The U.S. House just passed a new protection for child sex abuse victims at the behest of a survivor advocate that Gov. Katie Hobbs retaliated against.
Kayleigh Kozak, who was sexually molested at 13 years old by a man who was her middle school P.E. teacher and soccer coach, had expressed concern in 2023 that Hobbs’ veto of legislation expanding sex offender notification to schools would protect predators like her abuser.
Kozak was advised leading up to the event that Hobbs didn’t feel comfortable sharing the stage with her due to her criticism.
Now, three years later, the U.S. House has passed H.R. 8481: “Kayleigh’s Law.”
Rep. Abe Hamadeh (AZ-08), a Republican, first introduced the legislation in April as part of a reported promise he made to Kozak and other survivors of child sex abuse on the campaign trail.
https://twitter.com/RepAbeHamadeh/status/2094551606503051434″>https://x.com/RepAbeHamadeh/status/2094551606503051434
Kayleigh’s Law establishes a federal statutory framework requiring federal courts to issue a lifetime no-contact order at sentencing for any defendant convicted of felony crimes that are violent or sexual in nature.
The Arizona legislature was the first to pass Kayleigh’s Law five years ago under a Senate Bill 1412 by Sine Kerr, a state senator at the time. Kerr is currently the lieutenant governor pick for Rep. Andy Biggs, the Republican nominee for governor. Kozak credited Kerr for securing improved protections for child sex abuse victims in Arizona.
“Arizona. Where this all began,” said Kozak. “You listened, understood, and immediately got to work. The efforts to enact Kayleigh’s law began with you!”
https://twitter.com/kayleigh_kozak/status/2094570034571964787″>https://x.com/kayleigh_kozak/status/2094570034571964787
Kozak attempted to continue securing protections for children against sex abusers, but was met with resistance from Hobbs.
Shortly after taking office in the spring of 2023, Hobbs disinvited Kozak as the keynote speaker of the 2023 National Crime Victims’ Rights Week event.
Kozak was disinvited because she had raised concerns over Hobbs’ veto of key legislation backed by survivor advocates. Kozak challenged Hobbs’ actions as keeping loopholes in place that pedophiles would continue to exploit.
“I have been punished and ostracized for speaking my truth,” Kozak told Arizona Daily Independent at the time. “They may have silenced me from giving my keynote speech, but I will not allow the governor or anyone else to tell me or any victim to stay silent.”
I spearhead SB1253 and SB1583 in 2023, both which were vetoed.
I actually tweeted I was DISGUSTED that Hobbs vetoed SB1253, prioritizing protecting pedophiles over innocent children in school.
The next day I received a phone call notifying me that I was disinvited to the… https://t.co/0IbWgGzabx
— Kayleigh Kozak (@kayleigh_kozak) August 20, 2026
Hobbs had vetoed Senate Bill 1253, which would have required parents or guardians who are registered sex offenders to notify their child’s school of their registration status annually. Hobbs claimed the legislation was redundant since the Department of Public Safety (DPS) oversees community notification.
However, State Sen. Janae Shamp, the sponsor, explained during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing of the bill that current law contains a loophole enabling level two and level three sex offenders to enter school campuses without notification to administration.
“The school has no way of knowing outside of literally looking up every single parent’s name to see if they’re part of a registry because right now there is no statute saying they have to notify a school,” said Shamp.
Hobbs also vetoed Senate Bill 1583, which would have required inclusion of certain level one sex offenders on the DPS website for dangerous sex offenders. Kerr also sponsored this bill.
The governor said that current DPS publication requirements were sufficient to notify the community of the most dangerous sex offenders.
However, Kozak and Kerr explained during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing of the bill that prosecutors plead down dangerous sex offenders, meaning they’re excluded from the DPS website even if their crime and risk assessment aligns them with higher-level offenders.
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