On Wednesday, the Arizona House approved a bill to expand open meeting law to require enough seating for anticipated attendance and that the agenda include the time when the public may have physical access to the meeting place. The vote panned out evenly along party lines: 31-28, with all Democrats opposed and all Republicans in favor of expanding open meetings.
The legislation, introduced by State Representative John Kavanagh (R-Fountain Hills), included a civil penalty for leaders of the public body violating the seating and access time requirements.
When addressing the House Government and Elections Committee, Kavanagh said that governing bodies should anticipate controversial issues that would cause sudden spikes in public attendance. Kavanagh cited the Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) incident last year, in which the governing board closed the doors half an hour early to their meeting after enduring overwhelming public attendance the previous week. The legislator explained that he was turned away from attending the meeting because the room was full.
“This is simply meant to prevent a town council, or a school board, or anyone who has a controversial topic from suppressing public input by keeping the meeting in a tiny room so people can’t get in. And that happens,” said Kavanagh.
State Representative Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek) noted that he’d experienced something similar to Kavanagh’s SUSD experience. Hoffman recounted how Higley Unified School District (HUSD) officials refused to allow public attendance beyond 20 percent room capacity, turning away individuals attempting to participate.
Committee Democrats expressed concern that governing bodies wouldn’t be able to anticipate public attendance adequately. Kavanagh said that it would be up to citizens to file open meetings complaints if they suspected government officials weren’t adhering to reasonable accommodations as directed in this bill. He noted that the League of Arizona Cities and Towns wasn’t in opposition to this bill.
Minority Leader Reginald Bolding (D-Laveen) explained in his “no” vote that the bill’s intent was “noble,” but failed to spell out how government officials should anticipate public attendance to accommodate seating. State Representative Sarah Liguori (D-Phoenix) argued that limiting public access to open meetings was a matter of safety, citing the presence of COVID-19 and violence at school board meetings.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
The Arizona House passed HB2507 on Wednesday, a bill declaring that religious services are to be considered essential during a state of emergency. While all House Republicans voted for the bill, several Democrats voted against the majority of their party to pass it: State Representatives César Chávez (D-Maryvale), Diego Espinoza (D-Tolleson), Alma Hernandez (D-Tucson), Daniel Hernandez (D-Tucson), Robert Meza (D-Phoenix), and Lorenzo Sierra (D-Avondale).
However, the bill would require that religious organizations comply with safety or occupancy requirements contingent upon other essential services. The only way around occupancy requirements would be in the case that the government couldn’t provide proof that their requirement was the least restrictive means of furthering their compelling interest. If the government violates these protections, then a religious organization could receive declaratory and injunctive relief, compensatory damages, and attorney fees.
In Canada, worship wasn’t considered an essential practice throughout the pandemic. One preacher, Artur Pawlowski, has been arrested five times for keeping his church open and opposing the draconian government. Last week, Pawlowski was arrested for speaking to members of the Freedom Convoy, the truckers protesting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s dictatorship. Pawlowski’s speech reportedly caused the truckers to change their mind about abandoning their protest: instead of leaving the border for Edmonton, they heeded Pawlowski’s charge to “hold the line.” According to Pawlowski’s lawyer, law enforcement keeps Pawlowski in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day.
The Canadian government further winnowed away at the freedom of religion by outlawing certain beliefs, such as opposition to homosexuality.
Pawlowski grew up under the Soviet Union’s Communist regime in Poland. Like Pawlowski, the state representative behind HB2507, Ben Toma (R-Peoria), grew up in a dictatorship that his family eventually fled: the communist dictator of Romania from 1965 to 1989, Nicolae Ceaușescu. Toma offered details of his experience in an interview with James T. Harris on “The Conservative Circus.” Toma expressed fear that the government’s response during COVID-19 marked a descent into an authoritarian state. He noted how his bill helped push back against dictatorial trends exhibited by the government throughout 2020: disincentivizing and outlawing religion to increase government reliance and subservience.
“If your ultimate allegiance is to God, then you have something on which to rely on, to sort of fight back against state overreach,” said Toma. “But once you take God out of it, then the only thing you can rely on is what? You end up having to trust the state. To me, that’s the scariest possible solution because that’s how we got some of the worst dictators and some of the worst criminals, guilty of genocide and everything else across the world.”
AZ State Rep. Ben Toma discusses the tyranny going on in Canada as he speaks on his personal escape from Romania un https://t.co/KEIfNHfVwI
In addition to the hostility toward religion, Toma observed that other signs of communism were present in the country, with implementation or entertainment of ideas like rationing, supply chain shortages, social credit, and censorship.
