NOTE TO EVERYONE!! We have made recommendations on these alerts for 165 bills, both for and against. We have seen two very bad bills fail committee vote – SB1419 and SB1482 and killed dozens more before they were discussed. A total of 32 of the bills we support have successfully moved through the legislative process so far!! Unfortunately, many of those we oppose are also still moving – we have a lot more to do but WE ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE!!
NOT ELIGIBLE FOR RTS
URGENT!! SB1118 OPPOSE – STRIKER – Would expand individual and corporate low-income STO tax credit vouchers to kids who transfer to private schools from being homeschooled or using an ESA for kids who move from out of state. Increases the voucher amount from $4200 to $5600 for grades PreK-8 and from $5500 to $7500 for grades 9-12, and sets the amount to automatically increase by $200 each year. Scheduled for a Senate floor vote on Monday, 2/22!!
Contact Sen. Boyer at /602-926-4173 to ask him to withdraw his bill, then contact Wendy Rogers at /602-926-3042, then contact the Senate President, Karen Fann at /602-926-5874 ASAP!!
USE RTS FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE BILLS LISTED BELOW
Request to Speak is a unique tool that the AZ state legislature has available for Arizonians to make comments opposing or supporting bills making their way through the legislature. To learn more about Request to Speak visit https://www.cebv.us/rts.html
To use Request to Speak visit https://apps.azleg.gov/RequestToSpeak
LEGISLATIVE NOTE: We are in that period of the legislative process where STRIKER or ZOMBIE bills are starting to appear. These are bills in which the original verbiage is removed or stricken and replaced by the language of another bill that has failed to pass somewhere along the line. Often the only thing of the original bill that is retained is its title!! It is a practice to get the bill’s intent passed through apparently acceptable legislative principles but would seem to be less than ethical. Please note there are a lot of these STRIKER bills listed below. Please put in the comments that it’s the STRIKER VERSION you are either supporting or opposing.
BUSINESS REGULATION
HB2005 – OPPOSE – STRIKER – Would block large companies like Google and Apple from restricting the purchase and download of apps to only their proprietary stores. This would force the entire Apple App Store offline, breaking the security safeguards that make Apple software so hard to hack. This is a FTC or antitrust issue and not something the states should legislate. (PUT IN COMMENTS THAT YOU OPPOSE THE STRIKER VERSION)
NATIVE AMERICAN RIGHTS
HB2099 – SUPPORT – Would extend the committee created in 2019 to study murders of indigenous women and girls, expand the work of the committee to all indigenous peoples, and identify targeted solutions to the problem.
SB1558 – SUPPORT – Would appropriate funds for construction on the Ganado School Loop Road, built in 1991, which hasn’t been maintained or upgraded for 28 years. It is the only point of access both to the K-12 schools and for the community hospital.
GOVERNANCE
HCR2037 – OPPOSE – Would ask voters to amend the Arizona constitution to allow the legislature to call itself into session for the purpose of regulating a state of emergency. More effort to prevent governors from dealing with critical emergencies like pandemics.
SB1175 – OPPOSE – HB2248 – OPPOSE – Would prohibit the Arizona Corporation Commission from regulating the types of electric generation used by public service corporations, retroactive to June, 2020, making the commission unable to require clean energy standards. (Use RTS AND e-mail/call our Senator – goes to the Senate floor this week)
SB1119 – OPPOSE – STRIKER – Would allow any member of the Arizona legislature to demand that the Attorney General review a presidential executive order to possibly declare it constitutional. Giving any state legislator free rein to throw a legal tantrum is a waste of taxpayer resources! (PUT IN COMMENTS THAT YOU OPPOSE THE STRIKER VERSION)
SB1459 – OPPOSE – Would subject the Corporation Commission to the administrative review process. Another attempt to prevent the Corporation Commission from requiring state regulated utilities from getting their power from 100% carbon free sources by 2050. (Use RTS AND e-mail/call our Senator – goes to the Senate floor this week)
SB1498 – OPPOSE – Would force county boards of supervisors to increase based on population. This is likely the result of the Legislature’s failed push to hold Maricopa County BOS in contempt for refusing to hand over private ballots. The result would be to expand BOS’s so that they could be packed with conservative representatives. . (Use RTS AND e-mail/call our Senator – goes to the Senate floor this week)
