CEBV Midweek: May 1, 2023

Emergency RTS, immediate action needed on HCR2039!

The legislature will be back in session on Wednesday, May 3, and trouble is brewing. A dangerous direct-to-the-ballot constitutional amendment is on the Senate Rules Committee calendar, and it’s a bill CEBV hasn’t featured before. News articles brought this bill to our attention, and we believe it deserves an emphatic thumbs down. The bill has already passed the full House on party lines.

The RTS is extremely lopsided (the topic attracted lots of COVID deniers), so your response is critical!

HCR2039, sponsored by Joseph Chaplik (R-3), would ask voters to amend the state Constitution to require lawmakers to come back to work each month, including when the legislature is out of session, and approve emergency declarations. The bill appears to be driven by angst over Ducey’s two-year-long COVID state of emergency, which some Republicans believe was an overreach. Arizona currently has 41 ongoing state disaster declarations, which in many cases must be in place before we can receive federal funding. As one lawmaker pointed out, this bill would make that funding “dependent on us getting together every 30 days to argue over whether or not the drought is real and upends the whole practical approach to dealing with the drought.” Scheduled for Senate Rules Committee, Wednesday. OPPOSE.

Please use RTS by 9 am Wednesday to OPPOSE HCR2039. Then contact key senators TJ Shope (tshope@azleg.gov / 602-926-3012) and Ken Bennett (kbennett@azleg.gov / 602-926-5874), plus your own senator, and ask them to oppose this bill when it comes to the floor.

HCR2039 is likely to pass along partisan lines. The Senate has a full complement of Republicans, so it could get a full vote at any time.

The Rules committees exist only to consider whether a bill is constitutional and in the proper form for passage. They don’t take public testimony and won’t read comments.

This bill will likely proceed to Senate caucus (partisan meetings, open to the public but not televised) and from there to a full floor vote.

2023 Session Timeline

Legislative majority leadership can change bill deadlines at any point. The budget deadline, however, is set in stone because it is tied to the state’s fiscal year.

Saturday, 4/22        100th Day of Session (must motion to extend every 7 days) 
Friday, 5/12              120th Day of Session (lawmakers' per diem gets cut in half)
Friday, 6/30             Last day to pass a budget before the government shuts down

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