A legislative success. The striker to SCR1010, the “lawmaker pay raise” grift we told you about last week, was held in committee on Monday — meaning the idea failed to even get off the ground. With almost 350 people registered as opposing the bill in Request to Speak, this victory shows the power of our collective voices, and the power we can have when we speak out promptly and loudly.
The beginnings of action. On Friday, Gov Hobbs signed 44 bills and vetoed 1. The bills sent to her desk were overwhelmingly benign (CEBV wasn’t tracking any of them), but it is a signal that this legislature is finally getting something done. Bills we are tracking likely won’t be far behind — meaning we must raise our voices against bills we oppose, particularly ballot referrals (see “Spotlight” list below).
A delayed budget. The governor’s office is holding off on budget negotiations with Republican legislative leaders until after April 11, when the Finance Advisory Committee (a group of private- and public-sector economists) gives lawmakers an updated revenue forecast. This information is critical for creating a properly balanced budget. That’s especially true this year, because former Gov. Ducey’s massive tax cuts and universal ESA vouchers have left Arizona with a $1.7 billion deficit. Lawmakers and the governor need all the information they can get.
A primary problem. Unsurprisingly, Republicans are feeling super salty about what they view as an unnecessary delay. They’d rather wrap up early so they can get out and campaign for their next election. Only 8 of Arizona’s 30 legislative districts1 are considered competitive in the general election; the July 30 primary will decide who represents the remainder. Ballots go out in early July to the 80% of Arizonans who vote early. If the Legislature stays in session until the June 30 budget deadline — as would be likely if any party to negotiations digs in their heels — the primary will effectively be over before lawmakers even get a chance to campaign.
Lawmaker spring break again. Lawmakers took three separate spring breaks last year after committees ended and before budget negotiations solidified. This involved a break in floor action, with most lawmakers being allowed to go home, while a few stayed at the Capitol to negotiate a budget. Rumors are flying that the same thing will happen this year. We don’t have details yet, but you’ll definitely know when we do.
⏰ If you have 10 minutes: Find the competitive legislative district nearest you2, then sign up to volunteer for, or donate to, the candidates that best represent your values.
⏰⏰ If you have 20 minutes: Also use Request to Speak on the bills in Rules committees this week. See “Use RTS on These Bills” below for more information.
⏰⏰⏰ If you have 30 minutes: Also contact your representatives and senator on one or more of the bills being heard on the floor this week.
⏰⏰⏰⏰ If you have 45 minutes: Also contact your representatives and senator to ask them to oppose one or more of the ballot referrals still in motion. See “Spotlight” below for more information.
⏰⏰⏰⏰⏰ If you have 60 minutes: Join us on Zoom at 4pm on Sunday for our next CEBV Happy Hour conversation. This week we won’t have any guest speakers, just our usual legislative updates and camaraderie. We’ll meet every Sunday at 4 PM through the end of session. Sign up in advance here.
By popular demand: here’s a list of all the ballot referral measures that remain alive in 2024. Contact your representatives (for SCRs) and senator (for HCRs) to ask them to oppose these referrals.
SCR1007, Carroll (R-28), bans state agencies and public schools from signing contracts with companies unless they agree not to "discriminate" against gun manufacturers. This would create new hurdles in everything from building facilities to purchasing supplies. A similar bill in Texas is estimated to have cost taxpayers $300-$500 million, while others from previous years have been backed by the NRA. The AZ Chamber of Commerce, which opposes the measure, commissioned a poll showing voters not only oppose it as well, but are less likely to vote for any lawmakers who advance it. Awaits House Rules Committee. OPPOSE.
SCR1012, Kern (R-27), would ban Arizona agencies from creating any rules that would increase regulatory costs by more than $500,000 over 5 years after implementation. The Legislature would instead be required to enact legislation to ratify the proposed rule into law. This shortsighted measure would kneecap the proper functioning of government, including its ability to regulate unaccountable, wasteful spending such as that of Arizona's universal ESA voucher program. Gov. Hobbs vetoed this bill last year; in committee, the sponsor could not answer how many rules this would impact but said "it shouldn't matter." Awaits House Rules Committee. OPPOSE.
SCR1015, Kern (R-27), and HCR2040, Smith (R-29), is an incredibly broad measure that would ban Arizona, its cities and counties, and its state universities and community colleges from promoting a laundry list of actions based on culture-war conspiracy theories. These include reducing meat or dairy consumption or production, eating insects, walking or biking more, taking public transit, reducing air travel, limiting the number of articles of clothing a person may buy or own, recycling water for drinking, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, limiting the increase of global temperature, producing or adopting a climate action plan, replacing private ownership, furthering Marxist ideologies, or implementing mass surveillance systems to monitor motor vehicle travel. As one columnist notes, "there is a move in our country to label anything that right-wingers don’t like as Marxist or Communist.” The “Marxist ideologies” line alone could usher in a McCarthy-level witch hunt in public schools. SCR1015 awaits a final Senate vote; HCR2040 awaits Senate Rules Committee. OPPOSE.
