AZ PEOPLESLOBBYIST ACTIVITY REPORT

AZ PEOPLESLOBBYIST ACTIVITY REPORT

HOW THE VOTE WENT ON BILLS WE ARE TRACKING – 2024 SESSION

  © Jose Borrajero               Updated 03/22/2024

For videos of lively discussions of some of the bills we are tracking, go to our YouTube channel at:

https://www.youtube.com/@AZBILLWATCH/playlists

Footnotes:

  • For more information on any bill, a) click on its bill number, or b) go to BILL SEARCH and enter bill number
  • This is the committee that heard the bill. Third reading and final reading are votes in the full chamber.
  • Indicates results: P = Passed, F = Failed    Numbers indicate YES votes, NO votes and ABSTENTIONS

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BILL # AND SHORT TITLE

 

(1)

 

 

WHERE VOTE TOOK PLACE

 

(2)

 

 

DATE

 

SPONSOR AND/OR WHAT THE BILL DOES

 

COMMENTS  

HOW THE VOTE WENT

 

(3)

HB2086 – county school superintendents; qualifications House Education 01/16/2024 Hendrix – Removes the requirement that a county school superintendent hold a basic or standard teaching certificate The duties of county school superintendent do not include classroom teaching. This is an administrative office Therefore the requirement of holding a teaching certificate does not make any sense P-6-4-0
HB2089 – community colleges; expenditure limitation House Education 01/16/2024 Hendrix – Modifies the state aid amounts to be withheld from a community college district (CCD) that exceeds its expenditure limitation in FYs 2025, 2026 and 2027 The provisions of this statute should never be met because the limit on expenditures is so generous. It takes into account both enrollment growth and cost of living growth, PLUS another 10% on top of that. P-6-4-0
HB2095 – scholarships; requirements; foster care students House Education 01/16/2024 Parker, B – Allows foster care students to receive a school tuition organization (STO) educational scholarship or tuition grant (scholarship) funded through the individual credit for contributions to certified STOs (switcher credit) or the corporate credit for contributions to STOs for low-income scholarships (low-income credit) This bill merely adds children in foster care to be added to the list of students eligible to receive STO assistance. P-6-4-0
SB1003 – prohibition; photo radar Senate Transportation, Technology and Missing Children 01/16/2024 Rogers – Prohibits the use of photo radar anywhere in the state

Legislative intent:

Pursuant to section 41-1107, Arizona Revised Statutes, the legislature intends to:

1. Keep the enforcement of the laws in this state in the hands of trained law enforcement officers who are authorized by the people of this state to enforce the laws.

2. Protect the citizens of this state from the abuses that accompany the outsourcing of law enforcement to private, for-profit entities.

3. Ensure that the purpose of law enforcement remains to serve and protect and not to generate revenue for governments.

This photo radar scam needs to be eliminated

 

Includes a legislative intent clause, to make it clear what was intended. All legislative bills should have this provision, so that 5 or 10 years later a court of law does not have to grapple with the question of what the law was intended to do

P-4-3-0
SB1010 – vehicle mileage; tracking; tax; prohibitions Senate Transportation, Technology and Missing Children 01/16/2024 Hoffman – This is a freedom to travel bill.

1. Prohibits planning to set travel reduction goals

2. Prohibits tracking to find out how many miles [people have traveled

3. Prohibits taxing based on distance traveled.

Aimed at heading off the Soviet-like attempts by some government entities to limit people’s freedom to travel and move as free citizens HELD
SB1011 – general plan; transportation; independent study Senate Transportation, Technology and Missing Children 01/16/2024 Hoffman – The two major provisions of this bill are:

1. The general plan for each municipality may not include transportation or land use policies or projects that reduce overall system capacity of motor vehicle traffic.

2. If the general plan includes a reduction in the level of service of any arterial street, including reducing the speed or capacity of the arterial street, the municipality shall conduct an independent study on the impact on emergency vehicle response times.

This bill is designed to head off the increasing demand by local governments to impose all kinds of restrictions on motor vehicle travel, without properly assessing the negative effects of such moves. HELD
SCR1001 – photo radar prohibition Senate Transportation, Technology and Missing Children 01/16/2024 Rogers – Same bill as SB1003, but if passed it goes to the people for a vote. Safety measure in anticipation that Hobbs will veto SB1003 This photo radar scam needs to be terminated.

This bill is designed to do that via a ballot measure, in anticipation of a Hobbs veto of SB1003

HELD
SCR1002 – prohibit tax; monitoring; vehicle mileage Senate Transportation, Technology and Missing Children 01/16/2024 Hoffman – This is a freedom to travel bill which if passed will be submitted to the voters for approval “This state or any county, city, town, municipal corporation or other political subdivision of this state shall not impose a tax or fee on any person based on vehicle miles traveled or impose any rule or law to monitor or limit the vehicle miles traveled of a person in a motor vehicle.” This is a ballot measure version of SB1010.

It is aimed at bypassing a likely Hobbs veto of SB1010

HELD
HB2064 – school safety zone; offenses; sentencing House Judiciary 01/17/2024 Bliss – Authorizes a court to increase the applicable sentencing range by up to five years for a person who is convicted of a felony offense in a school safety zone if the person is in a position of trust and is convicted of a qualifying sexual offense, in addition to other sentence enhancements that may apply. These are bad enough crimes, but they are even worse when the perpetrator is in a position of trust by the victim. HELD
HB2042 – food preparation; sale; cottage food House Regulatory Affairs 01/17/2024 Grantham – Sets forth guidelines for cottage food products. Similar to the tamale bill that was vetoed by Hobbs last session P-6-0-0
HB2088 – bond; override; contributions; contracts; prohibition House Regulatory Affairs 01/17/2024 Hendrix – Prohibits contractors from bidding on projects that were created as a result of bond issues or budget overrides which the contractor helped fund This bill prohibits an obvious conflict of interest. P-4-2-0
HB2183 – parental rights; medical records House Health & Human Services 01/22/2024 Willoughby – Adds to the parent’s bill of rights that health care entities shall give a parent equivalent access to any electronic portal and any other health care delivery platform.

This applies even if the delivery does not require parental approval

Enhances the parent’s bill of rights, ARS1-602, to include new technology P-6-4-0
HB2120 – law enforcement; defunding; prohibition House Military Affairs & Public Safety 01/22/2024 Marshall – Cities may not reduce law enforcement budgets below previous year. If they do, the state will withhold from shared revenue an amount equal to the reduction This bill aims to head off the calls to defund the police HELD
SB1008 – voter registration events; posting Senate Elections 01/22/2024 Hoffman – When the secretary of state or any county recorder does a voter registration drive, the event has to be posted on their public websites. Transparency. This is aimed at preventing partisan voter registration events P-5-3-0
SCR1006 – property tax; refund; nuisance enforcement Senate Finance and Commerce 01/22/2024 Petersen – Allows property owners to apply for refund of property taxes if the taxing government entity fails to enforce the law, and causes the property owner to experience a reduction in the property’s fair value or requires spending money to remedy the situation Aimed mostly at the destruction caused by homeless encampments P-4-3-0
SB1010 – vehicle mileage; tracking; tax; prohibitions Senate Transportation, Technology and Missing Children 01/22/2024 Hoffman – This is a freedom to travel bill.

1. Prohibits planning to set travel reduction goals

2. Prohibits tracking to find out how many miles [people have traveled

3. Prohibits taxing based on distance traveled.

Aimed at heading off the Soviet-like attempts by some government entities to limit people’s freedom to travel and move as free citizens P-4-3-0
SB1011 – general plan; transportation; independent study Senate Transportation, Technology and Missing Children 01/22/2024 Hoffman – The two major provisions of this bill are:

1. The general plan for each municipality may not include transportation or land use policies or projects that reduce overall system capacity of motor vehicle traffic.

2. If the general plan includes a reduction in the level of service of any arterial street, including reducing the speed or capacity of the arterial street, the municipality shall conduct an independent study on the impact on emergency vehicle response times.

This bill is designed to head off the increasing demand by local governments to impose all kinds of restrictions on motor vehicle travel, without properly assessing the negative effects of such moves.

Failed when CARROLL joined Dems in their NO vote

 

F-3-4-0
SB1012 – transportation system performance; ADOT Senate Transportation, Technology and Missing Children 01/22/2024 Hoffman – Adds requirements and restrictions to the Transportation Planning Division’s  transportation system performance factors,  as modified.   P-4-3-0
SCR1001 – photo radar prohibition Senate Transportation, Technology and Missing Children 01/22/2024 Rogers – Same bill as SB1003, but if passed it goes to the people for a vote. Safety measure in anticipation that Hobbs will veto SB1003  

This photo radar scam needs to be terminated.

This bill is designed to do that via a ballot measure, in anticipation of a Hobbs veto of SB1003

Failed when CARROLL joined Dems in their NO vote

 

F-3-4-0
SCR1002 – prohibit tax; monitoring; vehicle mileage Senate Transportation, Technology and Missing Children 01/22/2024 Hoffman – This is a freedom to travel bill which if passed will be submitted to the voters for approval “This state or any county, city, town, municipal corporation or other political subdivision of this state shall not impose a tax or fee on any person based on vehicle miles traveled or impose any rule or law to monitor or limit the vehicle miles traveled of a person in a motor vehicle.” This is a ballot measure version of SB1010.

It is aimed at bypassing a likely Hobbs veto of SB1010

P-4-3-0
HB2178 – universities; student fees; clubs; organizations House Education 01/23/2024 Kolodin – If public moneys are used to fund organizations or clubs, the following applies, allow each student who is charged tuition and fees to select one or more student organizations or clubs, or both, to receive a pro rata share of the monies that are transferred. Prohibits the practice of funding one organization or club over another P-5-4-0
HB2246 – purple star school designation; requirements House Education 01/23/2024 Payne – the purple star school program is established within the department of education to identify schools in this state that provide transition support to military students and their families. The department may adopt policies and procedures to implement this section. The benefits of this bill accrue to children of both active military and veterans. Children of active military have special needs because of frequent relocation, but it is not clear why it would apply to children of veterans.

This bill provides other measures aimed at supporting military service.

P-9-0-0
HB2311 – schools; enrollment preference; armed forces House Education 01/23/2024 Grantham – Extends charter school enrollment preference to children of a member of the armed forces of the United States who either is on active duty or was killed in the line of duty. As long as we have enrollment preferences, this is a worthy one P-9-0-0
HB2096 – tiny homes; construction; requirements; exemptions House Natural Resources, Energy & Water 01/23/2024 Parker, B – Aims at making it easier and more affordable for people to build small homes in residential rural areas, by stating:

“Notwithstanding any other law, a county may not require a building permit for constructing one single-family home, one accessory dwelling unit or one detached garage on a lot if all of the following apply”:

It lists a rather large list of requirements that must be met for this measure to apply.

This will help alleviate the low supply and affordability of housing in residential rural lands P-5-4-0
HB2097 – gray water; definition; residential standards House Natural Resources, Energy & Water 01/23/2024 Parker, B. – This is a water conservation measure. It allows the recycling of residential gray water if certain conditions are met It does not make sense to use valuable and scarce potable water when gray water may be used without creating a health hazard P-5-4-0
HB2080 – elections; municipal vacancies; primary House Municipal Oversight & Elections 01/24/2024 Hendrix – Sets forth how to determine the winner in municipal primary elections   P-8-1-0
HB2393 – presidential preference; parties; voting methods House Municipal Oversight & Elections 01/24/2024 Kolodin – Sets forth election requirements for those parties that choose not to participate in the publicly administered presidential preference election.   P-5-4-0
HB2547 – voting centers ban; precinct size House Municipal Oversight & Elections 01/24/2024 Jones – Limits the number of voters in precincts to 1,000 registered voters.

Prohibits the use of voting centers

Re-establishes voting by precinct

Identical bill, HCR2032 is a voter referral bill

 

P-5-4-0
HCR2032 – voting centers; precinct voting House Municipal Oversight & Elections 01/24/2024 Jones – Limits the number of voters in precincts to 1,000 registered voters.

