Got a new nickname for State Sen. John Kavanagh: Ol' Reliable

Ol' (bile-filled) Reliable, maybe.

Our John really dislikes trans people.

So when it came time to introduce legislation for the upcoming session, he had two choices - get his hate on or change his character and become ardently pro-public education.

Hint: He hasn't changed.

Instead, he has introduced SB1002 and SB1003.

SB1002 would bar people employed by a school system from using a student's preferred pronoun and SB1003 would bar students from using a restroom or "changing facility" (think: locker room) belonging to their preferred gender.

Not exactly schemes to benefit society, but they may make Kavanagh's handler at the Center for Arizona Policy happy - that person may actually hate trans people as much as our John, and public schools, particularly adequate funds for them, aren't as lucrative as school vouchers that siphon money away from public schools.

Legislative schedule - week starting 4/28/2024

There isn't much on the schedule at the legislature...as yet.  I expect that to change as the week goes on. 

The House, with all Democratic votes, and a few Republican votes, passed a bill to repeal Arizona's Civil War-era abortion ban.  Now, that repeal travels to the Senate.  Where they may consider the bill.  Or not.  

Where they may pass the bill.  Or not. 

Also, the House Ethics Committee may meet to railroad through the trumped up complaint against two Democrats for making Republicans feel uncomfortable during the debate on repealing the ban.

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 into a very bad one. 

On Monday 4/29 and Tuesday, 4/30 -

Nada.

On Wednesday, 5/1 -

Joint Legislative Budget Committee meets at 9 a.m. in SHR1.  No bills on the agenda, just an executive session for one item and where the other items will be considered with a single vote.

On Thursday, 5/2 -

Nada.

Actually, the most interesting events on the legislative schedule are non-legislative ones:

On Wednesday, 5/1 -

On Thursday, 5/2 -

Guessing that the only way that the Center for Arizona Policy shows up to the first event is to stamp their feet and protest the event.

If they can be bothered to take time away from twisting the arms of state senators.

Legislative Loon Award: early frontrunner Rep. John Kavanagh

 It's time to bring the award back, and while previous winner John Kavanagh is the early favorite to win it again, I expect that there will be many contenders for it.

The award will be based on bill proposals, votes, and statements made during the legislative session.  If the criteria were more expansive than that, almost the entire GOP caucus would be up for the award.

If simply being craven and/or corrupt was enough, all of the GOP caucus (as well as some of the Dems) would be eligible but this will be reserved for the nuttiest of the nuts.

Having said that, Rep. Kavanagh is still carrying the water for the bigoted grifter over at the Center for Arizona Policy.  He also wants to censor police body camera footage.

Lastly, he already wants to greatly expand the the definition of what constitutes illegal residential picketing.

It's early, and I'm sure he will provide other examples for his eligibility for the award, but for these things alone, he's the early frontrunner for the award.

If Cathi Herrod ever said "damn!", this would be the time

 From MSN -

Ohio governor signs budget that includes provision allowing medical providers to deny services to LGBTQ people

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has signed a state budget that includes a provision allowing medical providers to deny services to LGBTQ people based on moral, ethical, or religious objections.

Guessing that this one is coming to the next session of the lege.

Ms. Herrod is the uber-conservative grifter/lobbyist in charge of The Center for Arizona Policy.