Legislative schedule - week starting 2/11/2024 Part 2

Friday is the deadline for bills to receive a committee hearing in their originating chamber* so there are some very long committee agendas this week and there's a very rare Friday committee hearing on the schedule.

* = Except for the Appropriations Committees of the respective chambers and for a couple of other exceptions, but those necessitate some serious hoop jumping by the sponsor.

In other words, there are many bad bills on agendas this week - I can't even begin to cover them all here,  I suggest reading all agendas, or at least those covering an area of interest.

Two committees are scheduled to meet twice, but the agenda for the second meeting is the same as for the first, with one exception.  That's been noted below.

Because there are so many committee agendas at the lege this week, this post will be done in two parts.  Part one (this one) will cover Monday and Tuesday while part two will cover Wednesday and Thursday (and Friday). 

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 at 1 p.m. and the Senate's in Senate Caucus Room 1, 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 Wednesday, 2/14 

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House Government meets at 9 a.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: 24 bills.  Lots of propaganda here.  Some of is anti-immigrant, some is anti-labor, some is anti-United Nations (and anti-municipalities and counties...and anti-efforts to address climate change...etc.)

House Judiciary meets at 9 a.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: 15 bills.  There's a proposed striker for HB2727 from Rep, Quang Nguyen that would expand the legal definition of sexual exploitation of a minor.  This one, even if passed and signed into law, may run into First Amendment issues.

House Ways & Means meets at 9 a.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda: Eight bills, most bad, but not all are propaganda.

Senate Government meets at 9 a.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: 15 bills.  There are proposed strikers for SB1120. SB1170, and SB1292 (text unavailable for all of them) that may be problematical. 1292's striker is listed as a "same subject" striker, but underlying bill is about dividing Maricopa County into many counties...and is sponsored and cosponsored by a rogues' gallery of election deniers.  Aside from those, there's still a lot of propaganda on this agenda.

House Appropriations meets at 2 p.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda: nine bills

House Regulatory Affair meets at 2 p.m. in HHR5.  On the agenda: 10 bills, including HCR2052, a proposal to amend the state's constitution to insert the legislature into all agency rulemaking, giving them the authority to approve or disapprove all rules.

House Transportation & Infrastructure meets at 2 p.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: 11 bills, including HB2866, setting the price to register an EV at $135.  The price for a standard vehicle is $8,

Senate Education meets at 2 p.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: 41 bills.  Whew!  It took a while just to count them; considering them will take longer.  A mix of good bills and bills that are pure propaganda.  Good - SB1353, requiring the production of cost estimate for fund school vouchers for each year.  Bad - SB1040, proposing to create an exemption for students from paying student activity fees if they don't like them state their reason is based on conscience or religion.

Senate Military Affairs, Public Safety and Border Security meets at 2 p.m. in SHR2.  On the agenda: 19 bills, including SCR1035, a proposal to amend the state's constitution to specifically state that LEOs (actually, the term the measure uses is "certified peace officer") doesn't have to resign from public employment in order to seek a salaried elected office.

On Thursday, 2/15 

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Senate Judiciary meets at 8 a.m.in SHR1.  On the agenda: 27 bills, including proposed strikers for two bills (language unavailable).  Much of this agenda, but not all of it, is pure propaganda.

House Appropriation Subcommittee on Budgetary Funding Formulas meets at 9 a.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: no bills, just some presentations.

House Appropriation Subcommittee on Fiscal Accountability meets at 9 a.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: no bills, just some presentations.

House Appropriation Subcommittee on State & Local Resources meets at 9 a.m. in HHR5.  On the agenda: no bills, just some presentations.

Senate Natural Resources, Energy and water meets at 9 a.m. in SHR2.  On the agenda: 20 bills, including SB1430, a proposal requiring that wind farms be located be located more than six miles from the nearest property unless that property is owned by the same entity/person that owns the property where the wind farm is located.

Senate Transportation, Technology and Missing Children meets at 1:30 p.m. in SHR2.  On the agenda: 29 bills.  Similar to Monday's agenda; the bill that is on Thursday's agenda is SB1216, but isn't on Monday's, which has a striker proposed for it (text not available).

Senate Elections meets at 2 p.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: 25 bills.  Mostly propaganda or Republican wish list bills.  Includes SCR1036 and SCR1043, a proposed amendment to the state's constitution targeting Tucson's election system (1043 would also bar ranked choice voting in AZ), and SCR1023, a proposed amendment to the state's constitution that would move all municipal elections to November.

