CEBV Weekly: January 27, 2025
This is the first week without a special event or holiday in the mix, and the bill tally reflects that. We’ve got 26 bills in this week’s report, across our four focus areas, that will be new to your eyes. Plus, another 10 bills are receiving procedural hearings in the Rules Committee. But there’s also some good news in the mix:
This week, if you only take one action, please focus your efforts on the Spotlight section of the Weekly (below). Let’s get this one across the finish line, people!
It goes without saying that a hungry kid can’t learn. But did you know that one out of every six kids in Arizona lives in poverty? America has long relied on our public schools to help all kids access healthy meals. For many kids, the only healthy meals they get are at their local public school. This makes healthy school meals an essential classroom supply — a tool that’s just as important to learning as books or teachers.
Universal school meals help all kids, not just the low-income ones, far beyond making sure kids have access to nutritious food. Free school meals have been clearly shown to improve student health, reduce food insecurity, ease stress on families, and reduce the stigma attached to needing food aid. Research also shows that free school meals for all students lead to better attendance and overall well-being in the classroom.
“When we feed our children, we’re feeding our future.” — Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, signing free school meals into New Mexico law on March 28, 2023
HB2213, sponsored by Nancy Gutierrez (D-18), would fund free school lunches for children whose families meet the federal income requirements for free or reduced-price lunches. The bill’s price tag — $3.8 million per year — is a drop in the bucket compared to last year’s $16.1 billion state budget. It represents less than one-half of one percent of Arizona’s $800-million-per-year unaccountable voucher boondoggle. Healthy school meals for all isn’t a left- or right-wing issue. It’s about Arizona kids and families, and our shared values of common care and community building.
Matt Gress (R-4) deserves appreciation for hearing it, a rarity for a Democrat-sponsored bill. HB2213 is scheduled to be heard in the House Education Committee this Tuesday. All Representatives on the Committee (with phone and email) are at https://bit.ly/AZLEGCommittees. You know your mission: call every one of them and voice your support for this tiny but important investment in our kids. Want extra credit? 🤓 Post a short video to your social media about why this issue is so important! Use these hashtags: #SchoolMeals4All #FullBelliesBrightMinds
Like many ideas from the minority party, HB2213 is assigned to more than one committee. The House Appropriations Committee needs to hear it too — and it has to be put on an agenda there by February 13. Contact House Appropriations chair David Livingston (R-28) at dlivingston@azleg.gov or 602-926-4178 to ask him to do this.
⏰ If you have 10 minutes: Contact House Appropriations Committee chair David Livingston (R-28) at dlivingston@azleg.gov or 602-926-4178 to ask him to put HB2213 on an agenda. See the Spotlight section of this Weekly for more.
⏰⏰ If you have 20 minutes: Also use Request to Speak on the bills in committees this week. Refer to the information, links and talking points in this Weekly to craft your own comments to lawmakers.
⏰⏰⏰ If you have 30 minutes: Also take action on one or more bills in Rules committees this week! While Rules doesn’t take testimony and is usually a rubber stamp, this is the last stop before a full floor vote. Contact your senator (for Senate bills) or representatives (for House bills). Refer to the information, links and talking points in this Weekly to craft your own comments.
⏰⏰⏰⏰ If you have 60 minutes: Join us on Zoom for our next CEBV Happy Hour conversation. This week, in addition to our usual state legislative rundown, we’ll offer an informative discussion of city councils and share previous successes with getting good policies passed at the city level. Learn how to make a hyperlocal difference! We’ll meet every Sunday at 4 PM through the end of legislative session. Sign up in advance here.
Democracy
SB1100, sponsored by Jake Hoffman (R-15), would shrink Maricopa County into a smaller area by creating new boundaries for Gila, Maricopa, Pinal, Yavapai and La Paz Counties. The bill is designed to minimize Maricopa County’s political influence. One political columnist calls the idea “bonkers,” saying, “There is only reason why Hoffman wanted to break up Maricopa County and it has nothing to do with good government.” Scheduled for Senate Government Committee, Wednesday. OPPOSE.
SB1101, sponsored by Jake Hoffman (R-15), would split up Maricopa County into four counties. The gerrymandering proposal packs Democrats into one area, with Republicans controlling the other three. This would be a fourfold expansion of government, creating more than 160 new departments. Property taxes would skyrocket in three of the four counties, and running them would cost taxpayers at least $155 million per year. This is the fourth straight year Hoffman has introduced the bill. Scheduled for Senate Government Committee, Wednesday. OPPOSE.
