A bill prohibiting the interference or usurpation of parents’ rights to direct their child’s upbringing, education, health care, and mental health passed the Senate Education Committee on Tuesday. The bill, HB2161, drew in a number of both parents and LGBTQ activists to speak — parents were for a bill to ensure transparency concerning information about their children, and LGBTQ activists against.
The sponsor, State Representative Steve Kaiser (R-Phoenix), explained that the main purpose of his bill was to further secure parental rights, noting that he supported an amendment brought forth by Chairman Paul Boyer (R-Glendale), which removed portal access, mental health language, and parental consent concerning medical treatments. The bill still empowers parents to take legal action against governmental entities or officials and receive relief.
State Senator Christine Marsh (D-Phoenix) criticized that the bill was vague. Marsh said educators would err on the side of caution due to all the negative publicity surrounding them currently, leading them to underperform.
“This has got a little bit of potential for a little bit of chaos,” said Marsh.
Kaiser responded that parents are frustrated with the lack of responsiveness concerning information about their children in educational and medical settings.
Marsh pressed further what the interference of parental rights to bring up a child would look like. Kaiser said he didn’t have a specific example handy, deferring to parents lined up to speak.
A former Saguaro High School English teacher and department chair with Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD), Caryn Bird, discussed how her classroom was considered a “safe space,” and how she would allow a group of young female students who claimed to be transgender males to come into her classroom and discuss their personal problems with her — issues not relayed to the parents.
“In my time as a high school teacher, my classroom became known as a ‘safe space’ for students. In particular, I had a group of trans male students who would meet in my classroom, none of whom were actually students in my class, for some reason, but they would meet in my classroom at lunchtime to share with one another their experiences,” said Bird. “This peer group in my classroom allowed these students time to explore who they were without fear or retribution or fear of being outed.”
Although she didn’t mention it during her committee testimony, Bird also served previously as the co-chair of Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN) Phoenix chapter until the end of 2020. GLSEN is a national organization dedicated to pushing LGBTQ ideologies and activism onto minors. For years, GLSEN has attempted to install their Gender and Sexualities Alliance (GSA) clubs in K-12 schools; some educators are successful in establishing those clubs, and often adopt other names like “Student Alliance for Equality” (SAFE) clubs. Last December, GLSEN Phoenix advised educators to incorporate “secret libraries” in their classrooms to smuggle in LGBTQ and social justice curriculum.
My name is Caryn Bird I am co-chair of the GLSEN Phoenix Board I support GLSEN Phoenix because I believe that ALL students deserve to feel safe to learn in school. Please support our work with our #GiveOUTday campaign today! https://t.co/BpARNtWnUYpic.twitter.com/thG6t5v2Di
Early last month, a GLSEN lobbyist and co-chair named Andi Young persuaded lawmakers to strike down a bill to oppose gender transition surgeries for minors. As AZ Free News reported, Young, like Bird, didn’t identify herself as a GLSEN Phoenix leader during her testimony about how the bill would harm minors like her daughter, whom she encouraged to transition genders after a decline in mental health. Based on the timeline of Young’s GLSEN involvement, it’s unclear the extent of influence GLSEN and Young’s work had on her daughter.
Parents in support of the bill insisted that these children aren’t the children of the government or teachers, but of their parents. Several schools were called out by name: Altadena Middle School for a teacher pushing gender identity ideology onto her class, and Cocopah Middle School for a teacher who persuaded the district to allow students to replace their legal birth names, dubbed “deadnames,” for their preferred names, all while earning awards for her work leading the Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) club at her school.
An Arizona State University (ASU) political science student Jordan Harb opposed the bill, arguing that the bill would “denigrate” and “endanger” students and their individuality. Harb received ASU’s highly-competitive Flinn Scholar award: a full-ride scholarship given to the top 20 students in Arizona, with additional perks like mentorships, study abroad funds, and a scholar trip to China.
The House passed the bill last month along party lines.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Senators Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) championed their work to mitigate the border crisis Monday, highlighting several key provisions they secured in Congress’ annual budget bill. Their press release came the same day as the latest data was published by Customs and Border Protection (CBP), reporting nearly 165,000 illegal border crossings in February: the highest number for that month since 2000. The record high complements the record 154,000 illegal crossings in January. Those numbers fall in line with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) prediction at the onset of this year that the border crisis would worsen throughout 2022.
