Author: Sanjh Vishwakarma

Pavel’s presidential vision is to strengthen the Czech Republic’s position in the pro-Western democratic community and transform society’s atmosphere to make people more confident and hopeful about good change. Petr Pavel, Facebook.

Prague, June 16 (CTK)— At a news conference yesterday commemorating his first 100 days in office, President Petr Pavel said he wanted to assist the Czech Republic strengthen its democratic standing and alter society.

It advances my presidency’s vision. “A vision I believe can move our country to where we want it,” he remarked.

He outlined two cornerstones for his presidency. He told reporters that the first is to strengthen the Czech Republic’s position in the democratic, pro-Western community, and the second is to improve society’s mentality to make people think they can change things.

His greatest triumph so far was determining his five-year course.

Pavel also achieved most of his short-term goals and made progress on most of his long-term ones. He complimented the Prague Castle Presidential Office, Castle Administration, and Lany Forest Administration in Lany, where the presidential residence is located.

Pavel, who was elected president in January and inaugurated on 9 March, remembered that after taking office, he declared he would rather be criticized for active effort than a tepid start.

He stated that following Milos Zeman’s presidency, there was a lot to accomplish, therefore he assigned himself the duty of resetting the head of state’s obligations.

Pavel said his administration will succeed if the nation regained self-confidence and a desire to improve. He wants the Czech Republic to better use its resources for human development.

He stated, “We have more than favourable conditions to play in the first league, to use sporting terminology.” As president, he wants to remind people of that.

Pavel believed a shift in climate and worldview would help the Czech Republic overcome indifference and achieve significant progress in many areas. He remarked that solving issues requires a thousand modest steps and patience.

Pavel also stated he would want to see the Christian Democrat (KDU-CSL) candidate for agriculture minister, deputy group head Marek Vyborny, but the date has not been determined.

Vyborny replaces Zdenek Nekula (KDU-CSL), who resigned on Wednesday. Marian Jurecka then met with Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS) to discuss the position change. Fiala backed Vyborny’s nomination, but the KDU-CSL leadership must accept it.

The president said Pavel and Fiala will discuss education and other topics during their meeting yesterday.

Pavel pledged frequent prime minister-opposition leader discussions in his first 100 days. Pavel met Fiala and ANO chairman Andrej Babis in June to discuss international policy.

Pavel told a journalist that Tomio Okamura, head of the far-right Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD), should request a meeting and state the topic. The president stated that he would attend such a conference.

Presidential office chief, said the restructure will begin on July 1.

On Wednesday, experts debated how to make Prague Castle a natural leisure spot. Vohralikova vowed to improve guest care, establish a visitor center, and expand cuisine and culture.

Marketa Rehakova, the president’s spokesman, said the office was progressively restricting Pavel’s interviews to avoid him from commenting on current events and let him to speak up when required.

The Presidential Office also plans to use ambassadors from technology, communications, mental health, and sports to engage young people in national issues. Ambassadors, who gathered in early June, will gradually become part of the president’s agenda.

Yesterday, Tomas Richter, head of the president’s advisors, revealed that Silvie Pychova, a teacher and program manager of the Partnership for Education 2030+, had joined Pavel’s team as an education advisor.

In the face of unprecedented claims of malfeasance, Donald Trump and his allies mounted a victimhood defense. Now the stakes are higher.

Trump escalated his threats as he faces years in jail if convicted of 37 obstruction, improper retention of defense material, and other counts. Trump promised to strike against President Joe Biden if he is elected president in 2024 hours after pleading not guilty.

In a New Jersey golf club rally, Trump told supporters that “there was an unwritten rule” not to prosecute past presidents and political enemies.

“I will appoint a real special prosecutor to go after the most corrupt president in American history, Joe Biden, and the Biden crime family.”

Analysts were disturbed by the promise’s specificity, which echoed Trump’s 2016 “lock her up” calls for Hillary Clinton.

