On Thursday, Sen. T.J. Shope, a Republican, joined all the Senate Democrats to kill HB 2190, a bill intended to protect individual medical privacy rights. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Bret Roberts, would have made it a misdemeanor to refuse services to individuals who do not provide proof they are vaccinated for COVID-19.
HB2190, which would have preserved fundamental medical privacy rights, came to be referred to as the “Show Me Your Papers” bill. After the vote, #shopemeyour papers was trending on social media sites.
Sen. David Gowan offered a full-throated defense of the bill:
Shope, according to sources, would settle for nothing less than a codification of an Executive Order issued by Governor Doug Ducey on the subject of vaccine passports. Roberts even allowed Sen. Tyler Pace to amend his bill that weakened individual rights to some extent, but said his bottom line was a prohibition of businesses refusing service to the unvaccinated. Shope refused to afford Arizona that modicum of medical privacy protection.
The ACLU has called the vaccine passports “troublesome,” yet not one Democratic legislator voted to preserve individual medical privacy rights.
Sen. Sonny Borelli voted against the bill at the last minute in order to preserve his right as someone who voted with the majority to bring it back for reconsideration by the Senate. However, in these final days of the Legislative Session, it is unlikely the matter will be brought back.
On Wednesday, the Phoenix City Council approved in a 5-4 vote, the creation of a police oversight office. Last November the Council considered the same plan, which is described as “radical” by City Councilman Sal DiCiccio, but rejected it in a 5-4 vote.
BREAKING: Disgraceful OAT Vote
“What Phoenix did today, was approve the most radical, extremist, and anti-police plan in the entire country. Today’s vote was not about acting for accountability or transparency, but handing over unlimited power to hate groups. pic.twitter.com/SikqW72YAh
DiCiccio and other opponents believe the creation of the office is the end of well-funded police force as the money will be shifted away from policing and to projects and activists determined to reduced policing.
Councilmembers Laura Pastor, Betty Guardado and Yassamin Ansari and Mayor Kate Gallego joined Garcia in voting yes on the plan. Councilmembers Ann O’Brien, Jim Waring, Debra Stark and Sal DiCiccio voted no on the measure.
They have been long-time friends and on Tuesday, Governor Doug Ducey and Sonora Governor Claudia Pavlovich capped their professional relationship by signing an agreement to secure the neighboring states’ water future and expand collaboration to monitor air quality.
The agreement signed by the Governors is the result of negotiations between representatives of Arizona and Sonora serving on the Arizona-Mexico Commission (AMC), a cross-border non-profit organization aimed at strengthening the relationship between the neighboring states. Known as a Memorandum of Understanding, the agreement includes studying opportunities for desalination, the process to remove salt and other minerals from water so it can be made drinkable.
The professional partnership forged between Governors Ducey and Pavlovich stretches back to their first meeting in July 2015, and has remained solid through multiple changes in leadership at the national level in both Washington and Mexico City.
During today’s meeting, the Governors also met with members of the AMC and its 16 binational committees to discuss innovative measures to tackle issues facing the region and upcoming projects.
On Monday, Arizona State Treasurer Kimberly Yee, and Arizona Board of Regents member, Karrin Taylor Robson, announced their plans to run in the governor’s race.
The announcements have been expected for some time.
Yee has spent most of her adult life working in the government sector.
Yee served as executive fellow for the Office of the California State Superintendent of Public Instruction, program and policy analyst for Wilson on the California State Board of Education. She served as deputy cabinet secretary for the Office of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, before becoming director of communications and government affairs for the Arizona State Treasurer’s Office.
Yee was appointed by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to the Arizona House of Representatives to replace fellow Republican Doug Quelland after he was ousted for violating Clean Election Limits. She was later elected to the State Senate. She was elected to the Treasurer’s Office in 2018.
Taylor Robson was appointed to the Arizona Board of Regents in June of 2017 by Governor Doug Ducey.
Taylor Robson is the founder and president of a development company, Arizona Strategies. Prior to forming Arizona Strategies, Taylor Robson served as executive vice president of DMB Associates, Inc., a Scottsdale-based master-planned community developer. Prior to DMB, she was a principal with the law firm of Biskind, Hunt & Taylor, P.L.C., where she practiced in the areas of land use, development and zoning law representing large land owners on complex land use cases.
This week, Governor Doug Ducey signed House Bill 2596, paving the way to push more broadband into underserved rural areas and tribal lands. The bill allows private broadband providers to install, operate and maintain telecommunications equipment within the Arizona Department of Transportation’s (ADOT) rights-of-way.
HB 2596, sponsored by Rep. Dr. Regina Cobb, also allows ADOT to grant access to its own broadband conduit to private telecommunications companies in a “non-exclusive and non-discriminatory manner” to reduce the cost of installing broadband infrastructure in rural areas and tribal areas, the Governor’s Office said.
“Arizona is growing and people are moving here at a record pace — and we need to ensure all parts of our booming state are connected,” Gov. Ducey said, echoing the commitment he made during his State-of-the-State address in January. “House Bill 2596 does that, and it will help Arizonans living in rural and tribal areas gain access to fast, affordable and reliable internet.”
Additionally, the legislation creates the “Smart Highway Trust Fund” to deposit leasing revenues generated from the use of ADOT rights-of-way, which are to be used for operation and maintenance of telecommunications facilities within ADOT’s rights-of-way.
“We are excited to be part of this partnership to close the broadband gap and meet the needs of Arizonans,” said ADOT Director John Halikowski.