None of their provisions included finishing the border wall. As AZ Free News reported last month, the Arizona legislature passed two separate bills to finish the border wall, allocating hundreds of millions to cover the remaining 17 miles. The House and Senate must consider the bills passed by the other before they will go before the governor.
Additionally, suggestions by Governor Doug Ducey presented in draft legislation for Sinema and Kelly were recognized and ignored in part. Ducey’s legislation called for border wall completion, physical barriers, and virtual surveillance; requirement that asylum seekers who have traveled through another country attempt to claim asylum in that country; requirement for asylum seekers to claim asylum at a port of entry; an increase in immigration judges; additional funding for local law enforcement and humanitarian efforts; and a clear declaration by the federal government that the borders aren’t open for immigration except through a port of entry and legal means.
Sinema and Kelly’s acquisitions that fulfilled Ducey’s requests were additional funding for local law enforcement and humanitarian efforts, as well as border security technology which includes virtual surveillance. In addition to their other border infrastructure investments, Sinema and Kelly secured over $2.3 billion.
Sinema emphasized that the billions would allow not only American citizens to be kept safe, but to ensure that the illegal immigrants receive fair and humane treatment.
“These critical resources will help secure the border through improved technology and additional personnel, manage the flow of migrants to keep Arizona communities safe, and provide Arizona nonprofits and DHS the resources needed to ensure migrants are treated fairly and humanely,” said Sinema.
Kelly alluded that there wasn’t a guarantee that further border crisis-related burdens wouldn’t befall Arizona in the future.
“The crisis at the border continues to put a strain on our communities and law enforcement as they work to maintain a safe and orderly process. It’s critical that we are bringing needed technology, personnel, and other resources to improve border security,” said Kelly. “I’ll keep working with my Republican and Democratic colleagues in the Senate and continue pushing the Biden administration to ensure Arizona does not bear the cost of this crisis.”
From 2000 to 2006, the total number of illegal crossings at all borders hovered around one million. Then, from 2007 to 2011, that number dropped steadily from under 900,000 to 340,000. The number of crossings picked up slightly and fluctuated between 300,000 to 500,000 from 2012 to 2018. A sharp spike of 860,000 occurred in 2019, before petering off to 405,000 in 2020.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
One of the most prominent lawyers for the Democratic Party (DNC), Marc Elias, announced last Friday that he submitted a motion to intervene in a case challenging the constitutionality of Arizona’s no-excuse mail-in voting system. Elias filed on behalf of the Senate Democrats (DSCC), Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), and the Arizona Democratic Party in the case Arizona Republican Party v. Hobbs.
Not only does Elias specialize in election litigation, he’s been involved in the elections themselves. His December 2017 testimony detailed his role in Hillary Clinton’s Russigate hoax: how he came to hire the intelligence firm Fusion-GPS for the DNC and Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, who then ordered the debunked dossier compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele and sourced by analyst Igor Danchenko, a Russian citizen who resided in Virginia. The FBI arrested Danchenko for the “Steele dossier” early last November.
Today, @dscc, @dccc, @DNC and @azdemparty filed a motion to intervene in the Arizona Republican Party’s legal action seeking to end early and absentee voting in Arizona – the dominant form of voting in the state.https://t.co/xD1JAEIP5n
Elias could be considered a fixture within the Democratic Party establishment. The Jewish New York native worked with the DNC since 1993, notably serving as general counsel for two of the last three Democratic presidential candidates’ campaigns: John Kerry in 2004, then Hillary Clinton in 2016. Elias also followed former President Barack Obama from his days in the Senate all the way to the White House, earning a distinction by 2011 relayed in a Politico profile of being Obama’s “top lawyer.” Although lawyer Bob Bauer was technically Obama’s general counsel, Elias was a critical player.
Those are just the biggest names in American politics — the entire Democratic Party reportedly relies on Elias as their “go-to lawyer.” This was confirmed by fellow establishment members of the Democratic Party, such as former Federal Election Commission (FEC) chairman, Obama advisor, and Biden campaign counsel Robert Lenhard.