“If he did that, it’d be an authoritarian system, the end of a system of laws rather than one man,” said presidential historian Lindsay Chervinsky.

The norm was undocumented.

Trump and his supporters claim he is being targeted in a manner similar to authoritarian regimes like Russia and Venezuela, where opponents of President Vladimir Putin have been jailed or prosecuted. Biden never pledged to attack Trump, and the president maintained he never sought to influence the Justice Department.

Trump’s attacks on the court system are the latest in an eight-year onslaught by the former president and his associates against American democracy’s traditions and institutions.

Trump has frequently complained about the judicial system, from accusing the judge in a case against his for-profit university of prejudice to attacking the FBI over its investigation of Russian meddling in his 2016 election.

He even appointed a special prosecutor to investigate his campaign’s probable collaboration with Russia, which resulted in only one conviction.

Fred Wertheimer, head of Democracy 21, a pro-government group, said his track record made his promise of retaliation more threatening.

“He has shown repeatedly during his presidency that he is perfectly willing to misuse and abuse his office to carry out purely personal activities,” Wertheimer added.

On Thursday, June 15, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “good friend,” suggesting a truce with the saffron party.

After a public meeting in Nagpur, Maharashtra, the chief minister, KCR, declared, “Modi achche mitr hai” (Modi is a good buddy).

When asked how he felt about the Union government executing Telangana’s welfare programmes, he said unexpectedly.

‘Told Modi fresh ideas’

He stated, “In Niti Aayog meetings, the prime minister shared best practices and new ideas on good governance. Idea sharing is OK. Modi achche mitra.”

The chief minister’s political demarche follows a calming of BRS-BJP hostilities and his recent restraint in pointing guns at the saffron party in public forums.

“Modi is a good friend” also projected alternative political trends in the Telangana Assembly elections in December and the national elections in 2024.

With one comment, KCR fueled rumors that he will support the BJP in the national election by contesting beyond Telangana.

When asked if the BJP will gain in Maharashtra, which has 288 seats, he stated he didn’t care.

KCR: “This inane discussion always figures. I want to reform Indian governance. No rush. Allow time. I’ll contest elections to get into the legislature. I don’t care whether you label another party’s B-team or C-team.”

Vidarbha statehood

He dodged another question about whether he would support the Union government’s Uniform Civil Code, indicating he didn’t want to humiliate the BJP. He responded, “Let the Centre bring it first, and let us see in what form.”

KCR dodged questions about whether he supported Vidarbha statehood. He stated forming a state shouldn’t be as difficult as in Telangana.

I was dying when I got a separate Telangana state after 15 years. How come? Not just Vidarbha. I mean the mandatory policy. “India is strange where Sikkim has 6.5 lakh people and Uttar Pradesh 24 crore,” he stated.

No alliances.

When asked whether he will join Opposition parties or a front in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, the chief minister stated he had no confidence in partnerships, which should please saffron party leaders.

“We have seen how the National Front and United Front experiments had failed in the past,” he remarked, welcoming any party that shared its wavelength with the BRS.

“Let those who have faith in my plan for India—ushering in structural reforms—come and join hands with me,” he stated, hinting that he will not join the Opposition to overthrow the BJP.

KCR claimed fronts have never delivered and never will.

This ended any chance of his joining Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s alliance to defeat Modi in the next election.

He denied working with Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in Maharashtra elections. Congress, NCP, and Shiv Sena (UBT) comprise MVA.

KTR stated

KCR’s criticism on Modi matches his son and Telangana IT Minister KT Rama Rao’s 1 June informal interview with journalists in Hyderabad.

KCR has “given up his efforts to unite the Opposition parties against the ruling BJP at the Centre” and is instead selling the “Telangana development model” to the nation.

KTR stated the country needs Opposition unity based on constructive administration, not mindless hate of the BJP and Prime Minister Modi.

