Raul Grijalva passes at 77

 From NBC News -

Democratic Rep. Raúl Grijalva of Arizona dies at 77

Longtime Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., died Thursday from “complications of his cancer treatment,” his office announced in a statement. He was 77.

Grijalva, who served in the House for more than 20 years, was elected to Congress in 2002. He was chair of the Natural Resources Committee and most recently was the top Democrat on the committee. He also was one of the leading progressive voices on Capitol Hill, and he was the longest-serving co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, from 2009 to 2019.

From the AZ House Democrats (the entire statement is one paragraph, so I'll quote the entire statement) -

 "Raúl Grijalva is the quintessential Arizona story. The son of migrant Mexican Bracero laborers, in a single generation he transformed himself into one of our state's most outspoken, impactful, and longest-serving leaders. He succeeded through education, determination, and his inexhaustible drive to help and serve communities in need, and he showed countless others how to do it as well. His beloved Tucson and communities throughout Arizona will dearly miss the progressive heartbeat of our Congress and the fiercest protector of our wildlands, air, and water. Our Caucus gives our deepest condolences to Congressman Grijalva's incredible family and many loved ones during this heartbreakingly difficult time."

From KPNX (Phoenix Channel 12) -

[snip]

The Arizona State Senate Democratic Caucus responded by saying in part:

"As the son of a bracero — a guest worker who emigrated from Mexico to Tucson — Grijalva understood intimately that what makes this nation great is the people that show up and fight for their neighbors. He took that fight to Congress and never wavered in his belief that we could achieve a better, more equitable future for all." 

The Maricopa County Democratic Party honored Gijalva saying: 

"For over two decades, Congressman Grijalva served Arizona’s 3rd Congressional District with unwavering dedication and courage. From fighting for environmental justice to standing up for immigrant rights, his leadership will not be forgotten by our state nor our nation. He showed us that true leadership means not just speaking up—but listening and taking action."

Arizona Education Association President Marisol Garcia released a statement on Grijalva's passing that said:

"Arizona educators lost a true champion and ally today. Congressman Grijalva has been committed to progressive change and a fighter for public school educators his entire career. 

From his first elected position on Tucson United School Board to his role on the U.S. Committee on Education & the Workforce, Congressman Grijalva has advocated and fought on behalf of better, safer schools for our students, and better pay and support for our educators. 

I'm saddened by today's news, and I send all the love and support to Congressman Grijalva's family. I'm proud to say I was a friend of Raúl."

From Congressman Greg Stanton -

“Congressman Raúl Grijalva will be rightly remembered as one of the most consequential leaders in Arizona political history.

He dedicated his life to serving the community he loved – as a political organizer, school board member and county supervisor before running for Congress, where he faithfully served the people of Southern Arizona for more than 20 years.

He was an iconic figure in  Arizona politics (and the "iconic" doesn't do him justice and I'm aware of that.) and my deepest condolences go out to his family and friends during this difficult time.

On the hot seat Thursday: Jaclyn Rae Johnson

An update this week's legislative schedule post.

On Thursday, 3/13 

-

Senate Committee on Giving Jake Hoffman a Platform for Criticizing Governor Hobbs on the Taxpayer Dime on Director Nominations meets at 9:30 a.m. in SHR109.  On the agenda: no bills.  One director nomination: Jaclyn Rae Johnson, Department of Gaming.

Measles. It's contagious. It kills people.

From the website of the Texas Department of Health Services -

As of this writing, there were no reported cases in Arizona, but it seems to be a matter of time. From Axios, written by Jeremy Duda, dated 3/5/3025 -

Low vaccination rates a warning sign for measles in Arizona

Arizona hasn't had a reported measles case so far this year, but red flags are leading some experts to worry we could see an outbreak like the one in Texas.

Why it matters: Some Arizona counties have lower measles vaccination rates than in west Texas, where the outbreak has infected at least 159 people since it was first reported in early February and has killed one child.

What they're saying: There are "places here where it could spin out of control, just like it has in Texas. The conditions are right here for that to happen in some parts of the state," Arizona Public Health Association executive director Will Humble told Axios.

