In his brief resignation letter, Heinz said that he was stepping down “to devote more of my time to the legislative process.”

Heinz added that he would “continue to focus my efforts on developing the best, most effective policy solutions to address the ongoing economic recovery, essential public health programs, education funding at all levels, and public safety priorities including border crime enforcement with a long-term goal of balancing the budget in a sustainable, fiscally responsible manner.”

Rep. Steve Farley of midtown’s Legislative District 28, who serves as assistant minority leader in the House, says that he had heard grumblings from other Democrats that too many of Heinz’s bills were still alive this year, while their legislation had been killed off in committee.

“There were a lot of caucus who were not happy about the way things were going,” says Farley. “Ultimately, it’s probably a better decision for him as a legislator because he has priorities that the whip job would be in the way of.”

Working with Republicans, Heinz managed to pass a bill that banned the marijuana substitute Spice earlier this year. That’s a rare feat for any Democrat, given that they’re outnumbered 2-1 in both chambers.

Heinz has several other bills that have passed the House, including a measure that restores funding for hospice stays for terminally ill patients.

“I regret that it’s necessary for me to resign the position,” Heinz told The Range. “I worked very hard for the caucus and will continue to work very hard for the caucus.”

Gov. Brewer addressed the budget working its way through the Legislature in the most reasonable way possible, an editorial in the Arizona Republic. Apparently, she was for substantial cuts, but not to the scale that the Senate proposed.

Last week, the state Senate took those cuts and added another $536 million - cuts to schools, local governments and assistance to the needy that I believe are not in the best interest of Arizona. It should come as no surprise to anyone that I still support my budget proposal over the Senate plan.

The Senate bills now await action in the House of Representatives.

So, where do we go from here?

I will continue to work jointly with the state Senate and House leadership to find an acceptable budget solution.

In these negotiations, we should be guided by the following four principles:

Budget cuts should not devastate our state priorities of public safety, education and assistance for the most needy. While I am willing to consider additional budget cuts in partnership with our stakeholders and legislators, these cuts cannot be imposed according to some arbitrary standard that is counterproductive in the long term. We can't forget that a high-achieving education system is critical to our long-term economic health.

Budget cuts should be targeted and permanently reduce the size and scope of state government, not simply "thin the soup." Across-the-board or lump-sum cuts are a way of avoiding making the hard decisions in the budget, and they reduce the effectiveness and efficiency of all government services. The public deserves fiscal transparency and a reasonable road map with the budget for what programs are facing cuts and what services will remain standing.

As much as possible, the budget should avoid shifting costs onto another level of government. Don't be fooled - shifting costs currently paid by the state to city and county governments is not a reduction in the size and scope of government. Often, it results in a local tax increase. As Navajo County Supervisor David Tenney recently testified before the Senate, "There is nothing conservative about putting the state in the black by shifting red [state costs] to counties."

This isn't depressing at all.

Political, civilian and religious leaders demonstrated in Illinois under the slogan "No to hate" after the legislative assembly rejected 10 anti-immigrant bills attempting to duplicate Arizona's controversial law SB1070, a measure seeking to criminalize undocumented migrants.

"Defeating these bills is a great victory for Illinois amid the growing anti-immigrant atmosphere in the United States," Democratic state Rep. Lisa Hernandez said during the event at Chicago Temple.

By rejecting the bills, Illinois acknowledges the "immense contribution" of its immigrants, including the 1.5 million Mexicans living in Greater Chicago.

At her side was state Rep. Greg Harris, chair of the Human Services Committee, who is credited with having stopped the four Republican bills that would have excluded undocumented children from the All Kids health-insurance plan.

"By blocking these hate bills we are affirming that Illinois is home," he said. "We are showing that our state is more welcoming than our neighboring states and is definitely not Arizona."

[HT: Blog for Arizona]

Tomorrow is the day when foodies get up early to score incredible deals at their favorite independent and locally owned restaurants via the Tucson Originals gift-certificate sale.

Many restaurants sell out fast, so you have to act quick. The gift certs are good for dining in only, and cannot be used to purchase alcohol. There's more information here.