“After trying everything, we have concluded that a new national party, the BRS, will be taken to the national level because there is a huge vacuum in the country. “The Opposition failed miserably,” he remarked.

Today’s parliamentary probe into Boris Johnson’s behaviour was harsher than expected.

The long-awaited study said Johnson committed “repeated contempts of parliament” by deceiving the Commons about lockdown breaches at Number 10 during the COVID-19 epidemic.

Johnson also “breached the confidence” of the committee by discussing its draft conclusions before their release, “impugned the committee and… undermined the democratic process of the House.”

Perhaps most damning, it said Johnson was “complicit in the campaign of abuse and intimidation of the committee” investigating him.

In summary, the privileges committee deemed the former PM to be a liar and a bully and recommended that he be suspended from parliament for 90 days.

Mr. Johnson’s reaction was less startling than the report’s bluntness.

They also suggested denying him the Commons pass provided to retired MPs to use the parliamentary estate.

When he resigned as an MP on Friday night, he called it a “kangaroo court,” and this morning he attacked the committee members, particularly its chair, Labour MP and mother of the House Harriet Harman, and its most senior Tory member Sir Bernard Jenkin, calling the report’s findings “deranged.”

According to the committee, he willfully deceived the House and concealed his knowledge of criminal occurrences.

It’s rubbish. A falsehood. The committee must say many stupid things or contradict the facts to obtain this insane conclusion.

Johnson behaved like a “pound shop Trump,” according to Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner.

Johnson wants to make a return, but today’s report may end his political career.

Former Cabinet ministers Jacob Rees-Mogg and Sir Simon Clarke, both awarded honours by Johnson, condemned the report and said they would vote against a motion on its findings on Monday.

Johnson’s return to politics seems unlikely.

He is reported to have resigned from the Commons on Friday because he anticipated he would lose a by-election after a recall petition in his area.

Last weekend, a voter in his previous Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge, “Don’t mention that name in front of me, that filthy piece of toe rag.”

Savanta’s midday snap survey showed that many political voters saw Johnson similarly.

The privileges committee found that he wilfully deceived the House of Commons, and just 19% disagreed. A Johnson comeback was rejected by 62% of UK voters, including 48% of his party’s 2019 general election supporters.

Johnson’s blunt conclusion is that even if the Conservatives or a new political party chose him as a candidate, the voters would not rush to support his return to the Commons.

The report’s position in future historians’ judgments may upset Johnson most and explain his extreme words.

Some are already arguing that his image was already low when he was forced to quit in disgrace from Number Ten last year after his ministers and MPs lost their support after a series of scandals.

Trump’s indictment cannot be avoided. Damned either way.

As a top prosecutor and defense attorney in the civilian and military legal systems, I am biased toward our uniquely American criminal justice system.

America must defend the premise that the law applies equally to all and that our penal system achieves the most justice. Results never justify tactics. Us versus. Trump undermines them.

Bad optics. Saying the undisputed facts puckers your face.

Democrat President Joe Biden, Trump’s competitor for the world’s most powerful job, seems to have unlawfully kept confidential papers close to the 10W30 oil in his garage for years.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, Biden’s political appointee, picked Trump’s prosecutor. Trump may be prosecuted by Biden.

Email opinion Monday–Friday.

Biden’s then-boss, Barack Obama, blocked Garland’s SCOTUS nomination to allow Trump to choose someone else. Trump and Republicans restricted Garland to four years.

In the trial, former President Trump admits to taking Top Secret White House papers and hiding them in his bathroom next to the soap-on-a-rope.

He is accused of concealing them from the U.S. government of which he was no longer a part and evading a grand jury subpoena by lying to his attorney about his possession of the papers.

Trump admits on recording that he failed to declassify documents he gave to unauthorized persons while president. Trump denies wrongdoing.

The 49-page indictment may convict Trump.

However, those who recall the elaborate, multi-year, FBI-involved Russian collusion hoax, the politically motivated Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg prosecution, and other Democrats-who-cried-wolf incidents over the past seven years remain skeptical of what appears to be another chapter in the Never-Ending Get Trump Story.