SCR1019, Kern (R-27), and HCR2056, Montenegro (R-29), would enshrine racism in the state Constitution. This culture-war-driven measure would prevent the state from giving minority-owned businesses any preference in state contracts, keep school districts from specifically hiring black or brown teachers in an effort to increase representation, block teachers from discussing inclusion and equity issues that have arisen despite the 14th Amendment, and ban certain content from being taught in schools. This would negatively impact student learning, teacher retention and recruitment, and does nothing to prevent discrimination on the basis of race or ethnicity in taxpayer-funded private schools receiving ESA vouchers. The measure could carry unintended consequences, such as outlawing Division 1 NCAA sports. SCR1019 passed the Senate on 3/11. HCR2056 awaits Senate Rules Committee. OPPOSE.
SCR1020, Mesnard (R-13), would change the Arizona Constitution to automatically extend the previous year’s state budget if lawmakers fail to pass one in time. This would remove the only real motivation for lawmakers to work together and avoid shutting down our state. Lawmakers' only constitutional responsibility is to pass a budget by the start of the new fiscal year (no later than June 30). The same bill failed to pass last year. Awaits House Rules Committee. OPPOSE.
SCR1023, Mesnard (R-13), would change the Arizona Constitution to require cities and school districts hold their elections on general election days only. Awaits House Rules Committee. OPPOSE.
SCR1027, Mesnard (R-13), and HCR2047, Gress (R-4), would create a new version of Prop 123 that restricts funds to “eligible teachers” only, rather than the many and varied needs of public schools. Individual schools are best suited to determine their own needs, and don’t need a top-down mandate. Republican lawmakers should work with the governor and their Democratic colleagues to craft a bill that has the support to pass. The issue is rumored to be intended for budget negotiations. SCR1027 awaits a Senate floor vote; HCR2047 awaits a House floor vote. OPPOSE.
SCR1034, Hoffman (R-15), and HCR2048, Smith (R-29), would ask voters to set the actual salary schedule for Prop 123. Normally the legislature does this internally in case anything needs changing, but sending it to voters makes it impossible to tweak later. It directs funds to classroom teachers only — which is like buying a new transmission for a car but not replacing its four flat tires — and bars district and charter schools from reducing teacher salaries below the FY2024-25 amount, even if the prop fails to direct the necessary funds to schools. Both this and SCR1027/HCR2047 would need to go on the ballot, and both measures would need to pass. HCR2048 also penalizes districts and charters with $5k/day penalties if they fail to increase teacher pay. SCR1034 is ready for a Senate floor vote; HCR2048 awaits a House floor vote. OPPOSE.
SCR1036, Wadsack (R-17), would put an end to “at-large” city council members. The bill would change the Arizona Constitution to require that only voters who live in a certain city district be eligible to vote for that district’s council members. Awaits House Rules Committee. OPPOSE.
SCR1040, Mesnard (R-13), would change the Arizona Constitution to create a sub-minimum hourly wage for tipped employees of up to 25% less than statutory minimum wage. Employers would have to show records that the employee received not less than the minimum wage plus $2 for all hours worked. The measure comes from lobbyists for the restaurant industry, which also lobby against minimum wage and sick leave protections for restaurant employees. Unbelievably, they’ve dubbed this bill the "Tipped Workers Protection Act." Awaits a House floor vote. OPPOSE.
SCR1041, Mesnard (R-13), would change the Arizona Constitution to allow anyone to sue to knock a citizen initiative off the ballot on grounds that it is not constitutional. If the plaintiffs can get a judge to agree with them, the initiative would be thrown off the ballot, even if enough voters signed petitions for it to qualify. As one columnist opines, “It’s as if the people running the Legislature haven’t liked the initiative process since 1912, when Arizonans gave women the vote.” Awaits House Rules Committee. OPPOSE.
SCR1044, Gowan (R-19), would change the Arizona Constitution to make judges in Arizona’s most populous counties appointed until the mandatory retirement age of 70 instead of retained by the voters every 4 to 6 years. Retention questions would go to the voters only in limited cases, such if the judge is convicted of a felony. The measure is written retroactively, so if voters pass it, the entire judicial retention slate for November would be thrown out, and all the judges would stay in office. This applies to judges in Maricopa, Pima, Pinal and Coconino Counties, as well as Appellate and Supreme Courts, all of which are part of the constitutionally mandated Merit Selection Process. Awaits House Rules Committee. OPPOSE.
HCR2032, Jones (R-17), would ban voting centers and limit precinct size to 1,000 voters. Voting centers allow voters to cast their ballots anywhere in the county — for example, near work or their child’s school — instead of being tied to a single precinct location, and have nearly eliminated the need for provisional ballots. This is at least the third year in which Arizona’s legislative Republicans have tried to ban voting centers. Sen. Ken Bennett (R-1) opposes the measure; due to universal Democratic opposition, it cannot pass without his support. Awaits a Senate floor vote. OPPOSE.
HCR2038, Montenegro (R-29), would ask voters to declare that drug cartels are terrorist organizations, cluttering up our ballot for no good reason. Awaits Senate Rules Committee. OPPOSE.
