Thursday, February 17 2000
By Howard Fischer
Capitol Media Services
PHOENIX - If Ronald Reagan, why not Mo Udall?
That's the feeling of legislative Democrats. They think if the
former Republican president is entitled to a special license plate,
then so is the former long-term Democratic member of Congress.
The dual honor is justified, said Rep. Christine Weason, D-Phoenix:
Proceeds from both plates would help combat the diseases that
afflicted the two politicians. More to the point, Udall is from
Arizona.
That argument, though, failed to convince enough of her Republican
colleagues, most of whom refused to give Udall the same consideration
as Reagan.
At the heart of the debate is a plan by Rep. Dean Cooley, R-Mesa,
for a special Reagan plate. Cooley said his measure is more than
an honor for the former president, with $17 of the annual fee
for special license plates to be put into a special fund for Alzheimer's
disease research.
Reagan is suffering from the disease, which destroys memory and
mental function. His wife, Nancy, has said he is no longer able
to communicate.
When the measure came up for debate yesterday, Democrats said
Alzheimer's is not the only debilitating disease that affects
people - and not the only one that has afflicted a well-known
politician.
Udall died in 1998. He had Parkinson's disease, a chronic condition
that causes tremors and muscle rigidity.
House Speaker Jeff Groscost, R-Mesa, said he feared money for
Parkinson's disease might be used for research using fetal tissue,
a hot-button issue for abortion foes.
Weason said that won't be the case despite a federal court ruling
last year voiding the Arizona law that bans the use of state funds
for such research. Anyway, she pointed out, nothing in the rest
of the bill bars fetal tissue research for Alzheimer's disease.
Groscost said he has nothing against Udall and would consider
a plate to honor him in a separate bill - with a ban on fetal
tissue research.