This week, number 8, was pretty much a replay of last week. There was near zero committee action, but plenty of full-chamber activity. This was the result of diligent work by members of the legislature to advance their bills out of the original chamber, so that those bills may be sent to the opposite chamber for further consideration.
Another occurrence this week was the obligatory proliferation of the use of strike-everything amendments to bills. Unlike regular amendments, these strike-everything amendments wipe out the whole content of bills and replace them with totally new language. This results in new bills that are cloaked in the original bills’ names, but in practice are totally different bills. There are many reasons for engaging in this sneaky practice. One is to introduce new bills, getting around the deadline for such introductions. Another is to salvage bills that were facing difficulties. As of the time of this writing, 94 strike-everything amendments have been proposed, and 76 have been adopted. A full list of these amendments may be found on the AZLEG website HERE.
As we advance more deeply into this session, we will see an increasing number of bills that have cleared both chambers and have been sent to the governor. As of the time of this writing, that number was still relatively small at 17. Of those, she has vetoed 15 and 2 are still pending. She has not signed any bills yet. The following is a list of links that provide information and facilitate actions by citizens.
RESULTS, ALL BILLS SENT TO GOVERNOR: https://bit.ly/3y0uzvR
GOVERNOR’S LETTERS (Includes veto letters): https://bit.ly/3ZbbtiG
CONTACT GOVERNOR VIA EMAIL: https://bit.ly/3ISEOYk
CONTACT GOVERNOR VIA TELEPHONE: Phoenix: 602-542-4331 Tucson: 520-628-6580
Next week will be a more conventional week, with plenty of both full chamber action and committee hearings. The bulk of the bills that will experience committee hearings are election or election-related bills. More information on this activity may be obtained by clicking HERE
AZBILLWATCH – VIDEO DISCUSSIONS: This is a new project by AZ Peoples Lobbyists. Every week, we choose around 10 of the most important and controversial bills being considered by our legislature, and discuss them in great detail. We end the discussion on each bill by issuing a yes or no recommendation for viewers who wish to contact legislators. These videos may be viewed on YouTube or Rumble.