On Friday, 2/16 

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Senate Government meets at 10 a.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: same as Wednesday's agenda.

Legislative schedule - week starting 2/11/2024 Part 1

Friday is the deadline for bills to receive a committee hearing in their originating chamber* so there are some very long committee agendas this week and there's a very rare Friday committee hearing on the schedule.

* = Except for the Appropriations Committees of the respective chambers and for a couple of other exceptions, but those necessitate some serious hoop jumping by the sponsor.

In other words, there are many bad bills on agendas this week - I can't even begin to cover them all here,  I suggest reading all agendas, or at least those covering an area of interest.

Because there are so many committee agendas at the lege this week, this post will be done in two parts.  Part one (this one) will cover Monday and Tuesday while part two will cover Wednesday and Thursday (and Friday). 

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 at 1 p.m. and the Senate's in Senate Caucus Room 1, 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, 2/12 

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Joint Legislative Audit Committee meets at 9 a.m. in HHR1.  No bills on the agenda.  Some presentations.

House Health & Human Services meets at 2 p.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: 15 bills.  There are a couple of "We hate poor people" bills - HB2502, from Rep. Leo Biasiucci, would institute a work requirement for SNAP recipients while HB2503, from the same source, would specifically instruct DES to not "seek, apply for, accept or renew" waivers of work requirements unless such is federally required or legislatively authorized.

House Land, Agriculture & Rural Affairs meets at 2 p.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: 19 bills, including some in the "even feds need to laugh sometimes" genre.  HB2376 seeks to bar the transfer of any private real property in AZ to the federal government or any of its arms without the specific approval of both chambers of the legislature and the governor, HB2377 would require the state's auditor general to determine the cost of managing all federally-controlled land in AZ, except for land that is controlled by the DOD or the Bureau of Reclamation.  And to assume that all such land, with the heretofore-mentioned exceptions, is transferred to AZ control.  Both schemes are from Rep. Lupe Diaz.  Also on the agenda are some love letters to the feds:  HCM2004, asking the feds to give equivalent land to the state or relevant county when it acquires state or county land; HCM2005, asking that the feds transfer 30% of all federally-controlled land in western states to those states; HCM2006, asking that Congress declare that the feds cannot make "any new national monument, national park, wildlife refuge, conservation area, area of critical environmental concern, wild and scenic river, wilderness, wilderness characteristic area or any other federal reservation or special use designation within Arizona's border and from withdrawing or reserving any additional federal mineral, land, water or other national resource rights within Arizona's border" without the specific permission of Congress, the AZ legislature, and the board of supervisors of any affected counties; HCM2007, asking that the President void the creation of the Grand Canyon National Monument area; and HCM2008, asking that the Antiquities Act be repealed.  Under that act, the Grand Canyon National Monument area was created.

House Military Affairs & Public Safety meets at 2 p.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda: nine bills, including HB2748, Rep. Joe Chaplik's proposal to criminalize immigration and to indemnify municipal officials and/or employees from civil liability under state and federal law for enforcing Republican anti-immigrant measures.

House Military Affairs & Public Safety meets again at 2 p.m. or upon the adjournment of the first committee meeting in HHR1.  On the agenda: five bills, including a proposed striker for HB2329.

Senate Elections meets at 2 p.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: 20 bills, mostly propaganda.  My personal (least) favorite is SB1158,.changing AZ law so that a candidate for president cannot be removed from a general election ballot for violating the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  One bill that seems to be directed at a specific person is SB1662, from Sen. David Gowan, a proposal to make someone who owes more than $1,000 ineligible to be a candidate for or to hold elected office.  I don't know if this is targeted at a potential general election opponent for Gowan, a primary opponent, or if he's carrying the water for someone else.

Senate Finance and Commerce meets at 2 p.m. in SHR109.  On the agenda: 30 bills, some of which are pure propaganda.  Also includes a proposed striker for SB1034 and a proposed striker for SB1689.

Senate Transportation, Technology and Missing Children meets at 2 p.m. in SHR2.  On the agenda: 28 bills.  Lots of propaganda bills and/or bills that are simply bad. 

On Tuesday, 2/13 

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Senate Health and Human Services meets at 1:30 p.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: 27 bills, including three with proposed strikers.  Lots of propaganda here - some anti-vaxxer, some anti-LGBTQ (mostly T).

