by Daniel Stefanski | Oct 12, 2023 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
A year-long legislative effort finally came to fruition for an Arizona community.
Late last week, Arizona State Representative Alexander Kolodin and Senator Justine Wadsack announced that the Rio Verde Foothills community once again – and finally – had access to water.
In a joint statement, Kolodin and Wadsack said, “After more than a year of failed attempts to resolve the issue, today we stand in celebration as water flows once more to the residents of Rio Verde Foothills. Three months ago, we sent a bill to Hobbs urging she sign the legislation to help restore water for over 700 residents that had relied on the City of Scottsdale for over 30 years. At that time, we applauded the community’s resolve and said, ‘Hold on tight, relief is on the way!’ We are elected to office to get things done for the people of Arizona. Where every other level of government failed, this Republican majority delivered.”
The “X” account for the Rio Verde Foothills Standpipe District also acknowledged the development in this ongoing saga, writing, “Official per RVFSD: The water will flow on Monday 10/9. Thank you to the board for your work, and tireless effort, countless meetings, emails, and support of community partners. Thank you to the City of Scottsdale and EPCOR. Thank you to all who helped. Moving forward!”
State Representative Laura Terech also weighed in on the situation, adding, “I am relieved to see water access restored to the Rio Verde Foothills!”
Few legislators worked with more intensity at the Arizona Legislature over this issue than Kolodin in the recently completed session. It was Kolodin’s HB 2561 that was added onto SB 1432 as an amendment before both chambers sent the bill to the Governor’s Office. After SB 1432 passed the legislature, Kolodin thanked many of his colleagues, including Senator John Kavanaugh, Wadsack, Terech, and Representative David Cook, for their efforts in ensuring the proposal’s success. Kolodin wrote, “This is not the first water crisis Arizona has faced and it will not be the last. But, today, we proved that the era of kicking the can down the road is over. This legislature is ready, willing, and able to roll up its sleeves and solve the problem – together.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | Jun 15, 2023 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
One Arizona legislator’s relentless efforts to deliver water to families in the Rio Verde Foothills appear to have paid off.
On Tuesday, the Arizona Senate passed SB 1432, which included Representative Alexander Kolodin’s HB 2561 as an amendment, sending it to the Governor’s Office for her decision.
Governor Hobbs is expected to sign the bill.
Twenty Senators voted to approve the measure, eight members opposed, and two did not vote.
Kolodin had several people to thank for the bill’s progress, which he did so in a press release, saying, “It took a team effort by an unlikely coalition to defeat the establishment’s army of lobbyists and solve what should have been a simple problem. A few people deserve special mention. My seatmate, John Kavanagh, put in yeoman’s work shepherding this legislation through the Senate. Senator Wadsack worked with us to integrate our bill with her own significant water reform legislation. She and my other colleagues in the Arizona Freedom Caucus withstood tremendous pressure to stand firm and help me to complete the people’s work. I also want to thank Representative Cook for his consistent efforts to help the people of Rio Verde as well as Representative Terech, the chief negotiator for the Democrats, for her months of effort to arrive at a bipartisan solution to a problem that no other part of government has been able or willing to resolve. This is not the first water crisis Arizona has faced and it will not be the last. But, today, we proved that the era of kicking the can down the road is over. This legislature is ready, willing, and able to roll up its sleeves and solve the problem – together.”
The state representative urged Hobbs to sign his bill and give the people of Rio Verde Foothills the relief that they have been seeking for months, stating, “We should not have had to fight so hard just to get Arizonans water, but our work is now complete thanks to the efforts of these and countless others. Katie Hobbs should immediately sign this bill and restore water to the people. Rio Verde Foothills – we applaud your fight and community spirit! Hold on tight, relief is on the way!”
