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Empowering Voters/
Defending Democracy
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TWO Press Conferences
Come and join us!!
AZ State Capitol
Rose Garden, north side of the old Capitol building
#1
Speaking out for Voters' Rights
and Against Voter-Suppression Bills
AZ Voters Unite For Democracy
Tuesday, March 26, 1:15 pm
After the press conference, come pack the House
Election Committee Hearing as legislators hear SB1188 (see below).
One Arizona Coalition members: Arizona Advocacy Network, Arizona Coalition for Change, Arizona Center for Empowerment, CHISPA Arizona, Mi Familia Vota Arizona, CASE , along with ProgressNow Arizona, Indivisible Arizona,
League of Women Voters Arizona, AFLCIO, and NextGen Arizona
#2
Public Kick-Off
'New' Outlaw Dirty Money Initiative Campaign
Wednesday March 27, 1 pm
Never giving up on this
!
Terry Goddard will be introducing this new initiative, which has
some changes from the last one, and beginning a mobilization
of the thousands of volunteers that will be needed to gather signatures
over the next 15 months or so. LWVAZ has endorsed this effort,
and we invite all who are able to show up for the kick-off!
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Only one more week of regular
committee meetings!
The following week, in Appropriations, there will undoubtedly be a ton of *strikers, and bills that never made it in other committees (whether or not they have anything to do with appropriations).
*
This article
is from 2013, but nevertheless provides a brief 101 on Strike-All amendments, and why they are used. They obstruct democracy in that they provide no opportunity for public comment and are hard to track.
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House Education Committee
Find All Elections Committee members
HERE.
Monday 3/25, 2 pm
, House Hearing Room 1 (could change)
SB1394 -
Charter School training, posting, accountability --
Brophy- McGee;
use RTS to indicate that amendments are needed
Provisions: In general, mandates that:
--the State Charter School Board
make available an online a training course for governing board bodies and key administrative personnel of charter schools.
--charter school governing boards have at least 3 members, with
not more than two who are immediate family members, who cannot be a majority of the board.
--reporting occur and
processes be implemented that increase transparency and accountability around some aspects of charter school operation: tax filings, procurement, board membership, conflicts of interest, etc.
SUPPORT ONLY IF:
Amendments are added which
increase professionalism and effectiveness, deter self-dealing and mismanagement, and bring accountability more in line with district public schools.
See more info re: SB1394 and the League position
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House Elections Committee
Find All Elections Committee members
HERE.
Tuesday 3/26, 2 pm
, House Hearing Room 4 (could change)
SB1188 --
Permanent Early Voting list; Ugenti-Rita
Use RTS
Provisions:
Takes a person off the early voting list (PEVL) if they have not voted by early ballot, in either the primary election or the general election, for two consecutive primary and general elections for federal, statewide or legislative race.
OPPOSE:
Unnecessary and punitive as there already exists a statutory process for moving voters to an
inactive
voting list. Estimates for the number of people affected range from 44,000 to 200,000, depending on which agency is estimating.
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Senate JudiciaryCommittee
Find All Senate Judiciary Committee members
HERE.
Thursday 3/28, 9 am
, Senate Hearing Room 109 (could change)
HB2616 -
registration of voters, payment - Townsend
Passed in House last week; use RTS
Provisions:
As amended,
states that a person -- other than an employee of a political party -- who pays or receives money based on the number of voter registration forms submitted is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor (6 months/$2500). Specifies that completed voter registration forms must be returned within 10 days of the receipt of the registration. Violations incur a $25 per day per form civil penalty and knowingly failing to submit a form by the deadline is a
Class 2 misdemeanor
(4 months/$1,000 fine).
OPPOSE:
The penalty was reduced, but this still criminalizes voter registration.
HB 2724 -
GRRC; petition to request review; Biasiucci
USE RTS!
Provisions:
Allows a person to petition the Governor's Regulatory Review Council (GRRC) for review of an existing practice, substantive policy statement, enforcement action or final rule of the Citizens Clean Election Commission (CCEC). The GRRC must hold a meeting.
OPPOSE:
Continues to undermine the Clean Elections Commission, which is supposed to remain independent and the GRRC is composed of all governmental appointees and bogs CCE down with unnecessary litigation.
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House Government Committee
Find All House Government Committee members
HERE.
Thursday 3/28, 9 am
, House Hearing Room 1 (could change)
SCR1008
-
lieutenant governor - Mesnard
HELD last week; trying again; use RTS
Provisions:
Establishes the Lieutenant Governor as a member of the Executive Department beginning with the election term starting in 2027. Requires a candidate for Lieutenant Governor
to run as the joint candidate of a candidate for Governor on the general election ballot.
SUPPORT: The League believes a clear line of succession in the Executive Branch should be more obvious to the public than in the current system . . . To avoid mid-term changes in party, continuity problems or policy reversals, League supports the creation of an Office of Lieutenant Governor with duties separate from that of the Secretary of State, and that the candidate and the candidate for governor should run on the same party ticket.
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Senate Commerce Committee
Find All Senate Commerce Committee members
HERE.