House Commerce meets at 2 p.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: 14 bills, including HB2282, another expression of Republican hatred for unemployed, aka poor, people.  The bill proposes to expand requirements for collecting unemployment insurance payments in Arizona while also expanding the factors for disqualifying people from doing just that.  The current maximum benefit is $320/week.

House Education meets at 2 p.m. in HHR4,  On the agenda: eight bills.  Most seem OK.

House Natural Resources, Energy &Water meets at 2 p.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda:  22 bills, with most reading as if they were written by an industry lobbyist.  One that may have been written by an industry lobbyist but is also pure propaganda is HCR2050.  It proposes to amend the state's constitution to bar municipalities, counties, and other political subdivisions from banning the manufacture or use of a particular device based on its energy source.

Senate Appropriations meets at 2 p.m. in SHR109.  On the agenda: two bills.  SB1188 is one of them.  It's Sen. Sonny Borrelli's attack on the state's Department of Gaming.  He's got a history of antipathy toward the department - he thinks its a tool of tribal nations in AZ.

Legislative schedule - week starting 2/4/2024 Part 2

Welcome to Part 2.

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 at 1 p.m. and the Senate's in Senate Caucus Room 1, 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 Wednesday, 2/7 

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Wednesday will be a very busy day at the Capitol, with nine committees scheduled to meet.

House Government meets at 9 a.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: 12 bills, including two bills with proposed strikers relating to historical societies

House Judiciary meets at 9 a.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: six bills, most bad.

Senate Government meets at 9 a.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: five bills, all bad.   State Sen. Shawnna Bolick seems to be running a bill to benefit her own family.  Her SB1370 would exempt small companies established by people under that age of 18 from transaction privilege tax (sales tax).

From Bolick's Q4 2021 campaign finance filing:

I can't find any evidence that Firebird Installations has been incorporated with the Arizona Corporation Commission (caveat: I only searched a couple of ways and if it was established under a different name or by a different person, I would have missed it), nor do I know the ages of any of her children.  This person may or may not be a minor.

It *is* curious, though.

House Appropriations meets at 2 p.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda: five bills and a couple of presentations.

House Municipal Oversight & Elections meets at 2 p.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: seven bills, all propaganda,  Includes HCR2027, Rep. Cory McGarr's proposed amendment to the state constitution to change the way state representatives are elected.

House Regulatory Affairs meets at 2 p.m. in HHR5.  On the agenda: eight bills, most of which read as if they were written by an industry lobbyist.

House Transportation & Infrastructure meets at 2 p.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda:  eight bill, including a return visit from Sen. John Kavanagh's bid to criminalize begging is roadway medians.  This one is called HB2658, and is sponsored by Rep. Joe Chaplik.  It's still vindictive crap.

Senate Education meets at 2 p.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: 20 bills.  Most of which are pure propaganda.

Senate Military Affairs, Public Safety and Border Security meets at 2 p.m. in SHR2.  On the agenda: 11 bills, mostly crap and/or propaganda.  Includes SB1231, granting civil immunity to local and state officials for acts related to enforcing Republican laws regarding immigration.

On Thursday, 2/8 

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House Appropriations Subcommittee on Budgetary Funding Formulas meets at 9 a.m.in HHR3.  No bills on the agenda, just three propaganda sessions presentations.

House Appropriations Subcommittee on Fiscal Accountability meets at 9 a.m.in HHR4.  No bills on the agenda, just three presentations.

House Appropriations Subcommittee on State & Local Resources meets at 9 a.m.in HHR5.  No bills on the agenda, just two presentations.

Senate Judiciary meets at 9 a.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: 24 bills.  Lots of garbage/craps here, including SCR1022, Sen. Anthony "Insurrection" Kern's proposal to give the legislature the authority to override the courts in regard to the practice of law.

Senate Natural Resources, Energy and Water meets at 9.a.m.in SHR2.  On the agenda: eight bills, most of which read as if they were written by an industry lobbyist.  Includes SB1237, barring from regulating "working animals."

Legislative schedule - week starting 2/4/2024 Part 1

Because there are so many committee agendas at the lege this week, this post will be done in two parts.  Part one (this one) will cover Monday and Tuesday while part two will cover Wednesday and Thursday. 

