Dianne Post, AZ NOW Legislative Liaison
Of primary concern is SB1367 interfering with women’s right to make decisions about their own families. Please watch the video link and take action.
There are only two committee hearings. The extension of time for TANF cash assistance and SNAP (food stamp) benefits in HB2372 is hotly contested with Democrats opposing the harsh conditions imposed on beneficiaries. It will be heard on Tuesday, March 28 so please read the bill and submit your position.
A striker has brought back a bill on consumer loans allowing companies to charge exorbitant interest rates for small loans for the most vulnerable people and then punish them greatly for not being able to pay. Please take action on HB2496.
The following bills are on Governor Ducey’s desk. Please contact him to sign the bills.
HB2208 – allowing school personnel to assist a child with an inhaler
HB2444 – giving privilege to sexual assault victim advocates
SB1422 – vacating the conviction of a sex trafficking victim
The following bills are also on Governor Ducey’s desk. Please contact him to VETO the bills.
SB1239 – making it a parking violation to be over the line on disability parking
SB1439 – allowing medical facilities to refuse to follow a person’s end of life decisions
| NUMBER | TITLE/CONTENT | STATUS/ACTION |
| HCR2002 | Repeal Prop 105, allowing legislature the right to repeal citizens initiative or referenda | OPPOSE Passed in House, not scheduled in Senate; Should be dead. |
| HCR 2007 | Allow legislature to repeal referenda | OPPOSE Passed in House, not scheduled in Senate. Should be dead. |
| HCR2013 | Constitutional convention for balanced budget – no, the last thing we need now is a constitutional convention run by the Alt Right to re-write the constitution, probably don’t need since have the one above | OPPOSE – Passed House, passed Senate committee 4-3; Contact Senate President Steve Yarbrough to encourage him NOT to schedule for floor. Contact your own Senator to vote against. |
| HCR2016 | Care enough to get in the way of bullying etc. | SUPPORT, PASSED House, No Senate action. Probably dead. |
| HB 2054 | Foreign Corporations register to donate to or participate in initiative process | SUPPORT – PASSED House, sent to Senate, passed Senate Judiciary on 3/16. Contact Senate President Steve Yarbrough to encourage him to schedule the bill for a floor vote. Contact your own Senator to vote for. |
| HB2091 | Repeal required fingerprinting for TANF, SNAP | SUPPORT – PASSED HOUSE, Passed Senate HHS on 3/15. Contact Senate President Steve Yarbrough to encourage him to schedule the bill for a floor vote.
Contact your own Senator to vote for. |
| HB 2208 | Inhalers, administration – allows teachers and school personnel to assist a child with an inhaler | SUPPORT Senate passed and sent to Governor for signature on 3/23. Contact Ducey in favor. |
| HB2226 | Request Article V convention to balance budget, probably don’t need due to SCR2014 above | OPPOSE – PASSED House, Passed Senate appropriations, Contact Senate President Steve Yarbrough to encourage him NOT to schedule for a floor vote. Contact your own Senator to vote against. |
| HB2238 | Sex trafficking –WAS A STRIKE EVERYTHING – changed child prostitution to child sex trafficking, simply put sex trafficking in place of word prostitution, | SUPPORT – Passed Senate 29-0 as amended and transmitted back to the House on 3/23. The Senate amendment clarified that there still is a crime of child prostitution for which sex offenders and internet violators need to register.
Needs conference committee by 4/14. |
| HB2268 | Must submit sexual assault evidence kits in 15 days, annual reporting on rape kits | Governor signed bill on 3/21.
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| HB2302 | Electoral College – shall vote for candidate with highest # of votes in state | PASSED HOUSE, passed Senate Judiciary, awaiting floor, MIXED OPINIONS |
| HB2320 | Ballot measures, put on disclosure about 105 | OPPOSE, Passed House, not heard in Senate; should be dead. |
| HB2290 | Provisional licenses, criminal convictions | SUPPORT, Passed House, Passed Senate Commerce and Public Safety 6-1-1, awaiting Rules and floor. Contact Senate President Steve Yarbrough to encourage him to schedule.
