration of Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. this week was a majestic, even regal, affair with one notable exception. That exception would belong to President George W. Bush, who didn't attend, but still managed to be the talk of the event.

Powerful politicians and dignitaries dotted the crowd of 2,000 as the ceremony honored the new leader of Arizona's largest tribe. Then it came time to read the many congratulatory letters, including one from Arizona senior Sen. John McCain. They all greeted Shirley, the leader of a sovereign nation, with the proper title of Mr. President or the Honorable Joe Shirley Jr.

Then new Rep. Rick Renzl rose to read the letter from the Bush White House. It started: "Dear Joe." Everybody from Gov. Janet Napolitano to former White House Protocol Director Fred DuVal (a guy who knows how to address a letter to a dignitary, safe to say) were suddenly rolling eyes and becoming very interested in their programs. After the ceremony, one man in ing." Hey, maybe losing a heartbreaker of a governor's race isn't all bad.

Salmon is a busy man these days and making some nice coin. Before the ASU gig, he secured a job with Maricopa County to lobby, or consult, on transportation issues. He's also doing some invest-, ment and land dealing for GOP bigwig and multimillionaire business- man Jack Londen. The ASU job will pay him $8,000 a month over the next six months. ASU has also tapped Rick Collins, Gov.

Jane Hull's chief of staff, to work with the White House and federal agencies to get some homeland security funding for his alma mater. The two hires are timely. For those of you who don't read the front page, Arizona is mired in a fiscal crisis that has everyone sucking wind, including the state's three universities. The dire financial situation at the Capitol harkens us back to Dean Wormer's famous words: "No more fun of any kind." But Crow hopes his two new hires will keep ASU off double-secret probation (gratuitous Animal House reference.) Compiled by Republic political reporters Chip Scutari and Robbie Sherwood..