There are many bills on committee agendas this week as the crossover deadline approaches - bills not heard in committee in the originating chamber will be all but dead.  Hence, the rush.

Also, there are some "misdirection" bills on agendas as members try new approaches to things that they've been slapped down on before or they simply lie about a proposal's effects.  Proposals that may look to be harmless at first glance may not be, and will merit closer examination.

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 at 1 p.m. and the Senate's in Senate Caucus Room 1, 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, 2/5 

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House Health & Human Services meets at 2 p.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda:  11 bills, including HB2451, Rep. Steve Montenegro's scheme to restrict advertising by marijuana dispensaries; he has proposed some amendments to his idea, perhaps to make it more palatable.  It's still crap.  Also on the House HHS agenda is HB2621, which is a piece of propaganda declaring that the R talking point of a "border crisis" is actually a public health crisis too.

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

House Military Affairs & Public Safety meets at 2 p.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda: 12 bills, including HB2135, Rep. Timothy Dunn's proposal to "reform" private prison adult incarceration contracts by expanding which corporations are eligible for them.

Senate Elections meets at 2 p.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: 14 bills, including SB1131,  Sen. John Kavanagh's backdoor plan to force municipalities to move their elections to another date.  Direct Republican schemes to do the same thing keep getting slapped down by the courts.

Most, but not quite all, of the other bills are bad.

Senate Finance and Commerce meets at 2 p.m. in SHR109.  On the agenda: 16 bills,  including SB1213, Sen. Wendy Rogers' plan to create a tax credit for increased labor costs due to a municipality enacting  a minimum that is higher than the state's minimum wage, and have the municipality pay for it.

Senate Transportation, Technology and Missing Children meets at 2 p.m. in SHR2.  On the agenda: eight bills, including SB1500, an ode to Republican "fear the other" propaganda masquerading as an anti-drone measure.

On Tuesday, 2/6 

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Senate Health and Human Services meets at 2 p.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: 22 bills.

House Commerce meets at 2 p.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: 13 bills, including HCM2001, a love letter to the feds declaring that the chemical industry is already too regulated and restricted and all future regulation/restrictions should be eased.

House Education meets at 2 p.m. HHR4.  On the agenda: five bills, including HB2400, Rep. Matt Gress' proposal to give more power to school resource officers and Tom Horne's Department of Education in schools.

House Natural Resource, Energy & Water meets at 2 p.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda: 15 bills, most of which appear to have been written by an industry lobbyist.  On the agenda: SB1147, Sen Anthony Kern's proposal to appropriate $250K to the state's livestock compensation fund.  And amendment has been proposed by Sen. Juan Mendez.

It 's a great proposal by Mendez, but it won't pass - it seems to be anti-corruption and he's a Democrat (and my state senator).

Legislative schedule - week starting 1/28/2024 Part 2

Welcome to Part 2.

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 at 1 p.m. and the Senate's in Senate Caucus Room 1, 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 Wednesday, 1/31 

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House Government meets at 9 a.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda:  10 bills, including some sneaky bad ones.  One that's simply stupid, and not in a sneaky way, is Rep. Justin Wilmeth's HB2477, a proposal to declare Pluto to be the state planet for Arizona.

Ummm...Pluto isn't even classified as a  full planet any longer.

House Judiciary meets at 9 a.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: 10 measures, all propaganda.

House Ways & Means meets at 9 a.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda: three bills.

Senate Government meets at 9 a.m.in SHR1.  On the agenda: four bills, at least three of which are pure talking points.  SB1127 would bar municipalities and/or counties from putting a tax or fee on blockchain technology in a residence.

Sponsored by Sen. Wendy Rogers and cosponsored by legislators who are just as extreme as her.

House Appropriations meets at 2 p.m.in HHR1.  On the agenda: three bills, including HB2610, a proposal by Rep. Barbara Parker to allow the legislature to put unlimited monies into the state's rainy day fund (currently capped at 10% of the state's general fund revenues).

House Municipal Oversight & Election meets at 2 p.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: eight bills, all propaganda.

House Regulatory Affairs meets at 2 p.m. in HHR5.  On the agenda: 11 bills, many pure propaganda.  One that seems to be certain to be vetoed if it's approved by the legislature: HB2471, a scheme by Rep. Cory McGarr (and cosponsored by a host of other crazies) to supplant the executive branch by having the lege approve or invalidate all rules crafted by an agency.