Prohibits the use of voting centers

Re-establishes voting by precinct

It is an identical, voter referral bill, to HB2547

P-5-4-0
SB1097 – school districts; partisan elections Senate Education 01/24/2024 Wadsack – Requires that school board elections be conducted by partisan primaries followed by general elections In reality, these positions have been consistently partisan. This bill forces candidates to disclose their partisan stance P-4-3-0
SB1005 – public monies; ideology training; prohibition Senate Government 01/24/2024 Hoffman – Prohibits a public entity from requiring or spending public monies on a diversity, equity and inclusion program (DEI program) and allows an employee who is required to participate in the program to bring an action against the public entity. Prohibits a public entity from entering into a contract with a company that participates in a DEI program. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs are re-incarnations of the CRT scheme, which chooses winners and losers based on their race or sex. They have no place in a free society.

This bill aims at heading off these programs.

P-5-3-0
SB1014 – business; discrimination prohibition; social criteria Senate Government 01/24/2024 Hoffman – Prohibits a financial institution, insurer or credit reporting agency from discriminating against any person based on a political affiliation, or other social credit, environmental, social, or governmental score or similar values-based or impact criteria. Financial institutions should base their decisions on the financial picture of their customers, not on any other criteria P-5-3-0
SB1056 – municipalities; counties; fee increases; vote Senate Government 01/24/2024 Petersen – Holds counties, cities, and towns to the same requirement as the state of a 2/3 requirement for passing tax increases Raising taxes and fees should happen only when there is a very compelling reason to do so. This measure in a step toward that P-5-3-0
SCR1007 – firearms; contracts; prohibited practices Senate Military Affairs, Public Safety and Border Security 01/24/2024 Carroll – Ballot referral – Prohibits public entities from contracting with companies that discriminate against firearm entities or firearms trade association Discriminating against entities that exercise the 2nd amendment are as bad as those that discriminate against any other rights P-4-3-0
SB1007 – schools; sexually explicit materials; classification Senate Judiciary 01/25/2024 Hoffman – Classifies a violation of the prohibition on any public school referring a student to or using any sexually explicit materials in any manner as a class 5 felony. Adds teeth to statutes prohibiting schools from promoting sexually explicit materials P-4-3-0
HB2402 – DCS; investigations; interviews; recording House Health & Human Services 01/29/2024 Gress – If the department of child safety conducts an investigation, then, with few exceptions, the department shall audiotape or videotape any interview that the department conducts with a child pursuant to the investigation The best way to assure accuracy is to have a recording of interviews P-10-0-0
HB2442 – school immunizations; exclusions House Health & Human Services 01/29/2024 Montenegro – Adds to the list of immunizations that are not required for school attendance an immunization for which a united states food and drug administration emergency use authorization has been issued Children should not be required to be injected with unproven substances as a condition to attend school P-6-4-0
HB2117 – workers’ compensation; occupational disease; presumption House Military Affairs & Public Safety 01/29/2024 Payne – Modifies how the results of firefighter pre-employment exams are treated. Adds a Legislative Intent clause. The legislature intends that reoccurring cancers are eligible for coverage under section 23-901.09, Arizona Revised Statutes, as amended by this act. This bill is enhanced by the inclusion of a legislative intent clause. All bills should contain such a clause, so there is no doubt as to what the legislature intended P-14-0-0
HB2120 – law enforcement; defunding; prohibition House Military Affairs & Public Safety 01/29/2024 Marshall – Cities may not reduce law enforcement budgets below previous year. If they do, the state will withhold from shared revenue an amount equal to the reduction This bill aims to head off the calls to defund the police HELD
HB2322 – peace officers; discipline; modification House Military Affairs & Public Safety 01/29/2024 Payne – Modifies the way hearings on appeals are conducted to increase fairness to the employee(s) involved. This bill improves the likelihood that disciplinary actions are fair and appropriate P-14-0-0
SB1148 – income tax; rebate; seniors Senate Finance and Commerce 01/29/2024 Kern – Issues a one-time individual income tax rebate to seniors who paid AZ income tax Good idea. Retirees, who are mostly on fixed incomes, are more greatly affected by Bidenomics. A flaw in this bill is that it does not state the amount of the rebate or how to calculate it P-4-3-0
SB1167 – social credit; discrimination; financial services Senate Finance and Commerce 01/29/2024 Kavanagh – This bill contains a lot of provisions, but it boils down too this: It prohibits financial institutions to discriminate for any reason other than the financial worthiness of the customer Too many financial institutions have decided to advance their political agenda by rewarding those individuals that agree with them and refuse service to those who do not. P-4-3-0
HB2645 – foster children; high school; transfer House Education 01/30/2024 Jones – This applies to grades 9-12. The state board of education shall develop guidelines for charter schools and school districts to consider when developing policies regarding the calculation of academic credits, including partial credits, for foster children who transfer schools pursuant to a best interest educational placement determination. Foster Children are more likely to move. This ensures that school credits are properly transferred. P-10-0-0
SB1058 – schools; academic standards; personal finance Senate Education 01/31/2024 Mesnard – Requires the State Board of Education (SBE) to include a half-credit course on personal finance in the social studies high school competency requirements and to adopt rules that establish a voluntary personal finance endorsement for certificated high school teachers. This bill has two great provisions:

1. The current statues requires a vague mention of economics and personal finance. This bill defines what those should be.

2. It encourages teachers to become proficient in this subject so that they can teach it properly

P-6-1-0
SB1003 – prohibition; photo radar Senate Third Reading 01/31/2024 Rogers – Prohibits the use of photo radar anywhere in the state

Contains a

Legislative intent:

 

This photo radar scam needs to be eliminated

 

Includes a legislative intent clause, to make it clear what was intended. All legislative bills should have this provision, so that 5 or 10 years later a court of law does not have to grapple with the question of what the law was intended to do

P-16-13-1
SB1005 – public monies; ideology training; prohibition Senate Third Reading 01/31/2024 Hoffman – Prohibits a public entity from requiring or spending public monies on a diversity, equity and inclusion program (DEI program) and allows an employee who is required to participate in the program to bring an action against the public entity. Prohibits a public entity from entering into a contract with a company that participates in a DEI program. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs are re-incarnations of the CRT scheme, which chooses winners and losers based on their race or sex. They have no place in a free society.

This bill aims at heading off these programs.

P-16-13-1
SB1014 – business; discrimination prohibition; social criteria Senate Third Reading 01/31/2024 Hoffman – Prohibits a financial institution, insurer or credit reporting agency from discriminating against any person based on a political affiliation, or other social credit, environmental, social, or governmental score or similar values-based or impact criteria. Financial institutions should base their decisions on the financial picture of their customers, not on any other criteria P-16-13-1
SB1067 – DCS; group homes; investigations Senate Third Reading 01/31/2024 Shope –

Includes, in the definition of abuse, physical injury or emotional damage of a child by an employee of a child welfare agency that is contracted with the Department of Child Safety (DCS).

Expands the definition of abuse as it pertains to children under the care of the DCS P-16-13-1
SCR1007 – firearms; contracts; prohibited practices Senate Third Reading 01/31/2024 Carroll – Ballot referral – Prohibits public entities from contracting with companies that discriminate against firearm entities or firearms trade association Discriminating against entities that exercise the 2nd amendment are as bad as those that discriminate against any other rights P-16-13-1
HB2246 – purple star school designation; requirements House Third Reading 02/01/2024 Payne – the purple star school program is established within the department of education to identify schools in this state that provide transition support to military students and their families. The department may adopt policies and procedures to implement this section. The benefits of this bill accrue to children of both active military and veterans. Children of active military have special needs because of frequent relocation, but it is not clear why it would apply to children of veterans.

This bill provides other measures aimed at supporting military service.

P-55-0-1
HB2311 – schools; enrollment preference; armed forces House Third Reading 02/01/2024 Grantham – Extends charter school enrollment preference to children of a member of the armed forces of the United States who either is on active duty or was killed in the line of duty. As long as we have enrollment preferences, this is a worthy one P-55-0-1
SB1064 – gasoline formulations; air quality. Senate Natural Resources, Energy and Water 02/01/2024 Wadsack – Has two important provisions

1. Expands the gasoline blends available to Arizona

2. Enables the president of the senate and the speaker of the house to request gasoline blend waivers

 

This bill is the result of the promised made by President Petersen in a news conference December 13. For a full report, go to

https://arizonadailyindependent.com/2023/12/17/arizona-lawmakers-unveil-plan-to-reduce-price-of-gas/

HELD
HB2323 – DCS; specialty medical evaluations House Health & Human Services 02/05/2024 Payne – Places some restrictions on the way the superior court may issue an order authorizing the Dept. of Child Safety to take temporary custody of a child. This is a complicated bill with a lot of provisions. Overall, it seems to be aimed at guaranteeing that there is good reason to place a child in the custody of the DCS HELD
HB2480 – group homes; random drug screening House Health & Human Services 02/05/2024 Parker – Sets forth requirements for drug testing of employees of group foster homes. This is one of several bills aimed at fixing deficiencies in foster child care discovered as a result of recent hearings on the matter P-9-0-0
HB2325 – backyard fowl; regulation; prohibition House Land, Agriculture & Rural Affairs 02/05/2024 Payne – A municipality or county may not adopt any law, ordinance or other regulation that prohibits a resident of a single-family detached residence that is one-half acre or less in size from keeping fowl in the backyard of the property This bill is not as irrelevant or amusing as it may seem at first. It is one more way to protect the rights of property owners P-7-2-0
HB2183 – parental rights; medical records House Third Reading 02/05/2024 Willoughby – Entitles parents with the right to receive from a health care entity equivalent access to any electronic portal or other health care delivery platform for their minor child. This is a basic parental right. Why would any decent legislator vote against this? P-32-25-0
SB1131 – low voter turnout elections; repeat Senate Elections 02/05/2024 Kavanagh – Except for elections with a statewide or federal office on the ballot, for any election at which less than twenty-five percent of the eligible registered voters cast a ballot, the results of the election are void and the election shall be repeated on an election date with a statewide or federal office on the ballot. Establishes a quorum for local elections. Aimed at terminating the practice of scheduling local elections on dates when most voters are likely to be out of town, thereby favoring specific candidates or issues. P-5-3-0
SB1286 – elections; voting centers; polling places Senate Elections 02/05/2024 Hoffman – Mandates that district schools be closed on election day, so that the facilities may be used as voting centers. Removes the ability of the school principals to deny use of the facility This removes the objection that there are not enough venues to provide voters with voting locations near their homes. P-5-3-0
SB1288 – electronic ballot adjudication; prohibition Senate Elections 02/05/2024 Hoffman – For any duplication and adjudication of ballots,

the board of supervisors and officer in charge of elections may not use an electronic vote adjudication system.

Will this make the adjudication process more tamper-proof, faster, and/or more accurate? HELD
SB1360 – ballot processing; electronic adjudication; limitation Senate Elections 02/05/2024 Carroll – artificial intelligence or learning software or firmware may not be used in the processing of early ballots or by the election board in verifying the voter’s affidavit   P-5-3-0
SB1374 – foreign donations; election administration; certification Senate Elections 02/05/2024 Bolick – Anyone who provides funding for elections must show that the funds did not come from a foreign entity A very important bill. Aimed at reducing the influence of foreign entities in the internal affairs of this country. P-6-2-0
SB1500 – drones; prohibition; autonomous vehicles Senate Transportation, Technology and Missing Children 02/05/2024 Farnsworth – Preempts or restricts the state from using some equipment, like drones, light detection equipment, and ranging equipment Strengthens personal privacy

Marsh (LD4) was only NO vote

P-6-1-0
SCR1001 – photo radar prohibition Senate Transportation, Technology and Missing Children 02/05/2024 Rogers – Subject to voter approval, statutorily prohibits a local authority or state agency from using a photo enforcement system to identify violators of state or local speed restrictions or traffic control devices. Contains a legislative intent clause

Same as SB1003

Too often, cities abuse this system by setting up traps to create revenue rather than increase safety. This bill aims to prohibit that sort of behavior HELD
HB2316 – private universities; Arizona teachers academy House Commerce 02/06/2024 Gress – Key language:

A degree-granting private postsecondary educational institution in this state that offers postbaccalaureate teacher preparation programs that lead to teacher certification may participate in the Arizona teacher’s academy and receive monies from the Arizona teacher’s academy fund established by this section.