Contact your own Senator to support. |
| HB2372 | Regarding food stamp eligibility and an additional 12 months of cash assistance– Democrats oppose harsh conditions and graduated sanctions to obtain benefits. To obtain the additional 12 months of benefits, recipients have to meet work and school requirements. | SUPPORT/READ to determine your own stand as there is dispute – Passed House, passed Senate HHS. Senate Appropriations hearing on 3/28, sign in with RTS or contact chair Debbie Lesko, [email protected], 602 926 5413. |
| HB2403 | Clean elections, prohibited contributions – cannot pay a political party for any services | OPPOSE Passed House, no action in Senate, should be dead. |
| HB2404 | Strict compliance for initiatives – trying to diminish voter power, guarantee signatures, file a bond, punish organization for individual violation, criminal background check, can’t pay based on number of signatures | OPPOSE – Passed, Sent to Governor, Ducey who signed
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| HB2408 | Making wheelchair only parking spaces and decals | OPPOSE – Passed House, held in Senate Transportation and Technology committee. Should be dead. |
| HB2444 | Sexual assault, victim advocate, privilege | SUPPORT – Passed, Sent to Governor on 3/23.
Contact Ducey to sign it.
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| HB2496 | Pay Day Loans – a striker bill to bring back exorbitant interest on small loans and suck money from the most poor and vulnerable. We keep telling them we do not want this in AZ but it’s a vampire bill that keeps coming back. | OPPOSE – Passed Senate appropriations 6-4 on 3/21.
Contact Senate President Steve Yarbrough to encourage him NOT to schedule. Contact your own Senator and two representatives to oppose. |
| SB1009 | Theft of flag is crime- Kavanagh
we already have a law prohibiting theft, we don’t need another one specially for the flag. It’s aimed at demonstrators. |
OPPOSE – Passed Senate, no action in House; should be dead. |
| SB1069 | Greatly reduced to simply say that if your sentence is set aside, you can answer “no” on the employment question regarding conviction | SUPPORT – Passed Senate, no action in House; Probably dead. |
| SB1071 | Can get provisional licenses for vocations with criminal convictions (HB2290) | SUPPORT Passed Senate, Passed House Military Veterans and Regulations, 9-0.
Contact House Speaker, J.D. Mesnard to encourage him to schedule for floor. Contact your own two representatives to support. |
| SB1108 | Cash assistance to children allowed if living with unrelated adult and in DCS care | SUPPORT – Passed Senate, Passed Health and Rules in House, Contact House Speaker, J.D. Mesnard to encourage him to schedule for floor.
