COCONINO COUNTY DEMOCRATS ARIZONA LEGISLATIVE ALERT
March 20, 2023
LD 1 / LD 6/ LD 7 REPRESENTATIVE SPONSORED BILLS
HB 2332 – BLISS – OPPOSE – Would require public district and charter schools to provide students with firearms training between grades 6 and 12. Characterized by some as “an attempt to give the NRA a foothold into classrooms” or “pull kids into gun culture”. USE RTS!
PUBLIC SAFETY
SB 1029 – OPPOSE – Would expand Arizona’s first-degree murder law to include deaths by fentanyl, potentially subjecting friends or family of overdose victims to prosecution. USE RTS!
SB 1188 – SUPPORT – Would ban consumer fireworks from being used on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. USE RTS!
SB 1159 – SUPPORT – Would legalize drug testing equipment that is used to identify or analyze the strength, effectiveness or purity of drugs. Currently having such equipment is a felony. This bill would provide another tool to increase public safety and protect against an inadvertent ingestion of dangerous drugs like fentanyl. CONTACT YOUR AZ SENATOR DIREDTLY!
SB 1160 – SUPPORT – Would keep someone who seeks medical help for another person experiencing a drug-related overdose from being arrested for possession or use of drugs. CONTACT YOUR AZ SENATOR DIRECTLY!!
HB 2094 – OPPOSE – Would relax regulations on food trucks. Sponsored by a representative who owns a food truck!! USE RTS!
HB 2667 – OPPOSE – Would ban school governing boards from restricting or prohibiting the parent of a student from carrying or transporting a firearm on school property if the parent possesses a valid concealed weapons permit (something that is ridiculously easy to get). USE RTS
SB 1047 – OPPOSE – Would make it a crime for a person to be within 20 feet of a “dangerous incident” if a police officer said to step back. This would remove transparency in law enforcement by banning the public from observing police in action. Aimed to expand police authority with no accountability. USE RTS! AND CONTACT YOUR AZ SENATOR DIRECTLY!
SB 1250 – OPPOSE – Would force employers to allow employees to claim a religious exemption from the COVID or flu vaccines, or any vaccination FDA-approved for emergency use. Such a claim could not be challenged or questioned. USE RTS AND CONTACT YOUR AZ SENATOR DIRECTLY!
SB 1254 – OPPOSE – Would remove the current requirement that prescribed opioids must have a red cap on the pill container. Such a requirement is meant to warn people that the prescription use should be used with caution. USE RTS AND CONTACT YOUR AZ SENATOR DIRECTLY!
SB 1428 – OPPOSE – Would ban cities from prohibiting or regulating gun shows within their boundaries. Unregulated gun shows can be a magnet for traffickers to obtain large quantities of weapons without background checks. Terrible bill!! USE RTS. AND CONTACT YOUR AZ SENATOR DIRECTLY!
HB 2586 – OPPOSE – Would ban the Arizona Dept of Transportation from using the dynamic message signs over our freeways for anything other than highway or AMBER alerts. This would prevent their use to advise motorists of “no burn” days, state or national park information, wildfire alerts, messages honoring first reponders who die in the line of dugy and elections-related information urging people to vote. This was prompted by MAGA angst over 2020’s “social distancing, wash hands” messages during
COVID. USE RTS! AND CONTACT YOUR AZ HOUSE REPRESENTATIVES DIRECTLY!!
SOCIAL JUSTICE
SB 1197 – SUPPORT – Would ban juvenile courts from billing kids or their parents for detention. USE RTS!
SB 1569 – SUPPORT – Would create a 19-member study committee on Statewide Eviction Prevention and Housing Affordability. CONTACT YOUR AZ SENATOR DIRECTLY!!
EDUCATION
HB 2705 – OPPOSE – Would create a school safety training pilot program that appears intended to qualify teachers and staff to carry concealed weapons! USE RTS!
SB 1546 – SUPPORT – Would set up a $100,000 grant program for district and charter school community gardens. Such gardens offer many benefits to the school students and the community. CONTACT YOUR AZ SENATOR DIRECTLY!
