by Daniel Stefanski | Apr 24, 2024 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
A Republican State Representative is being recognized for his leadership.
Last week, Arizona State Representative Quang Nguyen, the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, announced that he was “among a select group of Republican legislators nationwide chosen for GOPAC’s 2024 Class of Emerging Leaders, an honor which recognizes a member’s strong sense of service, purpose, and effective leadership in the State Legislature.”
In a statement to commemorate the news, Representative Nguyen said, “In my time as a legislator, I’ve dedicated myself to addressing the challenges that our state and communities face. I very much look forward to this unique opportunity presented with the Emerging Leaders Program and will seek to apply what I learn to my legislative efforts and serve the people of Arizona.”
According to the press release issued by Nguyen’s Office at the Arizona House of Representatives, the GOPAC Emerging Leaders Program “is an annual initiative designed to develop the next generation of Republican leadership. Candidates are nominated by their state’s legislative leaders and chosen by GOPAC for their potential to effect positive changes in their states and rise within Republicans ranks.”
Representative Nguyen serves Yavapai County in Legislative District 1.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | Apr 22, 2024 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
One Arizona Republican lawmaker is cheering on the success of her efforts to protect children in her state this legislative session.
Earlier this week, Senator Janae Shamp issued a press release to highlight two of her bills that were recently signed into law by Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs. Those bills were SB 1236 and SB 1404.
According to the legislative fact sheets for both proposals, SB 1236 would “modif[y] offender age thresholds that require the Department of Public Safety to include offenders of specified offenses on the Internet Sex Offender Website;” while SB 1404 would “require registered sex offenders with legal custody of a child to provide name and enrollment information on the child and expand mandatory community notifications to include level-one sex offenders of a dangerous crime against children.”
Hobbs signed SB 1404 on March 29, and SB 1236 on April 16.
“This session, I made it my goal to be a living nightmare for sex offenders,” said Senator Shamp. “I introduced several bills, including SB 1236 and SB 1404, to protect our state’s most innocent and vulnerable, while increasing consequences for criminals who commit these horrific crimes. DCACs include sex trafficking, mutilation, prostitution, and commercial sexual exploitation. These crimes have lifelong, and potentially deadly effects on a child. Every parent and every school deserves to know who these criminals are in order to better protect their children.”
Both laws will go into effect in the State of Arizona 90 days after the legislature adjourns for the 2024 session.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | Apr 22, 2024 | Education, News
By Daniel Stefanski |
A bill to help increase transparency for Arizona school board elections was vetoed by the state’s Democrat governor.
On Wednesday, Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed SB 1097, which would have “require[d] school district governing board election ballots to include each candidate’s partisan designation as specified beginning January 1, 2025” – according to the purpose from the State Senate.
In her veto letter to Senate President Warren Petersen, Hobbs explained that she had made her decision because the bill “will further the politicization and polarization of Arizona’s school district governing boards whose focus should remain on making the best decisions for students, [and that] partisan politics do not belong in Arizona’s schools.”
Senator Justine Wadsack, the bill’s sponsor, was outraged by the governor’s veto. She released a lengthy statement to call out Hobbs’ action, writing, “In her veto letter, Governor Katie Hobbs stated the school district governing boards’ focus should remain on making the best decisions for students. How can we ensure we’ve elected members that will make the best decisions for students if we don’t know where they stand on important issues? For example, Democrats have voted for things like detrimental mask mandates, extreme social distancing, calling children by different names and pronouns while withholding that information from their parents, and exposing our kids to inappropriate and vulgar content. In the past, we’ve also had Arizona school boards vote to ban educators based on their conservative Christian beliefs. Republican values, on the other hand, lie in protecting our children from harmful mandates, inappropriate content, and woke ideology, while empowering parents to take an active role in their child’s education. By vetoing this bill, Governor Katie Hobbs is conveniently pushing to protect the radical Left ideology infiltrating our schools.”
Wadsack added, “School boards are some of the most important elections we have in our communities. They’re the closest to our children, and our local school boards govern issues that impact the education and well-being of our families. We should be able to access this information without having to dig and deduce.”
On the Arizona Legislature’s Request to Speak system, representatives from the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, Opportunity Solutions Project, A For America, and Arizona Department of Education, had signed in to support the proposal. Representatives from Arizona Association of County School Superintendents, Arizona School Administrators, Southern Arizona Leadership Council, Arizona Education Association, and Save Our Schools Arizona, opposed the legislation.
The bill had first passed the Arizona Senate in February with a 16-10 vote (with four members not voting). It then was approved by the Arizona House earlier this month with a 31-28 vote (with one seat vacant).
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | Apr 19, 2024 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
Arizona’s Democrat governor delivered a fatal blow to a bill that would have increased protections for the state’s women and girls.
