by AZ Free News | May 21, 2021 | News
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.
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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.
by azfreenews1 | May 20, 2021 | News
By Terri Jo Neff
An executive order issued by Gov. Doug Ducey is temporarily protecting Arizonans from having to reveal their COVID-19 vaccination status in order to shop, attend public events, or receive government benefits. But Ducey’s executive orders issued under the state’s emergency powers laws cannot last forever, so Rep. Bret Roberts is pushing his fellow legislators to provide ensure permanent protections.
On Thursday, Roberts will be watching as the Senate considers HB2190. The bill started out as criminal justice legislation sponsored by Roberts but later became the subject of a strike-everything amendment by Sen. Kelly Townsend to prohibit businesses and government agencies in Arizona from demanding citizens provide proof, or what is referred to as a vaccine passport, of their vaccination status.
Many communities across the country are supporting the use of a vaccine passport policy, despite what Roberts called the risk of creating “a second-class society” of people who will not -or cannot- receive the COVID-19 vaccine. HB2190 seeks to protect the rights and private medical data of Arizonans while ensuring citizens are not forced to prove their vaccine status in order to shop for groceries, enter a bank, or visit their child’s school.
According to Roberts, the bill would also prohibits the government or private businesses from seeking information about a person’s post-transmission recovery if they ever fell ill from COVID-19.
Under HB2190, a business entity, a ticket issuer, or the state, a county, or local government entity or official is prohibited from basing access to a good or service or benefit on whether a person has received a vaccine. The bill also prohibits the state, a county or local government entity or official from requiring a person to receive a vaccine.
One thing Ducey’s temporary executive order and HB2190 do not address is the employee – employer relationship. That means a boss could possibly terminate an employee who won’t, or can’t, take the COVID-19 vaccine. Another thing HB2190 does not do is interfere with healthcare professionals who need to ask a patient’s vaccination status as a matter of public health concern.
Roberts has waited several weeks to see HB2190 get on the Senate calendar. He tweeted Wednesday evening that anyone seeking office should “give serious thought to their position” on vaccine passports.
“I could be wrong but I don’t think this…one will be forgotten,” he tweeted.
If HB2190 passes, it would make a violation of the new law a Class 3 misdemeanor. It would also allow a state court to suspend any state or local business license, permit, or certification for up to 30 days if the business violates the statute. The bill must receive at least 16 ayes from the 30 senators.
by B. Hamilton | May 20, 2021 | Education, News
By B. Hamilton |
The Scottsdale Unified Governing Board canceled its meeting on Tuesday, May 18th, 2021, according to Board President, Jann-Michael Greenburg, because of “a belligerent mob.” Greenburg was referring to the parents who had come to the meeting hoping to be heard on the subjects of masks, and Critical Race Theory-based curriculum.
Even though the Board was, admittedly, well aware and prepared for the number of parents that came to attend the meeting, they still chose to recess the meeting after three minutes. The Board then opened the meeting again just long enough to scold parents before gaveling it to an end.
In an interview on the James T. Harris show on KFYI News Talk 550 AM, one attendee, Amy Carney, stated that while she had never attended a school board meeting before, the pandemic opened up many parents’ eyes to what is happening in schools and what is not happening in schools.
Carney said questions about the Scottsdale district due to the fact that private schools and religious schools were able to open classrooms while Scottsdale schools were shuttered. She noted that the private schools have not seen any more cases of COVID than her kids’ schools, leaving her and other parents to wonder why.
Carney explained that more and more parents began asking the same questions and before anyone knew it, parents are “now awake.” That “wokeness” is fueling the increase parent participation on the school board level.
Carney was shocked by the Board’s decision to shut the meeting down as the parents were neither belligerent nor out-of-line. According to Carney, the parents went from determined to defeated after the Board exerted their power. They may have felt defeated, but it was only momentary. Carney vowed future engagement as have parents across the state once they experience the heavy hand of bureaucrats.
That parental population is growing. The Scottsdale Unified School District Governing Board isn’t the first board that has decided not to hold a meeting because they disagreed with the parents that showed up. Just recently the Vail school board shut down a meeting rather than allow parents to speak.
Across the state, groups of parents are organizing to take back the education of their children, ensuring that the Scottsdale Board was not the first to face a “mob,” of mid-mannered parents, nor will it be the last.
by AZ Free News | May 20, 2021 | News
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.
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.
by Terri Jo Neff | May 19, 2021 | News
By Terri Jo Neff |
After months of being spoken for by attorneys or just typing brief comments on Twitter, the two state senators at the heart of the legislative audit into Maricopa County’s 2020 General Election were finally front and center Tuesday during a livestreamed status meeting.