House Transportation & Infrastructure meets at 2 p.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: six bills.

Senate Education meets at 2 p.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: two bills.

Senate Military Affairs, Public Safety and Border Security meets at 2 p.m. in SHR2.  On the agenda: five bills including SB1123, barring an AZ company or governmental entity from entering into a contract to improve critical infrastructure if the contractor is owned or controlled by a citizen of China, Iran, North Korea, of Russia..

My guess is that the Republicans will kill this one if Vlad tells them to.

On Thursday, 2/1 

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House Appropriations Subcommittee on Budgetary Funding Formulas meets at 9 a.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: no bills, two presentations.

House Appropriations Subcommittee on Fiscal Accountability meets at 9 a.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: no bills, one presentation.

House Appropriations Subcommittee on State & Local Resource meets at 9 a.m. in HHR5.  On the agenda: no bills, two presentations

Senate Judiciary meets at 9 a.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: seven bills, including a proposed striker for SB1183 titled "brass knuckles; prohibited weapons".  The text isn't available as of this writing.  Lots of propaganda on the agenda, including SB1145, forbidding the state's bar association and/or supreme court from disciplining or revoking the license of and attorney for "BRINGING A GOOD FAITH, NONFRIVOLOUS CLAIM THAT IS BASED IN LAW AND FACT TO COURT."

This hot mess is sponsored by Sen. Anthony Kern (and cosponsored by other members of the extremist caucus).  He is familiar with frivolous lawsuits.

Senate Natural Resources, Energy and Water meets at 9 a.m. in SHR2.  On the agenda: eight bills, mostly a mix of talking points and garbage.

Legislative schedule - week starting 1/28/2024 Part 1

Because there are so many committee agendas at the lege this week, this post will be done in two parts.  Part one (this one) will cover Monday and Tuesday while part two will cover Wednesday and Thursday.  

There are many bills going before legislative committees this week; some are Culture War stuff, some are simply *bad*.

Few are actually intended to benefit average Arizonans.

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 at 1 p.m. and the Senate's in Senate Caucus Room 1, 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, 1/29 

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House Health & Human Services meets at 2 p.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: HB2442, from Rep Steve Montenegro, banning an immunization requirements for school attendance for any immunizations covered by an FDA emergency use authorization.

House Land, Agriculture & Rural Affairs meets at 2 p.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: seven bills sponsored by Rep. Gail Griffin that each read as if they were written by an industry lobbyist.

House Military Affairs & Public Safety meets at 2 p.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda: four bills, including a return visit from HB2120, the bill to bar municipalities from reducing police agency budgets.

Senate Finance and Commerce Committee of Reference meets at 2 p.m. in SHR109.  On the agenda:  no bills, just three sunset reviews.

Senate Transportation, Technology and Missing Children meets at 2 p.m. in SHR2.  On the agenda: five bills, at least three of which are garbage.  Sneaky bad: SB1011, barring municipalities from adopting a general plan that reduces its system's capacity to handle automobile traffic.  It would also remove bicycle and multimodal elements from such plans.  The primary sponsor of this scheme is Sen. Jake Hoffman; it's been cosponsored by a rogue's gallery of legislators.

It failed on its first trip through committee.

The bill's prime sponsor is on the committee, so after a raft of arm-twisting persuasion, the measure is making a return visit.

Senate Finance and Commerce meets at 2:05 p.m. or upon adjournment of its reference committee in SHR109.  On the agenda: Nine bills.  Most, but not all, bad.  Includes SB1148, further busting the state's budget by creating a tax rebate for senior citizens.  To ensure that it doesn't make it past the governor's veto stamp, the sponsor of the bill, Sen. Anthony Kern, made sure to put an "insta-veto" clause into it -

On Tuesday, 1/30 

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Joint Legislative Budget Committee meets at 9 a.m. in SHR109,  No bills on the agenda.  Still, this one could get interesting -

Senate Health and Human Service meets at 1:30 p.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: 10 bills, including SB1076, altering the voter-approved Smart and Safer Arizona Act in order to require that more of the funds raised from that go to enforcement of marijuana laws.  

House Commerce meets at 2 p.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda:  seven bills; some bad bills returning for another visit (like herpes) and HB2077, a scheme from Rep. Lauren Hendrix to reduce transparency in the office of the Arizona Registrar of Contractors.

