For 8 years, CEBV has covered hundreds of bills across the full spectrum of issues that the Arizona State Legislature takes up. This year we are shifting our approach to four key issue areas that are not only critical to our future, but have broad public attention that rises above partisanship:
Democracy and Voting: Preserving citizens’ free access to the ballot, protecting the integrity of the elections process, and defending the right to petition are fundamental to the American dream.
Education: Public education is a cornerstone of democracy, producing an informed electorate. Fully funding our public schools assures that every child, regardless of background, economic status, religion or zip code, can access a free and truthful education.
LGBTQ+ Rights: Our friends, family, and neighbors are under attack just for being who they are. Our society has come too far to allow this backsliding.
Water: Our water future is critical to the state we call home, yet our water infrastructure is a patchwork of inadequate, outdated and unrealistic policies. We can no longer afford to see water policy treated like a political football. We will follow any water bills closely.
For these subjects, we will cover the bills that are moving in the Arizona Legislature. In addition to using Request to Speak to voice your opposition or support, stay tuned for critical calls to action. It will take all of us to ensure that our elected representatives address these issues without partisanship or misplaced ideology.
Democracy/Voting
Republicans in both chambers are pushing to restrict ballot drop-offs. This past week, lawmakers advanced SB1011 through its first committee over vehement Democratic opposition. Their goal is to emulate Florida by producing election results on Tuesday night instead of days later. In other words, they want to want to “Florida our Arizona.”
“Inconvenience” or suppression? These Republicans aren’t shy about characterizing their ideas as a trade-off of giving up convenience to get quicker results. John Kavanagh (R-3) called the proposal a “slight inconvenience“ and said, “Having to wait in a line is not suppressing votes.“ But what does it actually mean to give up convenience when it comes to our vote? And what amount of inconvenience is acceptable?
Building lines. There’s no question that this bill would create a massive increase in Election Day voting. Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes' office estimates the proposal could double the number of voters on Election Day. Imagine the sheer volume of people who drop off their ballots on Election Day — over 250,000 people — now having to stand in line.
Massive outreach. County recorders say such a change will take a massive voter education outreach. But that’s easier said than done. Polling estimates that “low-information” or “disengaged” voters represent at least 20% of those who routinely turn out. No matter what, the change will require extra effort from voters who have had 20 years to get used to being allowed to drop off their ballots on Election Day. What will people who show up that Tuesday with ballots in hand choose when they’re told the rules have changed? Will they wait in line? Will they be disenfranchised?
Disenfranchisement. Critics say the move could limit voting access, cause confusion among voters, and hinder voters from dropping off their ballots. There may also be obstacles for rural voters, tribal voters and those living on reservations, elderly voters, and disabled voters. All of these groups need more time to return their ballots. Rural and tribal voters lack speedy mail delivery (it can take 7 days for ballots to arrive), and those areas may lack the buildings for additional voting locations. Rural counties face short staffing and funding, a problem for setting up additional voting locations. Elderly and disabled voters need more time to return ballots and may need help dropping them off. As Pima County Recorder Gabriella Cázares-Kelly said, “Imagine how angry someone would be if they drove an hour with their ballot and their 90 yr old mom's... and we refused to take hers...”
New Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap on Wednesday told legislative Republicans that election officials in rural counties often opposed their election reform proposals due to a dearth of staff and resources.
And then those lawmakers did something they rarely do when hearing it from the counties themselves: They believed him.
Heap, who was sworn in as recorder only nine days earlier, was repeating the exact arguments that the Arizona Association of Counties had been making to many of the same lawmakers for years, and that have mostly fallen on deaf ears. (AZ Mirror)
Built on a fallacy. Arizona is not and has never been slow at counting ballots. Complete election results have never been available on election night in any Arizona county. Speed has only become an issue in the last few years, as margins have gotten closer and the media becomes less comfortable calling races. What’s more, the change is being pushed by some of the same lawmakers who have spent the past several years sowing doubt in the results of the state’s elections.
