COCONINO COUNTY DEMOCRATS ARIZONA LEGISLATIVE ALERT
July 10, 2023
STATUS UPDATE
The Arizona Legislature is currently in recess until July 31. If all members collect per diem, the cost to Arizona taxpayers for this recess from June 12 to July 31 is estimated to be some $222,000. What a waste!
ESA Vouchers remain uncapped. It is estimated that the cost for these vouchers in 2024 will be over $900 Million. None of that is budgeted! Where will the money come from?
It seems that there will be five Ballot Initiatives originated by the Legislature on the November, 2024 ballot. At least for now. Expect more of these to appear in the next legislative session. These are measures that the Legislature wants to get in front of voters and can not be vetoed by the Governor.
The current ballot measures are: (will get Proposition numbers next Spring)
SCR 1006 – boosting criminal penalties for assaulting a first responder and other added fines.
SCR 1015 – makes citizen initiatives almost impossible. It would require initiative petitions to have signatures from at least 10% of ALL 30 Legislative Districts for normal initiatives and 15% for constitutional amendments. Such a requirement would allow any single LD to effectively void any initiative effort.
SCR 1037 – voting machines must be 100% made in the USA??!! And mandates other measures that could compromise voting privacy.
HCR 2033 – enshrines our current direct primary system in the Constitution to block any reforms. Such as ranked-choice or top-two primary voting.
HCR 2039 – requires lawmakers to approve emergency declarations MONTHLY! Has been amended to exclude emergency declarations for fire and floods. Could jeopardize any Federal relief.
Governor Hobbs has been busy! She has issued 15 Executive Orders so far. Most of these deal with protecting reproductive health, transgender children, seeking better school facilities, etc. She has signed 202 bills so far and vetoed 144!! Included in the vetoed bills are 6 bills aimed at preventing state agencies and municipalities from using ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) factors in assessing investment and business dealings with companies. A major win!!
Here is the contact information for our Legislators:
AZ SENATE:
LD 1 – Ken Bennett 602-926-5874
LD 7 – Wendy Rogers 602-926-3042
LD 6 – Theresa Hatathlie 602-926-5160
President Warren Petersen 602-926-4136
Majority Ldr Sonny Borrelli 602-926-5031
Minority Ldr Denise Epstein 602-926-4870
AZ HOUSE:
LD 1 – Selina Bliss 602-926-4018
LD 1 – Quang Nguyen 602-926-3258
LD 7 – David Cook 602-926-5162
LD 7 – David Marshall 602-926-3579
LD 6 – Mae Peshlakai 602-926-3708
LD 6 – Myron Tsosie 602-926-3157
Speaker Ben Toma 602-926-3298
Majority Ldr Leo Biasiucci 602-926-3018
Minority Ldr Andres Cano 602-926-3027
E-Mail Contact for Governor Katie Hobbs:
https://azgovernor.gov/contact/form/contact-governor-hobbs
E-Mail Contacts for Governor Hobbs Staff:
John Owens
Janelle Pedregon