Legislative Loon Award: Retired

...at least for two years...

Not because of recent calls for a civil discourse that is more "civil" but because there are too many candidates to choose from, and there will be until the next election (at least!).

Here we are, only into the 2nd week of the legislative session, and 564 bills have been proposed in the House, and another 186 in the Senate.  Highlights include, but are not limited to, the following bills -

HB2001, Rep. Jack Harper's move to turn college classrooms into armed encampments

HB2006, Harper's scheme to allow firearms within game refuges

HB2070, Harper's establishment of a state-sanctioned vigilante force to hunt brown-skinned people near the border with Mexico

HB2077, Rep. Chester Crandell's proposal to require federal agencies to register with the sheriff of any county they operate in, pay a fee, and forward any fees/fines/penalties that they collect to that sheriff for forwarding to the state's General Fund

HB2179, Rep. Carl Seel's plan to require school districts to identify students of parents whose immigration status is undocumented and report the numbers to the state.  It also has criminal and financial penalties for inaccuracies

HB2182, Seel's plan for screwing over teachers by allowing districts to withhold contract offers until July 1 of each year

HB2221, Rep. John Fillmore's bill to put the state in the banking business.  Seriously.  It would mandate the creation of a state-operated bank, accepting deposits and making loans.  Guaranteed by the state's General Fund

HB2222, Fillmore's plan to take the limits off of school tuition tax credits

HB2288, Rep. Jeff Dial's move to require the state's airports to abandon the Transportation Security Administration and hire private security contractors to handle all aspects of airport security

HB2313, Rep. Russ Jones' proposal to allow taking, under eminent domain, of federally-owned land

HB2333, Harper's move to allow former legislators to immediately become professional lobbyists (currently, they have to wait a year)

HB2337, Rep. Justin Olson's proposal to require school districts that still offer full-day K to charge tuition for a half day of that full day

HB2340, Olson's proposal to end the state's equalization property tax (which goes directly to fund education)

HB2472, Another "eminent domain of federal land" bill, this one from Rep. David Gowan

HB2479, a "guns in schools" bill, from Gowan

HB2505, Seel's (and Sen. Russell Pearce's) scheme to cut state education aid to school districts for students whose parents cannot prove their child's immigration status

HCR2011, Seel's proposed amendment to the AZ Constitution to reduce the income eligibility level for AHCCCS

HCR2023, Rep. David Burnell Smith's plan to allow wealthy candidates to skip the bother of talking to voters and gathering nominating signatures in lieu of buying their way onto the ballot

HCR2024, Smith's proposed amendment to the AZ Constitution to end Clean Elections.  Smith was the first legislator removed from office due to violations of Clean Elections' rules.  Think he's still holding a grudge?  Naaahhhhh...couldn't be!  :)

SCR1010, Sen. Linda Gray's proposed amendment to the AZ Constitution to bar state courts from considering the "legal precepts of other nations or cultures" when rendering their decisions.

This isn't meant to be a comprehensive listing of bad bills proposed so far (there are some anti-choice and anti-immigrant bills, but I don't have time to cover them right now - and we haven't seen the "birther" or 14th Amendment stuff yet), but this is just a good start at documenting the beginning of what is shaping up to be an ugly year.