CEBV Weekly: April 21, 2025
Vetoes aplenty. Partisan infighting. Keep the pressure on. Chaos is opportunity.
This Tuesday marks the 100th day of session, and all indications are that state budget negotiations still haven’t started. Lawmakers are getting impatient and snappish — not just across the aisle, but within their own party, too.
The steady stream of Republican infighting, petty feuds and name-calling has provided fascinating insight behind the curtain of the 57th Legislature. Though Democrats lost three seats in November, the Republican majority is still very thin. Last session, each chamber had a single go-to Republican lawmaker with a reputation for being a fly in the ointment (Cook in the House, Bennett in the Senate). Now that those two people are no longer present, any lawmaker can now throw themself in the mix, seizing power and becoming a deciding vote. This has given rise to some very interesting factions and coalitions, and is changing the way the Legislature functions (or, more often, doesn’t function).
As we always say, chaos is opportunity. These fractures provide an opening for us to make our voices heard. With the many contentious issues at play this year — including disability funding and the plethora of tax carve-outs and giveaways — regular communication with our lawmakers is paramount.
At this point in session, things will move suddenly or not at all. We mustn’t take silence as an indication that everything is OK. Put your elected officials on speed dial, and make sure you’re reaching out. If you’ll permit us to repeat another saying: if you’re not at the table, you’re probably on the menu.
⏰ If you have 5 minutes: Directly contact your state senator and representatives to tell them SB1734 and HB2945 are unacceptable as currently written. (See the “Spotlight” section below for more.) Ask them for a no-strings-attached funding continuation of the Department of Developmental Disabilities (DDD) program. If you’ve already done this, please do it again.
⏰⏰ If you have 10 minutes: Contact Gov. Hobbs directly at 602-542-4331 or engage@az.gov to thank her for taking a strong, principled stand in support of fully funding DDD.
⏰⏰⏰ If you have 30 minutes: Also express your opposition on CEBV-opposed bills scheduled for floor votes this week by directly contacting your state senator (for bills headed to the Senate floor) or representatives (for bills headed to the House floor).
⏰⏰⏰⏰ If you have 60 minutes: Join us on Zoom for our next CEBV Happy Hour conversation. After our usual state legislative rundown, we’ll hear from Julie Gunnigle, the Political Director for the Arizona chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. Happy Hour meets every Sunday at 4 PM through the end of legislative session. Sign up in advance here.
This past week, the House and Senate Appropriations committees advanced SB1734 and HB2945, a pair of bills that would continue the Division of Developmental Disabilities through June 30 (by taking money from other programs) while also making drastic cuts to a program that families with severely disabled kids depend on.
No consensus. The hearings, bluntly, were an infuriating mess. Like a car with its wheels pointing in three different directions, the Republicans on the committee had no consensus on what the program’s continuation should look like, or even if there should be one. They offered three diverging amendments, including one from Justin Olson (R-10) that would have ended the program entirely.
Playing dirty. Democrats were unified in demanding a clean continuation of the program (no strings or gimmicks), but they were outvoted. Committee chair David Livingston (R-28) got permission from Speaker Steve Montenegro (R-29) to add three Republicans to the committee minutes before it began, which gave them enough Republican votes to kill any amendments not pre-approved by the committee chair. A spokesman for Gov. Hobbs noted that Livingston “couldn’t even pass his proposal through his own committee without stacking it full of political allies.” Livingston’s version passed by the narrowest of margins, 11-10.
Compromise is against the rules. A majority of lawmakers in both chambers probably approves of continuing DDD. That majority probably also understands that the Parents as Paid Caregivers program is both humane and cost-effective. It patches massive staffing shortfalls in a low-pay, high-stress field by training parents to provide the needed “extraordinary care.” (Would you make a career of assisting a teenager who has cerebral palsy, autism and multiple developmental disabilities with tasks like bathing, dressing, toileting and eating in exchange for $15 an hour?)
Several House Republicans were ready to vote to change Livingston’s bill — but they couldn’t do so with leadership against them. And they won’t be able to do it later, either: House rules say no rule can be changed or suspended (such as bringing stalled bills up for a vote) without approval from the House Speaker.