On Tuesday, Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed SB 1628, the Arizona Women’s Bill of Rights. The legislation would have “require[d] any policy program, rule or law that prohibits sex discrimination to prohibit the unfair treatment of a female or male in relation to a similarly situated member of the opposite sex, require[d] the state to replace the stand-alone term gender with sex in all laws, rules, publications, orders, actions, policies and signage when updates are necessary, and provided[d] statutory definitions for boy, father, female, girl, male, man, mother and sex” – according to the purpose provided by the State Senate.
Hobbs was brief in her veto letter to Senate President Warren Petersen, saying only that she “will not sign legislation that attacks Arizonans.”
Arizona Republicans were furious with the action out of the Governor’s Office. Petersen released a statement, writing, “Instead of helping these confused boys and men, Democrats are only fueling the disfunction by pretending biological sex doesn’t matter. Our daughters, granddaughters, nieces, and neighbors are growing up in a dangerous time where they are living with an increased risk of being victimized in public bathrooms, showers, and locker rooms because Democrats are now welcoming biological males into what used to be traditionally safe, single-sex spaces.”
The bill’s sponsor, Senator Sine Kerr, added, “This commonsense bill would have also stopped the injustices of allowing bigger and stronger biological males to compete on female-only sports teams, preserving fairness and safety on the playing field, as well as the athletic accolades and scholarships these women and girls work tirelessly to achieve. We’ve seen far too many examples of girls and women physically injured, relegated to the bench, and bumped off the winner’s podium by males competing as females. The madness needs to stop. Democrats have launched an attack against biological females. While a Democrat is currently in control of our Executive Branch, real women must continue to push back, stand for truth, and make their voices heard to advocate for the protection of their rights.”
Riley Gaines, a star collegiate athlete and a champion of women’s rights, weighed in on Hobbs’ action on her “X” account. Gaines said, “Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs just vetoed SB 1628, a bill that would codify & define the word ‘woman’ in state law. Who woulda guessed? Women, yet again, proving to be our own worst enemy.”
Christy Narsi, the national chapter director for Independent Women’s Network, echoed Gaines’ sentiments, stating, “Ironically, despite being a woman, Gov. Hobbs refuses to acknowledge that women are adult, human, females – as commonly understood for millenia – and has no interest in advancing privacy, safety, and equal opportunity for the 3.6 million Arizonan women.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | Apr 18, 2024 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
A majority of Republicans in Arizona’s Legislature held the line Wednesday to preserve the state’s near abortion ban.
On Wednesday morning, the Arizona House of Representatives gaveled into session for the first time this week, giving a coalition of members the opportunity to repeal a broad abortion ban that the State Supreme Court had reinstated earlier this month.
Since the Arizona Supreme Court’s historic opinion on the statute, Democrats and some Republicans have sought to repeal the 1864 abortion policy, which has been ratified by the state legislature several times, including in a 2022 bill that established a 15-week abortion ban before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. A coalition attempted to call up a proposal, HB 2677, from Democrat State Representative Stephanie Stahl Hamilton, which would repeal the law. Members did not have a chance to vote on the bill due to a chaotic scene on the floor, that included a successful motion to recess and adjourn for the week.
Stahl Hamilton wasted little time on Wednesday in trying to call up her bill for consideration, but was thwarted by a point of order from Republican State Representative Jacqueline Parker, who highlighted a rule of the chamber giving the Speaker veto power over these procedures. Speaker Pro Tempore Travis Grantham asked Speaker Ben Toma for his decision, and Toma exercised his right to veto Stahl Hamilton’s request. After a couple of split procedural votes to override the Speaker’s action, which Republican Representative Matthew Gress joined with Democrats, the House recessed without any progress in repealing the near abortion ban.
Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs reacted to the latest from the State House, expressing her outrage over the inability to repeal the near abortion ban. She wrote, “Extremist Republicans in the Legislature have failed again to do the right thing. In just one week living under this new reality, women, doctors, and healthcare providers have already begun to feel the devastating effects of living under a total abortion ban. We cannot go on like this.”
Hobbs added, “I will continue to call on the Legislature to do its job and repeal this law. In the meantime, I remain committed to protecting the freedoms of every single Arizonan, and I am working to make sure women are able to access the care they need.”
A Republican running for State Representative pointed out that, unlike Hobbs’ claim that effects were already being felt, the law was not even in effect yet, due to instructions from the Arizona Supreme Court.
The Arizona Senate gaveled into its session in the afternoon and experienced a surprise action from Democrats, who, led by Senator Anna Hernandez, gained recognition for a motion to introduce a bill after the designated legislative deadline. Two Republicans joined with all Democrats to support Hernandez’s motion, which allows the chamber to fast-track a repeal of the controversial abortion law.
Both chambers adjourned for the week, leaving the near abortion ban intact through the weekend at least. If the abortion law in question is repealed, the state would likely revert to the recent 15-week abortion limit passed by lawmakers in 2022, marking the first time in the state’s history that the Arizona Legislature “affirmatively created a right to, or independently authorized, elective abortion” – as pointed out by the State Supreme Court in its opinion last week. That limit is sure to be expanded with a constitutional amendment that is likely to make the November General Election ballot.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