House Education meets at 2 p.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: five bills, including HB2173, which (I think) would serve to reduce funding to public school districts.  Also on the agenda is one bill that I'm pretty sure doesn't belong here - HB2674, relating to the licensing of anesthesiologist assistants.

However, it's sponsored by Rep. Beverly Piingerelli, the committee's chair.

House Natural Resources, Energy & Water meets at 2 p.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda: 12 bills, most of which were sponsored or cosponsored by the committee chair Rep. Gail Griffin, and even more of which read like they were written by industry lobbyists.

Senate Appropriations meets at 2 p.m. in SHR109.  On the agenda: four bills.

Legislative schedule - week starting 1/21/2024

An observer can easily tell that the lege is controlled by Rs and that this is an election year.  There is a lot of "Culture War" stuff on committee agendas this week.

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 at 1 p.m. and the Senate's in Senate Caucus Room 1, 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, 1/22 

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House Health & Human Services meets at 2 p.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: HB2183, a proposal to grant parents access to all of their minor child's medical records, even for those procedures that don't require parental consent.  Also on the agenda is a striker to HB2114.  The striker and the original bill are both from Rep. Julie Willoughby, a Republican from the SE valley.

House Land, Agriculture & Rural Affairs meets at 2 p.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: HB2191, expanding the definition of criminal damage as it relates to property.

House Military Affairs & Public Safety meets at 2 p.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda: HB2120, a proposal to bar municipalities from reducing funding for a law enforcement agency and HB2175, adding university police agencies to the list of organizations slated to receive monies from marijuana funds sent to the state.

Senate Elections meets at 2 p.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: three bills, all bad.

Senate Finance and Commerce Committee of Reference meets at 2 p.m. in SHR109.  No bills on the agenda, just some sunset reviews.

Senate Finance and Commerce meets at 2:05 or upon adjournment of the committee of reference in SHR109.  On the agenda: SCR1006, a proposed amendment to the state constitution for municipalities to refund property taxes if they fail to enforce laws violated by homeless persons.

Senate Transportation, Technology and Missing Children meets at 2 p.m. in SHR2.  On the agenda: some propaganda presentations and six bills, including the return of three  propaganda bills on banning vehicle mileage taxes and use of photo radar.

On Tuesday, 1/23 

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House Commerce meets at 2 p.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: HB2185 and HB2199, seeking to expand alcohol availability and profits from same.

House Education meets at 2 p.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda:  HB2178, a ploy be Rep. Alexander Kolodin to have individual students at public universities be able to designate receive funding from the tuition and fees that they pay.

House Natural Resource, Energy & Water meets at 2 p.m.  in HHR1.  On the agenda: nine bills that appear to be written by industry lobbyists and/or are sneaky bad.

Senate Health and Human Services meets at 2 p.m.in SHR1.  On the agenda: five bills and three presentations.

On Wednesday, 1/24 

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House Government meets at 9 a.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: HB2078, expanding exemptions to require that public business be conducted in public.  One bill to unequivocally support: HB2595, a proposal to authorize a memorial for Don Bolles, an Arizona Republic reporter who was assassinated in 1976.

House Judiciary meets at 9 a.m.in HHR4.  On the agenda: HB2043, a scheme by Rep. Travis Grantham to protect sex predators and others from responsibility for their acts by reducing the statute of limitations from starting at the time of the discovery of the crime to the actual date of the crime.  Actually, there are 10 bills on the agenda, and while, IMO, 2043 is the worst of them, they're all bad.

Very bad.

House Ways & Means meets at 9 a.m. in HHR1.  Five bills on the agenda.  Most seem sneaky bad.

Senate Government meets at 9 a.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: six bills, all are partisan propaganda.

House Appropriations meets at 2 p.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda: three bills.

House Municipal Oversight & Elections meets at 2 p.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: seven measures, all propaganda.

House Regulatory Affairs meets at 2 p.m. in HHR5.  On the agenda: seven bills, most not bad...though HB2071, repealing the civil penalty for dentist who dispense drugs without a license is an exception to that.

House Transportation & Infrastructure meets at 2 p.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda:  eight bills.  Doesn't seem too bad.

Senate Education meets at 2 p.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: four bills, including SB1097, a proposal from Sen. Justine Wadsack to turn school board elections into partisan events.

Senate Military Affairs, Public Safety and Border Security meets at 2 p.m. in SHR2.  On the agenda: three bills, including SCR1007, a proposed amendment to the state constitution that reads as if it were written by the NRA.