The governor doubles down. Gov. Hobbs has promised to veto every bill Republicans send her until the legislature passes a “reasonable, negotiated” bill to fund DDD. This moratorium is not only a baller move, but it’s been done before. Former Republican Gov. Doug Ducey did it in 2021.
“(It’s) a civics lesson reminder that it takes 31, 16 and 1 to be successful here. Sometimes we forget about the 1.” — then-House Speaker Rusty Bowers on Ducey’s veto decision
What now? It’s obvious that public sentiment lies with the DDD families and that Livingston, Gress and their ilk have all but shown themselves to be monsters with their refusal to fund this program. Infuriated families have even launched recall campaigns against them. Someone, at some point, is going to have to change course. But at least so far, these lawmakers show no desire to recognize reality:
House Appropriations Committee chair David Livingston on Thursday likened Hobbs’ moratorium to the whining of a child.
“It doesn’t surprise me that she did that, because she’s not getting her way. And she will not get her way,” he said.
Livingston did not mention the thousands of Arizona children with developmental disabilities and their families who won’t “get their way” under the Republican proposal, which could lead to some of them being institutionalized instead of being cared for in their homes by family members.
This reaction, of course, just means Republicans are running out of options, and the only thing they can think of to do at this point is name-call. Funding DDD should be an easy fix; the fact that it hasn’t happened yet is unconscionable. We must keep the pressure on until Livingston has no option but to fold.
These bills are scheduled for a floor vote and will then proceed to the governor's desk for her signature or veto. To express your views, contact your senator for bills being heard on the Senate floor and your representatives for bills being heard on the House floor. You can also contact the governor at 602-542-4331 or engage@az.gov.
Democracy
HB2017, sponsored by Rachel Keshel (R-17), would ban voting centers in Arizona and return the state to precinct-based voting, requiring under 1,000 registered voters at each precinct. Every voter would be assigned a neighborhood polling location; the ballots of voters who go to the wrong polling place would be thrown out. Before Arizona's shift to its current voting center model, our elections were plagued by long lines and technology issues, and tens of thousands of people's votes were never counted for being cast at the wrong location. The sponsor also introduced this ridiculous, deeply flawed proposal last year; the bill did not pass. Scheduled for a Senate 3rd Read vote, Tuesday 4/22. OPPOSE.
HB2154, sponsored by Rachel Keshel (R-17), would require a voter on the early voting list be booted to inactive status if a single election notice mailed to them is returned as undeliverable. Currently, officials must make an effort to contact the voter at the voter's new address and update that voter's address; this bill removes that requirement. The sponsor asserted in committee that she is pushing the bill because “two-thirds of Americans don’t trust our elections.” Scheduled for a Senate 3rd Read vote, Tuesday 4/22. OPPOSE.
HB2206, sponsored by James Taylor (R-29), would limit Arizona's participation in ERIC, a multi-state system that weeds out duplicate, deceased or suspicious voter registrations. The ERIC system, which allows states to exchange voter information to root out duplications and fraud, is one of the strongest safeguards for election officials; there’s no viable replacement. Republican-run states have been abandoning ERIC in the wake of far-right conspiracy theories and struggling to clean voter rolls without it. Gov. Hobbs vetoed a similar bill in 2023. Scheduled for a Senate 3rd Read vote, Monday 4/22. OPPOSE.
Education
SB1693, sponsored by John Kavanagh (R-3), would mandate that students at private schools or who use ESA vouchers must be allowed to try out for interscholastic activities at public schools. Athletics should be something parents consider when choosing a school for their student. When parents opt out of local schools, they opt out of extracurriculars. ESA vouchers already siphon dollars away from local public schools; it is unreasonable to require them to cover non-attendees’ costs for extracurriculars. This bill places an unreasonable burden on public schools, who would be required to include voucher students even though they've chosen to go to school elsewhere. Scheduled for House COW floor debate, Monday 4/21. OPPOSE.
LGBTQ+
SB1002, sponsored by John Kavanagh (R-3), is a copy of a previously vetoed bill that would ban teachers from using a student’s chosen pronouns without written parental permission if they differ from the student's biological sex. Coming out to parents is intimidating; coming out at school helps a student feel prepared to come out to their parents, which helps strengthen the relationship. Prohibiting students from coming out at school without also coming out at home will erode the trust and relationship among youth, teachers, and parents. The bill also further politicizes teachers, which deepens Arizona’s ongoing teacher retention crisis. The sponsor has said he is running the bill again because he hopes Hobbs and Democrats "learned their lesson" from recent election results. Scheduled for House COW floor debate, Monday 4/21. OPPOSE.
