Our 7th year, week 10
The biggest news from the capitol this week was Hobbs’ walk away from budget negotiations, over Republicans’ refusal to go along with her plan to further raid the AZ Education Trust Fund. That raid, initiated with the approval of prop 123, is and has always been, of questionable constitutional validity. Some constitutional scholars claim that neither the governor nor the legislators have the authority to change the terms of this trust, which was part of the Enabling Act.
The March 27 deadline for bills to be held in committees is quickly approaching. As a result, lots of bills experienced action this week, including some of the 400+ that we are tracking. Here are some highlights:
SB1037 – voting; equipment; internet; custody; violation This bill survived a heated battle caused by the introduction of a hostile strike-everything amendment. That amendment, introduced by Rep. Marquez and instigated by SOS Fontes, would have created a considerable amount of disruption of our upcoming elections. SB1037 sill died because it contains language that would allow internet connection to some voting equipment. This otherwise-good bill may come back in the form of a strike everything amendment.
SB1095 – gender transition; minors; prohibitions This bill prohibits physicians or other health professionals from providing a gender transition procedure to a person under 18 years old. It passed with 100% Republican support and 100% Democrat opposition. It is hard to understand why Democrats are OK with doctors performing mutilations on individuals too young to make intelligent decisions about those mutilations.
HB2950 – tourism improvement areas; municipalities; counties This bill enables the formation of yet another taxing district. Like most such schemes, this one also provides tax-funded assistance to businesses. It passes the full house vote handily with bipartisan support. All nine votes against HB2950 came from Republicans.
Bills that are a target of strike everything amendments can be found here.
Bills sent to the governor can be found here.
Bills vetoed by the governor can be found here.
Full list of what happened this week with the bills we are tracking
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