WHAT LD3 BILLS FAIRED POORLY ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK?
Senator John Kavanagh sponsored 39 bills and one ballot resolution this session. 24 bills are progressing. Sen. Kavanagh’s try at one ballot referral, his biological sex requirement resolution, failed in the senate by one vote. The senator sponsored his usual selection of HOA, animal cruelty and veterinarian bills with mixed results. You will not be seeing the “Appeal to Heaven” flag flying in an HOA near you, as the bill died in the senate. (well, you might see it but it was not authorized as a state approved flag)
Most notable out of the 24 bills still active
· SB1187 requires schools with a bond or override on the ballot to be a polling place, if no other government building is available. The concern is that is negates the current exceptions regarding available space and child safety concerns. The bill will be heard in the House Municipal Oversight and Elections committee on Wednesday.
· SB1458 is another bill fed to Sen. Kavanagh by Tom Horne. It penalizes schools by reducing their letter grade if they do not follow through in at least 75% cases of school discipline. It discounts actions taken involving social emotional learning factors and mandates all cases be reported to the Dept. of Ed. Bill will be heard in House Education committee on Tuesday.
Senator Kavanagh has a long held reputation for sponsoring a large variety of bills each session. Of the 16 bills that did not make it was his bill to exempt the Superintendent of Public Instruction from using the Attorney General as counsel.
Rep Alex Kolodin sponsored 33 bills and 10 resolutions this session.
Eight bills passed out of the House and are waiting for action in the senate. One, described below, contained an emergency clause and was passed and signed by the governor.
Most notable:
· HB2785 passed with an emergency clause allowing the Arizona primary election to be moved up to July 30 in order to not disenfranchise voters. In order to pass a bill with an emergency clause, which this bill needed, democrats needed to be on board. The bill was necessary to rectify a huge election problem resulting from a bill passed two years ago. Kolodin's original bill needed amendments to gain support from democrats since his original bill contained some odd election ideas. The final bill was not perfect and starting in 2026 we will see some changes to dropping off ballots at the polls and election timing.
· HB2178 passed out of the House and is awaiting senate action. It allows state university students to designate one or more clubs or organizations that may not receive any of their student fees. Impetus behind the bill is to prevent money going to a “woke” club or student organization.
· All 10 of Rep. Kolodin’s resolutions did not progress out of the House. Most were ballot referrals.
24 of Rep. Kolodin’s bills did not make it.
Rep. Joseph Chaplik sponsored seven bills this session. Three passed out of the house and will be taken up in the senate.
Most notable:
· HB2748 would make illegal border crossings a state crime. The bill is almost identical to the senate bill sponsored for the same purpose which the governor already vetoed.
Rep. Chaplik’s other four bills did not progress out of the House.
Rep. Alex Kolodin's remarks when voting on HJR2002 were on national news feeds this week. The resolution requested the United States Congress accept a statue of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, for placement in Statuary Hall in the nation's capitol in D.C.
The O'Connor family already had plans for a statue and were not in favor of the resolution request by the AZ state legislature . Democrats honored the family's request and voted NO.
Rep. Kolodin's reasons for voting NO might have indicated, not for the first time, that he does not read bills.
His remarks:
“We cannot allow the distinguished members of this body to have to suffer walking by such an undistinguished jurist when they enter here in the morning,”
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