“For members of the House and Senate, there is no Democratic-side campaign finance lawyer who is more important than Marc Elias. That is without a doubt,” Lenhard told Politico. “While Bob Bauer served as White House counsel, Marc led that practice group and it thrived under his tutelage.”
Elias has been on all sides of the 2020 presidential election controversy, a predictable involvement considering his decades of redistricting fights, post-election litigation, and work with Big Tech giants Facebook and Google. Elias earned Google a win to effectively manipulate its search results with preferred candidates through its pay-per-click advertisement system, AdWords. The woman behind AdWords, Sheryl Sandberg, was picked up by Facebook in 2008.
Elias founded Democracy Docket on March 5, 2020, a Democratic Party voting advocacy group formed about a week after former President Donald Trump declared the ongoing national state of emergency over COVID-19. Democracy Docket operates out of Fairfax County, Virginia. To date, the group has been involved in nearly 330 cases, 150 of which they’ve won.
Last August, Elias left his legal firm of 28 years, Perkins Coie, to form his own: Elias Law Group.
Elias pledged to sue Arizona if the state legislature approves certain election integrity laws, such as: HB2596, which never made it to committee; HB2238, which passed the House and has yet to be considered in a Senate committee; HB2237, which passed the House and will soon be considered on the Senate floor; SB1058, approved by a Senate committee last month but not yet considered on the Senate floor; HB2170, which passed the House but has yet to be considered by a Senate committee; and HB2243, which passed the House and will soon be considered on the Senate floor.
The Arizona Senate took the final vote on 16 election-related bills on Monday, including one to restore the precinct committeemen (PC) elections, sans its emergency clause implementing it immediately. The remaining 11 of the 16 failed, with either State Senator Paul Boyer (R-Glendale) alone or State Senator Michelle Ugenti-Rita (R-Scottsdale) joining him to kill the bills.
The #AzSen just passed SB1720 – a fix to the PC issue but sans the emergency clause. Just one Democrat voted for it – @seanbowie@FannKfann asks, “What would Sen. Bradley do?”
SB1259, increasing the minimum number of precincts included in post-election hand counts, as well as allowing an Arizona resident or the attorney general, secretary of state, or legislative council to request a recount.
SB1329, requiring county recorders or lead election officials to post online the number of early ballots returned on election day.
SB1362, allowing voters to have their early ballot tabulated on site at a polling place or voting center, so long as they present an ID.
SB1460, allowing voters to receive a standard ballot at a polling place even if they received an early ballot previously, so long as no record of their vote existed in the election system.
Six bills failed narrowly, 15-14, with Boyer being the sole Republican to vote against them:
SB1055, rendering election equipment or services contractors liable for damages and guilty of a class 2 misdemeanor if they fail to fulfill the terms of the contract.
SB1056, invalidating ballots not included in chain of custody documentation and making it a class 2 misdemeanor to knowingly put a ballot into the collection, verification, or tabulation process outside of the official chain of custody.
SB1360, allowing election observers the right to observe, document, and question all stages of the election process.
SB1465, requiring the secretary of state to revoke certification for election equipment that doesn’t meet outlined requirements, and requiring at least one member of the Equipment Certification Advisory Committee to hold a cybersecurity certification. The Senate approved a motion to reconsider the bill from its sponsor, State Senator Wendy Rogers (R-Flagstaff).
SB1577, requiring county recorders or other lead election officials to separate and record duplicated and adjudicated ballots by their type and defect or damage, compiled in a report submitted to the legislature.
SB1609, requiring a court to order an election to be repeated within 90 days if a contested ballot measure or candidate didn’t receive the highest number of votes.
— Paul "nothing but trouble" Boyer (@PaulDBoyer) March 14, 2022
On five bills, Ugenti-Rita joined Boyer and Senate Democrats to vote “no”:
SB1359, requiring unique election system passwords for election employees, volunteers, and contractors.
SB1457, requiring the secretary of state to ensure that vote recording, tabulating machines and devices meet certain security standards, don’t have internet connectivity, and may track users with unique login credentials.
SB1476, requiring ballots to be consecutively numbered with a unique number, and requiring chain of custody documents or logs to track ballots.
SB1570, implementing additional voting equipment chain of custody requirements such as access restricted to authorized election personnel, tamper-proof seals for accessible ports, and chain of custody logging, as well as prohibiting voting equipment from having internet access capabilities.