SB1714 – OPPOSE – Would require the “paid for by” disclosures you see on campaign ads to disclose what percentage of contributions came from out of state. Would take up a full 10% of campaign sign’s height to comply. (Use RTS AND e-mail/call our Senator – goes to the Senate floor this week)
SCR1025 – OPPOSE – ALSO HCR2015 – OPPOSE – Would all a constitutional convention for the purpose of creating term limits. There is no way to limit a Constitutional Convention to a stated intent. The result would be a “runaway” convention and thus a whole new form of government would result. (Use RTS AND e-mail/call our Senator – goes to the Senate floor this week)
HB2310 – OPPOSE – STRIKER – Would allow Legislature Council (a group of lawyers responsible for drafting bills for lawmakers) and the Arizona Attorney General to review presidential executive orders for “legality”, then file suit in federal court against those orders. (PUT IN COMMENTS THAT YOU OPPOSE THE STRIKER VERSION) (Use RTS AND e-mail/call our Senator – goes to the Senate floor this week)
HB2702 – OPPOSE – Would block private individuals from selling or giving property to the federal government without express permission from the legislature. The goal is to stop executive actions that could set aside land for national monuments. (Use RTS AND e-mail/call our Senator – goes to the Senate floor this week)
HCR2020 – OPPOSE – Would ask the voters to create a lieutenant governor position for Arizona. That person, instead of the Secretary of State (currently a Democrat) would then become first in line of succession for the governor’s office. . (Use RTS AND e-mail/call our Senator – goes to the Senate floor this week)
HCR2026 – OPPOSE – Would ask voters to change the state constitution to end any state of emergency automatically after 14 days. This is an attempt to constrain the governor’s ability to deal with such things as a pandemic. (Use RTS AND e-mail/call our Senator – goes to the Senate floor this week
LGBTQ RIGHTS
SB1325 – OPPOSE – STRIKER – Would prohibit banning the abusive, widely discredited practice of LGBT “conversion therapy.”!! (PUT IN COMMENTS THAT YOU OPPOSE THE STRIKER VERSION)
SAFETY NETS
SB1411 – OPPOSE – STRIKER – Would raise the unemployment compensation, but ONLY if unemployment rises above 6% or if Arizona is under a state of emergency requiring businesses to pause operations. It ALSO reduces the current 26 week maximum for unemployment benefits under ordinary conditions to 20 weeks!! (PUT IN COMMENTS THAT YOU OPPOSE THE STRIKER VERSION)
VOTING RIGHTS
SB1485 – OPPOSE – STRIKER – (Brings back SB 1069) – Would STRIP VOTERS from the Permanent Early Voting List if they fail to vote their early ballots in two back-to-back primary and general elections AND strike the word “permanent” from statute. (PUT IN COMMENTS THAT YOU OPPOSE THE STRIKER VERSION)
SB1593 – OPPOSE – Would make a host of voting-related changes, none of them good. It shortens the early voting period from 27 to 22 days, specifies early ballots must be received by 7 pm on Election Day, adds a second “privacy envelope” and makes voters surrender their early ballots in order to vote in person.
SCR1006 – OPPOSE – STRIKER – Would ask voters to change the Arizona Constitution to require the legislature to hold a special session after every presidential election to review the results. It would give the legislature the sole authority to appoint presidential electors – effectively asking voters to give up their right to select the president!! (PUT IN COMMENTS THAT YOU OPPOSE THE STRIKER VERSION)
SB1613 – OPPOSE – Would require all election results to remain in the US and for all election equipment, including computers, paper and other supplies to be made only in the USA. An unnecessary conspiracy-theory driven bill. (Use RTS AND e-mail/call our Senator – goes to the Senate floor this week)
SB1713 – OPPOSE – Would require voters to send their early ballots back with proof of their eligibility to vote: an early ballot affidavit with their date of birth and a copy of their ID! Clearly designed to make it harder to vote. (Use RTS AND e-mail/call our Senator – goes to the Senate floor this week)
SB1793 – OPPOSE – Would require, rather than permit, the Secretary of State to compare the records of deaths with the statewide voter registration database and purge deceased voters. Eligible voters often end up being removed by mistake and federal law strictly governs how close to an election these purges can take place. . (Use RTS AND e-mail/call our Senator – goes to the Senate floor this week)
HCR2001 – OPPOSE – Would place more hurdles in the ballot initiative process which is constitutionally protected.
