First, a notice to conservative readers regarding signing of initiative petitions.
At AZ Peoples Lobbyists we are supporting only two measures on the November ballot, one deals with voter identification requirements, and the other deals with building the border fence. Both of these measures are already been placed on the ballot as the result of legislative action, so there is no legitimate signature gathering action regarding them. If you are approached about signing a petition for a ballot initiative, decline to sign, or at least postpone signing until you have read very carefully what it entails.
On this 12th week of the current legislative session, there was a lot of activity both from the governor and the legislature, most of it good, although some bad stuff did get through.
Governor’s Activity:
As of the time of this writing, the legislature has transmitted to the governor 107 bills. Of those, 106 have been signed and none has been vetoed. Those signed bills included five that are very important to conservatives:
HB2492 – voter registration;verification; citizenship
The enacting of this bill would have been an important victory for conservatives under any circumstances. Considering how few election integrity bills are still surviving, this is a huge victory.
The Left has wasted no time in registering its objection, claiming voter suppression, and initiating law suits. They are pinning their hopes on the precedent set by the supreme court’s action on proposition 200, but their claims are bogus for a variety of reasons.
Without getting into a long dissertation, there is a huge difference between the major provision of HB2492 and Prop 200. Under Prop 200, people would have been prohibited to vote simply by not providing proof of citizenship. While it is prudent to assume that those who do not provide proof are not citizens, such assumption does not pass constitutional muster. On the other hand, HB2492 requires an investigation to determine citizenship. Only when that investigation fails to show citizenship, do the provisions of HB2492 come into effect. It would be wise for folks on our side to keep this in mind when facing unconstitutionality arguments from the other side.
HB2107 – emergency powers; business closure; repeal.
Another area where common sense bills have been failing miserably is logical and reasonable response to pandemics. One notable exception is HB2107. It prohibits the closing of businesses by government entities, using the pandemic as an excuse.
SB1138 – gender transition; prohibitions; public monies
This bill remained a strong, important bill even after it was amended. It is unconscionable that any medical professional would even remotely contemplate performing this type of irreversible surgery on a minor. But unfortunately, they do, and fortunately, our elected officials have come to the children’s rescue by enacting SB1138.
SB1164 – abortion; gestational age; limit
It is extremely difficult to establish a difference between abortion after the 15th week of gestation and outright infanticide. This is definitely a step in the right direction.
SB1165 – interscholastic; intramural athletics; biological sex
The naming of this bill as the “Save Women’s Sports Act” is quite appropriate, because allowing men to compete in women’s sports would make it nearly impossible for women to win. And this bill has provided another, very important, benefit. It has exposed the high degree of hypocrisy among Democrats because not one single Democrat voted in favor of this bill. They do everything possible to oppress women, while claiming to protect them.
For a complete list of the bills that have been sent to the governor, signed by the governor, and/or sent to the secretary of state, go to
https://apps.azleg.gov/BillStatus/SearchChapteredTransmittedTo
If you wish to contact the governor, you may do so as follows:
by email at https://azgovernor.gov/engage/form/contact-governor-ducey or
by phone at Phoenix: 602.542.4331 Tucson: 520.628.6580
At the legislature, it was the last week for committee hearings, and those hearings were limited to the appropriations committees in both chambers. They did not fare as well as the governor in terms of good outcomes during this last week of committee hearings. While most of the news is good, there were some disappointing votes.
Here are some examples of what they did right.
HCR2001 – racial discrimination; public education
Advancing this bill was a positive move toward prohibiting our schools from teaching and promoting what has been euphemistically referred to as critical race theory. In reality it is nothing but a promotion of the sentiments expressed in the first few sentences of the first chapter of the Communist Manifesto. Those who think that this is an exaggeration, should read, if not the whole manifesto, at least the first chapter. An online version may be found at https://www.fulltextarchive.com/pdfs/The-Communist-Manifesto.pdf
SB1412 – baccalaureate degrees; substitute certificates (NOW: race; ethnicity; sex; classroom instruction).
The language in this bill is similar to that found in HCR2001, but in the case of SB1412 it is a regular bill that will not require voter approval once passed by the legislature and signed by the governor.
SB1211 – (NOW: materials; activities; review; posting; schools)
While not perfect, this bill is a giant step forward in the fight for transparency in the area of public education.
For more good news, these two bad bills thankfully failed.
SB1180 – (NOW: COVID-related; expenditures; reporting; federal funds) (NOW campaigns; expenditures; commission; appropriation)
SCR1018 – essential employees; pandemic (NOW legislature; terms; salaries; commission)
Both bills had similarly bad provisions, including a huge pay increase for legislators.
But not all news was good at the legislature. On the bad side of the ledger, three awful bills advanced, all with the help of Republicans.
SB1643 – research; development; tax credits
One interesting aspect of this bill is that 4 out of the 5 Democrats voted in favor. Imagine that, Democrats voting in favor of corporate welfare! What would their constituents think if they knew? It is disheartening that 5 Republicans also voted in favor of corporate welfare.
SB1710 – sports; tourism; film authority; appropriation
We did a little better here because only 4 Republicans voted for this corporate welfare bill.
HB2543 – appropriation; training simulators
This is another corporate welfare bill, which is very interesting for two reasons. First, it is truly a sneaky bill because the published short title conceals the fact that it is a strike-all amended bill. Second, it is noteworthy that all members of the committee, both Democrats and Republicans voted YES
For a complete report on the bills that we have been tracking, including links to the text of the bills themselves, go to REPORT
For a sneak peek at this and other measures coming up next week, click on UPCOMING
For a lot of tools and information to assist grassroots activists, go to https://azpeopleslobbyist.com/