CEBV Weekly: March 25, 2024
The end of committees. The fog of secrecy. Striker-season shenanigans.
Another bill deadline... Any bill not heard in committee after this point is considered dead. We’re toasting the demise of literally dozens of CEBV-opposed bills that failed to move forward. But we’re still tracking nearly 150 bills that are still alive — including a dozen veto-proof ballot referrals.
…and the end of committee hearings. This week’s traditional catch-all "trash can Appropriations" hearings, in which lawmakers advance an unrelated, unsavory buffet of shenanigans in an effort to circumvent bill deadlines, mark the end of regularly scheduled committees. And speaking of unsavory, we’ve got a beaut this year: see “Spotlight” below for the latest on lawmaker grift.
The fog of secrecy. From here on out, we enter the "fog of secrecy" as budget negotiations begin. Floor calendars, which are released daily, will mark the only public legislative action, while everything else happens behind the scenes. The focus of this newsletter will shift too, with more rapid calls to action and regular requests to check our social media for the latest.
Are lawmakers done yet? Tempting as it is to wish they would all just go home, an end to legislative session now would also likely mean voters are getting screwed (like we did last year). The only thing still pushing lawmakers toward compromise is their constitutionally mandated responsibility to create a budget. This package of bills must both pass the Republican-dominated legislature and earn a signature from the Democratic governor.
Stay engaged. We’re told budget negotiations have still not yet begun in earnest. As the June 30 deadline (and the July 30 primary election) approaches, the pressure on lawmakers to adjourn, go home and campaign may push them to make deals they might not have agreed to in March. Our continued involvement here is critical. We must stay firmly engaged, encourage our allies to stay strong and communicative, and use all the tools we have to push majority lawmakers toward reason.
⏰ If you have 10 minutes: Use Request to Speak on this week’s new ballot referral; see “Spotlight” below.
⏰⏰ If you have 30 minutes: Use RTS on all bills in the Weekly.
⏰⏰⏰ If you have 60 minutes: Join us on Zoom at 4pm on Sunday for our next CEBV Happy Hour conversation. This week’s guest speakers are Joanna Mendoza, Aaron Marquez and Signa Oliver of Vets Forward. We’ll meet every Sunday at 4 PM through the end of session. Sign up in advance here.
SCR1010: Won’t Someone Think of the Grifters?
SCR1010, Rogers (R-7), is now subject to a striker that would ask voters to approve nearly doubling state lawmakers’ base pay, starting in January 2025, by adjusting pay for inflation via the federal Consumer Price Index. Lawmaker pay must be approved by voters, who set the yearly rate at $24,000 back in 1998 and have refused to raise it many times, most recently in 2014. If voters approve this measure, lawmakers would see their base pay (not including subsistence payments) increase to around $45,000.
Under ordinary circumstances, we’d be inclined to support this. Arizona gets what it pays for with our legislature; most people can only afford to serve if they’re already wealthy, sometimes edging out people more representative of their districts. However, in 2021, Gov. Ducey signed into law a raise in subsistence pay intended for rural lawmakers, leaving the system wildly inequitable and ripe for grift. Case in point: Jacqueline Parker (R-15), who served her first term while living in Maricopa County. After Ducey signed the pay bump, she moved 18 miles down the road to Pinal County while staying within the same legislative district. The move qualified her for nearly $61,000 in subsistence pay in 2023 alone. That’s more than five times her Senate seatmate, who lives just a few miles from her.
We just cannot support this bill. Any measure that raises legislator compensation must also take into account this subsistence pay problem. It certainly doesn’t help that lawmakers have introduced this measure only now, at the 11th hour, circumventing what would otherwise have been months of public input and discussion.
Use Request to Speak to OPPOSE SCR1010, noting your opposition to the striker, and keep your comments civil (they’re public record).
This week’s traditional “trash can appropriations” hearings mark the last committee meetings for the year until a budget is released.