Can Republicans hold Republicans accountable? I want two-time Iraq veteran and former Congressman Adam Kinzinger.

“What about Hillary?” they ask, referring to the former secretary of state and failed Trump opponent who stored private emails on a home server in a Denver lavatory near Head & Shoulders shampoo.

Despite destroying cell phones and laptops, the FBI exonerated her. Trump’s FBI and DOJ didn’t investigate.

Trump is hypocritical.

Modern America complicates our choices. Despite Trump supporters’ factual gymnastics to prove the audio-recorded admission is phony or AI-generated, whether Trump committed the charges is not the most important issue.

Trump’s prosecution and the Rule of Law’s fate are the major concerns. How will law and order ever break from the party of no personal responsibility?

If this is “selective prosecution” because Clinton, Biden, Pence, and everyone else has not been probed and charged, tell America what happens to Trump. Will future ex-POTUSes just be shielded from crimes involving sensitive documents?

Last month, 29-year Air Force veteran Robert Birchum was sentenced to three years in prison for illegally storing sensitive materials at home. Bob—you should have run for president.”

The criminal justice system has opposed two systems—one for the rich and one for us. This case may prove that the law favors the politically privileged.

We should have long since imposed a zero-tolerance policy for former presidents and presidential candidates, Republican and Democrat, who had critical documents without authority. Uniformed service. Our chiefs should have followed. Can we never hold them accountable for not achieving that?

Selective prosecution. The law. Apolitical justice. Trump, Biden, Democrats, Republicans—curse your houses for putting us here.

Mistakes shouldn’t immobilize us. Trump is politician. It’s legal. What kind of America will we leave our kids?

On Tuesday, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu met with former President Goodluck Jonathan at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. President Tinubu welcomed Jonathan to the meeting.

According to POLITICS NIGERIA, further information surrounding the meeting has just become available.

According to the reporting of this publication, Jonathan paid a visit to the Aso Rock Villa in order to offer Tinubu with up-to-date information on significant political happenings in West Africa and other areas of the continent.

Dr. Jonathan has been appointed by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to serve as the organization’s Special Envoy to Mali.

President Tinubu’s Meeting with Jonathan

The former leader of Nigeria shared the conclusions of his conversations with other members of the West African Elders’ Forum, an organization that he leads, when he was a guest at the State House in Abuja.

“I came here to brief the President on the work being done by a number of continental and sub-continental groups.

Jonathan explains, “As the ECOWAS Mediator for Mali and the Chairman of the West African Elders’ Forum, I participate in discussions with a variety of presidents regarding critical issues concerning the continent and the subregion.”

It is important to note that members of Mali’s security forces cast their ballots on June 11 in advance of the impending referendum on the country’s constitution, which is set to take place on June 18. Mali is located in West Africa and has a history of internal and external warfare.

This referendum is an important step toward the elections that are scheduled to take place in February of 2024.

In Miami, Donald Trump pleaded not guilty and campaigned.

The Republican contender rejected 37 federal allegations of keeping sensitive materials and refused to relinquish them.

Mr. Trump sat calmly in court with his arms crossed after posting on social media and attacking the prosecution for political reasons.

Mr. Trump, who also faces hush money allegations in New York and investigations in Washington and Atlanta, filed a not guilty plea through a lawyer and did not have to submit his passport or travel restrictions.

The 45th US president rejected 37 federal allegations of keeping confidential materials and refusing to relinquish them.

Former president Donald Trump gestures after addressing to fans at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster on Tuesday (Mary Altaffer/AP).

After being indicted, Donald Trump campaigns

The former president addressed fans at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster yesterday (PA).
In Miami, Donald Trump pleaded not guilty and campaigned.

The Republican contender rejected 37 federal allegations of keeping sensitive materials and refused to relinquish them.