This bill enables private institutions to participate in the teacher’s academy program, which is a good thing P-6-3-0
HB2178 – universities; student fees; clubs; organizations House Third Reading 02/06/2024 Kolodin – If public moneys are used to fund organizations or clubs, the following applies, allow each student who is charged tuition and fees to select one or more student organizations or clubs, or both, to receive a pro rata share of the monies that are transferred. Prohibits the practice of funding one organization or club over another P-35-20-2
HB2393 – presidential preference; parties; voting methods House Third Reading 02/06/2024 Kolodin – Sets forth election requirements for those parties that choose not to participate in the publicly administered presidential preference election.   P-31-24-2
HB2406 – agricultural vaccinations; disclosure House Third Reading 02/06/2024 Gillette – Allows a product that is made from aquaculture, poultry or livestock that has not received a messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccination, to carry an “mRNA free” label Enhances consumers ability to know what is in the food they eat.

Democrats do not want this

P-31-24-2
HB2547 – voting centers ban; precinct size House Third Reading 02/06/2024 Jones – Prohibits the Board of Supervisors from authorizing the use of voting centers, removes language allowing a County Recorder to establish on-site early voting locations and limits the size of election precincts to a maximum of 1,000 registered voters. Election integrity bill P-31-24-2
HB2417 – Arizona commerce authority; continuation House Appropriations 02/07/2024 Livingston – Extends the AZ Commerce Authority until 2028 There is increasing fear that the ACA is little more than corporate welfare and as such it should be allowed to terminate. P-14-2-1
HB2242 – sexual conduct; minor; classification; sentence House Judiciary 02/07/2024 Willoughby – Reclassifies sexual conduct with a minor of at least 15 years of age as a class 4 felony and mandates one year of jail time for a person convicted of the crime if placed on probation. It seems that the penalty imposed via this bill fits the crime P-5-2-0
HB2405 – voter registrations; recorder; inactive status House Municipal Oversight & Elections 02/07/2024 Gillette – On receipt of information that provides reasonable cause to believe a person has fraudulently registered to vote or that the person’s registration information is incorrect, the county recorder may place that person’s voter registration information in inactive status and provide notice to the person as otherwise provided by law. Aimed at cleaning up voter rolls P-5-4-0
HB2483 – schools; selective admissions requirements; prohibition House Municipal Oversight & Elections 02/07/2024 Parker, B. – Each public school that has a selective admissions process shall post on its website a list of all information used by the public school or representatives of the public school to evaluate applications for admission from prospective students Many public schools have selective admissions. For those that do, this bill sets forth some requirements, including prohibitions against discrimination based on sex, race, etc. P-5-3-0
HB2703 – supervisors; legislative vacancy; appointment House Municipal Oversight & Elections 02/07/2024 Kolodin – Places a deadline of 14 days for the board of Supervisors to come up with an appointment after the three names have been submitted In the past. The BOS has sat on appointments for long periods of time, for no apparent reason P-9-0-0
HB2719 – bond elections; date; voter turnout House Municipal Oversight & Elections 02/07/2024 Carbone – Establishes additional requirements for bond issuance elections and elections to authorize indebtedness.

 

Bond issues create new taxes, plain and simple, no matter how much politicians try to hide the fact.

This bill bring is some fiscal sanity to the process

Democrats oppose fiscal sanity

P-5-4-0
HCR2027 – house of representatives; designated seats House Municipal Oversight & Elections 02/07/2024 McGarr – Candidates for the house of representatives shall run for and be elected from either seat “a” or seat “b” in a legislative district. This appears to be only a cosmetic change, unless the districts are subdivided into A and B, with one member independently elected from each subdivision. Read the bill carefully before deciding P-5-3-0
HCR2028 – elections; signature verification process House Municipal Oversight & Elections 02/07/2024 Kolodin – Sets forth more strict requirements for signature verification It is impossible to determine ballot validity by verifying signatures. As long as we use signature verification, this could be a step in the right direction HELD
SB1182 – public schools; showers; reasonable accommodations Senate Education 02/07/2024 Kavanagh – Requires the provision of private showers for those students that are uncomfortable in communal showers. For decades, boys have showered in boys’ showers, and girls have showered in girl’s showers. Those who were uncomfortable would wait until they got home to shower. Why spend taxpayer money to accommodate aberrant behavior instead of using that money to teach skills needed to become productive members of society? P-4-3-0
SB1405 – purple star school designation; requirements. Senate Education 02/07/2024 Shamp – The purple star school program is established within the department of education to identify schools in this state that provide transition support to military students and their families. Because of frequent reassignments and deployments, the children of military personnel experience frequent moves, often in the middle of the school year. It is a good thing when they get additional help to deal with this. P-7-0-0
SB1583 – school admission; annual parental disclosure Senate Education 02/07/2024 Wadsack – Each year, each public school shall provide to the parent or guardian of each student enrolled in the school a document that discloses the following information:

Then it goes on to enumerate a slew of disclosures, mostly dealing with the parents bill of rights

This is a transparency bill. It requires schools to disclose to parents a few facts, many of which are contained within the parents bill of rights as stated in ARS1-601 & 602 P-4-3-0
SCR1013 – schools; biological sex; requirements Senate Education 02/07/2024 Kavanagh – Requires the provision of private changing rooms for those students that are uncomfortable in communal changing rooms. For decades, boys have used boys changing rooms, and girls have used girl’s changing rooms. Why spend taxpayer money to accommodate aberrant behavior instead of using that money to teach skills needed to become productive members of society? P-4-3-0
SB1195 – public monies; prohibited uses Senate Government 02/07/2024 Kern – A public entity may not spend public monies to promote, advocate or plan for, or become a member of an association or organization that promotes, advocates or plans for a variety of enumerated, freedom-limiting activities This is a regular bill. Identical language is found in ballot referral bill HCR2040.

This is aimed at a much-needed curtailment of government overreach.

P-5-3-0
SCR1015 – public monies; prohibited expenditures. Senate Government 02/07/2024 Kern – A public entity may not spend public monies to promote, advocate or plan for, or become a member of an association or organization that promotes, advocates or plans for a variety of enumerated, freedom-limiting activities Identical language may be found in regular bill SB1195 and ballot referral bill HCR2040

This is aimed at a much-needed curtailment of government overreach.

P-5-3-0
SB1207 – attorney fees; defendant; acquittal Senate Military Affairs, Public Safety and Border Security 02/07/2024 Rogers – A defendant who is acquitted on the merits and who hired private counsel for the defendant’s defense shall be awarded reasonable attorney fees and costs. Very good idea. The government brings charges. The government fails. The government should pay.

Taxpayers pay fees for far less reasonable causes.

P-5-1-1
SB1231 – state crime; illegal border crossings Senate Military Affairs, Public Safety and Border Security 02/07/2024 Shamp – It provides local government with liability immunity that arises from enforcement of immigration laws. It extends that immunity to state employees

Mirror house bill: HB2748

Enhances the ability of law enforcement to enforce immigration laws P-4-2-0
SB1189 – political subdivisions; gun shows; preemption Senate Judiciary 02/08/2024 Wadsack – Prohibits a political subdivision of Arizona from prohibiting a gun show from occurring in the political subdivision. 2nd amendment enhancement P-4-3-0
SB1198 – disruption; educational institution; concealed weapon Senate Judiciary 02/08/2024 Rogers – Prohibits the governing board of any university, college or community college from prohibiting the possession of a concealed weapon by a concealed weapon permit holder, or the lawful transportation or storage of a firearm. “Gun-free” zones are primary targets of mass murderers. This bill would remove colleges from that category P-4-3-0
HB2323 – DCS; specialty medical evaluations House Health & Human Services 02/12/2024 Payne – Places some restrictions on the way the superior court may issue an order authorizing the Dept. of Child Safety to take temporary custody of a child. This is a complicated bill with a lot of provisions. Overall, it seems to be aimed at guaranteeing that there is good reason to place a child in the custody of the DCS P-5-4-0
HB2376 – federal government; land acquisition; consent House Land, Agriculture & Rural Affairs 02/12/2024 Diaz – Tax-paying private property may not be transferred to the federal government if that causes the state or its subdivisions to lose tax revenue, unless approved by the state Intended to minimize land grab by the federal government P-5-4-0
HB2439 – property conveyance; foreign entities; prohibition House Land, Agriculture & Rural Affairs 02/12/2024 Montenegro – Prohibits the conveyance of land to  foreign entities   P-8-1-0
HB2120 – law enforcement; defunding; prohibition House Military Affairs & Public Safety 02/12/2024 Marshall – Cities may not reduce law enforcement budgets below previous year. If they do, the state will withhold from shared revenue an amount equal to the reduction This bill aims to head off the calls to defund the police P-8-7-0
HB2181 – national guard; active duty combat House Military Affairs & Public Safety 02/12/2024 Kolodin – The national guard shall not be called into active-duty combat unless either congress has declared war or the legislature authorizes it Most likely congress will not declare war, so the legislature gets to decide F-3-12-0
HB2748 – illegal border crossings; state; crime House Military Affairs & Public Safety 02/12/2024 Chaplik – It provides local government with liability immunity that arises from enforcement of immigration laws. It extends that immunity to state employees

Mirror senate bill: SB1231

Enhances the ability of law enforcement to enforce immigration laws P-8-7-0
SB1158 – presidential candidates; qualification; no exclusion Senate Elections 02/12/2024 Shamp – Under some circumstances, a candidate for president may not be excluded or removed from the general election ballot on the basis of a claimed violation of the fourteenth amendment of the united states constitution Aimed at efforts to keep Trump out of the presidential race P-5-2-1
SB1217 – county committee; vacancy; precinct committeeman Senate Elections 02/12/2024 Rogers – Two important provisions

1: If a legislative district or legislative district committee includes more than one county when redistricting takes effect, the precinct committeemen from the county with the highest number of registered voters in that political party shall act as the county committee for that legislative district.

2: A precinct committeeman vacancy is deemed filled when the county chairman submits the list of the names.  the county recorder or officer in charge of elections must approve or reject the precinct committeeman appointment within fourteen days after receiving the name.

  HELD
SB1288 – electronic ballot adjudication; prohibition Senate Elections 02/12/2024 Hoffman – For any duplication and adjudication of ballots,

the board of supervisors and officer in charge of elections may not use an electronic vote adjudication system.

Will this make the adjudication process more tamper-proof, faster, and/or more accurate? HELD
SB1668 – school elections; county administration; recorder Senate Elections 02/12/2024 Gowan – Effective January 1, 2025, requires school elections to be conducted by the county recorder and county officer in charge of elections in the same manner as prescribed for county elections. It makes sense to have widespread uniformity and accountability HELD
SCR1043 – cities; towns; elections Senate Elections 02/12/2024 Gowan – Two provisions:

1. For any city or town that provides for election of city or town council members by district, ward, precinct or other geographic designation, only those voters who are qualified electors of the district, ward, precinct or other geographic designation, as applicable, are eligible to vote for that council member candidate in the city’s or town’s primary, general, runoff or other election.

2. A city or town election shall not allow the ranking of candidates in any manner other than with a single vote for one candidate for each office to be filled.

Ballot referral constitutional amendment.

 

Prohibits the election of city councilmen at large, and rank choice voting

HELD
SB1637 – electric vehicle charging stations Senate Finance and Commerce 02/12/2024 Carroll – Prohibits an electricity supplier from owning or operating electric vehicle charging stations but allows an electricity supplier to own and operate make-ready infrastructure necessary for electric vehicle charging station operation. It appears to treat vehicle-charging infrastructure the same as any other infrastructure P-4-3-0
SB1282 – highways; bicycle paths; walkways; prohibition Senate Transportation, Technology and Missing Children 02/12/2024 Hoffman – Prohibits the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) from, and from accepting federal monies conditioned on, planning, designing or constructing bicycle paths or pedestrian walkways that are parallel to and separate from a highway or state route. Construction of highways should stand on their own merits and not be contingent upon construction of parallel walkways or bicycle paths. P-4-3-0
SB1313 – DCS; discharge from care; housing Senate Transportation, Technology and Missing Children 02/12/2024 Miiranda – Requires, by January 1, 2026, the Department of Child Safety (DCS) to develop, implement and submit a report on policies and procedures to ensure safe and secure housing for children who leave DCS care. It makes sense to make sure a released child is released to a safe environment HELD
SB1373 – custody; parenting time; child preference Senate Transportation, Technology and Missing Children 02/12/2024 Bolick – Allows a child to select which parent the child chooses regarding custody and parenting time if the child is at least 14 years old and can intelligently and voluntarily express preference for a parent

Mirror house bill HB2094

It makes a lot of sense to let the child decide what is best for the child P-6-1-0
SCR1001 – photo radar prohibition Senate Transportation, Technology and Missing Children 02/12/2024 Rogers – Subject to voter approval, statutorily prohibits a local authority or state agency from using a photo enforcement system to identify violators of state or local speed restrictions or traffic control devices. Contains a legislative intent clause

Same as SB1003

Too often, cities abuse this system by setting up traps to create revenue rather than increase safety. This bill aims to prohibit that sort of behavior

Carroll voted with Democrats to kill this bill

F-3-3-1
HB2884 – zero-emission vehicle program; rebate House Commerce 02/13/2024 Wilmeth – Establishes a subsidy for so-called zero emissions vehicles. The provisions of this bill puts a thumb on the balance of determining the worth of electric vs. non-electric vehicles.