HB2673, sponsored by Alexander Kolodin (R-3), would restrict early ballot dropoffs to the Friday before Election Day, and would require early voters to reconfirm their address each election cycle. According to the Arizona Secretary of State, dropping off a ballot on Election Day or the day before is the second most popular method of voting for Maricopa County voters, and eliminating this “late early” option would inconvenience hundreds of thousands of voters, doubtless leading to significant disenfranchisement. In addition, voters would be assigned an “early voter ID number” that they would have to write correctly on their ballot envelope in order for the ballot to be opened and counted. Scheduled for House Federalism, Military Affairs & Elections Committee, Wednesday. OPPOSE.
HCR2013, sponsored by Alexander Kolodin (R-3), would restrict early ballot dropoffs to the Friday before Election Day, and would require early voters to reconfirm their address each election cycle. According to the Arizona Secretary of State, dropping off a ballot on Election Day or the day before is the second most popular method of voting for Maricopa County voters, and eliminating this “late early” option would inconvenience hundreds of thousands of voters, doubtless leading to significant disenfranchisement. In addition, voters would be assigned an “early voter ID number” that they would have to write correctly on their ballot envelope in order for the ballot to be opened and counted. Identical to HB2673, but structured as a ballot referral that would bypass the governor’s veto. Scheduled for House Federalism, Military Affairs & Elections Committee, Wednesday. OPPOSE.
HCR2041, sponsored by Steve Montenegro (R-29), would add Arizona’s name to a list of states asking Congress to call an Article V constitutional convention to propose Congressional term limits in the US Constitution. This is dangerous for two main reasons. First, governing, like any other profession, requires experience in order to be effective. Term limits ensure lobbyists and staff possess the bulk of the expertise, turning legislators into perpetual newbies while others pull their strings behind the scenes. Second, there are absolutely no rules for an Article V Convention in the Constitution; experts (like Antonin Scalia) argue there is no way to limit a convention to the stated intent. Just as the 1787 convention went far beyond its stated purposes, this bill could result in a "runaway convention" and a whole new form of government. Scheduled for House Judiciary Committee, Wednesday. OPPOSE.
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Education
SB1020, sponsored by Wendy Rogers (R-7), would prohibit universities and community colleges from banning anyone with a concealed weapons permit — not just students — from possessing, storing or transporting guns on campus. College campuses and guns are a deadly combination, increasing the risks of suicide, homicide and sexual assault. Even our founding fathers believed guns had no place on college campuses. Scheduled for Senate Judiciary & Elections Committee, Wednesday. OPPOSE.
SB1052, sponsored by Wendy Rogers (R-7), would remove authorization for US citizens to register to vote in Arizona if they have a parent who is a US citizen and who is registered to vote in Arizona, but they themselves have never lived in the US. Banning citizens from voting presents obvious constitutionality issues. Scheduled for Senate Judiciary & Elections Committee, Wednesday. OPPOSE.
SB1090, sponsored by Jake Hoffman (R-14), would put Arizona public school teachers (but not teachers at ESA-funded private schools) behind bars for up to two years if they teach material from a broad description of items that lawmakers consider “sexually explicit.” It would also ban public libraries from exposing minors to any "sexually explicit materials." This is effectively a book ban which would prevent Arizona's students from getting a well-rounded education, and continues Hoffman’s obsession with sex. State law already makes it a felony to show pornography to children. Scheduled for Senate Education Committee, Wednesday. OPPOSE.
SB1091, sponsored by Jake Hoffman (R-14), would require that ballots in school district bond and budget override continuation elections state how much voters' taxes would drop if they refused to pass the continuations. This is blatant propaganda designed to discourage voters from supporting overrides in the name of "transparency." Scheduled for Senate Education Committee, Wednesday. OPPOSE.
SB1099, sponsored by Jake Hoffman (R-14), is a rerun of last year’s bill to ban district and charter schools from exposing minors to so-called "sexually explicit materials." The incredibly broad description would ban many classic works of literature, from Shakespeare to Maya Angelou. Violations would be a class 5 felony, punishable by up to 2 years in jail. Arizona law already covers this subject, but Hoffman seems to enjoy reading explicit passages aloud in committee, to the discomfort of others. Scheduled for Senate Government Committee, Wednesday. OPPOSE.
