Donna Gratehouse, who blogs at Democratic Diva and elsewhere on all things Arizona, sends us this.

The past few weeks have not been kind to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). and it couldn't happen to a more deserving bunch of people. Rising GOP superstar and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is in furious denial and damage control mode over multiple reports of the striking resemblance of bills he is pushing in his state to ALEC model legislation. A nationwide petition effort by Color of Change to persuade major corporations to drop their support of ALEC appears to be wildly successful, with companies such as Coke, Pepsi, Kraft Foods and others saying adios to the organization.

Color of Change chose ALEC's attacks on the voting rights of minorities as a main issue for its campaign because it is one of the most insidious ways that ALEC achieves its harmful goals. And my state, Arizona, has been at the forefront of ALEC's voter suppression agenda.

Donna Gratehouse, who blogs at Democratic Diva and elsewhere on all things Arizona, sends us this.

The Grand Canyon Institute, a nonpartisan Arizona think tank, did a meticulous analysis on the compensation of 10,000 Arizona workers and found that public-sector employees in Arizona are paid, on average, 6 percent less than their private-sector counterparts with similar education and experience. This certainly contrasts sharply with what the Goldwater Institute and other anti-labor interests are pushing on the news media and in the state legislature.

Donna Gratehouse, who blogs at Democratic Diva and elsewhere on all things Arizona, sends us this.

"Act like your job is on the line—focus on good jobs, not attacks on the middle class."

That's the message Arizona working families will deliver to state legislators at the Capitol today at a press conference scheduled for 9 a.m. Representatives of labor and community organizations will be on hand to bring a petition with 20,000-plus signatures "demanding that politicians act like their job is on the line and focus on the economy instead of passing extreme bills that will hurt all of us," according to a media advisory sent out by the Arizona Working Families Coalition. At issue is a package of four Wisconsin-style bills that would strip public-sector workers of many rights and another bill, strongly backed by Gov. Jan Brewer, which would deprive state workers of civil service protections. None of the bills has reached the governor's desk yet and a broad coalition of opponents is keeping the pressure on legislators and the governor's office to defeat them.  

Donna Gatehouse, who blogs at DemocraticDiva and elsewhere on all things Arizona, sends us this.

Republicans in the Arizona legislature must be uneasy these days.  A package of Wisconsin-style anti-public sector union bills is making its way through the process, as is Gov. Jan Brewer's plan to remove civil service protections from state workers. Several labor and community organizations plan protests around those bills. At the same time, women's and reproductive rights groups will undoubtedly be at the state capitol to speak out against numerous shocking and intrusive anti-abortion and anti-contraception measures before the legislature this session. The GOP majority is apparently so frightened by this prospect it’s trying to make it a Class 1 misdemeanor to engage in "passive resistance." Common nonviolent protest tactics such as going limp when the police try to remove you from an area or chaining yourself to something could get you up to a six-month month jail sentence. 

Donna Gratehouse, who blogs at Democratic Diva and elsewhere on all things Arizona, sends us this.

"It was the most humiliating experience of my life."

That's how Elizabeth Brown, a former employee in the governor's office in Arizona, described the day a manager told her that her services were no longer needed. "The worst part was getting walked out of the building. They watched me pack up my stuff while I cried." That was 14 months ago and Brown, age 57, has not been able to find another job in Arizona's lagging recovery. But Brown knew when she started her job in constituent services with Gov. Janet Napolitano's office that, as a political hire, her employment was purely at the whim of whomever was in office. When Napolitano left Arizona to join the Obama administration in 2009, then-Secretary of State Jan Brewer stepped in. Brown was one of few Democrats who wasn't fired immediately and replaced with Republicans.