The market should decide this, not the government

YES vote by Wilmeth and Carbone caused this insanity to pass

All Democrats voted YES

P-6-4-0
HCR2050 – energy source; restriction; prohibition House Natural Resources, Energy & Water 02/13/2024 Griffin – This state, a city, town, county or political subdivision of this state or a public body may not restrict the manufacture, use or sale of a device based on the energy source that is either used to power the device or consumed by the device. Heads off California-style regulations that prohibit certain types of vehicles or appliances P-6-4-0
HB2097 – gray water; definition; residential standards House Third Reading 02/13/2024 Parker, B. – This is a water conservation measure. It allows the recycling of residential gray water if certain conditions are met It does not make sense to use valuable and scarce potable water when gray water may be used without creating a health hazard P-31-26-1
HB2590 – voter registration database; updates; counties House Third Reading 02/13/2024 Dunn – Requires all of Arizona’s counties to participate in the statewide voter registration database.   P-39-18-1
SB1580 – DCS; parents’ rights; vaccinations Senate Health and Human Services 02/13/2024 Wadsack – Adds vaccinations to the list of actions that foster care providers may not do without the child parents’ approval Complies with parent’s bill of rights P-5-2-0
HB2725 – state debt payoff House Appropriations 02/14/2024 Cook – Appropriates a total of $605,500,000 from the state General Fund (GF) in FY 2024 to retire state debt from the Phoenix Convention Center and university lease-purchase capital financing agreements.   F-6-10-1
HB2375 – guaranteed income program; prohibition House Government 02/14/2024 Diaz – A municipality or county may not establish, adopt, enforce or maintain any ordinance, order or rule that has the purpose or effect of making payments to persons as part of a guaranteed income program.

A guaranteed income is one that does not require either performance or participation in training by the recipient

  P-5-4-0
HB2436 – state contracts; foreign adversary; prohibition House Government 02/14/2024 Diaz – Stipulates that a covered company may not enter into a contract with a state agency or political subdivision of this state for goods or services.

A covered company is defined as being from a country of concern, which includes a handful of adversary countries

Aimed at reducing mischief by adversary countries P-5-2-2
HB2436 – state contracts; foreign adversary; prohibition House Government 02/14/2024 Diaz – Stipulates that a covered company may not enter into a contract with a state agency or political subdivision of this state for goods or services. Covered companies are those that have ties to foreign adversaries P-5-2-2
HB2506 – foreign agents; registration; attorney general House Government 02/14/2024 Gress – A person may not act as an agent of a foreign principal from a country of concern unless the person has filed a registration statement with the attorney general’s office. Aimed at reducing mischief by adversary countries P-8-0-0
HCR2056 – preferential treatment; discrimination; prohibition House Government 02/14/2024 Montenegro – This state shall not compel an applicant, employee or contractor to endorse giving preferential treatment to or discriminating against any individual on the basis of race or ethnicity as a condition of any hiring, promoting or contracting decision.

Mirror senate bill SCR1019

This basically paraphrases MLK’s speech on color vs.heart P-4-3-1
HB2094 – child preference; custody; parenting time House Judiciary 02/14/2024 Parker, B. – Allows a child to select which parent the child chooses regarding custody and parenting time if the child is at least 14 years old and can intelligently and voluntarily express preference for a parent

Mirror senate bill SB1373

It makes a lot of sense to let the child decide what is best for the child HELD
HB2753 – voter registration rolls; auditor general House Municipal Oversight & Elections 02/14/2024 Gillette – Directs the Auditor General to conduct an analysis of the statewide voter registration system and instructs the Auditor General, Secretary of State and County Recorders to issue specified reports   P-5-4-0
HB2787 – voting equipment; inspection; elected officials House Municipal Oversight & Elections 02/14/2024 Jones – Any elected official in this state may inspect any and all voting equipment used in a jurisdiction while accompanied by an expert of the elected official’s choice   P-5-4-0
HB2851 – elections; ballot chain of custody House Municipal Oversight & Elections 02/14/2024 Heap – Specifies the chain of custody standards that must be maintained during the transfer of ballot boxes, delivery of voted ballots, duplication of ballots and tabulation of ballots Important election integrity bill P-5-4-0
HB2852 – voter registrations; organizations; prohibition House Municipal Oversight & Elections 02/14/2024 Heap – Specifies that Arizona and its political subdivisions may not be a member or enter into an agreement with any multistate voter registration or voter registration list maintenance organization. This would get us out of the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC).

ERIC has some major problems, but is it a good idea to leave without an alternative?

P-5-4-0
HB2876 – elections; mailing; curing; canvassing; precincts House Municipal Oversight & Elections 02/14/2024 Carbone – Prohibits the use of voting center locations and outlines requirements for early ballot voting.   P-5-4-0
HCR2040 – public monies; prohibited expenditures House Municipal Oversight & Elections 02/14/2024 Smith – A public entity may not spend public monies to promote, advocate or plan for, or become a member of an association or organization that promotes, advocates or plans for a variety of enumerated, freedom-limiting activities This is a ballot referral. Identical language is found in regular bill SB1195.

This is aimed at a much-needed curtailment of government overreach.

P-5-4-0
HCR2049 – ballot measures; challenges. House Municipal Oversight & Elections 02/14/2024 Carter –

Allows a person to bring an action in the superior court that challenges the constitutionality of proposed constitutional amendments and measures.

Saves time, money and effort to find out whether a measure is constitutional before it is put to the voters P-5-4-0
HCR2058 – legislative districts; population; census; citizenship House Municipal Oversight & Elections 02/14/2024 Heap – Directs the Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC) or other officer or body designated by the Legislature, to take a census in years ending in zero and use this data to determine the citizen population of each Legislative district. It would be very useful to know what portion of each district is US citizens P-5-4-0
HCR2062 – date; bond elections; voter turnout House Municipal Oversight & Elections 02/14/2024 Carbone – Establishes additional requirements for bond issuance elections and elections to authorize indebtedness It should not be easy to increase public indebtedness P-5-4-0
HCR2018 – tax prohibition; vehicle mileage; monitoring House Transportation & Infrastructure 02/14/2024 Grantham – Prohibits the imposition of a tax or a fee based on distance driven in a motor vehicle

Prohibits the monitoring of distance traveled in a motor vehicle

Aimed at prohibiting the Marxist trend of some cities to impose travel restrictions P-6-5-0
SB1353 – ESA program; ADE; funding estimates Senate Education 02/14/2024 Marsh – Adds one more regulation to the already-crowded field of ESA regulations Marsh has made it very clear that it is her intention to dismantle the ESA program. This is just another brick in the wall of her scheme to do so P-4-3-1
SB1354 – ESAs; children with disabilities; requirements Senate Education 02/14/2024 Marsh – Dismantles ARS 15-2402, which is the statute that prohibits any government agency to exercise control or supervision over any non-public school or homeschool. Marsh has made it very clear that it is her intention to dismantle the ESA program. This is just another brick in the wall of her scheme to do so F-3-4-1
SB1466 – high school graduation; requirements Senate Education 02/14/2024 Bennett – Makes some changes in the tests required to pass for graduation   P-4-3-1
SB1469 – school resource officers; veterans; retirees Senate Education 02/14/2024 Kern – Replaces piece officer with school resource officer for participation in school safety programs.

School resource officers may be piece officers, but may also be other individuals if they meet certain criteria

This is a way to deal with the shortage of available piece officers P-4-3-1
SCR1040 – permanent school fund; distribution; uses Senate Education 02/14/2024 Mesnard – Requires, beginning in FY 2026, the State Treasurer and the Arizona State Land Department (ASLD) to annually transfer Permanent State School Fund (Permanent School Fund) monies to provide guaranteed financing for common schools to acquire, construct, refinance or improve capital facilities before transferring Permanent School Fund monies for any other authorized purpose.   P-4-3-1
SB1341 – procurement; electric vehicles; forced labor Senate Government 02/14/2024 Carroll – Government entities may not engage in the procurement of electric vehicles or its components unless the manufacturers or dealers offer credible assurances that no forced or child labor was used   P-4-2-2
SB1472 – prohibited uses; public monies Senate Government 02/14/2024 Kern – Government entities may not use any public monies to promote, support or maintain diversity, equity and inclusion or to engage in political or social activism: DEI schemes are nothing more than thinly veiled discrimination and harassment, which is not any better when it is used against “whites” than when it is used against so-called minorities. P-4-2-2
SB1670 – public-private partnership contracts Senate Government 02/14/2024 Gowan – Gives wide latitude to government procurement officers to engage in the establishment of public-private partnerships to carry out a wide variety of actions. Totally eviscerates the requirement that public-private partnerships do not compete with private sector entities by adding to ARS41-4752 the following exemption:

“21. Public-private partnership contracts awarded pursuant to sections 41-2559 and 41-2559.01”, which are the sections created by this bill.

 

P-6-1-1
SCR1019 – preferential treatment; discrimination; prohibited. Senate Government 02/14/2024 Kern – This state shall not compel an applicant, employee or contractor to endorse giving preferential treatment to or discriminating against any individual on the basis of race or ethnicity as a condition of any hiring, promoting or contracting decision.

Mirror house bill HCR2056

This basically paraphrases MLK’s speech on color vs.heart P-4-3-1
SB1403 – designated countries; land ownership; prohibition Senate Military Affairs, Public Safety and Border Security 02/14/2024 Shamp – Notwithstanding any other law, a foreign principal from a designated country may not, directly or indirectly, purchase, lease, own, acquire by grant or devise or have any other interest in real property in this state. One of several bills aimed at reducing the influence of foreign entities over our affairs P-6-1-0
HB2190 – prohibited agreements; public works contracts. House Government 02/15/2024 Cook – Modifies statute relating to public works contracts. Brings public works contracts more in sync with our status as a right to work state. F-4-5-0
HB2543 – group foster homes; staffing requirement House Health & Human Services 02/15/2024 Jones –

Modifies the definition of a group foster home to include two adult employees on the premises at all times.

Having two adults present makes it easier to manage and more difficult to engage in mischief P-7-0-3
HB2621 – sovereign authority; border; health crisis House Health & Human Services 02/15/2024 Montenegro – Deems that the trafficking of fentanyl across Arizona’s border is a public health crisis and directs the Arizona Department of Health Services (DHS) to do everything within its power to address the crisis. Good idea, but this bill has no teeth in it. The DHS can simply ignore it. P-7-3-0
HCR2018 – tax prohibition; vehicle mileage; monitoring House Transportation & Infrastructure 02/15/2024 Grantham – Prohibits the imposition of a tax or a fee based on distance driven in a motor vehicle

Prohibits the monitoring of distance traveled in a motor vehicle

Aimed at prohibiting the Marxist trend of some cities to impose travel restrictions P-6-4-0
HB2768 – elections; public resources; conflict referral House Appropriations 02/19/2024 Livingston – Outlines the required procedure for the Attorney General or a county attorney if they receive a complaint that presents a conflict of interest. Conflict of interest is an ongoing problem in AZ. This bill is a small step toward a remedy P-11-4-0
HB2782 – homeless shelter fund; performance audit House Appropriations 02/19/2024 Gress – Establishes a new Homeless Shelter and Services Fund with a transfer of $75,000,000 from the FY 2024 Housing Trust Fund deposit. Creates new criminal violations involving drugs in homeless service zones. Provides a step in the right direction regarding homelessness P-9-7-0
HB2858 – social media protections; minors House Appropriations 02/19/2024 Blattman – Provides a series of provisions aimed at safeguarding minor children from inappropriate or malicious social media activity Should not the parents be the guardians of children’s social media activity? P-12-0-4
HCR2060 – lawful presence; e-verify program; penalties House Appropriations 02/19/2024 Toma – If a city uses state moneys for welfare, it must ensure that the recipients are here legally present Only lawful residents should receive any assistance, other than a ticket to where they came from P-10-7-0
SCR1022 – practice of law; legislative authority Senate COW 02/19/2024 Kern – Subject to voter approval, constitutionally delegates to the Arizona Legislature and the people, through the power of initiative, the ability to enact laws concerning the practice of law. Normally, we vehemently oppose legislating via constitutional amendments, especially since all it takes is a simple majority of those voting.