Mr. Trump sat calmly in court with his arms crossed after posting on social media and attacking the prosecution for political reasons.

Mr. Trump, who also faces hush money allegations in New York and investigations in Washington and Atlanta, filed a not guilty plea through a lawyer and did not have to submit his passport or travel restrictions.

The court appearance began a legal procedure that will play out during the 2024 presidential election, according to the Associated Press. A day before his 77th birthday, the former president returned to campaigning at Cuban restaurant Versailles, where fans shouted Happy Birthday.

When he returned to his Bedminster, New Jersey, resort, he called prosecutors “thugs” and promised to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate President Joe Biden and his family if he won a second term.

Mr. Trump has attacked special counsel Jack Smith, who was appointed by attorney general Merrick Garland and sat in the front row behind his prosecutors at Tuesday’s arraignment.

During the court session, Mr. Trump clasped his hands on the table in front of him and spoke to his counsel.

While he was not compelled to give a passport, the presiding magistrate ordered him not to discuss the matter with specific witnesses, including Walt Nauta, his valet who was arrested last week for moving boxes of papers at Mr. Trump’s request and lying to the FBI.

Mr. Nauta did not plead on Tuesday.

“Many of the people he interacts with on a daily basis — including the men and women who protect him — are potential witnesses in this case,” attorney Todd Blanche said.

At the hearing, Mr. Trump appeared before a federal magistrate, but he nominated the District Court judge.

A federal appeals panel overruled Aileen Cannon’s determination last year that an independent special master may analyze the confiscated sensitive materials.

The indictment accuses Mr. Trump of illegally keeping national security documents he brought from the White House to Mar-a-Lago in Florida after leaving office in January 2021.

Prosecutors allege he kept nuclear programs, US and foreign defense and weapons capabilities, and a Pentagon “attack plan.” He is suspected of presenting some to non-security-cleared personnel.

He also suggested to his counsel that he hide or destroy Justice Department subpoenaed records, according to the accusation.

The city braced for turmoil, yet there was little unrest.

American corporate leaders are optimistic about India and want to deepen technological convergence in semiconductors, defense, cybersecurity, and telecoms before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s State Visit.

The US India Business Council (USIBC) held its annual India Ideas Summit on Tuesday, the largest gathering of Indian and American CEOs before the State Visit the next week.

On June 22, President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will host a State Dinner for Modi.

Great mood… Very upbeat. The State Visit excites everyone. …. Everyone wants technological convergence in semiconductors, defense, cybersecurity, telecommunications, 5G, and 6G.

In an interview with PTI, USIBC president Atul Keshap said, “Everyone wants to see more work on that.” They desire bilateral trade. “We want trade to reach USD 500 billion as soon as possible,” he stated.

Startups and established companies collaborate on vital technologies.

I want more defense deals. Defence deals deter. “When we host Indus X here next week, we’ll try to see how that startup incubator of ideas and convergence can have even more impact on US-India relations,” Keshap added. General Atomics Global Corporation CEO Vivek Lall reported a positive attitude.

Next week’s Prime Minister’s visit to Washington will be historic. “I think the business community and certainly the government community is very keenly looking forward to the visit; very keenly looking forward to how there can be a step function in various areas of cooperation,” he told PTI on the sidelines of the summit.

He stated this will establish the tone and speed of this relationship for decades. He stated that the Official State Visit is crucial. He stated that all sectors, especially the business community here, are hoping for good bilateral discussions.

We think quantum, artificial intelligence, and defense innovation have great promise for both countries. “That indicates future growth and development,” Lall added.

The visit excites TiE Global Board of Trustees member B J Arun.

We’re thrilled and optimistic about India’s developments. He’s business-friendly. We’ve seen political leaders come before, but we’ve never seen policy improvements, he added.

This is the first time in nine years that someone has worked on it and developed policy based on what needs to be done, and it’s working. Arun said the measures are bearing fruit.