Monday
SB1166, sponsored by John Kavanagh (R-3), would force schools to “out” students to their parents if the student asked a teacher to use a pronoun or name that differed from the sex or name they were assigned at birth. It would also allow teachers to refuse to comply with that request, effectively greenlighting the misgendering of students. The sponsor says he’s “compromised” to try to get this year’s bill past Gov. Hobbs’ veto by making it more “permissive” than last year’s, which required teachers to obtain written parental permission before they could respect a student’s identity. He dismissed the idea that requiring disclosure of a student’s gender identity would effectively amount to a ban for students with hostile families, saying that’s a matter for Child Protective Services to handle. Scheduled for House Appropriations Committee, Monday. OPPOSE.
SCR1010, sponsored by Wendy Rogers (R-7), is now subject to a striker that would ask voters to adjust state lawmakers’ base pay for inflation, according to the federal Consumer Price Index, starting in January 2025. If voters approve, lawmakers would see their base pay (not including per diem payments) nearly double to around $45,000. The measure does nothing about the problem of subsistence pay created by a massive 2021 bump for rural lawmakers which left the system unfair (some lawmakers who live just miles from their seatmates make $50,000 more per year!) and ripe for abuse. Because the bill would go directly to voters, Gov. Hobbs cannot veto it. Scheduled for House Appropriations Committee, Monday. OPPOSE.
Tuesday
HCR2058, sponsored by Justin Heap (R-10), would blow up Arizona’s Independent Redistricting Commission (a nationwide model) by requiring it to hold its own census every 10 years to determine how many citizens live in Arizona. This would be used to create legislative districts of equal citizen population in a grid-like pattern. Any state lawmaker would be allowed to sue if they didn’t like the result. This incredibly expensive move would purposely undercount communities of color and could negatively impact Arizona’s legitimate census count, in turn depressing our federal funding. The bill is being pushed by the Koch-funded Arizona Free Enterprise Club. Scheduled for Senate Appropriations Committee, Tuesday. OPPOSE.
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Bills in Rules Committees
Rules exists only to consider whether a bill is constitutional and in the proper form for passage; the committee doesn’t take testimony and doesn’t read comments. These bills will proceed to caucus (separate partisan meetings of all Democrats and all Republicans, which usually happen Tuesdays) and from there to a full floor vote. Contact your representatives and senator as indicated.
SB1041, sponsored by Jake Hoffman (R-15), would require the Arizona Department of Water Resources to issue a groundwater savings certificate for development with a gray water system. This appears to be another way around assured water supply requirements for subdivisions. Scheduled for House Rules Committee, Monday. OPPOSE.
SB1092, sponsored by Warren Petersen (R-14), would allow people to deduct losses in foreign currency trades and from cryptocurrency off their taxes. Spurred in part by a false narrative that the government plans to control its citizens through US currency. Losses in crypto can be very substantial; bills like this encourage wild financial speculation at taxpayer expense. The magnitude of the cost of this policy is unclear. Scheduled for House Rules Committee, Monday. OPPOSE.
SB1151, sponsored by Anthony Kern (R-27), would allow public schools to post and read aloud the Ten Commandments in classrooms. Right now, public schools are prohibited from including religious and partisan materials. Kern says he intends the bill to stop “the progressive slide in our country.” The legislature’s nonpartisan rules attorneys have said this bill may violate the First Amendment, which bans government from making any law "respecting an establishment of religion." Kern has predicated his bill on the false idea that "the entire US system of government is based on the Ten Commandments." The bill faces a lack of support from David Cook (R-7), who noted in committee its constitutionality issues. Scheduled for House Rules Committee, Monday. OPPOSE.
SB1172, sponsored by TJ Shope (R-16), would allow landowners who have a grandfathered right to irrigation in an active management area (an area of heightened regulation because of lack of water) to keep a credit to that water for non-irrigation use. This specifically gets around assured water supply requirements for subdivisions and allows continued pumping of groundwater without any replenishment. Scheduled for House Rules Committee, Monday. OPPOSE.