However, for years we have been trying to remove lawyers’ ability to work away from the State Bar Association, which is in essence a lawyer’s union. Powerful interests have killed all such efforts. This is a last resort

DO PASS
SB1056 – municipalities; counties; fee increases; vote Senate Third Reading 02/19/2024 Petersen – Prohibits the common council of a municipality or the board of supervisors of a county from increasing an assessment, tax or fee without a two-thirds vote of the governing body. Declares the regulation of increases in municipal or county assessments, taxes and fees to be a matter of statewide concern and preempts further regulation by a municipality or county. Good measure. The state legislature already requires a 2/3 vote to raise taxes. That should apply to all levels of government

 

P-16-11-3
HB2482 – voter registration changes; text notice House Third Reading 02/20/2024 Parker, B. – Establishes a voter registration alert system requiring the County Recorder to notify voters of specified changes, such as change of party affiliation, telephone number or address to their voter registration record. It is very important that voters know whether there has been a change in their status P-57-0-2
HB2645 – foster children; high school; transfer House Third Reading 02/20/2024 Jones – This applies to grades 9-12. The state board of education shall develop guidelines for charter schools and school districts to consider when developing policies regarding the calculation of academic credits, including partial credits, for foster children who transfer schools pursuant to a best interest educational placement determination. Foster Children are more likely to move. This ensures that school credits are properly transferred. P-56-1-2
HB2703 – supervisors; legislative vacancy; appointment House Third Reading 02/20/2024 Kolodin – Places a deadline of 14 days for the board of Supervisors to come up with an appointment after the three names have been submitted In the past. The BOS has sat on appointments for long periods of time, for no apparent reason P-56-1-2
SB1148 – income tax; rebate; seniors Senate Appropriations 02/20/2024 Kern – Issues a one-time individual income tax rebate to seniors who paid AZ income tax Good idea. Retirees, who are mostly on fixed incomes, are more greatly affected by Bidenomics. A flaw in this bill is that it does not state the amount of the rebate or how to calculate it

Republican Bennett voted NO, with Democrats

P-5-4-1
SB1187 – bond elections; schools; polling places Senate Third Reading 02/20/2024 Kavanagh – Prohibits a public school in a school district with a bond or override election on the ballot from being used as a polling place, with exceptions. Aimed at preventing conflicts of interest P-16-13-1
SB1360 – ballot processing; electronic adjudication; limitation Senate Third Reading 02/20/2024 Carroll – artificial intelligence or learning software or firmware may not be used in the processing of early ballots or by the election board in verifying the voter’s affidavit   P-16-13-1
HB2402 – DCS; investigations; interviews; recording House Third Reading 02/21/2024 Gress – If the department of child safety conducts an investigation, then, with few exceptions, the department shall audiotape or videotape any interview that the department conducts with a child pursuant to the investigation The best way to assure accuracy is to have a recording of interviews P-39-16-4
HB2480 – group homes; random drug screening House Third Reading 02/21/2024 Parker – Sets forth requirements for drug testing of employees of group foster homes. This is one of several bills aimed at fixing deficiencies in foster child care discovered as a result of recent hearings on the matter P-39-16-4
SB1187 – bond elections; schools; polling places Senate Third Reading 02/21/2024 Kavanagh – Prohibits a public school in a school district with a bond or override election on the ballot from being used as a polling place, with exceptions. Aimed at preventing conflicts of interest P-16-13-1
SB1231 – state crime; illegal border crossings Senate Third Reading

 

House Third Reading

02/21/2024

 

02/28/2024

Shamp – It provides local government with liability immunity that arises from enforcement of immigration laws. It extends that immunity to state employees

Mirror house bill: HB2748

Enhances the ability of law enforcement to enforce immigration laws P-16-13-1

 

 

P-31-28-1

SB1286 – elections; voting centers; polling places Senate Third Reading 02/21/2024 Hoffman – Mandates that district schools be closed on election day, so that the facilities may be used as voting centers. Removes the ability of the school principals to deny use of the facility This removes the objection that there are not enough venues to provide voters with voting locations near their homes. P-16-13-1
SB1357 – early ballots; affidavits; privacy Senate Third Reading 02/21/2024 Mesnard – Requires an early ballot affidavit to be concealable. Improves privacy and security of mailed ballots P-16-13-1
HB2403 – (NOW: candidate committee; campaign finance report) House Third Reading 02/22/2024 Gress – Increases the required number of campaign finance reports for candidate committees for a statewide candidate. Increases transparency regarding where candidates are getting their funding P-49-9-1
HB2748 – illegal border crossings; state; crime House Third Reading 02/22/2024 Chaplik – It provides local government with liability immunity that arises from enforcement of immigration laws. It extends that immunity to state employees

Mirror senate bill: SB1231

Enhances the ability of law enforcement to enforce immigration laws P-31-28-0
HB2851 – elections; ballot chain of custody House Third Reading 02/22/2024 Heap – Specifies the chain of custody standards that must be maintained during the transfer of ballot boxes, delivery of voted ballots, duplication of ballots and tabulation of ballots Important election integrity bill P-31-28-0
HCR2060 – lawful presence; e-verify program; penalties House Third Reading 02/22/2024 Toma – If a city uses state moneys for welfare, it must ensure that the recipients are here legally present Only lawful residents should receive any assistance, other than a ticket to where they came from P-31-28-0
SB1064 – gasoline formulations; air quality. Senate Third Reading 02/22/2024 Wadsack – Has two important provisions

1. Expands the gasoline blends available to Arizona

2. Enables the president of the senate and the speaker of the house to request gasoline blend waivers

 

This bill is the result of the promised made by President Petersen in a news conference December 13. For a full report, go to

https://arizonadailyindependent.com/2023/12/17/arizona-lawmakers-unveil-plan-to-reduce-price-of-gas/

P-17-11-2
SB1282 – highways; bicycle paths; walkways; prohibition Senate Third Reading 02/22/2024 Hoffman – Prohibits the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) from, and from accepting federal monies conditioned on, planning, designing or constructing bicycle paths or pedestrian walkways that are parallel to and separate from a highway or state route. Construction of highways should stand on their own merits and not be contingent upon construction of parallel walkways or bicycle paths.

Killed by Republicans Bennett, Carroll, Gowan, and Shamp

F-12-16-2
SB1581 – multiple listing service; required information Senate Third Reading 02/22/2024 Wadsack – Requires a multiple listing service (MLS) used to sell or rent Arizona dwellings to include outlined information about listed dwellings. The information listed would make it easier for buyers to participate in the political process

Killed by republicans Carroll and Shamp

F-13-15-2
SCR1022 – practice of law; legislative authority Senate Third Reading 02/22/2024 Kern – Subject to voter approval, constitutionally delegates to the Arizona Legislature and the people, through the power of initiative, the ability to enact laws concerning the practice of law. Normally, we vehemently oppose legislating via constitutional amendments, especially since all it takes is a simple majority of those voting.

However, for years we have been trying to remove lawyers’ ability to work away from the State Bar Association, which is in essence a lawyer’s union. Powerful interests have killed all such efforts. This is a last resort

Killed by Republicans Bennett and Carroll

F-14-15-1
SB1067 – DCS; group homes; investigations House Health & Human Services 02/26/2024 Shope –

Includes, in the definition of abuse, physical injury or emotional damage of a child by an employee of a child welfare agency that is contracted with the Department of Child Safety (DCS).

Expands the definition of abuse as it pertains to children under the care of the DCS P-9-0-0
HB2080 – elections; municipal vacancies; primary House Third Reading 02/26/2024 Hendrix – Sets forth how to determine the winner in municipal primary elections   P-34-24-1
HB2325 – backyard fowl; regulation; prohibition House Third Reading 02/26/2024 Payne – A municipality or county may not adopt any law, ordinance or other regulation that prohibits a resident of a single-family detached residence that is one-half acre or less in size from keeping fowl in the backyard of the property This bill is not as irrelevant or amusing as it may seem at first. It is one more way to protect the rights of property owners P-35-21-3
HB2436 – state contracts; foreign adversary; prohibition House Third Reading 02/26/2024 Diaz – Stipulates that a covered company may not enter into a contract with a state agency or political subdivision of this state for goods or services. Covered companies are those that have ties to foreign adversaries P-31-28-0
HB2506 – foreign agents; registration; attorney general House Third Reading 02/26/2024 Gress – A person may not act as an agent of a foreign principal from a country of concern unless the person has filed a registration statement with the attorney general’s office. Aimed at reducing mischief by adversary countries P-37-19-0
HB2042 – food preparation; sale; cottage food Senate Finance and Commerce 02/26/2024 Grantham – Sets forth guidelines for cottage food products. Similar to the tamale bill that was vetoed by Hobbs last session  
SB1166 – pronouns; names; sex; school policies Senate Third Reading 02/26/2024 Kavanagh – Prohibits the use, by school employees, of pronouns that are contrary to the biological sex of the students. Children that think they are of a sex contrary to their biological sex, have a mental disorder. School employees should not aggravate those disorders P-16-13-1
SB1182 – public schools; showers; reasonable accommodations Senate Third Reading 02/26/2024 Kavanagh – Requires the provision of private showers for those students that are uncomfortable in communal showers. For decades, boys have showered in boys’ showers, and girls have showered in girl’s showers. Those who were uncomfortable would wait until they got home to shower. Why spend taxpayer money to accommodate aberrant behavior instead of using that money to teach skills needed to become productive members of society? P-16-13-1
SB1405 – purple star school designation; requirements. Senate Third Reading 02/26/2024 Shamp – The purple star school program is established within the department of education to identify schools in this state that provide transition support to military students and their families. Because of frequent reassignments and deployments, the children of military personnel experience frequent moves, often in the middle of the school year. It is a good thing when they get additional help to deal with this. P-29-0-1
SCR1013 – schools; biological sex; requirements Senate Third Reading 02/26/2024 Kavanagh – Requires the provision of private changing rooms for those students that are uncomfortable in communal changing rooms. For decades, boys have used boys changing rooms, and girls have used girl’s changing rooms. This bill is an attempt to accommodate those who have trouble with that.

Killed by Bennett

F-15-14-1
HB2120 – law enforcement; defunding; prohibition House Third Reading 02/27/2024 Marshall – Cities may not reduce law enforcement budgets below previous year. If they do, the state will withhold from shared revenue an amount equal to the reduction This bill aims to head off the calls to defund the police P-35-23-1
HB2183 – parental rights; medical records Senate Health and Human Services 02/27/2024 Willoughby – Adds to the parent’s bill of rights that health care entities shall give a parent equivalent access to any electronic portal and any other health care delivery platform.

This applies even if the delivery does not require parental approval

Enhances the parent’s bill of rights, ARS1-602, to include new technology P-4-1-2
SB1373 – custody; parenting time; child preference Senate Third Reading 02/27/2024 Bolick – Allows a child to select which parent the child chooses regarding custody and parenting time if the child is at least 14 years old and can intelligently and voluntarily express preference for a parent

Mirror house bill HB2094

It makes a lot of sense to let the child decide what is best for the child P-17-12-1
SB1005 – public monies; ideology training; prohibition House Government 02/28/2024 Hoffman – Prohibits a public entity from requiring or spending public monies on a diversity, equity and inclusion program (DEI program) and allows an employee who is required to participate in the program to bring an action against the public entity. Prohibits a public entity from entering into a contract with a company that participates in a DEI program. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs are re-incarnations of the CRT scheme, which chooses winners and losers based on their race or sex. They have no place in a free society.