After HB 2561 passed the Arizona House last month, freshman representative Justin Heap shared insight on how hard his colleague had worked to get his proposal to where it stood at that moment, tweeting:
“Politics is a profession defined by indolence & self-aggrandizement. Because of this, truly remarkable efforts by leaders to help the people they represent often go unnoticed & unrewarded. For this reason, I would like to acclaim my colleague @realAlexKolodin of District 3. No bill has been more fiercely contested or required more effort this year then the task of getting water to the 900 residents of Rio Verde Foothills who’ve been without reliable access to water since 2022. As their House Rep Alex made it his mission to get them water. It was a herculean task for a freshman legislator, against opposition from cities, the county BofS, the Governor’s Office, even his own party. Alex was undaunted.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | Jun 11, 2023 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
Another Arizona Republican proposal to protect children has been rejected by the state’s Democrat governor.
On Thursday, Governor Katie Hobbs, vetoed SB 1040, which was sponsored by Senator John Kavanagh. The legislation, designated as the Arizona Accommodations for All Children Act, would have required “a public school to provide access to a single-occupancy or employee restroom or changing facility to a person who is unwilling or unable to use a multi-occupancy restroom or changing facility designated for the person’s sex or multi-occupancy sleeping quarters.”
In a letter to Senate President Petersen, explaining her reasoning for the veto, Hobbs wrote, “SB 1040 is yet another discriminatory act against LGBTQ+ youth passed by the majority at the state legislature. As I stated in my veto letter for SB 1001, I will veto every bill that aims to attack and harm children.”
Kavanagh was outraged by the governor’s action against his bill, saying: “Women and young girls deserve privacy and their own protected bathrooms, showers and locker rooms where they can have such privacy and are safe from the risk of sexual harassment or sexual violence. Unfortunately, Democrat Legislators and Governor Hobbs are catering to an extremist culture by pushing ‘gender neutrality’ as a means to win political points from their liberal base while stealing dignity away from women and girls in the process. SB 1040 is about protecting our children while respecting the natural privacy rights of students. A 14-year-old female high school coed should not be forced to stand next to a naked, transgender female, who is actually an 18-year-old biological male. In a rush to become ‘trans inclusive,’ Governor Hobbs and fellow Democrats have forgotten about the needs of innocent young girls. This veto shows exactly how little they care to protect our female citizens.”
Progress Arizona cheered on Governor Hobbs’ veto, tweeting, “SB 1040, sponsored by Sen. Kavanagh, has been VETOED! SB 1040 targeted transgender students and teachers by prohibiting them access to public school restrooms.”
A day before Hobbs’ veto, the Arizona Senate Democrats warned about Republican “attacks on LGBTQ+ protection,” stating, “Rather than invest in our public school students and their future success, Republicans are more interested in culture wars and clickbait bill titles.”
Earlier this session, after his chamber gave the bill the green light, President Petersen had highlighted the lack of attention given to the legislation by the media, posting on Facebook, “We recently passed a bill out of the senate that said no boys in girls showers. All the democrats voted no. One of the democrats suggested we put up shower curtains as a solution. Zero coverage by the media. Lots of bills like that all the time. Zero coverage by the media.”
The first-year governor had already telegraphed her decision on SB 1040 and similar pieces of legislation three months ago, alerting the public that these bills were dead on arrival in the Governor’s Office under her administration: “On this International Women’s Day I want to make it clear that trans women are women, they are welcome here, and any bill that harasses or threatens their safety will swiftly meet my veto stamp.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | Apr 11, 2023 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
A bill to protect children on the internet is nearing the finish line in the Arizona Legislature, though some partisan opposition puts its fate in jeopardy with Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs should it reach her desk.
SB 1503, sponsored by Senator Wendy Rogers, “directs a commercial entity to verify that any person attempting to access an internet website containing a substantial portion of material harmful to minors is at least 18 years old.” The bill “authorizes the age verification to be made through a commercially available database that is regularly used by businesses or governmental entities for the purposes of age and identity verification; or any other commercially reasonable method of age and identity verification.” It “subjects a commercial entity that violates the verification requirement to civil liability for damages, including attorney fees and costs, resulting from the minor’s access to the material.”
Rogers was joined on her bill by co-sponsors (and fellow Senators) Ken Bennett, Sonny Borrelli, Frank Carroll, David Farnsworth, Jake Hoffman, Steve Kaiser, John Kavanagh, Janae Shamp, T.J. Shope, and Justine Wadsack.