SB1133, sponsored by Wendy Rogers (R-7), would create a new section of state law requiring the State Board of Education to mandate schools teach the history of communism and domestic communist movements in high school social studies, along with a comparative discussion of "political ideologies that conflict with the principles of freedom and democracy foundational to the United States." State lawmakers shouldn’t be mandating curriculum; that’s the job of educators who are trained in curriculum development. Scheduled for Senate Education Committee, Wednesday. OPPOSE.
HB2055, sponsored by Lisa Fink (R-27), would gut Arizona’s already weak state vaccination requirements, allowing anyone to claim an exemption if the vaccine available does not meet a list of specific criteria. Vaccines save many lives and injuries are exceedingly rare; fewer than one in a million vaccinated people suffer a serious side effect. Arizona is already headed in the wrong direction for public health; vaccine exemption rates are becoming so high, experts say they’re “a disaster waiting to happen.” This bill would put the collective well-being of all Arizonans at risk. Scheduled for House Regulatory Oversight Committee, Tuesday. OPPOSE.
HB2058, sponsored by Lisa Fink (R-27), would allow students who are over 18 to exempt themselves from school vaccine requirements simply by submitting a signed “personal belief” statement to the school. Arizona already has one of the highest vaccine exemption rates in the nation. Will Humble of the Arizona Public Health Association says it’s one of the worst rates in the country and that “it means that Arizona school kids are no longer protected.” Scheduled for House Education Committee, Tuesday. OPPOSE.
HB2063, sponsored by Lisa Fink (R-27), would require any communication regarding school immunization requirements to include information about the exemptions allowed by law. The bill would encourage exemptions, negatively impacting public health. Arizona is already headed in the wrong direction; vaccine exemption rates are so high, experts say they’re “a disaster waiting to happen.” Scheduled for House Education Committee, Tuesday. OPPOSE.
HB2213, sponsored by Nancy Gutierrez (D-18), would fund free school lunches for children whose families meet the federal income requirements for free or reduced-price lunches. This change would help kids who don't qualify for free meals but still struggle to afford the costs. Kids who eat school meals show improved attendance, behavior and academic achievement (kids can't learn when they're hungry!), and they get more whole grains, milk, fruits and vegetables at mealtimes. Scheduled for House Education Committee, Tuesday. SUPPORT.
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 between youth 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 Senate Education Committee, Wednesday. 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 Senate Education Committee, Wednesday. OPPOSE.
WATER
We’ve done our best to cover this topic in plain language, but there’s no getting around some of the technical terms. For background, we recommend The Water Agenda, a new weekly newsletter from the folks at the Arizona Agenda. Here’s the first issue. Also, read Beau Hodai’s excellent 3-part series in the Cochise Regional News about how Rep. Gail Griffin has for years stonewalled effective water management in Arizona.
SB1115, sponsored by Tim Dunn (R-25), would force the Arizona Department of Water Resources to adopt rules to update the project demand calculator for assured water supply every 5 years. The Home Builders Association and Goldwater Institute are suing ADWR over what they claim are unlawful restrictions that have halted some new home construction and caused them financial hardship. This appears to be a bill to force ADWR to adopt the Home Builders’ calculations. Scheduled for Senate Natural Resources Committee, Tuesday. OPPOSE.
SB1116, sponsored by Tim Dunn (R-25), requires the director of ADWR to fast-track developers’ applications for alternative groundwater models, including a written response with rationale for any rejections. Developers are pushing for ways around laws that restrict construction in areas without adequate water supply. Scheduled for Senate Natural Resources Committee, Tuesday. OPPOSE.
HB2084, sponsored by Gail Griffin (R-19), would allow for the formation of a domestic water improvement district for purposes of hauling water. CEBV would rather see the legislature protect our existing groundwater so that we don't have to patch holes in availability by hauling water where there isn’t any! Scheduled for House Natural Resources, Energy & Water Committee, Tuesday. OPPOSE.
HB2088, sponsored by Gail Griffin (R-19), would require the state’s top water official to review active water management areas — in other words, local groundwater protections — to determine whether they still meet the criteria for the designation. If they don’t meet the criteria, state officials can remove the designation after public hearings. Griffin opposes Cochise County voters’ decision to create an active management area. This measure would get rid of those designations. Scheduled for House Natural Resources, Energy & Water Committee, Tuesday. OPPOSE.