This bill aims at heading off these programs.

P-5-4-0
SB1189 – political subdivisions; gun shows; preemption House Judiciary 02/28/2024 Wadsack – Prohibits a political subdivision of Arizona from prohibiting a gun show from occurring in the political subdivision. 2nd amendment enhancement P-6-3-0
SB1198 – disruption; educational institution; concealed weapon House Judiciary 02/28/2024 Rogers – Prohibits the governing board of any university, college or community college from prohibiting the possession of a concealed weapon by a concealed weapon permit holder, or the lawful transportation or storage of a firearm. “Gun-free” zones are primary targets of mass murderers. This bill would remove colleges from that category P-6-2-0
SB1097 – school districts; partisan elections House Municipal Oversight & Elections 02/28/2024 Wadsack – Requires that school board elections be conducted by partisan primaries followed by general elections In reality, these positions have been consistently partisan. This bill forces candidates to disclose their partisan stance P-5-4-0
SB1357 – early ballots; affidavits; privacy House Municipal Oversight & Elections 02/28/2024 Mesnard – Requires an early ballot affidavit to be concealable. Improves privacy and security of mailed ballots HELD
HB2064 – school safety zone; offenses; sentencing House Third Reading 02/28/2024 Bliss – Authorizes a court to increase the applicable sentencing range by up to five years for a person who is convicted of a felony offense in a school safety zone if the person is in a position of trust and is convicted of a qualifying sexual offense, in addition to other sentence enhancements that may apply. These are bad enough crimes, but they are even worse when the perpetrator is in a position of trust by the victim. P-39-20-0
HB2376 – federal government; land acquisition; consent House Third Reading 02/28/2024 Diaz – Tax-paying private property may not be transferred to the federal government if that causes the state or its subdivisions to lose tax revenue, unless approved by the state Intended to minimize land grab by the federal government.

Is this constitutional?

P-31-28-0
HB2442 – school immunizations; exclusions House Third Reading 02/28/2024 Montenegro – Adds to the list of immunizations that are not required for school attendance an immunization for which a united states food and drug administration emergency use authorization has been issued Children should not be required to be injected with unproven substances as a condition to attend school P-31-28-0
HB2471 – rulemaking; legislative approval House Third Reading 02/28/2024 McGarr – Requires the approval process for any new rulemaking to be by a majority vote of the Legislature after being approved by the Governor’s Regulatory Review Council (Council). Check-and-Balance to runaway agency rule-making P-31-28-0
HB2621 – sovereign authority; border; health crisis House Third Reading 02/28/2024 Montenegro – Deems that the trafficking of fentanyl across Arizona’s border is a public health crisis and directs the Arizona Department of Health Services (DHS) to do everything within its power to address the crisis. Good idea, but this bill has no teeth in it. The DHS can simply ignore it. P-36-22-0
HCR2027 – house of representatives; designated seats House Third Reading 02/28/2024 McGarr – Candidates for the house of representatives shall run for and be elected from either seat “a” or seat “b” in a legislative district. This appears to be only a cosmetic change, unless the districts are subdivided into A and B, with one member independently elected from each subdivision. Read the bill carefully before deciding F-29-30-0
HCR2032 – voting centers; precinct voting House Third Reading 02/28/2024 Jones – Limits the number of voters in precincts to 1,000 registered voters.

Prohibits the use of voting centers

Re-establishes voting by precinct

It is an identical, voter referral bill, to HB2547

P-31-28-0
HCR2040 – public monies; prohibited expenditures House Third Reading 02/28/2024 Smith – A public entity may not spend public monies to promote, advocate or plan for, or become a member of an association or organization that promotes, advocates or plans for a variety of enumerated, freedom-limiting activities This is a ballot referral. Identical language is found in regular bill SB1195.

This is aimed at a much-needed curtailment of government overreach.

P-31-28-0
HCR2049 – ballot measures; challenges. House Third Reading 02/28/2024 Carter – Allows a person to bring an action in the superior court that challenges the constitutionality of proposed constitutional amendments and measures. Saves time, money and effort to find out whether a measure is constitutional before it is put to the voters P-31-28-0
HCR2056 – preferential treatment; discrimination; prohibition House Third Reading 02/28/2024 Montenegro – This state shall not compel an applicant, employee or contractor to endorse giving preferential treatment to or discriminating against any individual on the basis of race or ethnicity as a condition of any hiring, promoting or contracting decision.

Mirror senate bill SCR1019

This basically paraphrases MLK’s speech on color vs.heart P-31-28-0
HCR2058 – legislative districts; population; census; citizenship House Third Reading 02/28/2024 Heap – Directs the Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC) or other officer or body designated by the Legislature, to take a census in years ending in zero and use this data to determine the citizen population of each Legislative district. It would be very useful to know what portion of each district is US citizens P-31-28-0
HCR2062 – date; bond elections; voter turnout House Third Reading 02/28/2024 Carbone – Establishes additional requirements for bond issuance elections and elections to authorize indebtedness It should not be easy to increase public indebtedness

Killed by Cook

F-20-29-0
SB1495 – personal property exemption; increase House Ways & Means 02/28/2024 Mesnard – Effective January 1, 2025, increases the business personal property tax exemption from $207,366 to $500,000. It is not clear why personal property should be taxed. Any reduction in such tax is a good thing. P-5-4-0
HB2178 – universities; student fees; clubs; organizations Senate Education 02/28/2024 Kolodin – If public moneys are used to fund organizations or clubs, the following applies, allow each student who is charged tuition and fees to select one or more student organizations or clubs, or both, to receive a pro rata share of the monies that are transferred. Prohibits the practice of funding one organization or club over another P-4-3-0
SB1010 – vehicle mileage; tracking; tax; prohibitions Senate Third Reading 02/29/2024 Hoffman – This is a freedom to travel bill.

1. Prohibits planning to set travel reduction goals

2. Prohibits tracking to find out how many miles [people have traveled

3. Prohibits taxing based on distance traveled.

Aimed at heading off the Soviet-like attempts by some government entities to limit people’s freedom to travel and move as free citizens

Killed by Bennett

 

F-15-12-3
SB1058 – schools; academic standards; personal finance Senate Third Reading 02/29/2024 Mesnard – Requires the State Board of Education (SBE) to include a half-credit course on personal finance in the social studies high school competency requirements and to adopt rules that establish a voluntary personal finance endorsement for certificated high school teachers. This bill has two great provisions:

1. The current statues requires a vague mention of economics and personal finance. This bill defines what those should be.

2. It encourages teachers to become proficient in this subject so that they can teach it properly

Killed by Bolick, Hoffman, Kern, Wadsack

F-12-16-2
SB1195 – public monies; prohibited uses Senate Third Reading 02/29/2024 Kern – A public entity may not spend public monies to promote, advocate or plan for, or become a member of an association or organization that promotes, advocates or plans for a variety of enumerated, freedom-limiting activities This is a regular bill. Identical language is found in ballot referral bill HCR2040.

This is aimed at a much-needed curtailment of government overreach.

P-16-12-2
SB1278 – (NOW: legislative vacancies; appointment) Senate Third Reading 02/29/2024 Mesnard – Prescribes requirements relating to the timeline for the county board of supervisors (county BOS) and precinct committeemen (PCs) to fill a legislative vacancy. Requires the state party chairperson to fill a legislative vacancy if the county BOS fails to fill the vacancy.   P-27-3-0
SB1466 – high school graduation; requirements Senate Third Reading 02/29/2024 Bennett – Makes some changes in the tests required to pass for graduation Killed by Hoffman F-14-14-2
SB1580 – DCS; parents’ rights; vaccinations Senate Third Reading 02/29/2024 Wadsack – Adds vaccinations to the list of actions that foster care providers may not do without the child parents’ approval Complies with parent’s bill of rights P-17-11-2
SB1583 – school admission; annual parental disclosure Senate Third Reading 02/29/2024 Wadsack – Each year, each public school shall provide to the parent or guardian of each student enrolled in the school a document that discloses the following information:

Then it goes on to enumerate a slew of disclosures, mostly dealing with the parents bill of rights

This is a transparency bill. It requires schools to disclose to parents a few facts, many of which are contained within the parents bill of rights as stated in ARS1-601 & 602 P-16-12-2
SB1615 – parents; bill of rights; protection Senate Third Reading 02/29/2024 Wadsack – Adds, to the declared public policy of Arizona and to the general purpose of Arizona statute relating to marital and domestic relations, the protection and promotion of parents’ rights and the Parents’ Bill of Rights.   P-16-12-2
SCR1015 – public monies; prohibited expenditures. Senate Third Reading 02/29/2024 Kern – A public entity may not spend public monies to promote, advocate or plan for, or become a member of an association or organization that promotes, advocates or plans for a variety of enumerated, freedom-limiting activities Identical language may be found in regular bill SB1195 and ballot referral bill HCR2040

This is aimed at a much-needed curtailment of government overreach.

 
HB2782 – homeless shelter fund; performance audit House Third Reading 03/04/2024 Gress – Establishes a new Homeless Shelter and Services Fund with a transfer of $75,000,000 from the FY 2024 Housing Trust Fund deposit. Creates new criminal violations involving drugs in homeless service zones. Provides a step in the right direction regarding homelessness

Parker B. and Parker, J. joined Dems and killed this bill

F-28-32-0
HB2393 – presidential preference; parties; voting methods Senate Elections 03/04/2024 Kolodin – Sets forth election requirements for those parties that choose not to participate in the publicly administered presidential preference election. Aimed at guaranteeing that overseas military personnel and people with disabilities are properly accommodated. P-31-24-2
HB2404 – voter registration cards; mailing limitation Senate Elections 03/04/2024 Gillette – Specifies the County Recorder is prohibited from issuing voter registration cards to individuals whose mailing address is outside of Arizona Only voters registered in AZ should be issued AZ cards P-5-2-1
HB2482 – voter registration changes; text notice Senate Elections 03/04/2024 Parker, B. – Establishes a voter registration alert system requiring the County Recorder to notify voters of specified changes, such as change of party affiliation, telephone number or address to their voter registration record. It is very important that voters know whether there has been a change in their status P-5-2-1
HB2547 – voting centers ban; precinct size Senate Elections 03/04/2024 Jones – Limits the number of voters in precincts to 1,000 registered voters.

Prohibits the use of voting centers

Re-establishes voting by precinct

Identical bill, HCR2032 is a voter referral bill

Bennett voted NO

 

P-4-3-1
HB2590 – voter registration database; updates; counties Senate Elections 03/04/2024 Dunn – Requires all of Arizona’s counties to participate in the statewide voter registration database. There should be uniformity among counties, so that everyone knows what everyone else is doing regarding registration P-5-2-1
HB2703 – supervisors; legislative vacancy; appointment Senate Elections 03/04/2024 Kolodin – Places a deadline of 14 days for the board of Supervisors to come up with an appointment after the three names have been submitted In the past. The BOS has sat on appointments for long periods of time, for no apparent reason P-7-0-1
HB2719 – bond elections; date; voter turnout Senate Elections 03/04/2024 Carbone – Establishes additional requirements for bond issuance elections and elections to authorize indebtedness.

 

Bond issues create new taxes, plain and simple, no matter how much politicians try to hide the fact.

This bill bring is some fiscal sanity to the process

Democrats oppose fiscal sanity

P-4-2-2
HB2851 – elections; ballot chain of custody Senate Elections 03/04/2024 Heap – Specifies the chain of custody standards that must be maintained during the transfer of ballot boxes, delivery of voted ballots, duplication of ballots and tabulation of ballots Important election integrity bill P-4-2-2
HB2852 – voter registrations; organizations; prohibition Senate Elections 03/04/2024 Heap – Specifies that Arizona and its political subdivisions may not be a member or enter into an agreement with any multistate voter registration or voter registration list maintenance organization. This would get us out of the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC).

ERIC has some major problems, but is it a good idea to leave without an alternative?

P-4-2-2
HB2042 – food preparation; sale; cottage food Senate Finance and Commerce 03/04/2024 Grantham – Sets forth guidelines for cottage food products. Similar to the tamale bill that was vetoed by Hobbs last session P-6-0-1
SB1477 – political bias; grade challenge department House Education 03/05/2024 Kern – Establishes the Grade Challenge Department (Department) within the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) to hear challenges from Arizona public university students alleging a grade was awarded due to political bias. Authorizes the Department or ABOR to require a faculty member to regrade or reevaluate a student’s assignment or overall grade as outlined. The art of agreeing with professors to get good grades has been around as long as there have been professors.