State of play: A vaccination rate above 95% is needed to prevent measles from spreading, according to the National Institutes of Health.

As of last week, the CDC reported that there were measles cases reported in 12 states.  Add Vermont to that list.

There are a lot of folks who, instead of getting vaccinations for them and their children, seek to elevate their kids' immunity by exposing them to the disease.

Not a bright idea; when I was young  (which was a while ago :) ), our parents would do so when confronted with a case of chickenpox.  So that would be OK, except for one difference.

Chickenpox doesn't kill people.

So, in a word, 

Don't.

Get vaccinated. 

Haven't we heard this one before?  Cheeto is POTUS, a deadly disease is killing folks, a lot of people are lying about it, and he's doing nothing.

Not breaking news: Marlene Galan-Woods is again running for Congress

...On 3/4/2025, 2024 candidate for Congress, filed paperwork with the FEC to run again for AZCD1 in 2026.  This isn't new news, as many outlets covered it last week.

On KAET's (Phoenix Channel 8) Horizon journalists' roundtable on Friday, a couple of the panelists speculated that her early entry into the race was due to two factors:

1. To forestall other entries into the race.

2. To help with her fundraising efforts.

I can't speak to her fundraising efforts, but I don't believe that her early entry won't stop anyone from entering the race - the incumbent, David Schweikert (R-Ethically Challenged), is widely seen as vulnerable, and any candidate with an ego will look at the race.

Caveat: this my district, and as in 2024, I won't make a voting decision until I see who actually on the ballot.

...On 2/3/2025, retired Marine JoAnna Mendoza filed paperwork with the FEC to run for AZCD6.

I didn't find any state-level or Maricopa County-level new committees of note.

Stores in Canada have removed American-made booze from their shelves. I responded appropriately.

From Snopes -

Video shows Canadian stores removing American booze from shelves

Claim:

A March 2025 video authentically shows a liquor store in Ontario, Canada, removing American liquor bottles from its shelves in response to U.S.-imposed tariffs.

Rating:

True

About this rating

In early 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump levied tariffs on thousands of Canadian goods, leading to retaliation from Canada. The province of Ontario announced it would be pulling U.S. alcohol from stores in response to the tariffs, leading to a flurry of social media footage ostensibly showing Canadian liquor store employees removing U.S. bottles from their shelves.

This seemed a little drastic, so naturally, I responded in a similar way - I removed a Canadian product from a store shelf.

Of course, I did so a little differently than the Canadian did...or that Cheeto would have preferred.

I purchased a bottle of Clearly Canadian sugar water when I went shopping this week.  

OK, it was Wild Cherry sparkling water. :)

From the website of Clearly Canadian -

Mexico and Canada are Arizona's two largest trading partners, but I didn't include a picture of a product of Mexico for two reasons -

1. I haven't heard of any reports of stores in Mexico removing American-made products from their shelves.

2. I didn't quickly find a product with "Mexico" (or "Mexican") in the name.  *Many* products that were made or grown in Mexico; so many, in fact, that can't afford to buy them all.

Legislative schedule - week starting 3/9/2025

 As with last week, there aren't any strike-everything amendments on committee agendas, but those can be introduced at any time.

Also as with last week, there's nothing on the schedule for Thursday, but last week, they added a meeting of the Committee on Giving Jake Hoffman a Platform for Criticizing Governor Hobbs on the Taxpayer Dime on Director Nominations for last Thursday.

Note: HHR refers to a hearing room in the House building; SHR refers to one in the Senate building.

Note2: Generally, I'll only specify bills that look to spread propaganda.  Other bills may be more conventionally bad (think: corrupt or other misuses of public monies and/or authority).  My recommendation is that if an agenda covers an area of interest to you, read the entire agenda.

Note3: Each chamber's respective Rules Committee meets on Monday, the House's in HHR4, generally at 1 p.m. and the Senate's in Senate Caucus Room 1, generally also at 1 p.m.  Both committees serve as rubber stamps for bills leadership wants to be advanced and gatekeepers for measures that leadership wants stopped.

