Republican are using their slim majority to pass bills.
With only a one person republican majority in each chamber of the Arizona legislature it would seem the each party would have a fair shot at getting bills voted.. Nothing could be further from what plays out at our extreme Arizona legislature.
To date:
In the Senate:
·       47 bills have been voted by the whole Senate
·       all 47 were sponsored by republicans
·       22 were voted on party lines
·       8 were unanimous
·       the remaining bills had a mix of Yes and No votes from both parties
In the House
·       90 bills have been voted by the whole House
·       88 were sponsored by republicans
·       2 were sponsored by democrats: one was a death resolution recognizing the passing
of former House member Geraldine Peten, a democrat; the other was a bill to build a
memorial to Don Bolles, the AZ investigative reporter killed in a car bombing
·       10 were voted on party lines
·       42 were unanimous, many were to continue advisory commissions
·       the remaining bills were a mix of Yes and No votes from both parties
The 26 bills from democrats on Monday’s Rules agenda will hopefully pass and make it to a floor vote. Next week will see the start of long Floor sessions as bills get voted out of their
first chamber and cross over to the second chamber to start the process over.
Good bills we won’t see advancing:
·       many bills on safe gun storage
·       bills addressing housing and the unhoused
·       bills seriously addressing ESA vouchers (one senate bill from Christine March still has
a slim chance)
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Ugly bills still alive:
·       a bill to ban voting centers and return to precinct voting
·       a bill to prevent a city, town or county from banning a gun show
·       a bill allowing permitted concealed carry weapons on college campuses
Senator Kavanagh has had 5 bills pass out of the Senate and will cross over to the House. The Rules Committee Agenda for Monday Feb 19th contains nine additional bills sponsored by Sen. Kavanagh.
He also has bills previously passed out of Committee and waiting for a Floor vote.
Rep. Kolodin has the distinction of having his name attached to the one bill sent to the governor and signed. Since our 2024 elections were in jeopardy of disenfranchising oversees voters and not being able to certify election results in time, drastic measures were needed.  Kolodin, working with democrats, came up with a compromise bill to fix the mess caused by Michelle Ugenti-Rita in 2022. Rep. Kolodin also had 2 other bills pass out of the House and are ready to cross to the Senate. He has one last bill waiting to get out of the Rules Committee this week.
Rep. Chaplik had one bill that passed the House and will cross to the Senate. His bill to make illegal entry into Arizona a state crime is on the Rules agenda for Monday.
Since only the Appropriations and Rules Committees are still meeting, bills on those agendas are the only ones that will be open for RTS. Bills heading to Floor votes need a call or email. Please check The Weekly for the run down on active RTS for the week, the majority are in Rules Committees.