But politically motivated bias is unacceptable. This bill is a step in the right direction

P-4-3-0
 SB1129 – transient occupants; property; removal House Judiciary 03/06/2024 Rogers – Stipulates that a transient occupant of a residential dwelling is an unlawful occupant of the property after receiving a written direction to leave the premises from the person who is entitled to possession of the property. Subjects a transient occupant to removal from the property by a law enforcement officer or by an order of a court in a forcible detainer action for a violation and deems that a person who fails or refuses to surrender possession of the property as directed by a law enforcement officer is committing trespass A very basic pillar of free societies (as opposed to those under totalitarian regimes), is the individual right to own and control property.

Squatters/trespassers rob property owners of those rights.

This bill aims to preserve those very important rights

P-6-3-0
SB1628 – sex-based terms; laws; rules; regulations House Judiciary 03/06/2024 Kerr – Requires any policy, program, rule or law that prohibits sex discrimination to prohibit the unfair treatment of a female or male in relation to a similarly situated member of the opposite sex. Requires the state to replace the stand-alone term gender with sex in all laws, rules, publications, orders, actions, programs, policies and signage when updates are necessary Provides statutory definitions for boy, father, female, girl, male, man, mother and sex. Does away with all this gender nonsense P-6-3-0
SCR1007 – firearms; contracts; prohibited practices House Judiciary 03/06/2024 Carroll – Ballot referral – Prohibits public entities from contracting with companies that discriminate against firearm entities or firearms trade association Discriminating against entities that exercise the 2nd amendment are as bad as discriminating against those who exercise any other constitutional rights P-6-3-0
HB2373 – instructional time model; posting requirement Senate Education 03/06/2024 Diaz – Requires the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) to post all adopted instructional time models (ITMs) on its website. Recipient of strike everything amendment

No longer tracking

 
HB2629 – schools; instruction; victims of communism Senate Education 03/06/2024 Toma – Establishes November 7 of each year as Victims of Communism Day and requires the State Board of Education (SBE) to create a list of recommended resources for mandatory instruction on the topic in certain public school courses.  

We must make students aware of the horrors of Communism.

 

Those Democrat legislators who are so enamored with Communism, like Gonzales, Marsh and Miranda should be required to live for one year under a Communist regime.

 

P-4-3-0
HB2645 – foster children; high school; transfer Senate Education 03/06/2024 Jones – This applies to grades 9-12. The state board of education shall develop guidelines for charter schools and school districts to consider when developing policies regarding the calculation of academic credits, including partial credits, for foster children who transfer schools pursuant to a best interest educational placement determination. Foster Children are more likely to move. This ensures that school credits are properly transferred. P-7-0-0
HB2675 – school report cards; letter grades Senate Education 03/06/2024 Pingerelli – Replaces the A-F letter grade system with performance classifications adopted by the State Board of Education (SBE). Modifies requirements relating to school report cards and notification procedures. What is the value of replacing the A-F system? Isn’t it already a “performance classification” system?

This bill has some merit in that it increases the requirements for transparency

P-4-3-0
HB2322 – peace officers; discipline; modification Senate Military Affairs, Public Safety and Border Security 03/06/2024 Payne – Modifies the way hearings on appeals are conducted to increase fairness to the employee(s) involved. This bill improves the likelihood that disciplinary actions are fair and appropriate P-7-0-0
SB1217 – county committee; vacancy; precinct committeeman Senate Third Reading 03/06/2024 Rogers – Two important provisions

1: If a legislative district or legislative district committee includes more than one county when redistricting takes effect, the precinct committeemen from the county with the highest number of registered voters in that political party shall act as the county committee for that legislative district.

2: A precinct committeeman vacancy is deemed filled when the county chairman submits the list of the names.  the county recorder or officer in charge of elections must approve or reject the precinct committeeman appointment within fourteen days after receiving the name.

Killed by Hoffman and Kern F-14-16-0
SB1472 – prohibited uses; public monies Senate Third Reading 03/06/2024 Kern – Government entities may not use any public monies to promote, support or maintain diversity, equity and inclusion or to engage in political or social activism: DEI schemes are nothing more than thinly veiled discrimination and harassment, which is not any better when it is used against “whites” than when it is used against so-called minorities. P-16-14-0
SB1670 – public-private partnership contracts Senate Third Reading 03/06/2024 Gowan – Gives wide latitude to government procurement officers to engage in the establishment of public-private partnerships to carry out a wide variety of actions. Totally eviscerates the requirement that public-private partnerships do not compete with private sector entities by adding to ARS41-4752 the following exemption:

“21. Public-private partnership contracts awarded pursuant to sections 41-2559 and 41-2559.01”, which are the sections created by this bill.

 

P-25-5-0
 HB2570 – planning; home design; restrictions; prohibition Senate Third Reading 03/06/2024 Biasiucci – Creates municipal prohibitions relating to home designs and single-family home lot sizes Intended to increase supply of affordable housing.

Will not work unless demand is reduced

P-16-13-1
SB1313 – DCS; discharge from care; housing Senate Third Reading 03/11/2024 Miiranda – Requires, by January 1, 2026, the Department of Child Safety (DCS) to develop, implement and submit a report on policies and procedures to ensure safe and secure housing for children who leave DCS care. It makes sense to make sure a released child is released to a safe environment P-26-2-2
SB1374 – foreign donations; election administration; certification Senate Third Reading 03/11/2024 Bolick – Anyone who provides funding for elections must show that the funds did not come from a foreign entity A very important bill. Aimed at reducing the influence of foreign entities in the internal affairs of this country. P-16-12-2
SB1403 – designated countries; land ownership; prohibition Senate Third Reading 03/11/2024 Shamp – Notwithstanding any other law, a foreign principal from a designated country may not, directly or indirectly, purchase, lease, own, acquire by grant or devise or have any other interest in real property in this state. One of several bills aimed at reducing the influence of foreign entities over our affairs P-16-12-2
SB1469 – school resource officers; veterans; retirees Senate Third Reading 03/11/2024 Kern – Replaces piece officer with school resource officer for participation in school safety programs.

School resource officers may be piece officers, but may also be other individuals if they meet certain criteria

This is a way to deal with the shortage of available piece officers.

Good idea if they are properly trained

P-16-12-2
SCR1019 – preferential treatment; discrimination; prohibited. Senate Third Reading 03/11/2024 Kern – This state shall not compel an applicant, employee or contractor to endorse giving preferential treatment to or discriminating against any individual on the basis of race or ethnicity as a condition of any hiring, promoting or contracting decision.

Mirror house bill HCR2056

This basically paraphrases MLK’s speech on color vs. Heart P-16-12-2
SCR1036 – cities; towns; elections Senate Third Reading 03/11/2024 Wadsack – constitutionally determines that, for certain cities or towns that provide for election of city or town council members by district, ward, precinct or other geographic designation, only voters who are qualified electors of the district, ward, precinct or other geographic designation are eligible to vote for that council member candidate in the city’s or town’s primary, general, runoff or other election. Prohibits the terrible practice of electing city council members at large P-16-12-2
SCR1041 – ballot measures; challenges Senate Third Reading 03/11/2024 Mesnard – allows a person to contest the constitutionality of an initiative measure or amendment in superior court and prohibits the Secretary of State (SOS) from certifying or printing an amendment or measure that is found unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction. Saves time, money and effort to find out whether a measure is constitutional before it is put to the voters P-16-12-2
HB2442 – school immunizations; exclusions Senate Health and Human Services 03/12/2024 Montenegro – Adds to the list of immunizations that are not required for school attendance an immunization for which a united states food and drug administration emergency use authorization has been issued Children should not be required to be injected with unproven substances as a condition to attend school  
HB2621 – sovereign authority; border; health crisis Senate Health and Human Services 03/12/2024 Montenegro – Deems that the trafficking of fentanyl across Arizona’s border is a public health crisis and directs the Arizona Department of Health Services (DHS) to do everything within its power to address the crisis. Good idea, but this bill has no teeth in it. The DHS can simply ignore it.  
SB1654 – schools; finance; instruction; accountability; revisions Senate Third Reading 03/12/2024 Bennett – Revises financial reporting requirements, modifies the Auditor General’s (OAG) schoolwide audit team duties and directs school districts to consolidate numerous funds into a newly established School District Additional Monies Fund. Aims at greater transparency in school funding/budgets P-24-4-2
SB1056 – municipalities; counties; fee increases; vote House Government 03/13/2024 Petersen – Holds counties, cities, and towns to the same requirement as the state of a 2/3 requirement for passing tax increases Raising taxes and fees should happen only when there is a very compelling reason to do so. This measure in a step toward that  
SB1195 – public monies; prohibited uses House Government 03/13/2024 Kern – A public entity may not spend public monies to promote, advocate or plan for, or become a member of an association or organization that promotes, advocates or plans for a variety of enumerated, freedom-limiting activities This is a regular bill. Identical language is found in ballot referral bill HCR2040.

This is aimed at a much-needed curtailment of government overreach.

 
SB1187 – bond elections; schools; polling places House Municipal Oversight & Elections 03/13/2024 Kavanagh – Prohibits a public school in a school district with a bond or override election on the ballot from being used as a polling place, with exceptions. Aimed at preventing conflicts of interest P-5-4-0
SB1286 – elections; voting centers; polling places House Municipal Oversight & Elections 03/13/2024 Hoffman – Mandates that district schools be closed on election day, so that the facilities may be used as voting centers. Removes the ability of the school principals to deny use of the facility This removes the objection that there are not enough venues to provide voters with voting locations near their homes.  
SB1357 – early ballots; affidavits; privacy House Municipal Oversight & Elections 03/13/2024 Mesnard – Requires an early ballot affidavit to be concealable. Improves privacy and security of mailed ballots

Killed by Kolodin

F-4-5-0
 HB2400 – school safety program; proposals Senate Education 03/13/2024 Gress – Makes several modifications to the School Safety Program.

Establishes training requirements for officers on school campuses. Exempts school building blueprints and floor plans from public records.

This bill enhances the School Safety Program, to make it more difficult for mischief to occur  
HB2375 – guaranteed income program; prohibition Senate Government 03/13/2024 Diaz – A municipality or county may not establish, adopt, enforce or maintain any ordinance, order or rule that has the purpose or effect of making payments to persons as part of a guaranteed income program.

A guaranteed income is one that does not require either performance or participation in training by the recipient

It is not a good idea to hand out “free money”  
HB2120 – law enforcement; defunding; prohibition Senate Military Affairs, Public Safety and Border Security 03/13/2024 Marshall – Cities may not reduce law enforcement budgets below previous year. If they do, the state will withhold from shared revenue an amount equal to the reduction This bill aims to head off the calls to defund the police  
HB2402 – DCS; investigations; interviews; recording Senate Military Affairs, Public Safety and Border Security 03/13/2024 Gress – If the department of child safety conducts an investigation, then, with few exceptions, the department shall audiotape or videotape any interview that the department conducts with a child pursuant to the investigation The best way to assure accuracy is to have a recording of interviews  
HB2506 – foreign agents; registration; attorney general Senate Military Affairs, Public Safety and Border Security 03/13/2024 Gress – A person may not act as an agent of a foreign principal from a country of concern unless the person has filed a registration statement with the attorney general’s office. Aimed at reducing mischief by adversary countries  
SCR1040 – permanent school fund; distribution; uses Senate Third Reading 03/13/2024 Mesnard – Requires, beginning in FY 2026, the State Treasurer and the Arizona State Land Department (ASLD) to annually transfer Permanent State School Fund (Permanent School Fund) monies to provide guaranteed financing for common schools to acquire, construct, refinance or improve capital facilities before transferring Permanent School Fund monies for any other authorized purpose. It makes sense to use “permanent funds” to be applied to “permanent” facilities before using them elsewhere P-16-12-2
HB2064 – school safety zone; offenses; sentencing Senate Judiciary 03/14/2024 Bliss – Authorizes a court to increase the applicable sentencing range by up to five years for a person who is convicted of a felony offense in a school safety zone if the person is in a position of trust and is convicted of a qualifying sexual offense, in addition to other sentence enhancements that may apply. These are bad enough crimes, but they are even worse when the perpetrator is in a position of trust by the victim.  
HB2323 – DCS; specialty medical evaluations Senate Judiciary 03/14/2024 Payne – Places some restrictions on the way the superior court may issue an order authorizing the Dept. of Child Safety to take temporary custody of a child. This is a complicated bill with a lot of provisions. Overall, it seems to be aimed at guaranteeing that there is good reason to place a child in the custody of the DCS  
HCR2040 – public monies; prohibited expenditures Senate Judiciary 03/14/2024 Smith – A public entity may not spend public monies to promote, advocate or plan for, or become a member of an association or organization that promotes, advocates or plans for a variety of enumerated, freedom-limiting activities This is a ballot referral. Identical language is found in regular bill SB1195.