Note4: Meeting start times may be listed, but are flexible.  Before journeying to the Capitol or viewing the meeting online, verify the start time.

Note5: Watch for strikers, or strike everything amendments.  Those involve inserting language that replaces the entirety of a bill.  Those can be introduced at any time and can make a previously harmless bill become a very bad one. 

On Monday, 3/10 

-

House and Senate Rules meet at 1 p.m. in their respective rooms.  On the agendas: many bills, though the agendas are far shorter than they are during most weeks.  They may meet more than once this week, but, as of now, they're on the schedule once.

Senate Federalism meets at 1:30 p.m. is SHR2.  On the agenda: no bills, just a propaganda session about fire insurance.

Senate Finance meets at 1:30 p.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: 12 bills. Includes HB2082, a bill that was sponsored by Gail Griffin (but reads as if it was written by an industry lobbyist), it would exempt wastewater pipes from sales tax; and HB2601, would exempt minors with an income of less than or equal to $50K from income tax, would also exempt the first $50K of a minor's income from withholding.

Senate Military Affairs and Border Security meets at 1:30 p.m.in SHR109.  On the agenda: four proposals; two are pure propaganda

House Health & Human Services meets at 2 p.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: eight bills.  Includes SB1268, Wendy Rogers' scheme to have hospitals ask about a patient's immigration status.

House Land, Agriculture & Rural Affairs meets at 2 p.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: two bills.

House Public Safety & Law Enforcement meets at 2 p.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda: six bills.

On Tuesday, 3/11 

-

Senate Appropriations meets at 1:30 p.m. in SHR109.  On the agenda: nine proposals.  Includes HB2814 and HCR2015, ploys by the legislature to increase its authority by grabbing control of federal block grants to entities in Arizona.

Senate Natural Resources meets at 1:30 p.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: 15 proposals.  Most read as if they were written by an industry lobbyist.

House Commerce meets at 2 p.m.in HHR5.  On the agenda: four bills, one very bad, in a "shameless propaganda" sort of way.

House Education meets at 2 p.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda: nine bills.  Includes SB1091, mandating that school district budget override/bond election questions include language specifying a projected reduction in tax rates is the question is defeated.   There are many other bad bills.

House Natural Resources, Energy & Water meets at 2 p.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: four bills.  Includes SB1119, adding a phrase to AZ law to narrow down what the Residential Utility Consumer Office is supposed to do -

House Regulatory Oversight meets at 2 p.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda; two bills.

On Wednesday, 3/12 

-

House Government meets at 9 a.m. in HHR5.  On the agenda: four bills, with one being an absolute doozy - SB1164 would allow officials or agencies of the state or political subdivisions to work with the feds in order to enforce federal immigration laws.  It also would bar the same from creating and/or following policies that restrict that cooperation (IOW - no "sanctuary city" policies).  It would also allow any state legislator to have the state AG investigate any such policy.

House Judiciary meets at 9 a.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: eight bills.  Includes SB1014, legalizing silencers and SB1020, barring governing bodies of higher education campuses from barring concealed weapons on campus.  Both are from Wendy Rogers.

House Ways &Means meets at 9 a.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: eight bills. Includes SB1331,.increasing the income tax exemption for capital gains.

Senate Government meets at 9 a.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: 12 proposals.  At least nine are bad.

Senate Health and Human Services meets at 9 a.m. in SHR2.  On the agenda: 10 bills.

Senate Regulatory Affairs and Government Efficiency meets at 9 a.m. in SHR109.  On the agenda  seven bills.  Includes HB2068, working title "landlord tenant; assistance animals". I admit that I don't know much about this bill, but lobbyists for the Arizona Multihousing Association have weighed in as in favor of the bill,  while disability advocates have registered as opposed to it.  So the bill is bad for real people.

Senate Education meets at 1:30 p.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: five bills.