Governor Doug Ducey hasn’t lifted Arizona’s state of emergency yet.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Congressman Ruben Gallego (D-AZ-07) advocated that authorities take away the trucks from truckers participating in the U.S. version of the “Freedom Convoy” that took Canada’s capital by storm one month ago: “Freedom Convoy USA 2022.” In response to the pending convoy protest, Washington, D.C. law enforcement called in support from the National Guard.
Perfect time to impound and give the trucks to small trucking companies looking to expand their business. https://t.co/1pHURh0hbr
One of the leaders of Freedom Convoy USA 2022, Kyle Sefcik, informed President Joe Biden in a video that their convoy would be meeting in Washington, D.C. on March 1: the day of Biden’s State of the Union Address. Sefcik clarified that the truckers will protest lawfully and constitutionally: their routes are public, they have a permit for the National Mall, and will come peacefully. He requested that Biden end the national state of emergency and all mandates related to COVID-19.
“Sir, the world is watching us, because they know that if what’s happening in Canada happens here to us in the land of the free, then freedom as we know it is gone,” said Sefcik. “The government, the elected officials of both parties have failed us tremendously, and now it’s time for us, we the people, to fix this, to end this. We’re ready to get back to our lives, the ones promised and guaranteed in the United States Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the contract that you signed and swore an oath to under the one true God. This is simple. End this.”
For Gallego, it appears that protests are only valid insofar as they align with his personal political preferences. As riots broke out nationwide from Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests, Gallego pledged to the Arizona Republic that he would take to the streets alongside BLM protestors in response to President Donald Trump’s announcement that he would deploy military personnel to quash violence outbreaks at the protests.
I refuse to let this Democracy die. I will resist. I do not consent and I will not follow martial law. #resist
Freedom Convoy truckers and protestors occupied downtown Ottawa for nearly an entire month in protest of the country’s COVID-19 mandates and restrictions. Law enforcement was only able to break up the protest successfully after freezing protestors’ bank accounts and crypto transactions, towing away vehicles, arresting protestors, and deploying pepper spray and stun grenades.
Bigger Announcements Coming! Our convoy will arrive in DC on March 1st! Our full routes are on IG and FB ( FreedomConvoyUSA2022 ). I will keep everyone updated on Twitter as well. #FreedomConvoyusa2022pic.twitter.com/5p4dXCdKWL
According to the latest data released by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), law enforcement encountered nearly 154,000 illegal immigrants crossing the Southwest border. This number doesn’t include those illegal immigrants who evaded apprehension, known as “gotaways”: different than those who evade encounters entirely, or go through the catch-and-release process.
According to CBP data obtained through Border Patrol and by Townhall, CNN, and The Washington Postcompiled by the Republican National Committee (RNC), over 504,600 estimated gotaways have occurred since President Joe Biden was sworn in. Former and current border officials clarified that those estimates are conservative. National Border Patrol Council’s Rio Grande Valley Chapter Vice President and Spokesman Chris Cabrera told Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) that the actual number of gotaways is likely “twice, if not three times” the Biden Administration’s November estimate of around 400,000 — which would be around 1.2 million.
As evidenced by the CBP chart “Southwest Land Border Encounters by Month,” encounters remain far above those over the last three years. Unlike the last three years, however, there’s been a sharp downturn in encounters from December to January. Similar sharp downturn trends occurred in 2016 and 2017. Overall, Southwest border encounters dropped about 14 percent from December to January: 19 percent for the Office of Field Operations (OFO) and nearly 14 percent for U.S. Border Patrol.
CBP’s latest numbers come nearly a month after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) toldReuters that the country should expect the border crisis to worsen throughout 2022. A majority of Arizona law enforcement expressed support for mitigation efforts proposed by Governor Doug Ducey: federal legislation to increase border security through completing border wall, physical barriers, and virtual surveillance; requiring asylum seekers to show proof of attempt to claim asylum prior to crossing and at a port of entry; increasing the number of immigration judges; and increasing funding for local law enforcement and humanitarian efforts.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Voters would have the chance in November to approve adding a Lieutenant Governor position to the slate of Arizona’s executive officers if a bill introduced by Sen. J.D. Mesnard is signed into law.
Senate Bill 1255 provides the framework for adding a new state executive officer in the Arizona Constitution so that Arizonans could jointly elect a Lt. Governor with the Governor, just as Americans vote for a slate of President and Vice-President. The bill would also change who takes over if the Office of Governor becomes vacant.