The bill first cleared the Arizona Senate Transportation and Technology Committee in February with a bipartisan vote of 5-2. Democrat Senator Christine Marsh joined four other Republicans to advance the legislation out of committee. After a Rogers’ amendment was adopted on the floor, the full chamber approved the bill with a bipartisan 19-11 vote, though Marsh did not vote in favor.
Senator Rogers cheered the passage of her proposal after the Senate vote, tweeting, “Need to be age 18 to view ‘content harmful to minors’ (pornography) on the internet. My SB 1503 passed the Arizona Senate. #ProtectChildInnocence”
SB 1503 was then transmitted to the Arizona House of Representatives where it was assigned to the Regulatory Committee. In March, the Committee took up and considered this bill, passing it with a party-line 4-3 vote. It awaits the green light from the House before it travels to the Governor’s Office for her final decision.
During the House Regulatory Committee hearing, Representative Nancy Gutierrez explained that she thought this legislation was “an infringement on our First Amendment rights,” and she found it “ridiculous” that anyone would suggest that a company would be at fault for a child looking at inappropriate websites. Gutierrez was baffled that anyone would also suggest that “there is a mechanism that would even be able to verify age.”
Her Democrat colleague, Representative Alma Hernandez, agreed with these sentiments. Before Hernandez voted against SB 1503, she first stated that she didn’t want children looking at pornography on the internet, but that this was “almost impossible to actually enforce.” She argued that the United States is “not North Korea, China, or Iran, where those countries have internet censorship,” and she challenged her Republican colleagues to return to their freedom-loving roots when coming up for solutions of problems that are perpetrated on the internet. Hernandez stated that she believes “it should be up to the parents to decide if they want to put screening mechanisms on their children’s phones.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Terri Jo Neff | Apr 3, 2023 | News
By Terri Jo Neff |
More than 700 residents, many of whom are children, have been waiting for months for government officials to find a reliable and affordable water source for Rio Verde Foothills after the City of Scottsdale shut off the taps which had supplied water to the residents for years.
But with city and Maricopa County players failing to come to a quick rescue, the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) is now slated to try its hand at resolving the problem, adding yet another layer of bureaucracy that worries residents as temperatures continue to increase.
The problem dates back to Jan. 1 when Scottsdale announced its water would no longer be sold to private companies that haul water to the unincorporated Rio Verde Foothills community located north of the city. The homes are part of a wildcat development.
Scottsdale’s public explanation for ending the longtime arrangement was that it was necessary for the city’s drought management response. A variety of proposed solutions have been put forth since then, one being to leave it up to individual residents to arrange their own water purchases.
The majority of the other solutions have involved Maricopa County in some capacity. And therein lies the problem, according to many property owners and residents who believe the county board has not taken the public health situation seriously enough.
An early solution introduced in the Arizona Legislature on an emergency basis would have permitted Maricopa County to enter into an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with Scottsdale to allow water from the city to once again be used by Rio Verde Foothills residents for payment.
County supervisors rejected the IGA plan, causing the legislation to be put on the back burner while long-term political interests took priority over getting residents immediate help.
What the county supervisors proposed was to wash their hands of the problem by having Scottsdale city officials work out a deal with Canada-based EPCOR, a private utility company whose U.S. headquarters is located in Phoenix.
The Maricopa County supervisors issued a resolution to that effect in early March.
Supervisor Tom Galvin, whose District 2 encompasses Rio Verde Foothills and Scottsdale, was vocal about keeping a hands-off approach while leaving desperate residents at the mercy of a major conglomerate.
Some homeowners are also encountering problems trying to sell their property due to the lack of water service.
And with the highly bureaucratic ACC now involved, residents can only wait and see what happens. Some state lawmakers, including Rep. Alex Kolodin and Sen. John Kavanagh, continue to look into legislative options.
In the meantime, Galvin and the other county supervisors have not put forth any alternatives in the event an EPCOR solution is rejected.
Terri Jo Neff is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or send her news tips here.