HB 2504 – OPPOSE – Would expand the school tuition organization (STO) voucher program to students in foster care. Just another way to undermine Public Schools. USE RTS!
HB 2523 – OPPOSE – Would require all K-12 students at a public or charter school to recite the Pledge of Allegiance daily. In 1943 the US Supreme Court ruled that no school or government can compel someone to recite the Pledge because forcing them violates the First Amendment. USE RTS
HB 2539 – OPPOSE – Would force the State Board of Education to implement a “public awareness program” that promotes the use of the tax-payer funded ESA voucher program! USE RTS!
HB 2786 – OPPOSE – Would require school boards to notify parents of recommended or funded “training opportunities” for teachers or school administrators. This is intended to ban anything that might be remotely construed to be social-emotional learning. The Horne administration wants to ban anything that might be like “critical race theory”. USE RTS!
SB 1005 – OPPOSE – Would ban parents from having to pay attorney fees or damages if they lose a lawsuit against a public school or teacher (but not ESA-funded private schools or teacher). A further “parents bill of rights” idea being pushed by the Center for Arizona Policy extremist group. USE RTS! AND CONTACT YOUR AZ SENATOR DIRECTLY!
SB 1145 – OPPOSE – Would exempt students at Arizona’s three in-state universities from student activity fees if the student says the payment would “violate their conscience” or objects on religious or moral grounds. Intended to enshrine the culture wars into statue. USE RTS! AND CONTACT YOUR AZ SENATOR DIRECTLY!
SB 1696 – OPPOSE – Would ban district and charter schools from exposing minors to “sexually explicit materials”. The definition is so broad that it would ban many classic works of literature, from Shakespeare to Maya Angelou. USE RTS! AND CONTACT YOUR AZ SENATOR DIRECTLY!
VOTER SUPPRESSION
SB 1135 – OPPOSE – Would force voters who try to return their early ballot at the polls on Election Day to stand in line, surrender their early ballot, show ID and then wait their turn to fill in a fresh ballot. CONTACT YOUR AZ SENATOR DIRECTLY – FLOOR VOTE
HB 2078 – OPPOSE – Would set up a mandatory election audit process that candidates, political parties and PAC’s could exploit. USE RTS!
HB 2319 – OPPOSE – Would declare transparency the overreaching goal for conducting elections and declares existing court opinions on elections do not have any precedent if they conflict with this bill. Poorly written open for a lot of court challenges at our expense. USE RTS!
HB 2415 – OPPOSE – Would further restrict the state’s early voting list (AEVL) by stripping voters if they fail to vote their early ballots in all elections within a given election cycle. USE RTS!
HB 2552 – OPPOSE – Would ban the use of ranked choice voting in Arizona. USE RTS!
HB 2591 – OPPOSE – Would mandate that ballot drop boxes must be located inside a county building or secured to a building or footing. USE RTS!
HB 2613 – OPPOSE – Would ban all electronic voting equipment from primary use unless it meets Department of Defense cybersecurity standards. Unnecessary and based on more conspiracy theories. USE RTS!
HCR 2033 – OPPOSE – Would ask voters to enshrine our current direct primary system in the state constitution -making if nearly impossible to explore other options such as rank-choice voting. USE RTS.
SB 1095 – OPPOSE – Would require early ballot envelopes to include a written warning about delayed results – an attempt to further confuse voters. USE RTS!
SB 1140 – OPPOSE – Would ban county-based voting centers and mandate that counties return to precinct-style voting. The voting center concept is very beneficial – it provides voter convenience, financial savings and increased turnout. USE RTS!
SB 1143 – OPPOSE – Would ban anyone except political parties and election officials from distributing early ballot or early voting request forms to voters. Why shouldn’t regular folks help their neighbors register to vote the way they want to? Could this end early voting sign up at the DMV? USE RTS
SB 1144 – OPPOSE – Would ban “electronic vote adjudication”, – the process to resolve ballots with some errors – a process that is used today only sparingly. No good reason to ban such a practice. USE RTS
SB 1170 – OPPOSE – Would ban unmonitored drop boxes. These are accessible, convenient, reliable and secure and HUGELY POPULAR!! USE RTS!