SB1243, sponsored by Justine Wadsack (R-17), would allow anyone who has a grandfathered right to groundwater in the Phoenix, Tucson or Pinal Active Management Areas to sell or give that right — or the groundwater itself — to anyone else in the area. This would be incredibly destructive for Arizona’s water future. Thanks in large part to lawmakers’ lax regulation of Arizona groundwater, rural wells are already drying up. Scheduled for House Rules Committee, Monday. OPPOSE.
SB1286, sponsored by Jake Hoffman (R-15), would require all district schools to close on primary and general election days, and district schools (but not charter or ESA voucher-funded schools) to offer their gymnasiums as polling places. Teachers would be required to attend inservice training and banned from taking a vacation day, presumably to keep them from working the polls. Arizona and the nation are already struggling to find enough election workers; it makes no sense to legislate a ban on teachers doing their patriotic duty — to say nothing of the disruption this would cause to families. Part of this year’s GOP package of bills to make wide-ranging, harmful changes to Arizona elections. Gov. Hobbs vetoed a similar bill last year. Scheduled for House Rules Committee, Monday. OPPOSE.
SB1375, sponsored by Shawnna Bolick (R-2), would require each ballot be printed with a unique ID number that allows ballots to be linked to specific voting locations. This concept, part of MAGA Republicans’ rampant election denialism conspiracy theory, was part of a package of bills that expelled conspiracy theorist Liz Harris introduced last year to “try to convince voters their votes were stolen.” No good reason exists to make this change. Scheduled for House Rules Committee, Monday. OPPOSE.
SB1561, sponsored by Ken Bennett (R-1), would create a special license plate for wildland fire prevention. Arizona currently has 101 special plates, with a portion of each purchase going to a different cause. Not only does having so many plates create difficulties for law enforcement, but some of the plates raise money for political groups, such as the hate group Alliance Defending Freedom and the anti-abortion Arizona Life Coalition. Arizona added 8 more plates just last year. When will it stop? Scheduled for House Rules Committee, Monday. OPPOSE.
SB1583, sponsored by Justine Wadsack (R-17), would require each public school in Arizona to give parents an overview of the ESA voucher program, including award amount and approved expenses; a list of charter schools located a “reasonable distance” from the school; and several pages of information on “Arizona’s school choice options” for the parent to sign. The school would be required to keep a copy of the signed disclosure in the student’s file and to assist any parent who wants to switch schools after reading the pamphlet. Scheduled for House Rules Committee, Monday. OPPOSE.
HB2095, sponsored by Barbara Parker (R-10), would expand the school tuition organization (STO) voucher program to students in foster care. STOs, or "Arizona's first vouchers," are dollar-for-dollar tax credits to private schools that result in significantly less money for public schools. The bill is estimated to cost the state half a million dollars annually (these estimates historically run low). Since the STO voucher program's creation, Arizona’s general fund has lost out on over $2.1 billion in revenue. Meanwhile, our state's public school funding remains in the bottom 5 nationwide, even after recent investments. Gov. Hobbs vetoed this bill last year. Scheduled for Senate Rules Committee, Monday. OPPOSE.
HB2120, sponsored by David Marshall (R-7), would penalize cities and counties if they didn’t spend “enough” on law enforcement. It would deduct state funds from local governments that violate the measure, and redistribute those funds to other cities and counties. This fear-based bill is designed to hamstring efforts to redistribute law enforcement money to address the root causes of crime and poverty, such as education, health care, mental health programs and homeless services. This is the third straight year for the bill, which has failed to pass every year. Marshall acknowledged no cities or counties are even trying to do this, and called his bill “a proactive bill taking care of the issues before they occur.” Scheduled for Senate Rules Committee, Monday. OPPOSE.
HB2201, sponsored by Tim Dunn (R-25), would allow the state, its cities and counties, and public service corporations to transport groundwater away from the Harquahala Irrigation Non-Expansion Area. These areas are called “non-expansion” for a reason: they’re designed to preserve the viability of existing agriculture in an area where groundwater is the principal source of water and we’re already pumping more than the sustainable limit. This bill would allow additional pumping, and that’s bad policy. Scheduled for Senate Rules Committee, Monday. OPPOSE.
