CEBV Weekly: May 27, 2024
Racial profiling in the gallery & on the ballot. Cheap political points. On vacation until there's a budget.
After hours of tense and combative debate on Wednesday, the Senate advanced anti-immigrant ballot measure HCR2060 along party lines. The veto-proof measure, which is likely unconstitutional and is projected to be incredibly costly to Arizona taxpayers, now heads to the House for a final floor vote.
Republican Senate lawmakers amended the bill to remove a reference to DACA recipients and to include a provision requiring local law enforcement to have probable cause before arresting suspected migrants. However, like SB1070, the measure would effectively sanction Arizona law enforcement to undertake mass racial profiling. Republican senators argued they’d amended the bill to remove that possibility, but their actions during floor debate made it very clear that opponents’ criticism was spot-on.
During discussion of how the bill defines probable cause to arrest suspected migrants, Sen. John Kavanagh (R-3) racially profiled the entire Senate gallery, which was filled with mostly brown-skinned people who had come to watch that day’s proceedings, by equating them to “criminals.” When Sen. Catherine Miranda (D-11), who is Latina, called him out for it, he threatened to file an ethics complaint against her unless she apologized.
Obviously, Republicans aren’t serious about putting forward any border solutions. On Thursday, US Senate Republicans blocked a bipartisan border security bill for the second time at the behest of Donald Trump — amid news reports that migrant crossings at the US-Mexico border have plunged by 54%.
If that wasn’t enough, in the clearest possible sign that HCR2060 is designed only to score cheap political points, the Arizona Republican Legislative Victory PAC (which exists to prop up and maintain a Republican majority) has already started running ads attacking lawmakers in competitive districts for refusing to support the measure. Sen. Christine Marsh (D-4), one of the targets of those ads, lost a son to an accidental fentanyl overdose. Attacking her for opposing a bill that “addresses the fentanyl crisis” is a pretty clear sign the bill doesn’t do what Republicans are trying to say it does.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Ben Toma (R-27) is telling media he believes he has the votes for final passage of HCR2060 when the House reconvenes on June 4, and that he won't be amending it further. This means, if the likely unconstitutional bill survives its inevitable legal challenges, we may have to fight it at the ballot in November. Experts say we can also expect that ballot to be an unprecedented three pages long, thanks to MAGA Republicans’ obsession with ballot referrals.
After advancing HCR2060 along partisan lines, the Senate adjourned until June 12 — that’s a full three weeks. It’s possible they could come back sooner than that if Senate President Warren Petersen (R-14) gives 24 hours notice, but we're told Petersen plans to let his senators stay home until a budget deal is in place. The constitutionally mandated budget deadline is June 30.
⏰ If you have 10 minutes: Contact your House representatives (or legislative leadership) and ask them to oppose HCR2060. This bill has split firmly along party lines, so if you’re contacting Republicans, remind them that HCR2060 is costing them support from longtime business allies and that it may ultimately cost them majority rule in November. If you’re contacting Democrats, thank them for their fiscal conservatism and basic human decency, and for upholding the US Constitution.
⏰⏰ If you have 30 minutes: Contact Gov. Hobbs and your own lawmakers (or legislative leadership of either party) and ask them to fight for a state budget that does something about our out-of-control ESA voucher problem this year. Save Our Schools Arizona has a handy tool that makes this easy. If you’ve already done this, please do it again! Lawmakers need to hear from us.
⏰⏰⏰ If you have 45 minutes: Arizona desperately needs a different legislature. Find the competitive legislative district nearest you1, then sign up to volunteer for, or donate to, the candidates that best represent your values.
⏰⏰⏰⏰ If you have 60 minutes: Join us on Zoom at 4pm on Sunday for our next CEBV Happy Hour conversation! This week we’ll feature a fascinating peek behind the Capitol curtain with former legislative interns. Stick around for a second hour and you’ll be treated to our brand-new Civics 103 presentation. We’ll meet every Sunday at 4 PM through the end of session. Sign up here.
2024 Session Timeline
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 districts are 2, 4, 9, 13, 16, 17, 23, and 27. (Yes, we’re going to keep repeating this until November 5; why do you ask?)
