Arizona politicians end the year with hands out

Always time for money ... Amidst the holiday hustle and bustle, more than a dozen Arizona lawmakers have managed to squeeze in time to file paperwork with the Secretary of State's Office to form candidate committees for the 2016 election.

It's all preparation for another kind of annual holiday season — one just for Arizona lawmakers. State legislators cannot accept contributions from lobbyists during the legislative session, which begins Jan. 12. So, for the next couple of weeks, lobbyists will host a whirlwind of parties to make sure lawmakers' coffers are stuffed full at the start of the session.

It's all perfectly legal. And what's more, there may be no way to know which lobbyist gave which lawmaker money in hopes of getting a certain bill passed until those bills have long since become law. The next round of campaign-finance disclosure forms aren't due until early 2016, if that. A recent court ruling has all the state's campaign reporting rules in limbo.

Big bucks for transition ... Gov.-elect Doug Ducey has been raking in the big bucks through his transition committee. As of the end of 2014, he has reported $301,951 in contributions from 85 different donors, ranging from corporations to political-action committees to individuals.

Ducey is collecting the money through a 501(c)4, a non-profit corporation not unlike many of those that supported his candidacy and bashed his opponent during last year's campaign. But unlike those groups, which don't have to disclose donors, Ducey is doing so in the interest of transparency. You can find the details on his transition website, http://2015azgtc.com/transparency/.

Big donors, all at the informal $15,000 cap Ducey has set, include Honeywell, the Realtors, Grand Canyon University, Union Pacific Railroad Company and wine and spirits distributors Young's Market Co., Alliance Beverage Distributing Co. and Southern Wine & Spirits.

The little guys are there, too, including the $7.81 that former state lawmaker Jack Harper sent in.

So far, donations are far outpacing spending, which is going to staff salaries and to a firm that helps match individuals with specific jobs. As the new year dawns, Ducey has nearly $210,000 on hand. If the transition remains on a tight budget, maybe that money can help with the budget deficit he'll have to address.

Ringing in the cash ... Most people ring in the new year with a glass of champagne, a kiss and a resolution to clamber onto an elliptical machine more often. Not so politicians. For them, raising money is a year-round exercise.

And so it was that Republican lawman Paul Babeu, Democratic Congressman-to-be Ruben Gallego and other political ladder-climbers sent donors their last fundraising pleas of the year.

Babeu told supporters he needed money to continue his fight — from the ramparts of the Pinal County Sheriff's Office — against President Barack Obama. Gallego, who takes office Tuesday, asked for $10 to "make sure I can get a good start in Congress."

No one offered to toast donors with a rendition of "Auld Lang Syne." Insider would pay for that.

Quote of the week: "I stand with the great majority of Arizonans in defending this necessary and crucial policy, safeguarding our rural and safety-net hospitals and protecting our state budget." — Gov.Jan Brewer, after the state Supreme Court allows a legislative challenge to Medicaid expansion to continue.