HB2209, sponsored by David Livingston (R-28), is a politicized three-year continuation of the Industrial Commission of Arizona. Matt Gress (R-4) added an amendment to restrict the agency’s operations in an attempt to “keep Arizona from adopting certain Biden administration policies.” Federal officials say the amendment will cause Arizona’s program to fall below OSHA standards, which could force a federal takeover of Arizona’s workplace safety inspections. The bill would also require the Joint Legislative Audit Committee, which Gress chairs, to review Arizona’s job health and safety proposals before they can move forward. If lawmakers don’t act, the Commission will end on July 1. Scheduled for Senate Rules Committee, Monday. OPPOSE.
HB2474, sponsored by Alexander Kolodin (R-3), would make it harder to circulate petitions to form a new political party, including putting time limits on signature validity and requiring petition circulators to register with the Secretary of State’s office. The No Labels and Green parties recently qualified for the Arizona ballot; the Patriot Party recently failed to qualify by just 3,000 signatures. Unaffiliated voters are now Arizona’s largest registered political bloc; lawmakers should not make it harder for these voters to form like-minded organizations. Scheduled for Senate Rules Committee, Monday. OPPOSE.
HB2484, sponsored by Barbara Parker (R-10), would require district and charter schools to prominently post on their websites whether they have a registered nurse. If they don’t, they must either post the health credentials of each person who provides health care services to students, or post that non-credentialed individuals provide health care. Meanwhile, ESA voucher-funded schools don’t have any regulation. Scheduled for Senate Rules Committee, Monday. OPPOSE.
HB2504, sponsored by Leo Biasiucci (R-30), limits insurance coverage for genetic sequencing, human organ transplants and post-transplant care for companies associated with a “foreign adversary.” This is defined as a list of countries that includes China and Hong Kong. Not only is this an issue best dealt with at the federal level, but some of the bill’s language would prohibit research and health care institutions from doing genetic sequencing if a piece of the machine was produced in China or Hong Kong. Scheduled for Senate Rules Committee, Monday. OPPOSE.
HB2612, sponsored by Tim Dunn (R-25), is subject to a striker that would ban a person from holding elected public office in Arizona if they have been convicted of the crime of collecting early ballots. In 2016, Republicans made it a felony punishable by prison time to help a voter turn in their ballot if you’re not a relative, household member, or caregiver. The only person ever prosecuted in Arizona for this so-called “ballot harvesting” is a 66-year-old grandmother who went to jail for 30 days for helping 4 of her neighbors turn in their ballots. Scheduled for Senate Rules Committee, Monday. OPPOSE.
HB2658, sponsored by Joseph Chaplik (R-3), would ban pedestrians from soliciting donations on a painted or raised traffic island or median. The penalties escalate, with a third offense carrying a penalty of up to six months in jail. Panhandling bans purport to be about safety, but in actuality criminalize homelessness, making the problem less visible rather than tackling the underlying social issues. It would be more productive to fund social housing or shelter beds instead. A similar bill with constitutionality issues failed to pass last session. Scheduled for Senate Rules Committee, Monday. OPPOSE.
HB2661, sponsored by Ben Toma (R-27), would bar the sale of computers, smart phones and tablets in Arizona if they don’t include a filter that would block children from accessing “obscene content.” The bill would hold the manufacturer criminally liable if they fail to do so, with fines ranging from $5,000 to $50,000. Under the bill, Arizonans would automatically see a filter, and those who turn it off would be legally liable if a minor accessed content on their device. Could lead to a slippery slope into deeming other things too obscene for public consumption and allowing government to control public access to other content. The measure appears to be the brainchild of an anti-LGBTQ activist who is most famous for trying to marry his laptop in protest of same-sex marriage. Obscenity filter bills have been filed in at least 8 other states; a similar bill was also introduced in Arizona in 2022. Scheduled for Senate Rules Committee, Monday. OPPOSE.
