Making new year’s resolutions is a well-established American tradition. Honoring that tradition, the State Senate Republican Caucus has come up with its own resolutions in the form of a laundry list of goals to accomplish during the 2024 legislative session that will begin January 8. Another well-established American tradition is abandoning new year’s resolutions shortly after January 1. It will be interesting to see how many of these goals come to fruition, especially because almost measures with any substance are very likely to be vetoed by Hobbs.
The newsletter containing these goals also includes a video presentation highlighting some of the proposed actions, and it may be viewed HERE .
The following is a summary of all the items listed.
BUDGET APPROACH:
Close funding gap by good management, not increasing taxes
INFLATION RELIEF:
Address gas prices, housing costs and teacher pay
LAW ENFORCEMENT & MILITARY:
Address the crisis at our southern border
EDUCATION:
Continue parental choice and improve teacher pay
WATER:
The governor’s assessment is flawed. Will find real solutions to water problems
INFRASTRUCTURE:
Allocate funds efficiently to the modes most used by travelers
HEALTH:
Effective delivery and increased oversight
GOVERNMENT:
Reducing bureaucracy, restraining executive authority, and preserving individual liberties
JUDICIARY:
Crack down on crime and stand up for crime victims and their families
ELECTIONS:
Continue to advance legislation in support of transparency and integrity
LITIGATION:
Defend state law, especially when the attorney general fails to do it
Looking through this list, the first question that comes to mind is, did they leave anything out? It seems that they touched on every subject that state governments are likely to get involved in.
While the fate of most of these objectives is questionable, two of the items may have a reasonable chance of success.
One of those items is inflation relief. In 2023, Republicans were successful in providing relief by having Hobbs approve their removal of the residential rental tax. Since this is an election year and voters have shown that they are fed up with government overreach, it is possible that they may get her to go along with the food tax relief that she vetoed in 2023 and their plan to reduce gasoline prices.
View related article on the plan to reduce gasoline prices HERE
The other item that is likely to have traction is the water issue. Years of drought and unchecked population growth in Arizona have brought to the forefront the realization that water is a finite commodity that needs to be managed properly.
If the number of submitted bills is any indication, then water issues will be a major component of the 2024 legislative agenda. Of the 125 bills that have been pre-filed, 25 deal with water issues. It could be that some Democrats will see the light and will go along with some of these bills.
Considering that the 2024 election will be very close, that the Republican legislative majority is razor thin, and that what happens legislatively will have an impact on the election, it is likely that the 2024 legislative session will be quite interesting.