Dave Ricker brings us a dispatch from the trial of Jason Bush:

Trial started Friday for the alleged shooter in the May 30, 2009, home invasion in Arivaca that left a father and daughter dead and a mother injured, and it appears it will be a short one.

The first day of wrenching testimony sounded much like that from the trial of Shawna Forde, who was given the death sentence in the shooting deaths of Raul “Junior” Flores and his daughter, Brisenia, 9.

Jason Eugene Bush, 36, is the second of three people to face trial in the murders. Albert Gaxiola of Arivaca goes on trial after Bush’s concludes.

In a motion filed with the court last week, defense counsel Richard Parrish wrote that he and co-counsel Chris Kimminau do not plan to actively defend Bush during the first phase of the potentially three-phase trial, calling the evidence against him “overwhelming.”

But they are arguing that the jury should not hear evidence that Bush is wanted in connection with a pair of 1997 murders in the state of Washington during the penalty phase of the trial if he is found guilty.

At this point, the defense isn’t trying to save Bush from a conviction, they’re trying to save him from death.

Tucson Rep. Matt Heinz is stepping down from his position as minority whip in the Arizona House of Representatives. The resignation letter:

In order to devote more of my time to the legislative process, I regret that it has become necessary for me to resign my leadership position effective immediately.

Unconstrained, I will continue to focus my efforts on developing the best, most effective policy solutions to address the ongoing economic recovery, essential public health programs, education funding at all levels, and public safety priorities including border crime enforcement with a long-term goal of balancing the budget in a sustainable, fiscally responsible manner.

It has been an honor to serve the Democratic caucus as Whip during this legislative session. I look forward to working closely with you, my fellow Democrats, our Republican colleagues and the Governor on the many difficult issues facing the people of Arizona.

I caught a great set by Wye Oak at the Mohawk at SXSW. They're playing tonight at Solar Culture if you can get out on a Monday. (I'd be there, but I need a day or two to recover from Austin.) Details here.

I have to admit that I haven't done a great job keeping up with the whole Twilight phenomenon, but I'm glad to hear the makers of the final film in series are keeping it real with all the incredibly disgusting details from the book.

Twihards, rejoice. Robert Pattinson tells Total Film that the scene where his character performs a caesarean with his teeth on wife, Bella (Kristen Stewart), has been filmed for the final part of the Twilight franchise, Breaking Dawn.

He's currently juggling filming with promotion duties on his new non-vamp flick Water For Elephants, and chatted to TF while in LA.

"Yeah, I’ve done it," RPattz laughed, "I’ve chewed it, spat it out!"

Though he's not allowed to give much more away (joking with Ryan Seacrest recently that he gets 'beaten' for revealing details), Pattinson promises that Breaking Dawn will be "very different to the other films - more like a horror film."

In other news, I'm calling Vampire C-Section as a band name.

The premise is simple: women hit on 50 Cent via Twitter. 50 Cent flirts back. Fiddy's Biddies follows up and adds the photo of the person doing the initial flirting. Brilliant.

Tucson City Councilman Steve Kozachik is concerned about the city's latest maneuver in the fight against mini-dorms. He sent us this missive today:

The "Determination" by the Zoning Administrator related to Jefferson Park 'mini-dorms' stated "The Goodman Development does not meet the intent or purpose of the R-1 zone." My question of the people who were involved in crafting that determination is simply, 'what changed?'

At issue in this case were several properties that have been redeveloped and are now occupied. Some residents of Jefferson Park with standing took the position that the Goodman Development does not comply with R-1 zoning regulations because the properties are not used for purposes permitted under that zone. The Zoning Administrator has now agreed with that assertion. Again, the question is 'what has changed to cause this administrative ruling?'

Ultimately, this is not just about Goodman. Several other builders have constructed "mini-dorms" in not only Jefferson Park Neighborhood, but in Feldman's (a lawsuit is pending in Feldman's already) and in other areas around the City. In each case, the City issued permits for demolition of existing structures and the construction of new housing units.This has been going on for over a decade. It is striking that one of the criteria alleged to have been used by the Zoning Administrator in coming to this determination is "historical information." The history is undeniable;