Early bill submissions for LD17, LD18, and LD8

Last night's post about the Republican attempt to cut a quarter billion dollars from public education, SB1027, inspired me to look into what other bills have been submitted already.

My focus is on LD17 (my district), LD8 (north Scottsdale), and LD18 (Mesa) because those are the closest to me. Other districts are available on the Lege's website, just click on the Representative or Senator that you are interested in.

The brief summaries of the bills are NOT meant to be definitive; I haven't read any cross-referenced sections of the law.

If the bill addresses a topic of interest to you, read the text of the bill for yourself. If the area is one of interest to you, you'll probably understand the bill better than I do, anyway. :)

The list (note: most of these are co-sponsorships, not solo submittals):

LD17 -

Sen. Meg Burton-Cahill (D): none listed yet.

Rep. Ed Ableser (D): none listed yet.

Rep. David Schapira (D): none listed yet.

LD8 -

Sen. Carolyn Allen (R): SB1032, a bill indemnifying hospitals and their employees from liability for "any civil or other damages as a result of any act or omission", under certain conditions.

Rep. Michele Reagan (R): SCR1002, an amendment to the state constitution stating that public schools and teachers are "not subject to punitive damages for any act or failure to act related to classroom discipline."

Rep. John Kavanagh (R): A group of "technical correction" bills...
HB2001 - Relating to poison control
HB2002 - Relating to the taxation of common areas owned by homeowners' and/or community associations.
HB2003 - Relating to individual income tax credits for water conservation systems.
HB2004 - Relating to common school districts.
HB2005 - Relating to schools and property taxes (this one looks like a tense correction of a single word.)
HB2006 - Relating to public health and safety.
HB2007 - Relating to general election ballot.
HB2008 - Relating to contractors.
HB2009 - Relating to insurance.
HB2010 - Relating to state parks enhancement fund.

LD18 -

Sen. Karen Johnson (R): none listed yet. I know it won't last, but Thank God.
Rep. Russell Pearce (R): SB1027 (already discussed) and SB1028, a bill to accelerate Class One property tax reduction.
Rep. Mark Anderson (R): none listed yet.

Summary:

On the surface, it looks as if the Democrats in the lege aren't doing anything to prepare for the coming session, and the Republicans (especially Kavanagh) are hitting the ground running.

Then, a check of all of the Democrats in the lege shows that none of them have bills listed yet, even though I know that most of them have already prepared some.

The fact that the Rep leadership of both chambers of the state lege isn't allowing Democrats to even submit bills seems to be an indication that the Republicans are still more interested in the basest partisanship than in governance.

Also, a check of the bills that have Rep. Kavanagh listed as a sponsor show that most of them have no real legislative substance to them. "Technical corrections" bills are a great way to pad his "bills passed/signed" numbers when he campaigns for re-election. His name on such bills is evidence that he is already a favorite of the House Republican leadership who are going out of their way to help him, even before he has taken his oath of office.

Personal note: Edit to correct on 12/29: I just realized that my note about Rep. Kavanagh was incorrect. He is NOT listed as a co-sponsor of SB1027. I apologize for the error and have deleted the note. Thanks.

End edit 12/29

Edit to add:

A Random Raspberry (just made that up, but I like it! :) ) to Sen. Jim Waring of LD7. His SB1015 would turn ER and other medical personnel into DWI enforcers. It would require health care providers to "notify a law enforcement officer or agency" if they have a patient that was involved in a traffic accident whom they "reasonably" believe was the driver of the vehicle in the accident and they have a blood test indicating that the patient has a blood alcohol count greater than 0.08.

Failure to comply would be grounds for professional discipline by the regulatory agency governing the provider's profession, up to and including loss of professional licencing.

Why the raspberry? Two reasons -

1. Health care providers are medical professionals, not law enforcement professionals. Their focus must ALWAYS be on the patient; anything else is a distraction from their ability to provide the best care possible for the patient.

2. This bill, if enacted, would serve to discourage possibly seriously-injured people from seeking necessary medical attention. That's not something our legislators should be promoting.

Period.

Anyway, as the session starts rolling, I'll try and keep an eye out for the seriously loony and/or nasty proposals.

End edit.

Later!