Thursday 3/28, 10 am
, House Hearing Room 1 (could change)
HB2523
:
Reduction of full-time student wages while working part-time - Grantham;
it's back --
Use RTS
Provisions:
Allows for full-time students under age 22 who work part-time or for intermittent periods to earn the federal minimum wage, which is $7.25 an hour. Arizona’s hourly minimum wage is $11 this year, and will rise to $12 next year.
OPPOSE:
The state’s minimum wage laws were passed by 58% of voters (1.4 million people) in 2016, and therefore changing or undermining them is unconstitutional and defies the will of the voters and the citizen's right to legislate.
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Updates:
HB 2026
-
Public resources, influencing elections, penalties -
Kavanagh
HELD in Senate Judiciary
Provisions:
Allows any person to sue a school or other jurisdiction they believe is using its resources for the purpose of influencing the outcomes of elections. Most of this was already illegal, but HB2026
goes even farther to permit anyone to sue the school district for violations
.
OPPOSE:
Unnecessary and invites harassment of school officials.
HB2032
-
Early ballots, tabulation - Townsend
Taken off Judiciary schedule; not rescheduled (probably b/c this provision included in other bill)
Provisions:
Allows tallying of early ballots to begin 14 days prior to election day. (Currently must wait until 7 days prior to election day.)
SUPPORT:
This will increase efficiency by decreasing number of ballots left to be counted after the election.
HB2039
-
federal form voter registration - Townsend
PASSED Senate Judiciary; Senate Rules 3.25
Provisions:
Requires the county recorder to report and post the number of people who are registered to vote using the state voter registration form, who have not provided proof of citizenship. AND after each general election, the recorder must post the number of ballots cast by those eligible to vote for federal offices only.
OPPOSE:
Though this is not the most horrible bill out there (we support transparency), it is a form of institutional harassment in the guise of data collection (
esp. given that the League had to sue to even allow federal-only ballots
), motivated by the continuing suspicion that people are voting fraudulently.
SB1054 -
Curing of ballots - Ugenti-Rita
Passed House Elections; sent back to Senate for approval of Amendment re: the date by which a copy of computer program for each election must be filed with the SOS.
As amended, requires a 5 day “cure period” (opportunity for a voter to correct an inconsistent signature) for those with disqualified early ballots in a federal election (3 days for other elections). Allows early ballots to be tallied beginning no earlier than 14 days before the election rather than 7 days before the election.
SUPPORT.
Requires ID for PEVL voters who receive a ballot at polling location.
Opposed.
SB1090
--
emergency voting procedures - Ugenti-Rita
Passed House Elections; scheduled for Rules, 3.25
Provisions
:
The most egregious part of this bills
requires a sworn affidavit for emergency voting
which states that occurrence was unavoidable and could not have been known in advance; and that without the emergency provisions, the person would otherwise be unable to vote in the election in any other manner. Also
gives the
county board of supervisors authority
over if/when/where emergency voting can occur.
OPPOSE:
The bill has no logical rationale other than to create another obstacle to voting, and as such is discriminatory and oppressive.
SB1451
--
statewide ballot measures, circulators - Leach
Passed House Elections; House Rules 3.25
Provisions
:
Creates
stricter and more burdensome requirements for paid circulators of ballot petitions
(and unpaid out-of-state circulators). E.g.:
-- Requires an affidavit from the registered circulator, signed before a notary public;
-- Each
filed signature sheet must contain the registration number assigned to a circulator; and petitions must be grouped by circulator.
-- Violations are a class 1 misdemeanor -- the most serious class of misdemeanors.
OPPOSE:
The requirements obstruct the constitutionally protected people’s power (right to directly make laws) and serve no purpose other than to make it difficult to get an initiative on the ballot.
SB1485 -
tuition organization, inflator - Mesnard
Passed House Ways and Means; on to Rules, not scheduled
Provisions:
A “strike everything” that
would cap the automatic growth of School Tuition Organization tax credits
, incrementally over a 5-year period. Current yearly inflator is 20%. Beginning in 2021, the inflator would be reduced by 5 percentage points annually until fiscal year 2024. From then on, the cap would grow by 2 percent or annual inflation, which is greater.
SUPPORT:
STO organizations take private and corporate donations and distribute the dollars as scholarships to help cover the cost of private school tuition. If left to grow according to current law, by 2030, our state will spend more on these tax credits for corporations (currently $89 million) than those same corporations will be paying into our state budget.
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Movie Screening:
"Backpack Full of Cash"
March 27, 5:30 pm
Mesa Community College
Navajo Room, Building KSC-35S
1833 W Southern Ave
Mesa, AZ 85202
Special Notes: There will be
catering
for the event, so food will be provided for all attendees.
RSVP! Room for 300 people!
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BACKPACK FULL OF CASH
is a cautionary tale
about how, in cities like Philadelphia, privatization and funding cuts have had a devastating impact on public schools
, and the most vulnerable children who rely on them. The film also showcases a model for improving schools – a well-resourced public school system in Union City, New Jersey, where poor kids are getting a high quality education without charters or vouchers.
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Thanks for being
an involved citizen!
Please consider a donation to support our advocacy and education efforts.
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