AZ Legislature Week In Review – Week Ending March 6, 2020

Arizona capitol

For those of us that follow what goes on at the state legislature, this has been an exiting week. Next week promises to be just as exiting. Folks who have little or no interest in these matters should reevaluate their positions because what happens at the state capitol has a profound effect on people’s lives. We make it easy for people to get involved by providing the necessary tools, which may be found at the end of this article.

Here are some of the more interesting bills that saw action this week:

SB1036 – empowerment scholarships; third-party administrator; repeal ALLEN, S – Removes the requirement that the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) contract with a third-party administrator to manage Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESAs). Not everyone is enamored with the idea of ESA’s. However, if we have them, this is a good bill because it makes the contracting of a third party administrator optional instead of mandatory. It passed the House Education Committee 11-0-0.

SB1061 – schools; parental rights; posting ALLEN, S – Requires the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) to establish and post, on its website, a statutory handbook of parental rights and requires each school district and charter school to post a link to the handbook on its website. This is a common sense bill. It is too bad that so many parents appear to treat schools as baby sitting entities and show little interest on what goes on. But for those parents that care, this is a big deal. They should be able to know what their rights are. It passed the House Education Committee 10-0-0.

HB2448 – public schools; innovation plans UDALL – Establishes requirements and approval and evaluation procedures for public school innovation plans. Language is too vague. This is not a good bill. It may be well intentioned, but the language is so vague that it is worthless at best and dangerous at worst. But it passed the Senate Education Committee with bipartisan support at 6-2-1.

HB2653 – county stadium districts; annual budget THORPE – Stadium districts must hold public hearings before amending budget. This is a very good transparency bill. It is aimed at shining some light on some stadium districts that may be playing fast and loose with their budget. It was held in the Senate Finance Committee. However, since it sailed thorough the House without one single no vote, it is expected that it will advance soon.

We are in for some lively discussions next week, such as:

HB2084 – international boundary wall; building permits PETERSEN – Prohibits a city, town or county from requiring a nonprofit corporation or property owner to obtain a building or construction permit for construction of an international boundary wall, if certain conditions are met. Establishes a presumption that the state will grant permission for construction of an international boundary wall on state land. This bill barely cleared the House 31-29 along party lines. It is hard to understand why Democrats are so opposed to securing our borders. Do they not lock their doors at night to discourage intruders? HB2084 is scheduled for a hearing in the Senate Government Committee Monday.

HB2790 – baccalaureate degrees; community colleges NUTT – Allows a community college district board to offer four-year baccalaureate degrees that are accredited by a regional accreditation agency approved by the U.S. Department of Education. This bill has bipartisan support, since it passed the House 42-18-0. However, some knowledgeable people are questioning the wisdom of this bill. A very comprehensive analysis may be found elsewhere on the Arizona Daily Independent by clicking HERE. It will be heard in the Senate Education Committee on Tuesday.

SB1020 – ballot measures; proposition 105; disclosure UGENTI-RITA – Requires that ballot initiatives and referenda include notice that once enacted, these measures are virtually impossible to reverse, per Prop 105 (1998). This is a good bill. People should be aware that when they vote in favor of a ballot initiative or referendum, their action will be virtually irreversible. SB1020 will be heard in the House Elections Committee on Tuesday.

SB1224 – (NOW: empowerment scholarships; qualifications; administration; appropriations) ALLEN, S – Allows a qualified student who resides on an Indian reservation to use Arizona Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) monies to attend a nongovernmental school located in an adjacent state within two miles of the reservation boundary. Via amendments, transfers most of the control over ESA’s from the AZ Dept. of Ed. To the AZ School Board of Education. This bill started out as a good, harmless bill aimed at correcting irregularities experienced regarding ESA’s on Indian reservations. Unfortunately, a series of amendments has made this bill very controversial and one that perhaps should be defeated. It will be heard in the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday.

We now have a companion video outlet to compliment this Week in Review report

Then scroll down to the desired edition of AZ Bill Watch 2020.

For information on all the bills we are tracking, check out our weekly calls to action and legislative report, found on Facebook here.

Folks who do not use Facebook can receive those alerts via e-mail by subscribing to our distribution list here.

For general information on the workings of our state legislature, go to our website

As usual, all the information found herein may be verified by going to the legislature website, found at here.

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