Senate President Karen Fann had hoped various Maricopa County officials would attend the meeting in order to address several questions put forth earlier this month by Fann on behalf of the audit team. But county officials announced they would not accept Fann’s invitation to meet in person and instead answered some of the questions via a letter on Monday.
In an effort to not let the scheduled meeting time go to waste, Fann and Sen. Warren Petersen of the Senate Judiciary Committee were joined by three top audit officials to hear how audit activities are going and what concerns have been identified so far. But first, Fann provided an opening statement downplaying talk of rampant fraud with Maricopa County’s election.
After months of being spoken for by attorneys or just typing brief comments on Twitter, the two state senators at the heart of the legislative audit into Maricopa County’s 2020 General Election were finally front and center Tuesday during a livestreamed status meeting.
“I have said from the get-go I’m relatively sure we’re not going to find anything of any magnitude that would imply that any intentional wrongdoing was going [on]; I believe that we were going to find what we’ve known all along in some of the things is that we could probably do a little better job with chain of custody and all the things we’ve talked about,” said Fann.
In January, Fann co-signed a legislative subpoena with Petersen which demanded the county turn over its voting systems, elections records, and nearly 2.1 million ballots cast in last fall’s election. She said again Tuesday the purpose of the audit “has nothing to do with overturning the election or decertifying electors or anything else.”
Instead, she said, lawmakers must ensure Arizona’s elections are done “properly, accurately, safely, with full election integrity.”
Conversation between officials with the Senate and Maricopa County about the 2020 General Election began shortly after polls closed on Nov. 3. There was an initial subpoena issued in December which was replaced with one in January.
Once the second subpoena was issued, “it has nothing but delays, delays, delays,” Fann recounted during the meeting, noting Maricopa County’s decision to sue the Senate in an effort to quash the subpoena.
County officials lost that challenge in February and eventually delivered 385 tabulator machines, several other voting equipment, and 1,681 boxes of ballots on 46 pallets to Veterans Memorial Coliseum last month. Missing from the county’s delivery are two items which Doug Logan, the CEO of audit contractor Cyber Ninjas said are necessary to complete the audit.
The first is the administrative access code or password to the Dominion Voting Systems ballot tabulator machines. In Monday’s letter, Board Chair Jack Sellers informed Fann that county officials do not have the access code. “We do not have it; we have no legal right to acquire it; and so, we cannot give it to you,” the letter states.
The second missing item is the election department’s computer routers which would show the department’s internet activity before and during the election. Earlier this month, Sellers announced neither the routers nor virtual images of the routers would be released, citing concerns by Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone that allowing outsiders access to the routers could put law enforcement officials at risk.
Among other questions raised by Fann in her letter to Maricopa County included concern that ballots were not in sealed bags nor in boxes secured with tamper-resistant tape when turned over to the audit team. Another concern was that a review of computer data files appeared to show one elections database had been deleted and another was missing.
Logan told Fann on Tuesday that upon further review there was no problem with how the ballots were packaged by the county. And CyFIR CEO Ben Cotton said during the meeting he has located the files that were previously the subject of concern.
The audit team’s hand count of the 2.1 million ballots is scheduled to resume May 24 at the Coliseum. Fann has not been shy about floating the idea of issuing new subpoenas in an effort to ensure auditors have all information needed to conduct a full review of how Maricopa County conducted the election.
by Corinne Murdock | May 19, 2021 | Education, News
By Corinne Murdock |
A coalition of Peoria mothers descended on a Peoria Unified School District (PUSD) Governing Board meeting last week to demand an end to critical race theory (CRT) influences in the classroom. Near the end of their public remarks, one mother warned the board members that if they didn’t eradicate CRT from PUSD, then parents would remove their kids.
“If not parents, I want you to know this: the first 100 days of the school year, you yank your kids out of this district. And you will bankrupt this district. Because at the end of the day, it’s all about money. And we all know it. So if they don’t do it, parents – first 100 days, take your kids out. It’s not worth what you will get if you let this go full circle. If you don’t believe me, go to California.”
That mother explained that she and her family fled California after CRT in their schools destroyed their communities. She said that she’d seen how, in real time, the “flowery names” of CRT, diversity, equity, and inclusion ruined schools.
“It has not a thing to do with equality. It has to do with payback. It turned our schools into war zones. [It] was insane – the ‘inclusion’ part was really great too – they break you up into little subcategories and they pit everyone against everyone. I lived it. My 21-year-old son is still dealing with the after-effects,” said the mother. “It is a nightmare. I moved to Arizona to get away from this, only to find it to take root here. And it is on your watch. You are to be the guardians of these people’s children. I don’t want their voices heard. I want their voices listened to. You remember, you had this chance to stop what people are running from. They say 240 Californians are coming here every day. And I can tell you why. It doesn’t work.”