An MP says a BBC social media study would allow freelance broadcasters like Gary Lineker to tweet their political opinions.

Following Lineker’s tweets, the BBC commissioned an independent assessment conducted by former ITN CEO John Hardie. SNP MP John Nicolson stated he knew the results.

Mr. Nicolson told BBC Director-General Tim Davie that the Hardie study had reached a “common sense position” before a Culture, Media, and Sport Select Committee meeting.

“If you’re a newscaster, you can’t say anything political,” he remarked. Sports, entertainment, and natural history presenters have more freedom to speak.

Freelancers have greater flexibility than workers.

Lineker, a freelancer and one of the BBC’s highest-paid personalities, was briefly suspended for violating impartiality requirements.

The Match of the Day host tweeted that the Government’s immigration language was “not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s”.

He claims he has a BBC deal to talk on migrants and migration. His tweet violated impartiality standards for BBC figures.

If Mr. Nicolson is right, BBC freelance broadcaster Chris Packham might continue his wildlife policy initiatives as long as his programs are neutral.

Mr. Davie was “surprised” that the SNP’s media spokesman, a former BBC News presenter, had “pre-empted the report,” which would be released soon.

Mr. Hardie is reviewing what freelance presenters outside news, current affairs, and factual journalism can say on social media.

Mr. Nicolson’s office said the MP was among those who contributed to the Hardie report. An unnamed source informed him of the results.

After Lineker was fired, Match of the Day pundits boycotted one program, which Mr. Davie called “difficult”.

Lineker rejoined MOTD.

The BBC chief claimed he had not backed down but accepted “we needed to resolve the situation” and that a review will identify “common ground.”

Since the row, Lineker has tweeted on a variety of issues, but Mr. Davie said none of it was concerning.

In light of the Philip Schofield controversy at ITV, he said that “we do have imbalances” in the “strange” TV industry, with top stars receiving more than producers. He stated the BBC safeguards “robustly.”

He felt “confident about the culture of the BBC” when questioned about ITV’s This Morning’s supposed toxicity after Schofield’s departure.

The Director-General said attracting a “world-class person to run the BBC” was “very important” when asked about replacing Richard Sharp as BBC chair.

He stated the winner will “champion impartiality” and have “demonstrable media sector experience.”

Ministers are writing a job ad that requires candidates to disclose any political activities or conflicts of interest.

Sir Peter Bazalgette, who brought Big Brother to Britain and was executive chair of ITV, is a contender.

Mr. Davie confessed that he did not want Ken Bruce, who had hosted BBC Radio 2’s mid-morning show for 31 years, to go. Vernon Kay was a “outstanding broadcaster” to succeed him.

Mr. Davie advised the BBC to protect its “heartland, your loyal audience” and not “lurch to youth.”

He denied assertions by James vocalist Tim Booth, 62, that Radio 1 would not broadcast their new work. “If you look at our employee record but also our playlists, there will always be people who have issues with our playlists, different artists, different ages,” Mr. Davie said.

ITV head Dame Carolyn McCall will address concerns regarding protection and complaint-handling at a parliamentary committee on Wednesday.

Republican lawmakers adopted their own Maricopa County transportation financing package late Tuesday, almost daring Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs to veto it.

She stated her intention immediately.

Hobbs called for “a compromise that is supported by a bipartisan majority in both chambers, business and labor leaders, and Maricopa County cities” in a statement published following the vote. She called GOP leaders’ disregarding that and embracing their own plan “partisan games.”

However, legislators won’t return until July 31. Despite Hobbs’ assertion of bipartisan support, every Republican in the House and Senate voted for the proposal she opposes.

A veto puts the county transportation tax and its extension to voters in a game of political chicken.

Peoria Republican Rep. David Livingston stated, “This is going to be the only bill that passes this session” on tax extension. Voters will only vote on this measure.

He added a Hobbs veto would prevent Maricopa County taxpayers from extending the levy for 20 years.

