In this 13th week of the 2022 legislature, we find ourselves getting dangerously close to the 100-day preferred adjournment point. Will our legislators be able to complete their job in the few days left, or will we go into an extended session, a la 2021? It looks more and more like we are in for a long session.
There was precious little activity at the legislature, and none concerning bills that we have been tracking.
There are two possible explanations for the near total halt in activity.
It seems that it is customary to hold bills that involve appropriations for use as bargaining chips during the budget process. That process is being delayed because there is at least one republican legislator who is holding out until his unreasonable demand for extra school funding is met.
The two reasons we are between a rock and a hard place are the current composition of the legislature and the disruptive nature of the democrats. The democrats will not assist republicans unless ridiculously unacceptable concessions are made. With only one vote republican majority, any one of 47 republicans has the ability to hold the process hostage to his/her demands. Unfortunately, one unscrupulous republican legislator has chosen to do that, placing personal gain ahead of doing what is best for the state.
The only short-term solution may end up being appeasement of the renegade republican. Long term, the only solution is for republicans to make increasing their majority an all-hands-on-deck, top priority project.
On the governor’s side of our state government, there was some progress. This week, 12 new bills were sent to the governor, and he signed all of them. Again, there was no opportunity for citizens to express their opinions on these bills. Also, we are seeing that extremely few bills dealing with core grassroots issues have survived the legislative process.
For a complete list of bills that have seen post legislative action, go to
https://apps.azleg.gov/BillStatus/SearchChapteredTransmittedTo
Hopefully, there will be more positive activity next week, but we are not holding our breath, because we see no indication that improvement is forthcoming.