This is aimed at a much-needed curtailment of government overreach.

 
HB2405 – voter registrations; recorder; inactive status Senate Elections 03/18/2024 Gillette – On receipt of information that provides reasonable cause to believe a person has fraudulently registered to vote or that the person’s registration information is incorrect, the county recorder may place that person’s voter registration information in inactive status and provide notice to the person as otherwise provided by law. Aimed at cleaning up voter rolls P-4-3-1
HB2768 – elections; public resources; conflict referral Senate Elections 03/18/2024 Livingston – Outlines the required procedure for the Attorney General or a county attorney if they receive a complaint that presents a conflict of interest. Conflict of interest is an ongoing problem in AZ. This bill is a small step toward a remedy P-4-3-1
HCR2032 – voting centers; precinct voting Senate Elections 03/18/2024 Jones – Limits the number of voters in precincts to 1,000 registered voters.

Prohibits the use of voting centers

Re-establishes voting by precinct

It is an identical, voter referral bill, to HB2547

P-4-3-1
HB2332 – traffic; vehicle laws; cities; prohibition Senate Transportation, Technology and Missing Children 03/18/2024 Aguilar – Preempts a local authority from prohibiting cruising and from limiting a motor vehicle’s suspension or bumper height. Regulation over cruising should be left to the local government. This should not be a pressing issue for the state

This bill would be OK if it only addressed the height of vehicles, which is a safety concern.

F-1-6-0
HB2479 – missing; abducted; runaway children Senate Transportation, Technology and Missing Children 03/18/2024 Parker, B. – Revises various requirements related to what must be done by the Department of Child Safety (DCS) when a child is found to be missing, abducted or runaway (disappeared). Recent hearings have revealed that DCS is not doing all it can to help these children P-7-0-0
HCR2049 – ballot measures; challenges. Senate Transportation, Technology and Missing Children 03/18/2024 Carter –

Subject to voter approval, constitutionally prohibits a tax or fee based on vehicle miles traveled and any rule or law that monitors or limits vehicle miles of travel without consent and excludes limiting or monitoring the miles traveled by government-owned vehicles, the provision of travel reimbursements and specified interstate agreements.

Does not prevent a governmental entity from limiting or monitoring the miles traveled by a motor vehicle that is owned by the governmental entity or providing reimbursement for an employee’s travel expenses;

 

 

Strike-everything amended with edited language from failed bill SB1010

P-4-3-0
SCR1040 – permanent school fund; distribution; uses

 

S/E: tipped workers; wages

House Commerce 03/19/2024 Mesnard – Requires, beginning in FY 2026, the State Treasurer and the Arizona State Land Department (ASLD) to annually transfer Permanent State School Fund (Permanent School Fund) monies to provide guaranteed financing for common schools to acquire, construct, refinance or improve capital facilities before transferring Permanent School Fund monies for any other authorized purpose. KILLED BY STRIKE EVERYTHING AMENDMENT.

NO LONGER TRACKING

 

XX
SB1151 – school classrooms; ten commandments; posting House Education 03/19/2024 Kern – Allows any Arizona school teacher or administrator to read or post, in any school building, copies or excerpts of the Ten Commandments. Violating a key provision of ARS15-341 could easily lead to other religions and sects to demand the same treatment. The exact language in the bill is, 11. NOTWITHSTANDING SECTION 15-341, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. P-6-4-0
SB1583 – school admission; annual parental disclosure House Education 03/19/2024 Wadsack – Each year, each public school shall provide to the parent or guardian of each student enrolled in the school a document that discloses the following information:

Then it goes on to enumerate a slew of disclosures, mostly dealing with the parents bill of rights

This is a transparency bill. It requires schools to disclose to parents a few facts, many of which are contained within the parent’s bill of rights as stated in ARS1-601 & 602 P-6-4-0
SB1064 – gasoline formulations; air quality.

 

S/E: conditional enactment; fuel reformulations

House Natural Resources, Energy & Water 03/19/2024 Wadsack – Has two important provisions

1. Expands the gasoline blends available to Arizona

2. Enables the president of the senate and the speaker of the house to request gasoline blend waivers

 

Strike Everything amendment did not substantially change the purpose of this bill

 

This bill is the result of the promised made by President Petersen in a news conference December 13. For a full report, go to

https://arizonadailyindependent.com/2023/12/17/arizona-lawmakers-unveil-plan-to-reduce-price-of-gas/

P-6-4-0
HB2506 – foreign agents; registration; attorney general Senate Appropriations 03/19/2024 Gress – A person may not act as an agent of a foreign principal from a country of concern unless the person has filed a registration statement with the attorney general’s office. Aimed at reducing mischief by adversary countries P-6-3-1
HB2317 – (NOW: sober living homes) Senate Health and Human Services 03/19/2024 Gress – Modifies requirements of the Department of Health Services (DHS) relating to the licensing, oversight and regulation of sober living homes. Prescribes guidelines for the inspection and penalizing of sober living homes that are noncompliant with applicable state and local regulations.   P-4-0-3
SB1654 – schools; finance; instruction; accountability; revisions

 

S/E: schools; facilities; uses

House Appropriations 03/20/2024 Bennett –

Strike-Everything as follows:

Allows career technical education districts (CTEDs) to build housing facilities for foster youth and homeless, unaccompanied youth. Expands the uses of school districts’ Litigation Recovery Fund to include maintenance and operation (M&O) and unrestricted capital outlay.

This bill contains a lot of provisions, some of which are good.

But is building and providing housing facilities a proper action?

Probably not.

 

3 R’s voted NO

P-14-3-0
SB1670 – public-private partnership contracts House Government 03/20/2024 Gowan – Gives wide latitude to government procurement officers to engage in the establishment of public-private partnerships to carry out a wide variety of actions. Totally eviscerates the requirement that public-private partnerships do not compete with private sector entities by adding to ARS41-4752 the following exemption:

“21. Public-private partnership contracts awarded pursuant to sections 41-2559 and 41-2559.01”, which are the sections created by this bill.

 

P-9-0-0
SB1056 – municipalities; counties; fee increases; vote

 

S/E: groundwater replenishment; areas; member lands

House Judiciary 03/20/2024 Killed by Strike Everything Amendment.

No longer tracking

 

Petersen – Prohibits the common council of a municipality or the board of supervisors of a county from increasing an assessment, tax or fee without a two-thirds vote of the governing body. Declares the regulation of increases in municipal or county assessments, taxes and fees to be a matter of statewide concern and preempts further regulation by a municipality or county.

Good measure. The state legislature already requires a 2/3 vote to raise taxes. That should apply to all levels of government

 

xx
SB1344 – felony murder; fentanyl; sentencing House Judiciary 03/20/2024 Kern – Adds Fentanyl to the list of substances that if a death results from its ingestion the supplier will be charged with 1st degree murder and will be sentenced to life imprisonment or death penalty. Fentanyl supplying must be discouraged in every way possible  
SB1608 – (NOW: electronic applications; human smuggling) House Judiciary 03/20/2024 Wadsack – Makes it unlawful for a person to knowingly and intentionally use a phone, a computer or an app or program to that assists in human smuggling. Makes it a class 2 felony. Adds one more tool for combatting human smuggling P-6-3-0
SB1638 – residential property; transient occupant; remedies House Judiciary 03/20/2024  

Killed by Strike Everything Amendment.

No longer tracking

 

 

Carroll – Allows for a homeowner to evict a transient from their home and that transient must leave. Law enforcement may be used.

This bill strengthens individual property rights xx
SB1278 – (NOW: legislative vacancies; appointment) House Municipal Oversight & Elections 03/20/2024 Mesnard – Prescribes requirements relating to the timeline for the county board of supervisors (county BOS) and precinct committeemen (PCs) to fill a legislative vacancy. Requires the state party chairperson to fill a legislative vacancy if the county BOS fails to fill the vacancy. It is imperative that legislative vacancies be filled quickly if the vacancy occurs while the legislature is in session P-8-1-0
SB1286 – elections; voting centers; polling places House Municipal Oversight & Elections 03/20/2024 Hoffman – Mandates that district schools be closed on election day, so that the facilities may be used as voting centers. Removes the ability of the school principals to deny use of the facility This removes the objection that there are not enough venues to provide voters with voting locations near their homes. P-5-4-0
SB1357 – early ballots; affidavits; privacy

 

S/E: eligible persons; information; confidentiality

House Municipal Oversight & Elections 03/20/2024  

Strike Everything
Amended

 

Mesnard –

NOW: An emergency measure that authorizes family members and household members of eligible persons to prohibit the general public from accessing their records.

 

NOW: Improves personal privacy P-6-3-0
SB1359 – election communications; deep fakes; prohibition House Municipal Oversight & Elections 03/20/2024 Carroll – Establishes a period of 90 days before an election during which a person who creates or distributes a deceptive and fraudulent deepfake of a candidate or political party on the ballot, without a clear and conspicuous disclosure, commits a class 1 misdemeanor. This may prevent the use of some of the deceptive materials that has become quite common lately P-8-0-0
SB1375 – ballots; categories; count; identification number House Municipal Oversight & Elections 03/20/2024 Bolick – Requires ballots that are used for an election in Arizona to be numbered and prescribes requirements relating to the distribution of the numbered ballots. Requires the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections to maintain a count of the physical ballots and post the count on the county’s website. Makes it easier to track ballots P-5-3-0
SCR1036 – cities; towns; elections House Municipal Oversight & Elections 03/20/2024 Wadsack – constitutionally determines that, for certain cities or towns that provide for election of city or town council members by district, ward, precinct or other geographic designation, only voters who are qualified electors of the district, ward, precinct or other geographic designation are eligible to vote for that council member candidate in the city’s or town’s primary, general, runoff or other election. Prohibits the terrible practice of electing city council members at large P-5-4-0
SCR1041 – ballot measures; challenges House Municipal Oversight & Elections 03/20/2024 Mesnard – allows a person to contest the constitutionality of an initiative measure or amendment in superior court and prohibits the Secretary of State (SOS) from certifying or printing an amendment or measure that is found unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction. Saves time, money and effort to find out whether a measure is constitutional before it is put to the voters P-5-4-0
HB2095 – scholarships; requirements; foster care students Senate Education 03/20/2024 Parker, B – Allows foster care students to receive a school tuition organization (STO) educational scholarship or tuition grant (scholarship) funded through the individual credit for contributions to certified STOs (switcher credit) or the corporate credit for contributions to STOs for low-income scholarships (low-income credit) This bill merely adds children in foster care to be added to the list of students eligible to receive STO assistance. P-4-2-1
HB2471 – rulemaking; legislative approval Senate Government 03/20/2024 McGarr – Requires the approval process for any new rulemaking to be by a majority vote of the Legislature after being approved by the Governor’s Regulatory Review Council (Council). Check-and-Balance to runaway agency rule-making  
HB2748 – illegal border crossings; state; crime Senate Military Affairs, Public Safety and Border Security 03/20/2024 Chaplik – It provides local government with liability immunity that arises from enforcement of immigration laws. It extends that immunity to state employees

Mirror senate bill: SB1231

Enhances the ability of law enforcement to enforce immigration laws

This idea has been vetoed by Hobbs. This is a second attempt

P-4-0-3
HCR2050 – energy source; restriction; prohibition Senate Natural Resources, Energy and Water 03/21/2024 Griffin – This state, a city, town, county or political subdivision of this state or a public body may not restrict the manufacture, use or sale of a device based on the energy source that is either used to power the device or consumed by the device. Heads off California-style regulations that prohibit certain types of vehicles or appliances P-3-2-2