Currently, the Arizona Secretary of State (SOS) ascends to the Governor’s Office in the event of a vacancy due to death, permanent disability, resignation, or removal. This has prompted past concerns with whether a SOS -whose myriad duties include registering trademarks, managing the state archives, and serving as the state’s Chief Election Officer- was suited for the demands of a state governor.
Mesnard (R-LD17) is in his second term as state senator after previously serving eight years in the State House of Representatives. He says that while SOS is an important office, “there is very little about the office that prepares you to be governor,” he told KFYI’s James T. Harris on Monday.
He also noted instances in recent years when the SOS who replaced an outgoing Governor was not of the same party. This can lead to “a pretty radical shift” in policy, Mesnard noted.
Such uncertainty and turmoil would be avoided if each nominee for Governor names a Lt. Governor to run on the ticket together. It would ensure voters get what they ask for when they vote, he added. “There would be a lot more continuity, a lot more consistency,” Mesnard told Harris.
But Mesnard is not interested in simply creating a new state government office.
SB1255 would require the Lt. Governor to serve as the director of the Arizona Department of Administration (ADOA), which is the administrative and business operations hub of state government and its various agencies.
“The Department of Administration is plugged into all the different areas of the executive branch, everything from HR to regulation to payroll,” Mesnard said Monday, making it an ideal “training ground” for someone to ascend to the Governor’s Office.
The bill co-sponsored by Sen. Sean Bowie (D-LD18) cleared the Senate’s Government Committee last week on a bipartisan vote. It received a “proper for consideration” pass from the Senate Rules Committee on Wednesday and is now waiting to be scheduled for a third reading.
In the meantime, Mesnard has introduced a companion Senate Concurrent Resolution (SCR1024) which would put the proposed change to the Arizona Constitution in the hands of voters in November 2022. If approved by voters, the new Lt. Governor position would be included on the November 2026 state election.
State Representative Joseph Chaplik’s (R-Scottsdale) bill to leave a child’s masking up to parents passed in the House last Thursday in a party-line vote, 31-28. HB2616 requires that public and charter school districts — as well as the state, its political subdivisions, and any other governmental entity — may not require minors to wear masks or face coverings without the express consent of their parent or legal guardian.
During the House floor’s vote on the bill, Democrats expressed opposition to HB2616 by claiming their Republican colleagues were on the side of increasing the scope and size of government, suggesting that Democrats stood for limited government by comparison. Senate Democrats offered similar arguments during the floor vote on a bill to limit abortions after 15 weeks. State Representative Marcelino Quiñonez (D-Phoenix) made such an argument as he voted against HB2616. Quiñonez didn’t elaborate how a bill affording individuals the choice for their children to wear medical gear increased the scope and size of government authority.
“There seems to be a hesitancy to accept the science and go with the science. Instead of doing that, we continue to create barriers to ensure that people feel othered by wearing a mask, instead of following the science,” said Quiñonez. “The legislation to create another barrier, another bureaucracy, is overdue. And so with that, I encourage my colleagues to follow the science and vote ‘no.’”
In a press release following the bill’s passage, Chaplik explained that parents were given back their right to make medical decisions for their children. He expressed confidence that the senate will pass the bill.
“This is a bill to return the right to make medical decisions for their children to the parents, which I expect to become the law in Arizona,” said Chaplik. “This is a win for parents, students, and schools who have been forced by their district leadership to mandate masks.”
As AZ Free News reported earlier this month, Democrats in the House Government and Elections Committee issued the same arguments against the bill. State Representative Sarah Ligouri (D-Phoenix) insisted that the bill contradicted “the science” and pandered to a “political narrative,” arguing that districts with mask mandates already have opt-out options for parents. However, Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) would be one district that doesn’t mention an opt-out to its mask mandate.
State Representative Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek) responded that mask mandates weren’t based on scientific knowledge, pointing out the CDC’s frequently-changing guidelines and goalposts over the last two years. Hoffman implied that Liguori and other Democrats opposed to the bill were cherry-picking data from their preferred sources to support the notion that “the science” supported mask mandates.
“In reality, the science is on the side that kids should not be forced to wear masks,” said Hoffman. “This is not a political argument, it’s an actual medical science argument. There’s countless medical studies to support this, and there are countless health professionals at the highest levels — especially medical doctors, not just public health professionals because there’s a very big difference between an actual medical doctor and a public health professional — they support this.”
Last year, Chaplik sponsored the “Freedom Bill” signed by Governor Doug Ducey: another bill expanding personal freedoms when it comes to masking. The Freedom Bill allowed businesses to not enforce a state, city, town, county, or any other government jurisdiction’s mask mandate on their premises.
HB2616 now heads to the senate for consideration.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