HB2719, sponsored by Michael Carbone (R-25), would require school bond and override measures to have 60%+ voter approval in order to pass. In effect, this measure would stop school districts from ever getting bonds or overrides passed again. The measure also applies to cities, counties, cities and community college districts. Part of this year’s GOP package of bills to make wide-ranging, harmful changes to Arizona elections. Scheduled for Senate Rules Committee, Monday. OPPOSE.
HB2748, sponsored by Joseph Chaplik (R-3), would make it a state crime to cross a federal border without the required documentation and give local police immunity to arrest migrants crossing the border. The bill, which echoes Arizona’s notorious SB1070, conflicts with a 2012 US Supreme Court ruling that said Arizona has no right to enforce federal immigration laws and is likely unconstitutional (in fact, the House’s nonpartisan rules attorneys explicitly say so). Gov. Hobbs has already vetoed one copy of this bill: SB1231, Shamp (R-29). Scheduled for Senate Rules Committee, Monday. OPPOSE.
HB2821, sponsored by Steve Montenegro (R-29), would make it a state crime to cross a federal border without the required documentation and give local police immunity to arrest migrants crossing the border. The bill, which echoes Arizona’s notorious SB1070, could conflict with a 2012 US Supreme Court ruling that said Arizona has no right to enforce federal immigration laws. The House’s nonpartisan rules attorneys warned lawmakers the bill is unconstitutional. Gov. Hobbs has already vetoed one copy of this bill: SB1231, Shamp (R-29). Scheduled for Senate Rules Committee, Monday. OPPOSE.
HB2843, sponsored by Justin Heap (R-10), creates a license to shoot migrants by allowing Arizonans to use deadly force against people who are on their land. This would allow ranchers to legally shoot and kill undocumented immigrants crossing their property, as well as likely increase the prevalence of cases such as the one in Missouri where an 84-year-old homeowner shot 16-year-old Ralph Yarl for simply ringing his doorbell. Scheduled for Senate Rules Committee, Monday. OPPOSE.
HB2859, sponsored by Matt Gress (R-4), would create a special vehicle license plate for teen suicide awareness. Arizona currently has 101 special plates, with a portion of each purchase going to a different cause. Not only does having so many plates create difficulties for law enforcement, but some of the plates raise money for political groups, such as the hate group Alliance Defending Freedom and the anti-abortion Arizona Life Coalition. Arizona added 8 more plates just last year. When will it stop? Scheduled for Senate Rules Committee, Monday. OPPOSE.
HB2880, sponsored by Chris Mathis (D-18), would create a special vehicle license plate for Arizona bicycling. Arizona currently has 101 special plates, with a portion of each purchase going to a different cause. Not only does having so many plates create difficulties for law enforcement, but some of the plates raise money for political groups, such as the hate group Alliance Defending Freedom and the anti-abortion Arizona Life Coalition. Arizona added 8 more plates just last year. When will it stop? Scheduled for Senate Rules Committee, Monday. OPPOSE.
HCR2032, sponsored by Rachel Jones (R-17), would ask voters to ban voting centers and limit precinct size to 1,000 voters. The voting center model allows voters to cast a ballot anywhere in the county — for example, near work or their child’s school — instead of being tied to a single precinct location, and has nearly eliminated the need for provisional ballots. Returning to a precinct model would raise the question of whether counties can find enough poll workers. This is at least the third year in which Arizona’s Republican-led legislature has attempted to ban voting centers. Because this bill would go directly to voters, Gov. Hobbs cannot veto it. The same bill content is also moving as a non-referral, HB2547. Bennett told Axios he opposes; due to universal Democratic opposition, the measure cannot pass without his support. Scheduled for Senate Rules Committee, Monday. OPPOSE.
2024 Session Timeline
These “deadlines” are highly flexible and can be changed or waived at any time with a simple majority vote.
Tuesday, 4/16 100th Day of Session (the stated end goal; can be changed) Sunday, 6/30 Constitutionally mandated deadline for a state budget
Flag this handy list of contact info, committee chairs and assignments, updated for 2024.
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