Some mothers presented receipts: emails obtained from open records requests. Another mother documented an email exchange involving PUSD Social Studies Curriculum and Instructional Specialist Jen Mundy, which she reported was proof that teachers were being bribed by EverFi with $15 Amazon gift cards for teacher referrals.
As AZ Free News reported, EverFi is an online educational platform that specializes in social justice curriculum. In an email copy obtained by AZ Free News, one EverFi director did offer teachers $15 Amazon gift cards for each successful referral to another teacher. As we reported previously, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is one of EverFi’s top donors.
The mother also cited an email from an elementary school principal, which reportedly called parents “wackos” for challenging the curriculum.
“‘Parents are wackos with a platform to spread propaganda.’ Does the administration not view parents as partners?” asked the mother. “We elect you, school board members. We should be partnering together. We are entrusting our children to you for their education. Are you going to continue to condone administration speaking this way about parents? Why is the administration being told to silence parents? I will not be silenced. Parents will not be silenced.”
The mother also claimed that EverFi 306: Continuing Stories, a curriculum focused on African American history, was being paid for by the NFL and Arizona Cardinals. AZ Free News has been unable to verify that claim. EverFi markets its courses as free to K-12 educators.
That mother also brought up a survey administered to students by EverFi’s Diversity Foundations program called “Recognizing Privilege.” She said that it asked children private questions about their home life.
“This is a third-party vendor that is collecting personal data on our kids. Where is this data going and how will they use it?” asked the mother.
The mother then cited remarks made during the Arizona School Boards Association’s (ASBA) annual Equity Event, which she noted some PUSD board members attended.
“One of the guest speakers, Calvin Terrell stated that: ‘White privilege families abuse IEPs [individualized educational plans] for their kids to get into Ivy League Schools.’ I have three kids on IEPs who need these plans and services to succeed in school,” said the mother. “Because my kids are white, do they fall into this statement, President Sandoval?”
While she was on the subject, the mother took a moment to criticize the ASBA’s Equity Event. She challenged PUSD Board President David Sandoval for the content and nature of that event.
“The ASBA Equity Event tries to create a divide in America by trying to shame kids into apologizing [for] something they never were. We should be teaching our kids about seeing and valuing humanity, not colors,” said the mother. “David Sandoval, your actions speak louder than any statement you give.”
Another mother, Jodi Brackett, presented a passage printed in her son’s yearbook declaring that no lives mattered until black lives mattered. As she raised the book for the board to see, attendees gasped and booed.
“This […] should never be in any kid’s yearbook: ‘All lives won’t matter until black lives matter,’” read Brackett. “That is unacceptable. And I think everyone knows that all lives matter. And this should never be advertised in a yearbook.”
Brackett also noted that CRT shouldn’t be in schools because of its Marxist elements.
Another mother pleaded with the board members to stand strong and be leaders against CRT.
“Do not lose your authenticity in an attempt to be liked by the sick-minded who are trying to convert your schools into indoctrination factories,” said the mother. “You are also parents yourselves. It is impossible to believe that you will embrace for your own kids such [a] curriculum injected with hatred and adult content materials.”
The mother noted that she couldn’t discuss some of the curriculum because it was prohibited by board rules – though her son was learning about it in class.
“The Code of Conduct when addressing the board lists ‘no political views, no sexual content.’ So I, an adult, am not allowed in this forum, to bring for show-and-tell, pornographic material or talk about sexual orientations – but you are voting to give permission to the superintendent, to in turn give permission to [the] master of curriculum to do just that,” noted the mother.
She also pointed out that the board was being hypocritical by having police present at the meeting, though they allow EverFi educational content that promotes defunding the police through its teachings on Black Lives Matter (BLM). The mother’s point earned applause.
BLM’s call for police to be defunded, #DefundthePolice, gained traction last year after the death of George Floyd.
Another mother, Gina Blair, explained that CRT would only hurt children and divide the country further.
“What happened to looking at someone’s heart and character and judging them on that very important factor only? Isn’t that the one true way to be truly non-biased [sic] and not racist?” said Blair. “Please understand we elected you as board members
Blair explained that she was very well-versed in inclusion, considering her two school-aged children have severe disabilities, and that CRT wasn’t inclusion. She said that teaching inclusion had nothing to do with modifying history.
Watch the mothers’ full remarks here:
Corinne Murdock is a contributing reporter for AZ Free News. In her free time, she works on her books and podcasts. Follow her on Twitter, @CorinneMurdock or email tips to corinnejournalist@gmail.com.