EDUCATION
SB1109 – OPPOSE – Nullifies the Prop 208 tax increase, and chains individual income tax rates to state growth so that they can never increase, starting in 2022. (Use RTS AND e-mail/call our Senator – goes to the Senate floor this week)
SB1456 – OPPOSE – Would ban sex-ed and AIDS instruction before the 5th grade; makes classes opt-in with written permission (rather than opt-out); and bans discussing gender identity and gender expression without parental consent. (Use RTS AND e-mail/call our Senator – goes to the Senate floor this week)
SB1783 – OPPOSE – Would create a new “small business taxpayer” category with pre-Prop 208 tax rates. The bill would be retroactive to 2020, effectively nullifying the tax increase voters just passed in November. (Use RTS AND e-mail/call our Senator – goes to the Senate floor this week)
SCR1044 – SUPPORT – Would ask voters to make students who attend high school in Arizona for 2 years before graduating eligible for in-state tuition regardless of their immigration status. (Use RTS AND e-mail/call our Senator – goes to the Senate floor this week)
WOMEN’S RIGHTS
SB1362 – OPPOSE – WENDY ROGERS – Would add medical students to the list of providers who can refuse to assist with abortion-related services. All medical professionals would be allowed to refuse to dispense emergency contraception, as well as to cite ethical grounds and simply state verbally that they will not assist. There would be no protections for patients, even in an emergency. (Use RTS AND e-mail/call our Senator – goes to the Senate floor this week)
SB1381 – OPPOSE – WENDY ROGERS – Would ban ending a pregnancy on the basis of any disability in the fetus, even one incompatible with life. (Use RTS AND e-mail/call our Senator – goes to the Senate floor this week)
BUSINESS REGULATION
SB1392 – OPPOSE – Would provide a tax cut to wealthy business owners, allowing them to use business losses in previous years to reduce their taxes in profitable years. There is no estimate of the cost ot the general fund for this bill. (Use RTS AND e-mail/call our Senator – goes to the Senate floor this week)
HB2549 – OPPOSE – Would require a separate “probable cause hearing” to be held for every COVID-related civil action, with the plaintiff bearing the burden of proof. This is a high bar for civil action. Seems designed to favor businesses over the public. (Use RTS AND e-mail/call our Senator – goes to the Senate floor this week)
HB2827 – OPPOSE – Would ban a government entity or financial institution from “discriminating” against a weapons manufacturer by refusing to provide services, and would allow the firearms manufacturer to file a civil action for damages. (Use RTS AND e-mail/call our Senator – goes to the Senate floor this week)
PUBLIC SAFETY
SB1486 – SUPPORT – Would legalize test strips to detect fentanyl in drugs. Fentanyl is the most dangerous new drug in a generation: strong, cheap and often mixed into illicit opioids to make them more profitable. (Use RTS AND e-mail/call our Senator – goes to the Senate floor this week)
HB2575 – OPPOSE – Bans hospitals from denying clergy visitation rights, including during a pandemic. The bill makes NO provision for infection control training, fit-tested personal protective equipment, self-quarantine after exposure, or an acknowledgement of risks. . (Use RTS AND e-mail/call our Senator – goes to the Senate floor this week)
HB2623 – SUPPORT – Would prohibit the use of consumer fireworks between 10pm and 8am on all days. (Use RTS AND e-mail/call our Senator – goes to the Senate floor this week)
HB2751 – SUPPORT – Would limit a judge’s ability to issue so-called “no-knock warrants”, which allow police to enter a building without knocking or announcing themselves. (Use RTS AND e-mail/call our Senator – goes to the Senate floor this week)
HB2764 – SUPPORT – Clarifies the process for revoking a concealed-weapons permit from someone being sentenced for a felony or being served an order of protection. (Use RTS AND e-mail/call our Senator – goes to the Senate floor this week)
HB2770 – OPPOSE – Would exempt businesses from enforcing mask mandates. (Use RTS AND e-mail/call our Senator – goes to the Senate floor this week)
HB2840 – OPPOSE – Would allow parents to bypass gun-free zones at public schools and keep loaded and unlocked weapons within reach in their cars while dropping off and picking up children. (Use RTS AND e-mail/call our Senator – goes to the Senate floor this week)
SAFETY NETS
HB2766 – SUPPORT – Would waive fees for state IDs for people experiencing homelessness. (Use RTS AND e-mail/call our Senator – goes to the Senate floor this week)
HB2805 – SUPPORT – Would increase unemployment compensation to $300 a week beginning in 2022, paid for by slightly raising the taxable wage base to $8,000. Arizona pays the second lowest unemployment benefit of any state and hasn’t been raised since 2004!! (Use RTS AND e-mail/call our Senator – goes to the Senate floor this week)
FREE ASSEMBLY
HB2309 – OPPOSE – Would bar anyone who participates in a riot or unlawful assembly from every working for the state or obtaining scholarships or welfare benefits. Many of last year’s BLM protests in Phoenix were declared “unlawful” by police. This bill is just another way of throwing the book at peaceful protesters. (Use RTS AND e-mail/call our Senator – goes to the Senate floor this week)
ENVIRONMENT
HB2691 – OPPOSE – STRIKER – Would create a new regulatory program in Arizona for some water bodies that, in the wake of Trump-era deregulation, are no longer federally protected. Representatives of the mining industry, agriculture and developers support this!! (PUT IN COMMENTS THAT YOU OPPOSE THE STRIKER VERSION) . (Use RTS AND e-mail/call our Senator – goes to the Senate floor this week)
If you have questions about the Coconino Democrats Legislative Committe please reach out to Darrell Boomgaarden at
If you need help troubleshooting RTS or have any technical difficulties please feel free to reach out to Kyle Nitschke at or (480) 560-4652
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