If so, the tax will expire in 2025. Over the following two decades, it would fail to generate $20 billion and fund all its initiatives.

Hobbs insists there are enough legislative votes for her Maricopa Association of Governments agenda. She suggested GOP leaders vote on it “to stop holding our state’s economic potential hostage.”

GOP wants light rail vote separately.

Plans varied greatly.

The GOP plan reduces the sales tax by 0.495 cents.

The Republican plan requires Maricopa County residents to vote twice. If elected, the 0.43-cent levy would fund highways and roads.

Voters must approve a 0.065-cent levy to fund new light rail, trolley, or commuter rail lines. If voters rejected the second ballot issue, cities would have to pay for additional train lines.

House Speaker Ben Toma said the Republican plan allows Hobbs and the Maricopa Association of Governments, made up of local elected leaders, to prolong the sales tax until 2045.

He said MAG isn’t everything. “This is an opportunity for us to actually move something forward that gives voters a real choice in what these projects are,” Toma said.

“Some seem to be concerned, shall we say, about the fact that it’s split into two questions is very telling to me,” the Peoria Republican added. They may worry that light rail won’t pass while the other bucket does.

Voters approved the latest tax extension in 2005, including light rail funds.

Light rail—benefit or harm?

Republican Rep. Barbara Parker said her hometown of Mesa, where the light rail passes, implies citizens have seen enough.

“The light rail destroyed our historic Main Street and downtown Mesa,” she added.

She also doubts commuters utilize it. “We’re funding a loser,” Parker added. “In our town, it’s just a moving urinal.”

Mesa Democrat Rep. Lorena Austin disagreed.

Austin called the light rail “transformative.” Downtown Mesa’s shopping is thriving, especially in the previous year. Businesses aren’t coming quickly enough. It’s all about public transit.

Senate President Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, said the GOP plan would not exclude light rail extensions if voters don’t approve separate money. He claimed it means Maricopa County’s sales tax payers won’t pay for light rail.

“If cities want light rail,” Petersen stated. “They can fund and do it.”

Another clause demonstrates light rail hostility. The law would prevent construction of a proposed expansion from downtown Phoenix to the state Capitol, funded for by the present tax.

J.D. Mesnard, R-Chandler, called it a needless loop.

That’s not the plan. The plan is to split the single line into two: a north-south route from the old Metrocenter Mall in Phoenix to a South Phoenix expansion under development, and an east-west line from Mesa to the Capitol.

Billion-dollar freeway construction

The governor’s plan doesn’t only separate light rail financing.

Hobbs wants 40% of the $20 billion for motorway improvements if she wins and there is one vote on a half-cent extension. Approximately $8 billion.

The GOP plan agreed Tuesday would reserve 53.5% of the 0.43-cent levy in the first question for that. Freeway construction and widening cost $9.2 billion.

Hobbs also requested 40% of the $8 billion levy for transportation. Even if voters accept both Republican ballot proposals, including light rail, the total would be $6.6 billion, or $4.8 billion if they approve only the first.

Senate Minority Leader Mitzi Epstein, D-Tempe, warned colleagues against shortchanging public transit, especially light rail.

In dense places, light rail is the most effective method to convey people, she added. “If we keep thinking everything must be a single driver in a car on a road, we’ll have to pave every speck.”

Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Scottsdale, said Arizona doesn’t have the density of New York, where he’s from, to make mass transportation and rail a viable means to get people out of their automobiles.

Limits interstate speed

In addition to funding for rail improvements, the Republican measure would affect those beyond Maricopa.

Toma inserted wording to limit the minimum speed on all interstate routes in Maricopa, the state’s most populated county, to 65 mph. State highway engineers have installed 55 mph signs on approximately 15 miles of Interstate 17 in Phoenix.

The House speaker defended Republican legislators’ speed limit override.

“It makes highway speeds consistent across the county and keeps up with highway driving,” he added.