SB1572, requiring county recorders to publish a list of eligible voters on their website 10 days before primary and general elections, as well as all ballot images and sortable cast-vote records, and requiring all ballots to be separated and tabulated by precinct.
Ugenti-Rita is campaigning for secretary of state this year.
. @PaulDBoyer kills a bill that would require passwords to be unique on tabulation equipment@MichelleUgenti votes No also – – – hoping this means we will see it back
This bill is very simple and the language was modified to serve the counties#SB1359
— Merissa Hamilton 🗳 ⛽🗽 (@merissahamilton) March 14, 2022
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
A bill to require K-12 schools to post all curriculum and learning materials on their website passed the State Senate along party lines, 16-13. It now heads to the House for consideration.
Senate Democrats argued that the bill would hinder teachers’ ability to have flexible, constantly changing lesson plans. State Senator Christine Marsh (D-Phoenix) said that while she agrees “100 percent” with transparency, she said that the bill would result in a slew of unintended consequences. Marsh claimed that teachers would be too busy uploading curriculum data to spend additional time with students.
Some Arizona teachers complained that they can’t meet the requirements of the bill because there would be no way to have their curriculum done in time for review. The bill sponsor, State Senator Nancy Barto (R-Phoenix) rebutted that claim during the Senate’s vote on Monday, explaining that what was required of teachers concerned a list of material titles “like a syllabus.”
“It’s been even testified by opponents, teachers who oppose the bill, even in their testimony they were saying they already do something like this,” said Barto. “What it will require is merely putting up the title of what they’re teaching of their lesson plans every week. And not the entire year in advance, which some somehow translate this bill as requiring. Nope. It’s within seven days after, so they just have to use something like a Google Doc, which many are using already — it was testified over and over again.”
Barto cited a study that teachers spend an average of four hours a week searching for material to use in their classrooms.
Nobody expects, and sadly our children don’t deserve, an inquisition… but that is exactly what #SB1211 is – an unjustified, backwards, and blatant example of big/authoritarian government overreach that would hurt AZ’s children.
Some Republicans expressed reluctance to have their vote fall in line with the party.
State Senator Michelle Ugenti-Rita (R-Scottsdale) expressed that the bill was a step in the direction but failed to get at the root of the problem with Arizona’s school system. Ugenti-Rita claimed that the problems concerned leadership, teacher’s unions, and nonpartisan school board members.
“Putting up loads and loads of information isn’t really going to solve the problem we have in K-12,” said Ugenti-Rita. “This is really not enough to get at the problem. This will leave parents with the impression that something is done when nothing is done. I don’t know what our obsession is with putting things online but you need to really go after the sacred cow, and it’s not the materials online, it’s the elections — these nonpartisan school board elections.”
Ugenti-Rita also expressed concerns that the bill was “intense and overkill.” She asked for commitment from House leadership to make the legislation implementable.
“To me, this is like a supplement. It’s like if you had real, deep health problems, a vitamin isn’t going to fix it. You need to diet, you need to exercise. This is helpful, but it’s really not going to get at the problem at our schools. This isn’t going to keep schools open. This is really going to do very little than look as though we’re doing something,” said Ugenti-Rita.
State Senator Tyler Pace (R-Mesa) said bills like Barto’s were the reason he took heartburn pills over the summer. Pace said he disliked the broad scope of what information educators would have to upload. However, Pace admitted there was a need for curriculum transparency, citing his own experience in which he learned a teacher allowed his kids’ class to play games like “Cupcake Vampire Princess Makeup Tutorials” after they finished an exam.
Other Republicans normally on the fence with certain party initiatives supported the bill wholeheartedly. State Senator Paul Boyer (R-Glendale) rebutted that the legislation wouldn’t be a burden on teachers, citing his own experience. Boyer insisted that it would alleviate current burdens on parents as well as benefit teachers looking to improve their curriculum by looking at what teachers are using at successful schools.
Passage of the bill comes over a month after the Senate Education Committee approved the bill.
NOW: SB1211 Academic Transparency passes the AZ senate! Now headed to the House. This bill let’s parents know what’s being taught in their kid’s classroom @GoldwaterInst@NancyBartopic.twitter.com/Or3xi1AYta
