A daily dose of online news from beyond the Beltway.

By Ryan Thornburg
Washingtonpost.com Staff
Thursday, April 29, 1999

In a hastily called conference committee meeting about ballot stubs, Arizona lawmakers on Wednesday voted to delay the state's presidential primary by three weeks. The move from Feb. 22 to March 14 – if approved by the full legislature – would essentially take Arizona out of the presidential selection process, critics say.

"Once again, he's no Jack Kennedy." – Jack Bunzel, senior research fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, on Dan Quayle's vow that he has never committed adultery. (San Francisco Chronicle, April 29)

The bill may help the presidential hopes of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who had a campaign aide at the state capitol Wednesday. The theory is that GOP candidate Steve Forbes could send a crushing blow to McCain if Forbes used his personal fortune to beat McCain in Arizona early in the primary season.

• Primary Delay Bill Advances (The Arizona Republic, April 29)
• Presidential Campaigns Start Earlier (San Francisco Chronicle, April 29)

N.H. Ends Long Debate on School Funding
Sixteen months and several "deadlines" since the New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled that the state could not use local property taxes to pay for schools, lawmakers agreed to a plan that would fund education by increasing a variety of existing taxes. The plan disappoints education advocates who claim the tax increases will not raise enough money, but it avoids the politically precarious options of creating the state's first income tax and legalizing video gambling.
• N.H. Conferees Agree On a Plan to Fund Schools; Full Vote Today (The Boston Globe, April 29)

Georgia Lottery Shorts Education
Even as several southern states are considering plans to follow Georgia's lead on using lottery money last year to fund education, the Peach State's gambling plan did not raise enough money to meet its target of turning 35 percent of its proceeds over to schools.
• Cash 3 Bad Bet for Ga. Lottery (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, April 289)

Washington's Cammermeyer Won't Challenge Rep. Metcalf Again
Margarethe Cammermeyer, the 1998 Democratic nominee in Washington's 2nd District congressional race, said on Wednesday she would not make a second try in 2000 to win the seat held by GOP Rep. Jack Metcalf, who is retiring. Cammermeyer gained national attention as one of four openly gay women who ran for Congress last year.
• Cammermeyer Won't Run for 2nd District (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, April 28)

Mass. Antes Up Public Money to Fight Conn. Over Stadium
The fight between Connecticut and Massachusetts over which state is willing to throw more public money at the New England Patriots heated up again on Wednesday after Massachusetts pledged $70 million in stadium improvements. The effort is jeopardizing Connecticut's deal with the Patriots to spend $374 million in state funds to build a new stadium.
• Kraft Mum as Both States Claim a Hold on Patriots (The Boston Globe, April 29)
• Bay State Makes It a Game (The Hartford Courant, April 29)

Calif. Democrats Divide as Minorities Back Lt. Gov. Against Davis
Months after milquetoast Gray Davis became the hero of California Democrats for ending the 16-year GOP clutch on the governor's office, his moderate position on a racially charged measure has divided the party. On Wednesday, a coalition of 26 minority groups announced their support for Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante's strong opposition to the voter-approved plan that denies public services to illegal immigrants.
• Minority Rights Groups Rush to Bustamante's Side (San Francisco Chronicle, April 29)

Ryan Thornburg can be reached at ryan.thornburg@washingtonpost.com