Senate Judiciary and Elections meets at 2 p.m. in SHR2.  On the agenda: 15 bills.  Includes HB2728,  adding religious programs to the list of programs that a court can order be used for a DUI.  There are other MAGA-related bill regarding elections on this agenda.

Senate Public Safety meets at 1:30 p.m. in SHR109.  On the agenda: seven bills.  Includes HB2896, appropriating General Fund monies and giving it to law enforcement agencies to buy aerial drones.

House Appropriation meets at 2 p.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda: five bills.

House Federalism, Military Affairs & Elections meets at 2 p.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: 10 bills.  Some MAGA propaganda bills.

House Transportation & Infrastructure meets at 2 p.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: six bills.  Includes SB1019, Wendy Rogers' scheme to ban photo radar traffic enforcement systems in Arizona.

On Thursday, 3/13 - Nada.

5 Cs, 4 Cs, what's a C between friends?

Of course, U.S. House Speaker isn't a friend.

On Tuesday, he ejected Representative Al Green (D-TX) from the House chamber for having the utter audacity to disagree with Cheeto.

Today, the Republicans in the House censured (reprimanded) Green.

House Democrats didn't react well.

From ABC News -

Screaming match breaks out in House after vote to censure Democrat Al Green

The House voted on Thursday to censure Democrat Al Green over his outburst at President Donald Trump's speech to Congress on Tuesday night.

The Republican-led effort passed 224-198 with two members voting present, one of them being Green. Ten Democrats voted to censure Green

[snip]

"Mr. Speaker and still I rise," Green said, "and still I rise a proud, liberated Democrat, unbought, unbossed and unafraid."

Green continued to criticize Trump's agenda and animatedly explained why he and other Democrats sang in the well, calling it an "act of incivility."

"We have to not allow [Trump's] incivility, his requirement of fealty, to prevent us from taking the necessary actions to protect liberty and justice for all, to protect government of the people, by the people, for the people ... We have to do what is necessary. I believe we have to engage in a level of positive, righteous incivility.

[snip]

Moments before the vote, Johnson had told ABC News he took "no pleasure in making history like this" and hoped Green would "acknowledge his mistake."

From Bluesky, Green's response -

Not sure if Green's response will appease Johnson.

One thing I'm sure of - while Arizona has five Cs, Johnson has just four.

Arizona Cs, from the website of the Arizona State Library -

Arizona's Five C's are: Copper, Cattle, Cotton, Citrus and Climate.

Johnson's Cs, from me -

He was installed as Speaker of the House, not as Cheeto's Chief Collaborator in Congress.

Even though he behaves like one, not a leader of a co-equal branch of government.

Sneaky bad bill alert: HB2546

It's scheduled to go before the AZ Senate's Judiciary and Elections committee this week.

It passed in the House unanimously but certain folks may not have read it.

Proposed by Lupe Diaz (R-LD19), the bill would add a section to Arizona state law to mandate that county recorders oversee school board elections.

Problem?  It completely bypasses county boards of supervisors.

And the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and the current Maricopa County Recorder, Justin Heap, aren't best of friends.

To put it mildly.

From Votebeat, written by Jen Fifield, dated 2/27 -

In Arizona’s Maricopa County, a public ‘battle’ for control of elections

Maricopa County’s new recorder is rejecting an agreement that splits control of the county’s elections between his office and supervisors, and is threatening to sue the supervisors if they don’t give him more power.

Recorder Justin Heap’s protest puts control over elections in the state’s most populous and high-profile swing county up in the air and sets up a messy fight between prominent Republican officials that could affect voters, with local elections approaching in May and the 2026 gubernatorial election looming.

As of now, the AZ associations for school superintendents and counties oppose the bill.

Legislative schedule - week starting 3/3/2025

There aren't any strikers listed on agendas at this point, but that is something that is subject to change at a moment's notice.

Note: HHR refers to a hearing room in the House building; SHR refers to one in the Senate building.

Note2: Generally, I'll only specify bills that look to spread propaganda.  Other bills may be more conventionally bad (think: corrupt or other misuses of public monies and/or authority).  My recommendation is that if an agenda covers an area of interest to you, read the entire agenda.

