We are on week 7, pretty much half way through the session, if it meets the 100-day goal. As such, we are in the process of crossing over. The bills that survived the House will now go though the same process in the Senate, and the Senate bills will do the same in the House.
As a result, we are seeing very little committee action, but a lot of full chamber action, as members strive to get their bills through the chamber of origin.
But the big news this week centered around the governor’s vetoing of two high profile bills.
SB1184 – municipal tax exemption; residential leases This bill would have brought relief to renters via a prohibition of municipal sales taxes on residential rents. The governor gave as the main reason for the veto, that municipalities need that tax money to provide needed services, like fire and police protection. But not everyone agrees. A full discussion of this issue may be found in a recent AZ Daily Independent article, which may be read by clicking HERE
SB1305 – race; ethnicity; prohibited instruction. This bill would have prohibited the teaching and promotion, by education personnel, of what has been referred to as Critical Race Theory. In all, there were seven actions that would have been prohibited by SB1305. The governor vetoed this bill on the grounds that the local school boards should be autonomous and not be subject to control by the state legislature. Here is a list of the seven actions that the governor thinks education personnel should be free to implement.
- Judging an individual on the basis of the individual’s race or ethnicity.
- That one race or ethnic group is inherently morally or intellectually superior to another race or ethnic group.
- That an individual, by virtue of the individual’s race or ethnicity, is inherently racist or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously.
- That an individual should be invidiously discriminated against or receive adverse treatment solely or partly because of the individual’s race or ethnicity.
- That an individual’s moral character is determined by the individual’s race or ethnicity.
- That an individual, by virtue of the individual’s race or ethnicity, bears responsibility or blame for actions committed by other members of the same race or ethnic group.
- That academic achievement, meritocracy or traits such as a hard work ethic are racist or were created by members of a particular race or ethnic group to oppress members of another race or ethnic group.
To see all the governor’s veto letters, click HERE
To see all the bills that have been sent to the governor, click HERE
Next week, we are going to see pretty much a repeat of this week. Committee action is going to be limited to four Senate bills being heard in the House Education Committee. In other words, full chamber floor action will dominate the activity.
To read about expected action on bills that we are tracking, go to CALL-TO-ACTION
For those readers who are interested in contacting the governor and expressing their opinions, here is the contact information:
Via email: https://azgovernor.gov/contact/form/contact-governor-hobbs
Via telephone: (602) 542-4331