SB 1595 – OPPOSE – Would make voters present ID in order to drop off their early ballot after 7PM on the Friday before Election Day. This would unnecessarily complicate voting for 20% of all voters and likely result in more ballots being rejected. USE RTS!
SB 1597 – OPPOSE – Would require elections officials to tabulate early ballots on-site at polling places no later than November 2024. There is not appropriation to support this very expensive requirement. USE RTS!
SB 1074 – OPPOSE – Would ban all electronic voting equipment from primary use unless it meets Department of Defense cybersecurity standards. Unnecessary and based on more conspiracy theories. USE RTS! AND CONTACT YOUR AZ SENATOR DIRECTLY!
SB 1105 – OPPOSE – Would require election officials to immediately tabulate early ballots brought to the polls on election day. Such an action is both unnecessary and would compromise the already highly effective and accurate ballot counting process. USE RTS AND CONTACT YOUR AZ SENATOR DIRECTLY!
SB 1565 – OPPOSE – Would ban Arizona elections from using artificial intelligence or learning hardware, firmware, or software. Supporters’ thing AI can be used to maliciously mix up signatures and register dead voters. No such evidence exists. In any case, such technology is not used in Arizona. USE RTS! AND CONTACT YOUR AZ SENATOR DIRECTLY!
SOCIAL SAFETY NET
SB 1544 – SUPPORT – Would raise the monthly stipend for kinship foster care parents (those related to the child) to the same $600 per month that every other foster care parent gets. CONTACT YOUR AZ SENATOR DIRECTLY!!
SB 1167 – OPPOSE – Would tie length of unemployment relief to Arizona’s unemployment rate. This would disproportionately harm rural areas and people of color, who typically have higher rates of unemployment compared to the state average. USE RTS
HB 2108 – OPPOSE – Would add additional requirements and hurdles to those seeking unemployment insurance. Arizona pays the SECOND LOWEST benefit of any state already and the amount hasn’t been raised since 2004!! People who are out of work need help not hinderance! USE RTS!
TAXATION
HB 2003 – OPPOSE – Would slash corporate income taxes nearly in half by 2025. USE RTS!
SB 1260 – OPPOSE – Would accelerate tax cuts on Arizona “small business” income to 2.5%. Most corporations in AZ pay only the minimum tax of $50 anyway. Too many tax cuts!! USE RTS
HEALTH & WELFARE
HB 2338 – SUPPORT – Would expand Arizona’s Medicaid system to include preventative dental care. USE RTS!
HB 2624 – OPPOSE – Would force Arizona’s Medicaid system to redetermine the eligibility of all 2.4 MILLION patients it serves by the end of 2023. The legislation would kick off all patients whose eligibility is unconfirmed, not just those who determined to be ineligible. An estimated 640,000 Arizonans would lose their health care unnecessarily because of this bill! USE RTS! AND CONTACT YOUR AZ HOUSE REPRESENTATIVES DIRECTLY!
LGBTQ RIGHTS
SB 1026 – OPPOSE – Would threaten school funding by prohibiting organizations that receive state tax dollars from hosting “drag shows” to entertain people under 18. The definition of “drag shows” is board enough to include school plays (such as Shakespeare) or football players who dress up as cheerleaders for pep rallies. USE RTS
SB 1698 – OPPOSE – Would add drag shows to a state law about dangerous crimes against children. The bill equates a drag show with an adult-oriented performance and makes it a crime on par with bestiality, child sex trafficking, second-degree murder, and sexual assault. A viewing of “Mulan” or “Hairspray” could result in a class 4 felony, punishable by up to 15 years in prison. Bonkers! USE RTS!
ANTI – EGS LEGISLATION
(Environmental, Social, Governance)
SB 1139 – OPPOSE – Creates definition of “nonpecuniary factor” to mean consideration of corporate governance, social or environmental “nonpecuniary factors”. In short, it would prohibit looking at risk from the sense of good governance, social responsibility, and environmental goals. Organizations against this bill include AZ National Organization for Women and the State Conference NAACP. USE RTS!
SB 1500 – OPPOSE – Would require all state investments be made solely for pecuniary benefit and specifically prohibits boycotting any investment company. Probably intended to prevent boycotting fossil fuels. USE RTS!
