Week Nineteen: Fifty-Fifth Legislature — Second Regular Session
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Due to the lighter legislative agendas, each week we will cover a few stories from the legislature until they finally begin the budget process.
Legislature Adjourns for Weeks Without Publicly Debating a $5 Billion Surplus
The GOP-controlled Arizona Legislature has adjourned for much of the last few weeks because conservative politicians can’t decide which of their donors will receive the largest tax breaks, while everyday Arizonans face higher gas prices and an out-of-control housing market.
The Republican chairs of the house and senate Appropriations Committees should be holding weeks of public hearings with public testimony, and debate among members before they decided how to spend the largest surplus in state history.
We hope Republican leaders do not repeat themselves again this year by changing the rules at the last minute to shut down honest floor debate during the budget vote.
The New Litmus Test for GOP Candidates: Working Hard to Make It Easier to Reverse a Democratically Held Elections
This week the Washington Post reported that Rep. Shawnna Bolick, wife of Arizona Supreme Court Justice Clint Bolick, replied to an email from Justice Thomas’s wife in which she pressured electors to change their votes and break state law in the lead up to the meeting of the Elctoral College in December of 2020.
From the Post:
“Thomas’s name also appears on an email to the two representatives [Bolick and Speaker Rusty Bowers] on Dec. 13, the day before members of the electoral college met to cast their votes and seal Biden’s victory. “Before you choose your state’s Electors … consider what will happen to the nation we all love if you don’t stand up and lead,” the email said.”
To ensure there were ways to circumvent losing a presidential elction Rep. Bolick sponsored HB2720 in 2021, a bill that would give the legislature authority to revoke the Secretary of State’s issuance of a presidential elector’s certificate of election.
Wendy Rogers is Under Investigation for White Supremacist Remarks Following Act of Domestic Terrorism
Senator Wendy Rogers had another racist thing to say last weekend following an act of domestic terrorism in Buffalo, New York. Arizona Senate Democrats were prepared to vote for her expulsion from the legislative body on Monday before President Fann used a legislative gimmick to only vote on an ethics investigation. Trumped up hearings will begin this Wednesday in the Senate.
Below is an excerpt from Leader, Sen. Rebecca Rio’s statement from the floor.