Legislative issues (and bonus: food boxes)

Legislative issues (and bonus: food boxes)

1. Sexual harassment at the legislature. Yes, we mention the Don Shooter issue, but we push further and ask: is this a systemic problem or was the Shooter case a one-off?  How well known were his behaviors? Did the legislature only act when his actions got VERY public? And, significantly, are such behaviors likely to be constrained in the future?
2. How does the minority party have any influence in the legislature? (In Arizona, the Democrats have been  almost a permanent minority for decades.) Do they get shut out of the process or are there ways they can still negotiate and play an important role in shaping legislation?

Two legislative insider guests provide perspective. Mark Bogart is long-time and recently retired senior Democratic legislative staffer. Chuck Coughlin is a long time Republican consultant whose work has often intersected with the legislature.

Bonus: The Trump administration wants to replace half of SNAP (colloquially “food stamps” though actual stamps haven’t been used for years) allotment with government-provided food boxes. What are they trying to accomplish? (Note the irony here: the “free market/anti government” party apparently thinks they can make better food choices than individual consumers can.)  We discuss some of the issues in our opening segment.