Like sands through the hourglass, the Arizona State Legislature will return. It's inevitable.

Something else is inevitable, too - They won't do their job, starting on 1/12/2026.

Thus far, they've introduced 182 measures (bills or memorials/resolutions).  Most of those won't be approved by both chambers and of those that do, many won't make it past the governor's veto.

Some fall into the "Culture War" category (aka - "the GOP's War on America") -

Some fall into The "Fear the Other" subcategory (Rep. John Gillette's [R-Shameless Bigot] HCM2001)

Some into the "Anti Early Voting" subcategory (Rep Alexander Kolodin's [R-Running for AZ Secretary of State in order to upend elections] HCR2001)

Some into the "Anti LGBTQ+" subcategory (Rep Selina Bliss' [R- I thought she was less insane than the others. I was wrong) HCR2003)

Some into the "Anti-Vaxxer" subcategory (Rep Nick Kupper's [R-Don't Know Much About Him, But I'll Have to Start Paying More Attention) HB2005)

Some into the "Anti Choice" subcategory (Bliss' HB2043)

Some into the "Anti Public Education" subcategory (Rep. David Livingston's [R-Heavily Armed] HB2075)

Some into the "Anti Poor People" subcategory (Sen. John Kavanagh's [Center for AZ Policy's Water Carrier] SB1002)

Some into the "Anti Fluoride" subcategory (Sen. Janae Shamp's [R-Just Plain Nuts] SB1019]

Some into the "Anti Science" subcategory (Sen. David Farnworth's [R-Foisting His Fundie Religious Dogma of the Rest of Society] SB1025)

Some into the "Trump Worship" subcategory (Shamp's SB1070)

...You get the idea.  Republican legislators will do a LOT of Culture War preening in 2026.  It's an election year, and they want to win any primaries.

GOP state legislators aren't ALL about Culture War issues, though.

Rep. Gail Griffin (R-W2 or 1099?) has already introduced her usual spate of bills to protect and even enhance industry profits, not to help the people of AZ.

Sen. John Kavanagh is a multitasker - he hates pretty much EVERYTHING.  Including public disclosure of misdeeds by scofflaw legislators.  In addition to his various Culture War measures, he's introduced SB1022, intended to stop disclosure of images from "photo enforcement systems."

He *really* doesn't like it when legislators are shown to be hypocrites who believe that laws don't apply to them.

He's also introduced a "protect the wealthy" measure.  His SB1033 seeks to exempt the sales of vacation homes from municipal sales tax.

Of course, some of the proposals seem to be mildly contradictory.  Kupper's HB2059 seeks to remove speed limits, under certain circumstances, while Kavanagh's SB1073 seeks to impose them, under certain circumstances.

To be fair, the bills may not be totally contradictory - their "circumstances" aren't the same.

Lastly, legislators are specifically barred from creating legislation that is targeted at a specific municipality.  One of the ways they get around this requirement is by being hyper-specific, crafting language in a bill that doesn't mention a municipality by name but can only apply to one city.  Bliss' HB2080 seems to be a very example of this.  The language from her bill:  "In a city or town with a population of more than two thousand five hundred persons but less than ten thousand persons, whose population growth rate did not exceed an average of two percent per year for the ten-year period before the most recent United States decennial census and whose current general plan was approved by the voters..."

Hmmm...

The new soap opera moves to Yavapai County

Last week, I wrote a post about how a personality conflict between the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and the Maricopa County Recorder had devolved into a popcorn-riffic lawsuit.

It seems like we are about to find out if popcorn travels in the heat.

From AZMirror written by Jerod MacDonald-Evoy -

Arizona lawmaker seeks bar discipline for attorney who published racist cartoons

A Republican state lawmaker has filed a complaint with the Arizona State Bar Association after a disgraced former state lawmaker who has faced child sex charges and espoused racist views posted racist AI-generated cartoons aimed at the lawmaker. 

Stringer, a licensed attorney, owns and publishes Prescott eNews, an online news site that covers Prescott and the surrounding communities. He and the publication have been facing pointed criticism for publishing multiple AI-generated “political cartoons” that depict Prescott Valley Republican lawmaker Quang Nguyen in a racist manner.

 

While the Maricopa County soap opera should probably be aired on a Phoenix TV station, but as this one is only a call for "bar discipline" aired on a relatively small TV station.  Like the one station in Prescott.

While I'm hardly a fan of Rep. Nguyen (he's a Trumpian wingnut), he's nowhere near as bad as David Stringer, who is (allegedly) Trumpian in his own way.

Plus, he's a hardcore bigot.

However, Stringer may have some allies in the state legislature.  Nguyen's LD1 seatmates in the AZ legislature are Rep. Selina Bliss and Sen. Mark Finchem.

Well, that didn't take long - pro-Russ...errr..."gun" legislators are ticked at the City of Phoenix for supporting Ukraine

Last week, the City Council of Phoenix approved a resolution to send unclaimed guns to the national police of Ukraine.

I wrote about it then.

This week, a couple of the NRA's thralls Republicans in the state legislature expressed objections to that.

From Fronteras at KJZZ -

2 Republican lawmakers say Phoenix's plan to donate firearms to Ukrainian police is illegal

Last week, the Phoenix City Council voted unanimously to donate hundreds of unclaimed firearms to the National Police of Ukraine. 

Republican state Rep. Quang Nguyen says that runs afoul of state law. 

Nguyen, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, wrote a letter along with committee vice chair and fellow Republican Selina Bliss this week that cites a state statute that says unclaimed firearms must be sold to a business authorized to receive and dispose of weapons.

Interestingly, and probably not coincidentally,, Nguyen is the president of an NRA-affiliated organization.

From the NRA's website - 

In her legislative biography, Bliss claims membership in the same organization

Nguyen has taken money from a multitude of pro-gun organizations.

From some filings with the Arizona Secretary of State -

In addition to being pro-gun, Bliss will refer to herself as a doctor.  It's not a complete misrepresentation - while she is a nurse and not a medical doctor, she does have a doctorate and merits the title.

Though as a person in the medical profession she should be aware that someone with a PhD may want to avoid engendering confusion with such a referral.

From her LinkedIn profile -