Note3: Each chamber's respective Rules Committee meets on Monday, the House's in HHR4, generally at 1 p.m. and the Senate's in Senate Caucus Room 1, generally also at 1 p.m.  Both committees serve as rubber stamps for bills leadership wants to be advanced and gatekeepers for measures that leadership wants stopped.

Note4: Meeting start times may be listed, but are flexible.  Before journeying to the Capitol or viewing the meeting online, verify the start time.

Note5: Watch for strikers, or strike everything amendments.  Those involve inserting language that replaces the entirety of a bill.  Those can be introduced at any time and can make a previously harmless bill become a very bad one. 

On Monday, 3/3 

-

House and Senate Rules meet at 1 p.m. in their respective rooms.  On the agendas: many bills.  They may meet more than once this week, but, as of now, they're on the schedule once.

Senate Finance meets at 1:30 p.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: 13 bills.

House Health & Human Services meets at 2 p.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: five bills.  Includes SB1072, capping the time limit for certain complaints to the medical board at one year (if the board hasn't handed down a judgement after having the complaint for year, then the matter in considered to be closed). .

On Tuesday, 3/4 

-

Senate Natural Resource meets at 1:30 p.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: five proposals and three presentations.  The presentations are slated to be from industry bigwigs, which is fair, because all of the proposals read as if they were written by industry lobbyists.

House Education meets at 2 p.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda: four bills.

On Wednesday, 3/5 

-

House Government meets at 9 a.m. in HHR5.  On the agenda: three bills, all propaganda.  SB1013 would require all counties and municipalities to have a 2/3 vote of their supervising council/board in order to raise a fee or tax; SB1015 would bar a municipality or county from regulating blockchain technology; and SB1023, which would bar, with certain exceptions, all businesses and governmental entities in AZ from contracting with a company for "critical infrastructure" if that company it controlled by, or by citizens of, China, Iran, North Korea, or Russia.

Since Russia is included, I'm guessing that this isn't an idea that Cheeto wants to see take hold.

Senate Health and Human Services meets at 9 a.m.in SHR2.  On the agenda: six bills, four House bills to be voted on and two Senate bills to be discussed.

Senate Regulatory Affairs and Government Efficiency meets at 9 a.m. in SHR109.  On the agenda: seven bills, including a couple that read as if they were written by industry lobbyists.

House Ways & Means meets at 10 a.m.in HHR3.  On the agenda: one bill.

Senate Government meets at 10 a.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: three bills.  All ugly. HB2062 is an anti-trans bill; HB2113 would bar the flying of rainbow flags et. al. over public land; and HB2221 would bar municipalities from reducing police budgets.

Senate Education meets at 1:30 p.m.in SHR1.  On the agenda: four presentations touting private education and four bills.  Includes HB2018, which would give public money to private companies who operate "degree granting private postsecondary" institutions.

Senate Judiciary and Elections meets at 1:30 p.m. in SHR2.  On the agenda: 23 proposals. Includes HB2546, placing Justin Heap and other county recorders in charge of school board elections.

Mandating that someone like Heap, who is notorious for his hatred for his hatred of democracy, be in charge of ANY elections, is a bad idea that does nothing to benefit the public interest.

Senate Public Safety Committee of Reference (COR) meets at 1:30 p.m. in SHR109.  On the agenda: one presentation.

Senate Public Safety meets at 2:10 p.m. (or upon adjournment of COR) in SHR109.  On the agenda: 12 bills.  Includes HB2684, an anti-homeless people pedestrians in roadway medians bill

House Federalism, Military Affairs & Elections meets at 2 p.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: three bills.

On Thursday, 3/6 - Nada.

"Religiously unaffiliated" people outnumber those people who profess loyalty to a particular sect

So don't be surprised when certain group redouble efforts to imposed their stated religious standards on the rest of us.

Without bothering to actually, ya know, adhere to the standards they want others to follow.

