For those counting vetoes!
37 bills have been VETOED by Governor Hobbs with more likely to follow. The governor has vetoed more bills than she has signed.
Veto process 101. After both chambers of the AZ legislature pass a bill it is transmitted to the governor. The governor has 5 days to sign or veto the bill when the legislature is still in session. If the governor should not sign or veto in those 5 days, the bill becomes law without signature. Once the legislature adjourns for the session (called Sine Die) the governor has 10 days to sign or veto.
In cases where a bill is controversial, highly partisan, and a citizen’s referral is expected to try to halt it, the bill is often brought to a final vote the same day the legislature adjourns. That gives the governor 10 days to sign the bill. A recent example is the universal voucher bill. The effort to start collecting signatures could not start until the bill was signed, and Gov. Ducey waited until the 10th day to sign. The 90 day clock to gather signatures, however, starts on the day of Sine Die. The result of Gov. Ducey taking 10 days to sign the bill reduced signature gathering time by 10 days.
With the majority of helpful bills, sponsored by democrats, stopped in their tracks the republican majority should stop throwing veto bait at the 9th floor and get down to sensible budget talks.
Among last week’s 17 vetoes:
SB1600 requires “lifesaving” procedures on fetuses with no chance of survival
HB2415 removes voters from the early voting list after a single missed cycle (primary and general)
SB1074 bans electronic voting equipment unless all parts are made in the US. Cannot be done.
April 18th is the 100th day of the 56th first regular-legislative session. The session is planned to last 100 days with Sine Die no later than the Saturday of the week containing the 100th day. This year that is April 22. The Speaker of the House and President of the Senate may extend the session by one week. After that a majority vote of all members is needed for further extensions.
Dare we ask what LD3 legislators are up to this coming week?
Senator Kavanagh
SB1135 is up for a House floor vote on Monday. The bill dictates that voters who try to return their ballot at the polls on election day would need to stand in line, show I.D. and surrender their ballot then fill out a new ballot. The bill also ends voting the weekend before the election. But wait, there’s more! Arizona would cease to participate in the ERIC (Electronic Registration Information Center) coalition.
ERIC is a multi-state nonprofit formed in 2012 that aims to assist states in improving the accuracy of their voter rolls and increase access to voter registration information through the sharing of voter registration information among member states. Six republican majority states have already or plan to pull out of ERIC. If the bill is defeated and Arizona remains a member that would leave 27 states comprising ERIC.
Rep. Kolodin
HB2325 is up for a vote in Senate Rules on Monday. This bill was explained in detail in last week’s blog. It aims to revamp voting in jail. It is a poorly thought out bill with sheriffs and county elections administrators all against it. There are many absurd provisions in the bill, many of which are in violation of jail policy. The bill will most likely pass Rules and could be up for a Senate Floor vote later in the week.
Rep. Chaplik
HCR2039 would amend the state constitution in how states of emergency are extended. Rep. Chaplik does not like being left out of the process! His bill requires the legislature to have a say if a declared state of emergency needs to be extended, even if the legislature is not in session. Among the many reasons this is impractical is the timing involved with federal relief funding.
HCR2039 is waiting to be put on the Senate Rules agenda. If passed on the Senate Floor it would by-pass the governor and go to the Secretary of State to be put on the 2024 ballot.
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