Arizona Legislature – Week Eight Update 3/4/23

 Legislative Update

Week two of crossover floor action has come and gone, but not without some fireworks.

Tuesday brought a unified protest where House Democrats voted no on every Bill that went up on the board Wednesday and Thursday.  The protest arose because Majority leadership in both chambers enforced a requirement that a Bill have the support of a majority of the majority (or 16 Republicans) to be put to a full floor vote.  It resulted in very few Democrat Bills being brought to a vote.

This development means that a big chunk of Bills that need to cross over to the Senate are still awaiting a floor vote as leadership from both parties work out some agreement. Look for more of that next week, with the added twist of committees restarting and hearing the opposite chamber’s Bills.

Well, our Governor has not surprised many of us with yet another veto this week.  This makes 15 out of 15 transmitted Bills to her that has gone to the wayside.  This Bill is SB1248.  The short title is the scope of practice; process; repeal.   Check out the Fact sheet for this Bill at:  https://www.azleg.gov/legtext/56leg/1R/summary/S.1248HHS.pdf  The Bill’s purpose repeals the requirement that state-regulated health professions go through the statutory sunrise review process for proposed scope of practice expansions.

Read the article here to learn more.  https://tucson.com/news/government-and-politics/in-veto-hobbs-sides-with-doctors-vs-other-medical-providers/article_8bb02032-ba4a-11ed-88f7-db6b26a149ae.html

There is little talk of the budget to the general public.  But, if you keep your eyes open, ears perched, and nose to the ground you may hear some crickets chirping.  They are telling me that you may be seeing a very loonngg ballot at the next election.

Think about it…If the Governor will not sign a Bill into Law, so how would one bypass her?  Take the vote to the people!  Resolutions by Demand, I say.  The messaging better start early for groups, organizations, clubs, etc. to be on the same page to get ONE GOOD MESSAGE out to the voters to read up on the upcoming Budget Chronicles as I will call them.  Government could shut down on or around June 30, 2023, if there is no solution in the works.  Keep watching for the next chapter of the Budget Chronicles.

Check out these few Bills:

1. SB1486 voting; ranking; ballot format; keep an eye on this Democratic Bill.  Right now, it still does not possess a threat, but you never know.  And since there are two Republican Bills (HCR2033 and HB2552) directly opposing Rank Choice Voting (RTC); we should be ok.  Our challenge is to cross the goal line when they hit the Governor’s Desk.  God help us!
2. SB1600  requires any infant who is born alive to be treated as a legal person under Arizona laws and have the same rights to medically appropriate and reasonable care and treatment. Requires any health professional present, when an infant is born alive, to take all medically appropriate actions to preserve the life and health of the born alive infant.  This Bill did pass out of the Senate, into the House, BUT the Governor is expected to veto this Bill when it reaches her desk.  God IS WATCHING this one…

Link to Bill Status Report: Click: 3-4-2023 – 2023 AZ STATE LEGISLATIVE BILLS AND ACTIONS  and for Link to Abbreviations: Click:  2023 Abbreviations 3   You may need to click on the bill number and select open hyperlink.

How to read the Bill Status report.  All the Bills listed on the attachment are ALL the Republican introduced Bills.   Bills highlighted in Green are the GOP Bills monitored on a daily basis.  Bills highlighted in Blue are Democratic Bills deemed necessary to follow.   Bills highlighted in Gray, are ones introduced by LD2 legislators, Senator Kaiser and Representative Wilmeth.  Bills highlighted with yellow in the status column, are the ones completed thru today, 2/18/23, and up to date.

All of the House Bills are done, but ONLY the Senate Bills in BLUE, GREEN, AND GRAY that I monitor daily are complete.  If there are Bills that I am not specifically monitoring, PLEASE let me know and I will add them to my list for you.

Each Bill Number listed is a link to the Bill itself and you can access the status, documents and Agenda’s by clicking onto the link.  Even though I monitor and keep track of the Bills daily, I only send out Updates on the weekends.  So, if you want daily updates on any Bill, just click onto the Bill Number, and go to Overview or Status, for real-time infor

The Citizen Legislator

This past week I started shadowing Legislators to actually see what they do, and I will continue each week.  Instead of writing a book in the Updates, if anyone is interested in the daily ventures of what it is like to be a legislator, let me know, and I will share some of these journeys with you.

In the meantime, thank you for continuing to read these updates.  The attachments to this email include:  Bill Status and Abbreviations.  If you know of anyone wanting to receive these updates, send them this Report and tell them to email me their email address.  I appreciate the feedback I receive from my readers!

Respectfully,

Linda Brickman,Chairman of LD2 Legislative Committee

Keep watching for those Reports. Thank you for continuing to read these updates.  If you know of anyone wanting to receive these updates, send the link to this.  Feedback is appreciate! If there are Bills that are not specifically monitoring, PLEASE let us know and we’ll forward to the preparer.  Remember, each Bill Number listed is a link to the Bill and you can access the status, documents and Agenda’s by clicking onto the link.

SESSION STATISTICS
Days of Session: 55
Bills Posted: 1625
Bills Transmitted to the Governor: 15
Bills Vetoed: 15
Bills Signed: 0

Resolutions Posted: 97
Resolutions Passed: 4

BILLS VETOED: 

1. SB1184: Municipal tax exemption; residential leases
2. SB1248: Scope of practice; process; repeal
3. Senate Budget Bills SB1523 through SB1535