SB1003, sponsored by John Kavanagh (R-3), would ban trans kids from using the school bathrooms, changing facilities and “sleeping quarters” that align with their gender identities. Trans kids wouldn’t be able to use any facilities at all without undue scrutiny of their bodies; the bills calls that a "reasonable accommodation." Anyone who “encounters” a trans person in a bathroom could file suit against public schools. A federal court found that these policies violate the US Constitution and Title IX, but the Supreme Court is widely considered to be preparing to overturn that. Republican lawmakers passed an identical bill in 2023, which the governor vetoed. Scheduled for House COW floor debate, Monday 4/21. OPPOSE.
Water
HB2274, sponsored by Gail Griffin (R-19), would call a special election for Willcox to decide whether to establish a domestic water improvement district. This does nothing to address the underlying issue of overpumping. The area has been in a drought for 30 years; poor summer monsoons and virtually nonexistent winter rains have left the aquifer with no natural recharge and no way to recover. In December, Gov. Hobbs and the Arizona Department of Water Resources designated Willcox as an Active Management Area, a long-overdue move that protects water for rural communities and the local economies that rely on it. Right now, the area is working on implementing the AMA; this bill distracts from that important work and could even exacerbate groundwater depletion. Scheduled for a Senate 3rd Read vote, Tuesday 4/22. OPPOSE.
This past week, Gov. Hobbs exercised her power to protect Arizonans from the following harmful, CEBV-opposed legislation. The number of bills she’s vetoed this year now stands at 52.
Vetoes, Tuesday 4/15
HB2058, creating a “personal belief” vaccination exemption for students at Arizona’s publicly funded universities and community colleges
HB2060, unconstitutionally requiring all of Arizona’s federal elections to be run according to state election law
HB2062, a “trans erasure bill” removing any reference to gender in Arizona law and replacing it with the male or female label assigned at birth based on physical and reproductive characteristics
HB2063, requiring schools to tell parents about Arizona’s liberal opt-out law in all communications about vaccines
HB2126, requiring health care entities to give parents access to all of their minor children’s medical records, stripping minors of their privacy and medical professionals of their professional judgment
HB2270, adding stormwater recharge (the capture and filter of runoff water from urban storms to replenish aquifers) to the list of sources considered in groundwater modeling, resulting in overuse and potential overpumping
Vetoes, Friday 4/18
SB1123, requiring our ballot paper to include so-called "anti-fraud countermeasures" from a company with ties to the sponsor
SB1164, forcing public schools in Arizona to open their doors to ICE agents
SB1441, making school board elections partisan
HB2007, making it illegal for anyone to receive compensation for registering people to vote based on the number of registrations they collect
HB2375, requiring schools to begin special education evaluations within 15 days of receipt, burdening schools that are already overwhelmed with expensive requests and hurting students with existing IEPs
HB2551, extending the application period for grandfathered groundwater rights in the Willcox AMA, which also extends the official confirmation that an applicant will indeed have water rights, hurting farmers
HB2573, allowing hydroponic crops and wine grapes to be watered with groundwater as a “non-irrigation use,” poking a hole in the Groundwater Management Act
HB2574, letting counties approve small subdivisions that circumvent existing assured water supply requirements
HB2640, incentivizing public schools to sell their campuses to private schools, accelerating school privatization and hurting neighborhood schools
HB2649, affirming the Legislature’s belief in the importance of the Electoral College for presidential elections, though it is no longer a constructive force in American politics
HB2670, requiring public schools to include fetal development, reproduction and pregnancy instruction in 7th- and 8th-grade health, though students are not allowed sex education without parental opt-in
HB2920, requiring county treasurers to put school district property tax rates on bills and statements without proper explanation of the costs that fall to counties and cities when the legislature fails to adequately fund public schools
2025 Session Timeline
Tuesday, 4/22 100th Day of Session (the stated end goal; can be changed) Monday, 6/30 Last day to pass a constitutionally mandated state budget
Flag this handy list of contact info, committee chairs and assignments:
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