After one of the most contentious House floor debates of the session, SB1074 passed along party lines Wednesday after Rep. Jake Hoffman introduced an anti-Critical Race Theory amendment to an otherwise boring auditing bill that stalled weeks ago.
SB1074 as introduced at the start of the legislative session initially contained language mandating specific auditing activities by cities, towns, counties, and community college districts in an effort to increase public awareness of audit findings. The bill passed various Senate committees and then the full Senate in February on an 18 to 12 vote.
It then sat in the House since March without going before the 60-member chamber for a floor vote. That all changed Wednesday when Hoffman (R-LD12) caught the Democratic caucus off-guard with the introduction of a floor amendment that addressed the controversial concepts of Critical Race Theory.
As passed with Hoffman’s amendment, Arizona Revised Statutes would be changed to ban the state, all state agency, and all political subdivisions of the state such as counties, cities and towns, and community colleges from requiring employees to engage in “training, orientation or therapy that presents any form of blame or judgment on the basis of race, ethnicity or sex.”
In addition, the same public entities would be prohibited from using public monies for the same types of programs. Training related to sexual harassment would not be precluded under the legislation.
Seven concepts of “blame or judgment” grounded in the basis of race, ethnicity, or sex are defined in SB1074, including that one race, ethnic group or sex is inherently morally or intellectually superior to another race, ethnic group or sex; that an individual -by virtue of race, ethnicity or sex- is inherently racist, sexist or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously; that an individual should be invidiously discriminated against or receive adverse treatment partly or solely because of their race, ethnicity or sex; and that one’s moral character is determined race, ethnicity or sex.
The other concepts are that an individual -by virtue of their race, ethnicity or sex- bears responsibility for actions committed by other members of the same race, ethnic group or sex; that an individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish or any other form of psychological distress because of the individual’s race, ethnicity or sex; and that meritocracy or traits such as a hard work ethic are racist or sexist or were created by members of a particular race, ethnic group or sex to oppress members of another race, ethnic group or sex.
The amended bill passed on a party line vote of 31 to 29. It has been transmitted to the Senate, where Republicans have only a 16 to 14 majority. It is unlikely that any Democratic will cross the aisle so all Republicans must support the bill to send it to Gov. Doug Ducey’s desk.
However, its passage in the Senate is uncertain after Sen. Kelly Townsend (R-LD16) announced last week that she will not vote for any bills until the Senate’s audit of Maricopa County’s election is complete.
At least one representative said after Wednesday’s vote that the floor discussion stemmed more from Republican representatives wanting to be able to report to their constituents that they voted for SB1074 even if the bill never makes it out of the Senate.
“I think the Senate will want to spend much more time debating the issues than we did, and Senator Townsend may not be the only one whose vote is in question,” the Representative told Arizona Daily Independent.