From NPR - 

Christianity declines among U.S. adults while 'religiously unaffiliated' grows, study says

The portion of the U.S. population identifying as Christian has declined significantly over the last two decades, but a massive new Pew Research study finds that trend may be leveling off.

The study, which surveyed 37,000 Americans, found that 62% identify as Christian. By comparison, when Pew did a similar study in 2007, 78% said they were Christian.

Pew's main website is here.

Their report on the study is here.

From the study itself -

That's national.

The gap is even wider in Arizona.

There seem to be an education-related pattern at work here.  Can you figure out what it is? (Hint: The more education someone has, the less likely they are to be an evangelical Christian.) -

GOPer legislators lied? I'm shocked! Shocked, I say!

That was sarcasm, for folks who aren't regular readers - I'm not really shocked.

From KJZZ, written by Howard Fischer of Capitol Media Services -

9th U.S. Circuit: GOP lawmakers acted with discriminatory intent when adopting new AZ voting laws

A federal appeals court concluded there is evidence Arizona legislators acted with discriminatory intent when they approved some 2022 laws requiring proof of citizenship to vote.

In a 79-page ruling, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said federal law decides who can vote in federal elections. And that, wrote Judge Ronald Gould for the majority, supersedes legislation approved by Republican lawmakers to deny a ballot to those without such proof.

In many ways, Tuesday's ruling is not a surprise. It affirms what U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton concluded two years ago.

"Acted with discriminatory intent" is judge-speak for "you're full of shit", but because of their wish to adhere to their profession's decorum, they couldn't say that directly.  I'm not a professional, so I can -

The GOPS in the AZ legislature were (and usually are) full of shit.

As judges are also trained attorneys, it took them 79 pages to be tactful.

I recommend reading the entire article - there are good parts of the article; too many to cite here.

Bounties.

State Sen. Jake Hoffman wants public funds to finance the victimization of people he already hates.

From AZ Mirror, written by Gloria Rebecca Gomez, dated 2/20 -

Arizona Republicans want to pay police bounties for immigrant deportations

Arizona police departments would be incentivized to target people they believe are undocumented under a Republican bid to award them a $2,500 bounty for every arrest that ends in a deportation. 

The move represents the GOP legislative majority’s latest foray into immigration policy, which has taken on a decidedly hostile tone in the wake of President Donald Trump’s election victory and his stated goal of deporting millions of immigrants. 

[snip]

Sponsored by Sen. Jake Hoffman, the leader of the far-right Arizona Freedom Caucus who has built a reputation for hard-ball politics and controversial proposals, Senate Bill 1111 would set up an “Arizona Deportations Fund.” That fund would be used to disburse bounties of $2,500 to law enforcement agencies every time the arrest of an undocumented person leads to their removal from the country by federal officials.

 

The bounty bill was created by a striker, amending a bill from Hoffman, that while a bad one, was a more conventionally bad one.

The amended bill is absolutely vile.

However, I believe that it can be made palatable with one minor change.

Instead of giving a financial reward to local law enforcement agencies for targeting people with skin darker than a Sun City golfer's tan, award them bounties for going after people who have committed treason, use their positions of public trust to give aid and comfort to traitors., or simply profit from treason.

Hoffman and his ilk may not like that (if nothing else, such a provision would utterly decimate the R caucus membership), but it would actually benefit civil society.

Unlike Hoffman's bigotry-filled scheme.

There are some interesting names running for office next year

Or, in some cases, *another* office, as some of these folks are current office holders.

Note: Just because someone has filed a Statement of Interest or form a committee for  run for a particular office doesn't mean that person will appear on a ballot for that office.  It's early yet and things can, and probably will, change before ballots are set.

Note2: This presumes that there will be elections going forward.  With Cheeto and co-president Musk (and their hatred of democracy) running things, that's not a given.

All of the following is based on Statements of Interest (SOI) filed and committees formed.

Warren Petersen (R), the current president of the state senate, is running for Arizona Attorney General.  He filed an SOI on 1/26 and amended an old committee for this run on 1/31.