Contact your own two representatives to support it. |
| SB1128 | Fetal death – (Lesko) not about abortion but if don’t make a category of exclusion for fetal death, the patient cannot be counted in survey | PASSED House 30-0. Passed House 55-0
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| SB1158 | Borrelli, TF – ending court debts in 20 years, fine mitigation, non payment does not mean revocation, can mitigate if hardship, pays money to person not probation officer, community restitution, time spent on other crimes counts, can waive interest and it’s down from 10% to 4%, | SUPPORT – PASSED Senate, no hearings yet in House, probably dead. |
| SB1160 | Borrelli – TF – driving violation, restricted rather than suspended license, w/o glasses is misd, violation is civil not criminal, cop cannot take car unless driving on revoked not suspended license, and several other positive provisions. | SUPPORT, Passed in Senate, No hearings yet in House, probably dead. |
| SB1163 | Borrelli – TF – hearing bonds, release procedures, replace bail with bond, replace bail schedule except for misd, hearing if keep in, conditions of release | SUPPORT, Passed Senate, no hearings yet in House, probably dead. |
| SB1198 | Public accommodation, services, civil actions – Kavanagh, to allow businesses an extra 90 days to comply with Americans with Disabilities Law – they have already had 26 years. | OPPOSE – Passed Senate, FAILED in Judiciary on 3/22, should be dead but be careful of vampire bills. |
| SB1239 | Making it a parking violation to be on access aisles for disabilities – Kavanagh – pits one part of the disability community against another. | OPPOSE – Passed Senate, passed House, sent to governor on 3/23.Contact Ducey to veto it. |
| SB1253 | Cops can review the video tapes of a use of force incident before giving a statement – opposite of best practice | OPPOSE – Passed Senate, passed House Judiciary Held in Rules on 3/20. Should be dead but beware of vampire bills. |
| SB1254 | Charter schools can refuse to admit kids from a school under desegregation order. Charter schools should have the same responsibilities as public schools. Both parties voted for it. | OPPOSE – Passed Senate, passed House education and rules. Contact House Speaker, J.D. Mesnard to encourage him NOT to schedule. Contact your own two representatives to oppose. |
| SB1278 | Appropriation for felony pretrial intervention | SUPPORT – passed Senate, held in House Judiciary, passed House appropriations,
Contact House Speaker, J.D. Mesnard to encourage him to schedule on floor. Contact your own two representatives to support. |
| SB1315 | DR – amended to add “substantial” to the evaluation of which parent gives the other access to children. It harms battered women and those protecting abused and molested children because they are not willing to give “substantial” time as they are protecting the child so they are punished often by losing custody all together to the abuser. | OPPOSE – passed Senate, no action in House. Should be dead. |
| SB1342 | Requiring search warrants for tracking devices and cell simulators (sting ray) | SUPPORT – Passed Senate, Passed House Judiciary committee & Rules; Contact House Speaker, J.D. Mesnard to encourage him to schedule it for the floor. Contact your own two representatives to support it. |
| SB1355 | Rights of sexual assault survivor, testing of DNA and match etc. | SUPPORT – passed Senate, no action in House. Probably dead. |
| SB1366 | Police officer victim is an aggravating factor – NO already have as a felony | OPPOSE – PASSED Senate, passed House Judiciary & rules. Contact House Speaker, J.D. Mesnard to encourage him NOT to schedule. Contact your own two representatives to oppose. |
| SB1367 | Reporting a life birth from an abortion or punish doctor unless s/he tries to keep fetus alive. This requires abortion clinics to have expensive equipment and file additional reports or a doctor could be criminally charged – attempt to make abortion more difficult. It also interferes with family decisions when fetus is not viable. Please see this video testimony from a mother who had to go through this trauma. We don’t need state legislators making these decisions for us. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=529DocxlsT4&feature=share | OPPOSE – Passed Senate, Passed House Judiciary & Rules; Contact House Speaker, J.D. Mesnard to encourage him NOT to schedule. Contact your own two representatives to oppose it should it come to floor. |
| SB1406 | Establishes a juvenile justice reform committee study | SUPPORT – Passed Senate 30-0, Hearing in House Appropriations on 3/29. Sign in with RTS or contact chair Don Shooter, [email protected], 602 926 4139 |
| SB1422 | Vacate conviction of sex trafficking victim including for ordinance, cannot use as prior conviction for future punishment | SUPPORT Passed Senate, Passed House 53-3. Sent to Ducey on 3/22. Contact Ducey to sign it. |
| SB1439 | No discrimination against health care agencies that REFUSE end of life care decisions by patients. Could interfere with advance directives. | OPPOSE – Passed Senate, passed House 32-24, Sent to Ducey on 3/22. Contact Ducey to veto it. |
Below are upcoming deadlines. Things will speed up as they approach the end of the session. It is important to act right away or the time is gone.
4/14/17 Last day for conference committee
4/18/17 100th Day of the Session
4/29/17 Session can only be extended by House or Senate vote.