"This is how long it always takes. The work continues until every eligible vote is counted." — Tammy Patrick, a former Maricopa County election official and now a senior advisor at the Democracy Fund
Listening to a tiny minority. These Republican lawmakers insist that voters want the rules to change, but it’s more likely that they’re listening to a tiny minority of vocal right-wing agitators. Polls show that a whopping 84% of Arizona voters want to continue to be able to drop off their mail ballots at polling places on Election Day without having to wait in line.
We’ve been here before. More than anything else, this puts us in mind of the wraparound lines for Arizona’s March 2016 presidential preference election, when thousands of enraged voters were forced to wait — some past midnight — to cast their ballots. Those voters weren’t shy about their frustration. They called the setup “insane” and “a complete, total failure of government." It created a seismic shock that ended with the unseating of a previously well-regarded county recorder who had been in office since 1989.
Those pushing this policy would do well to understand that voters see casting their ballots as their right. They don’t like lines. And any effort to force them to wait will likely be met with swift backlash.
The next stop for SB1011 is a perfunctory inspection by the Senate Rules Committee, then a full vote of the Senate.
⏰ If you have 10 minutes: Use Request to Speak on the bills in committee this week.
⏰⏰ If you have 20 minutes: Hey, Paradise Valley and Scottsdale folks! Do you live in LD4? Contact Rep. Matt Gress (mgress@azleg.gov / 602-926-4105) and ask him why he thinks the voters were either stupid or didn't mean it when they voted NO on Prop 315. That proposition would have inserted the legislature into executive rulemaking, tying the hands of the governor and experts who interpret the law and put it into force. Gress has reintroduced the exact same wording as a new bill, HB2276. "Falling back on the length of the ballot or voter confusion is arrogant," said CEBV co-founder Melinda Iyer to the Capitol Times. "It's saying that I know better than my own constituents... Our views in this instance are clear."
⏰⏰⏰ If you have 60 minutes: Join us on Zoom for our next CEBV Happy Hour conversation to learn how we are helping build youth leadership in Arizona. This week, we’ll be sharing about the CEBV Youth Fellowship program and how you can support it. Indivisible’s Arizona Battleground Director, Tricia Sauer, will also be discussing media fragmentation and solutions. We’ll meet every Sunday at 4 PM through the end of legislative session. Sign up in advance here.
Refer to the information, links and talking points here to craft your own comments to lawmakers.
Democracy
SB1041, sponsored by John Kavanagh (R-3), would allow school board candidates to use Arizona’s electronic signature portal, E-Qual, to gather signatures. Stacey Travers (D-12) has introduced an identical bill, HB2151. Scheduled for Senate Education Committee, Wednesday. SUPPORT.
HB2007, sponsored by John Gillette (R-30), would make it illegal for anyone to receive money or other compensation for registering people to vote based on the number of registrations they collect. This assumes nefarious activities and penalizes voter registration efforts. Gov. Hobbs vetoed a similar bill in 2023. Scheduled for House Federalism, Military Affairs & Elections Committee, Wednesday. OPPOSE.
HB2008, sponsored by John Gillette (R-30), would require notaries to obtain fingerprint clearance cards and to provide their thumbprint with each notarization. Many private citizens become notaries to assist with citizen initiatives. Asking them to get a fingerprint clearance card at personal expense, and forcing the additional hurdle of a thumbprint for the notarization of each petition, would place an unneeded burden on citizen participation in direct democracy. Scheduled for House Government Committee, Wednesday. OPPOSE.
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. Keshel, formerly known as Jones, also introduced this ridiculous, deeply flawed proposal last year; the bill did not pass. This bill is also being moved as a ballot measure, HCR2002, in an attempt to bypass Gov. Hobbs’ veto pen. Scheduled for House Federalism, Military Affairs & Elections Committee, Wednesday. OPPOSE.