HB2089, sponsored by Gail Griffin (R-19), would allow voters in an active management area to petition to remove the designation after 10 years. County officials would have to forward petitions to state officials, who would take a look at groundwater conditions and decide whether the regulations are necessary or there should be an election. This provides another way to override Cochise County voters’ decision to create an active management area, which Griffin opposes. Scheduled for House Natural Resources, Energy & Water Committee, Tuesday. OPPOSE.
HB2202, sponsored by Gail Griffin (R-19), would allow some previously unirrigated lands to be irrigated, thus increasing groundwater pumping in active management areas. The bill is retroactive to August 30, 2022, which makes it worse. Scheduled for House Natural Resources, Energy & Water Committee, Tuesday. OPPOSE.
HB2203, sponsored by Gail Griffin (R-19), increases the time frame for allowing acreage to be irrigated if it’s under the groundwater protection of an active management area. This would likely result in more groundwater pumping. The bill is retroactive, so it would apply to the Douglas AMA. Scheduled for House Natural Resources, Energy & Water Committee, Tuesday. OPPOSE.
HB2549, sponsored by Lupe Diaz (R-19), would appropriate an unspecified sum of money from the state general fund for grants to landowners in active management areas (local groundwater protection areas), to be used to challenge the designations themselves or their water management goals. In other words, this would allow for taxpayer-funded lawsuits to try to overturn our groundwater protections. Scheduled for House Natural Resources, Energy & Water Committee, Tuesday. OPPOSE.
HB2570, sponsored by Gail Griffin (R-19), sets a high bar for establishing temporary non-expansion areas to limit new irrigated agriculture. The areas would automatically expire after ten years. Water experts oppose the bill on grounds it only creates the illusion of action on Arizona’s serious groundwater issues. Scheduled for House Natural Resources, Energy & Water Committee, Tuesday. 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 won’t read comments. These bills will proceed to caucus (separate partisan meetings of all Democrats and all Republicans) and from there to a full floor vote. Contact your senator for Senate bills, your representatives for House bills.
SB1011, sponsored by Warren Petersen (R-14), would ban voters from dropping off their early ballots after 7 PM on the Friday before Election Day beginning in 2026. Voters would have to instead void their early ballots, present ID, sign an affidavit warning of felony jail time for fraud, and vote a new ballot in person. Polls show that a whopping 84% of voters oppose this proposal. The bill has been amended to force principals to allow their schools to be used as polling places, creating potential issues relating to child safety and available space. Scheduled for Senate Rules Committee, Monday. OPPOSE.
SB1028, sponsored by John Kavanagh (R-3), would reinstate statewide testing to graduate from high school. In 2015, when Republican lawmakers overwhelmingly chose to repeal the requirement, they stated that "the test has no meaning behind it" and that "placing all the responsibility and stress on individual students for the success of our educational system is unfair." Other states that have repealed their high-stakes test requirements caution against conflating a measure of learning with “a meaningless hoop to jump through.” Just six states still require high school exit exams. Scheduled for Senate Rules Committee, Monday. OPPOSE.
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 Rules Committee, Monday. 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. Passed House Federalism, Military Affairs & Elections Committee, 1/22, with Lydia Hernandez joining all Republicans. Scheduled for House Rules Committee, Monday. 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. Passed House Government Committee, 1/22, unanimously. Scheduled for House Rules Committee, Monday. 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. 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. 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 Rules Committee, Monday. OPPOSE.
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. This bill represents not only privatization without oversight, but poor value for tax money. House Appropriations Committee chair David Livingston (R-28) calls Arizona's current focus on public money for public programs "discriminating against religious institutions" and has drawn a line in the sand, warning the Teachers Academy won't get any new money unless Hobbs signs this bill. Scheduled for House Rules Committee, Monday. 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. The bill was written by the Arizona Citizens Defense League, a pro-gun group. Scheduled for House Rules Committee, Monday. OPPOSE.
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). Known as an “erasure” bill, this bill is based on model legislation from a right-wing think tank and an anti-trans hate group. Gov. Hobbs vetoed this bill last year. Scheduled for House Rules Committee, Monday. 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. The bill appears to be driven by the anti-LGBTQ+ hate group Libs of Tiktok. This bill touches all our focus categories, as it presents free speech issues (Democracy) and will cause 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 for displaying a Pride flag, it’s important to stop these policy attacks on the LGBTQ+ community. Scheduled for House Rules Committee, Monday. 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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