On Thursday, 1/25 

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House Appropriations Subcommittee on Budgetary Funding Formulas meets at 9 a.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda:  No bills, just some agency presentations.

House Appropriations Subcommittee on Fiscal Accountability meets at 9 a.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda:  No bills, just some agency presentations.

House Appropriations Subcommittee on State &Local Resources meets at 9 a.m. in HHR5.  On the agenda:  No bills, just some presentations.

Senate Judiciary meets at 9 a.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: two bills, both very bad.  One bill is from Sen. Jake Hoffman; one is from Sen. John Kavanagh.

Senate Natural Resources, Energy and Water meets at 9 a.m. in SHR2.  On the agenda: four bills, at least two of which are utter garbage.

House Ethics meets at 11 a.m. in HHR4 regarding Rep. Leezah Sun.

Legislative schedule - week starting 1/14/2024

It may be early in the session, but that won't stop the ideologues in the Arizona legislature.

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 at 1 p.m. and the Senate's in Senate Caucus Room 1, 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, 1/15 - nada.  It's a holiday and one that the bigots in the legislature may hate but since no one else will be there, neither will they.

On Tuesday, 1/16 

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Senate Transportation, Technology, and Missing Children meets at 9 a.m.in SHR2.  On the agenda: Six measures and some presentations.

What isn't on the agenda: anything related to missing children.  The committee's chair, Sen. David Farnsworth, postured early this month on missing children.

Evidently, his posturing was meaningless to him.

Lots of red meat for the base, though -

Joint Appropriations (the Appropriation committees from both chambers) meets at 10 a.m. in HHR1 to receive the Governor's budget proposal.

House Commerce meets at 2 p.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: Seven sunset reviews and one bill.

House Education meets at 2 p.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda:  Six bills, some of which are problematical.

House Natural Resources, Energy & Water meets at 2 p.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda:  Nine bills, most of which read as if they were written by industry lobbyists for the purpose of protecting or even increasing industry profits to the detriment on average Arizonans.

Senate Appropriations meets at 2 p.m. in SHR109. No bills on the agenda; receiving a presentation from JLBC about the state's budget.

Senate Health and Human Services meets at 2 p.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda:  Three presentations and four bills,  most of which don't seem problematical.

On Wednesday, 1/17 

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House Ways and Means meets at 9 a.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda: no bills.  This committee will be acting as the Ways & Means Committee of Reference and be conducting some sunset reviews.

House Government meets at 9 a.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: four bills.  Most seem to be conventionally bad but not pure ideology.

House Judiciary meets at 9 a.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: six bills.  Some very bad; some less so.

Senate Government Committee of Reference meets at 9 a.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: no bills; just sunset reviews.

Senate Government meets at 10 a.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: four bills; all ideological garbage.

House Appropriations meets at 2 p.m. in HHR1.   On the agenda: one bill.  Doesn't seem to be a problem.

House Regulatory Affairs meets at 2 p.m. in HHR5.  On the agenda: Nine bills, including some very bad ones.  Making a return: the infamous "tamale" bill in the form of HB2042.  Rep Alma Hernandez has proposed an amendment to the bill.  She's a Democrat, so her proposal may not pass.

House Transportation & Infrastructure meets at 2 p.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: four bills.  Doesn't seem too bad.

Senate Education meets at 2 p.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: one bill.  SB1058, requiring schools to add a personal finance course to their curriculum.

Senate Military Affairs, Public Safety and Border Security meets at 2 p.m. in SHR2.  On the agenda: one bill.

On Thursday, 1/18 

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House Appropriations Subcommittee on Budgetary Funding Formulas meets at 9 a.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda:  no bills, but there will be some ideologically-based presentations.

House Appropriations Subcommittee on Fiscal Accountability meets at 9 a.m. in HHR4. On the agenda: no bills but there will be a presentation on opioid settlement funds.

House Appropriations Subcommittee on State & Local Resources meets at 9 a.m. in HHR5. On the agenda: no bills, but there will be presentations on the Rs' favorite talking point, border security.

Senate Judiciary meets at 9 a.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: two bills, both very bad.  SB1007 would make it a class 5 felony for a public school employee or independent contractor of a public school to refer students to or use any sexually explicit material, while SB1017, exempting Tom Horne's Department of Education from a requirement to use the state attorney general's office for legal services.