HCR2049, Carter (R-15), would ban government from setting goals to reduce vehicle miles of travel. Reducing vehicle miles burns fewer fossil fuels and extends road life, which is good for the state. Based on an absurd conspiracy theory that believes the “world government” wants to limit people’s freedom of movement and advance a totalitarian agenda. Awaits Senate Rules Committee. OPPOSE.
HCR2050, Griffin (R-19), would change the state Constitution to ban Arizona, its cities and counties, and its public schools from restricting devices based on their energy source. This could be based on any number of conspiracy theories, for example, that government is inflating the price of gas to push Americans toward electric cars, or that government is trying to ban gas stoves. Awaits Senate Rules Committee. OPPOSE.
HCR2052, McGarr (R-17), would insert the legislature into the agency rulemaking process by requiring the legislature give final approval for agency rules via a majority vote. This absurd overreach would prevent our state agencies from effectively doing their jobs. Awaits Senate Rules Committee. OPPOSE.
HCR2058, 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 people live in Arizona and are verifiably US citizens. This would be used to create grid-like legislative districts of equal citizen population. This incredibly expensive move would purposely undercount communities of color, negatively impacting Arizona’s legitimate census count and depressing our federal funding. It would also partially defund the voter-created Clean Elections Commission to pay for the new “census.” The bill is being pushed by the Koch-funded Arizona Free Enterprise Club. Awaits Senate Rules Committee. OPPOSE.
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.
HB2014, sponsored by Gail Griffin (R-19), now contains a striker that would shut the public out of the key business of WIFA, the state agency tasked with finding new water for Arizona, by exempting their communications and findings from public records. That could mean WIFA borrowing billions of dollars in public funds without having to disclose its deals to the public. Arizona Sierra Club leader Sandy Bahr told lawmakers the bill “will guarantee more sweetheart deals with no opportunity for public review until it is too late to stop the runaway train.’’ Scheduled for Senate Rules Committee, Monday. OPPOSE.
HB2310, sponsored by Travis Grantham (R-14), attempts to define “grooming” in statute, and would ban “distributing photographs that depict a person’s sex organs” — essentially making it a felony to teach a health class. State law already covers the behaviors in the bill; we don’t need another statute, especially one that would carry other consequences. Scheduled for Senate Rules Committee, Monday. OPPOSE.
HB2328, sponsored by Kevin Payne (R-27), would relax regulations on food trucks. Payne, who owns a food truck, sponsored the same bill in 2019 and again in 2023 (when Gov. Hobbs vetoed it). The bill could lead to nuisances such as noise, along with gray water, trash and grease, being dumped in neighborhoods. The legislature’s extremely lax conflict of interest rules say that if more than 10 people would benefit from a law, there is no conflict. That means a lawmaker like Payne can sponsor a bill about food trucks and vote on it. Scheduled for Senate Rules Committee, Monday. OPPOSE.
HB2481, sponsored by Barbara Parker (R-10), would remove the legislature from state open meeting laws and strip the requirement to take public comment. All public bodies would have to “provide an opportunity for public comment in person before any final decision, subject to reasonable time, place and manner restrictions” — but that would not include the legislature. Parker says she intended the bill to “reform” and update state open meeting law, and that stripping the legislature’s status as a public body was a “technical change.” Undemocratic and shady. Scheduled for Senate Rules Committee, Monday. OPPOSE.
HB2580, sponsored by Alexander Kolodin (R-3), now contains an incredibly broad striker that would ban background checks or psychological testing for “any lawfully elected or appointed public officer.” The striker appears to be on behalf of one specific individual, East Mesa Constable Rustin Pearce, who refused to take the required AZ POST psychological evaluation and then complained that the “overreaching hand of heavy government” barred him from carrying a firearm as a part of his job. The County Supervisors Association expressed concern about basic risk management and taxpayer liability, saying the evaluation is “required to obtain insurance coverage for those elected constables who choose to carry firearms while performing their duties.” A true public servant would undergo the psych eval rather than demand a personal exemption be literally written into law for him. Scheduled for Senate Rules Committee, Monday. OPPOSE.
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HB2584, sponsored by John Gillette (R-30), would ban cities from regulating modular or manufactured housing differently than traditional construction. Prefabricated homes are often less expensive, but they also can depreciate in value like a car, carry complicated financing restrictions, and are difficult to make habitable in conditions of extreme heat. Removing oversight via blanket deregulation carries its own risks. Scheduled for Senate Rules Committee, Monday. OPPOSE.
HB2768, sponsored by David Livingston (R-28), would require the Attorney General or a county attorney to promptly evaluate whether a complaint that public resources were spent or used to influence an election presents an actual or potential conflict of interest. Unnecessary. New to report. 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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Those legislative districts are 2, 4, 9, 13, 16, 17, 23, and 27. Building a new legislature that truly represents all of us will take all of us helping. Please pick the competitive district nearest you, then volunteer for or donate to the candidates that represent your values.
Say it with us: 2, 4, 9, 13, 16, 17, 23, and 27.