HCR2002, 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. Keshel, formerly known as Jones, also introduced this ridiculous, deeply flawed proposal last year; the bill did not pass. The two-pronged approach from legislative Republicans of introducing both a bill and a ballot measure that would bypass Gov. Hobbs’ veto looks to be a recurring theme for the 2025 legislative session. Scheduled for House Federalism, Military Affairs & Elections Committee, Wednesday. OPPOSE.
Education
HB2018, sponsored by Matt Gress (R-4), would allow private and for-profit universities in Arizona to provide taxpayer-funded financial assistance to students in teacher training programs on the same terms as those at Arizona’s three state universities. These private, for-profit universities would get a share of the $20 million in tax funding, decreasing the funding available to accredited public universities which have much more robust and successful programs. Public universities do a more efficient job of providing education to a wider range of students with fewer dollars; private universities are often more selective, costlier and do not offer in-state benefits for students. This bill represents not only privatization, but poor value for tax money. Grand Canyon University has pushed a similar bill the last two years, which failed to pass. Scheduled for House Education Committee, Tuesday and House Appropriations Committee, Wednesday. OPPOSE.
HB2019, sponsored by Matt Gress (R-4), would require district and charter schools to give parents of newly enrolled students information on water safety education courses and swimming lessons, along with a list of local instructors. While well-intended, this is an unfunded mandate that puts a significant burden on already overstretched (and underfunded) schools. Scheduled for House Education Committee, Tuesday. OPPOSE.
HB2022, sponsored by Selina Bliss (R-1), would allow K-12 public and private schools to authorize employees to carry firearms on school grounds. The school would have to notify law enforcement of how many (but not which) employees are carrying, ensure the employees have a certification from an ADE-approved list of training programs, and keep their names confidential, including from parents at the school. The bill also gives these employees immunity from any liability if they are "acting in good faith during active threat events." Polls regularly find that the public does not support arming teachers. Arizona's Republican state lawmakers have long tried to force guns into schools. Passed House Education Committee along partisan lines, 1/14. Scheduled for House Judiciary Committee, Wednesday. OPPOSE.
LGBTQ+
HB2062, sponsored by Lisa Fink (R-27), would remove any reference to gender in Arizona law and replace it with “sex,” defined as the male or female label assigned to someone at birth based on their physical and reproductive characteristics. This narrow, inflexible and unscientific definition of biological sex would eliminate any legal recognition of transgender people, and raise their risk of experiencing violence (which is already much higher than average). Gov. Hobbs vetoed this bill last year. Scheduled for House Government Committee, Wednesday. OPPOSE.
HB2113, sponsored by Nick Kupper (R-25), would ban the display of certain flags on public property in Arizona, such as LGBTQ+ Pride and Black Lives Matter flags. The flags would be banned from state, city, county and school buildings on the grounds that they promote "divisive messages." The bill appears to have grown out of a policy proposed by a MAGA school board member who filed a lawsuit against Mesa Public Schools for its policies in support of transgender students; the "unfounded" lawsuit was dismissed by the courts. This bill touches all our focus categories, as it also presents free speech issues and seemingly bans current and historical flags from other countries (Democracy), and will likely cause some students to feel uncomfortable or unsafe in school simply for being who they are (LGBTQ+). With at least one family being run out of a far East Valley community simply for displaying a Pride flag, it’s all the more important to stop these policy attacks on the LGBTQ+ community. Scheduled for House Government Committee, Wednesday. OPPOSE.
Need help? We’ll offer our RTS 101 training on Monday nights, Mondays in January. That link and so many others are available on our Linktree:
2025 Session Timeline
Monday, 2/3 Senate bill introduction deadline
Monday, 2/10 House bill introduction deadline
Friday, 2/21 Last day for a bill to get out of committees in its originating house
Monday, 2/24 Crossover Week begins (most committee hearings are suspended)
Friday, 3/28 Last day for a bill to get out of committees in its crossover house
(and the last day to use RTS until a budget drops)
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 budgetFlag this handy list of contact info, committee chairs and assignments, freshly updated for 2025.
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