Making official something everyone already knew, former candidate Karrin Taylor Robson (R) is running for governor.  She filed an SOI on 2/12 and amended an old committee for this run on 2/12.

Jarrett Maupin (R) is running to unseat Yassamin Ansari (D) is CD3.  He filed an SOI on 2/5.  He hasn't formed a committee as yet.

No ally of Joe Arpaio should be allowed within even sniffing distance of an elected office.

I looked at Maricopa County statements of interest and newly-formed committees.  I didn't find anything there - all of the SOIs were from people looking at the office of Justice of the Peace or Constable.  There are a couple of former legislators on that list but they're running for re-election, so I'm going to ignore them.  As for the county's committee listings? I didn't find anything there, though the County's search function is problematical and I may have missed something.

However, as I stated at the beginning of this post, it's still early, so I didn't worry about it too much.

Legislative schedule - week starting 2/23/2025

It's shaping up to be a relatively quiet week at the Capitol (there are some very bad bills under consideration this week, but only three committees meeting), but could change in a heartbeat.  Committee meetings could be scheduled, and bad amendments could be proposed, at any time.  As such, anything I write here comes with the caveat - 

"As of this writing."

It's something that's true every week that the Arizona State Legislature is in session, but it's truer this week than most weeks.

Note: HHR refers to a hearing room in the House building; SHR refers to one in the Senate building.

Note2: Generally, I'll only specify bills that look to spread propaganda.  Other bills may be more conventionally bad (think: corrupt or other misuses of public monies and/or authority).  My recommendation is that if an agenda covers an area of interest to you, read the entire agenda.

Note3: Each chamber's respective Rules Committee meets on Monday, the House's in HHR4, generally at 1 p.m. and the Senate's in Senate Caucus Room 1, generally also at 1 p.m.  Both committees serve as rubber stamps for bills leadership wants to be advanced and gatekeepers for measures that leadership wants stopped.

Note4: Meeting start times may be listed, but are flexible.  Before journeying to the Capitol or viewing the meeting online, verify the start time.

Note5: Watch for strikers, or strike everything amendments.  Those involve inserting language that replaces the entirety of a bill.  Those can be introduced at any time and can make a previously harmless bill become a very bad one. 

On Monday, 2/24 

-

House and Senate Rules meet at 1 p.m. in their respective rooms.  On the agendas: many bills.  They may meet more than once this week, but, as of now, they're on the schedule once.

House Appropriations meets at 10 a.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda: 22 bills, five with strikers scheduled to be offered.  One, proposed by Republican Jeff Weninger, proposes to amend HB2325 to create a "pilot program" for the state's budget via blockchain technology (the requirements look to be so specific as to constitute a de facto single source contract ["de facto" means "in everything but name]); another, proposed by Republican Justin Olson, would amend HB2926 to both implement a work requirement for AHCCCS eligibility and to discontinue AHCCCS eligibility for people whose income is above the federal property level if the federal government doesn't subsidize AHCCCS to the tune of 90% (currently, it's 80%).

My guess is if that makes it the governor's desk, it'll be vetoed.  One that I don't expect to make it to the governor's desk is a striker to to HB2496, proposed by Democratic member Nancy Gutierrez.  It would turn the bill into one that would increase the penalty for leaving a firearm where it can be and/or is accessed by a minor.

On Tuesday, 2/25 

-

Senate Appropriations meets at 9 a.m. in SHR109.  On the agenda: 32 bills, three with proposed strikers.  Surprisingly enough, there are some bills worthy of support; not surprisingly, all were proposed by Democratic members. SB1571, from Theresa Hatathlie, would fund a study on the communities affected by the closure of the Navajo Generating Station; SB1575, also from Hatathlie, would fund the construction and operation of a dialysis unit in a certain hospital in Apache County; and SB1671, from Sally Gonzales, which would add Native American traditional healing services to things that are covered by AHCCCS.

On Wednesday, 2/26 

-

Senate Education meets at 9 a.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: nada (for now, anyway).

On Thursday, 2/27 - nada.