SB 1146 – OPPOSE – Would require Arizona’s retirement system to divest from companies that “promote, facilitate or advocate for” abortions for minors, or for “the inclusion of, or the referral of students to, sexually explicit material.” Would hamstring financial managers and prevent effective investments for state, county and local workers. USE RTS! AND CONTACT YOUR AZ SENATOR DIRECTLY!
GOVERNANCE
SCR 1023 – OPPOSE – Would ask voters to amend the state Constitution to repeal charter cities in Arizona. Larger cities can adopt a charter which then supersedes any state law that conflicts with purely municipal affairs. State lawmakers have long hated charter cities since it restricts their ability to mandate things. USE RTS!
SCR 1034 – OPPOSE – Would ask voters to amend the state Constitution to automatically extend the previous year’s budget if lawmakers don’t pass one in time. This would eliminate any incentive or requirement for lawmakers to compromise on spending decisions! USE RTS!
HB 2544 – OPPOSE – Would exempt firearms or ammo that are “modified” in Arizona from federal regulation. This would be a giant loophole to exempt guns from safety provisions. USE RTS!
SB 1009 – OPPOSE – Would make it a felony to damage or destroy any public or private monument or statue. Damaging a statue simply does not rise to a felony magnitude. USE RTS! AND CONTACT YOUR AZ SENATOR DIRECTLY!
SB 1021 – Kavanagh (R-3) – OPPOSE – Would require the Attorney General to defend all laws passed by the legislature against all legal challenges. Clearly an attempt to limit the discretion of the newly elected Democratic Attorney General. USE RTS AND CONTACT YOUR AZ SENATOR DIRECTLY!
SB 1092 – OPPOSE – Would fine the Bar and the state Supreme Court for “infringing” on “political speech” of lawyers. Seems to be intended to aid an freshman lawmaker who is under investigation by the State Bar for filing bad-faith lawsuits over the 2020 election. USE RTS! AND CONTACT YOUR AZ
SENATOR DIRECTLY!
SB 1435 – OPPOSE – Would move attorney licensing in Arizona from the State Bar to the Arizona Supreme Court – neither group supports this. USE RTS! AND CONTACT YOUR AZ SENATOR DIRECTLY!
HB 2309 – OPPOSE – Would ban Arizona and all its counties and cities from complying with US law if it’s inconsistent with Arizona law regarding the authority of the state and local law enforcement agencies. Guess the sponsor of this bill didn’t read the Constitution!! USE RTS! AND CONTACT YOUR AZ SENATOR DIRECTLY!
JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE/ACCOUNTABILITY
HB 2757 – OPPOSE – Would expand retention elections for appeals court judges to be statewide, rather than county wide. A transparent attempt to keep appellate judges from being unseated by diluting the vote. USE RTS!
FREE ENTERPRISE
HB 2404 – SUPPORT – Would ban large commercial brands from terminating a contract with the small business owners who own their stores, “except for good cause”. It would also require written notice if they intend to terminate or not renew the contract. This is aimed at businesses bought out by large private equity firms or billionaires who then demand higher fees or other requirements. USE RTS AND CONTACT YOUR AZ SENATOR DIREDTLY!
WOMEN’S RIGHTS
HB 2427 – OPPOSE – Would lower barriers to filing aggravated assault charges against someone who knowingly attacks a pregnant person and increases mandatory sentencing. A sneaky attempt to codify the concept of “fetal personhood”. USE RTS! AND CONTACT YOUR AS HOUSE REPRESENTATIVE DIRECTLY!
ENVIRONMENTAL
HB 2535 – OPPOSE – Would exempt private water wells on private property from regulation. USE RTS AND CONTACT YOUR AZ HOUSE REPRESENTATIVES DIRECTLY!
HOMELESSNESS
HB 2634 – SUPPORT – Would allow buyers and sellers of real estate to donate to the Housing Trust Fund. This fund is used to support people experiencing homelessness. USE RTS! AND CONTACT YOUR HOUSE REPRESENTATIVES DIRECTLY!
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 Raquel Teran 602-926-3308
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