by Daniel Stefanski | Mar 28, 2023 | Education, News
By Daniel Stefanski |
Republicans are leading a historic effort to raise teachers’ salaries, while most Democrats are resisting the current approach in the Arizona State Legislature.
On Monday, the Arizona House moved HB 2800, sponsored by freshman Representative Matt Gress, closer to a final vote in the chamber, amending it in the Committee of the Whole session. This bill “mandates each school district and charter school increase the base salary of all eligible teachers as prescribed.” It also “creates the Pay Teachers First Fund and appropriates a total of $1,100,000,000 in FYs 2024 and 2025 to the Fund for required teacher salary increases.”
According to figures provided by House Republicans, HB 2800 would give Arizona teachers the fourth highest ($50,554) starting salaries in the nation, compared to a current ranking of 27th ($40,554).
Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne previously announced his strong support of this bill and appeared at a press conference at the state capitol last week with Gress and other lawmakers to tout the legislation’s movement through the House.
When asked by AZ Free News about why he supported HB 2800, Superintendent Horne replied: “I support HB 2800 because no school is better than the quality of the teachers in the classroom. Our surrounding states pay more so we lose good teachers to them, and we can no longer afford to do that.”
Representative Gress thanked Superintendent Horne for his support of the bill, writing, “Thanks @RealTomHorne for your advocacy on #HB2800. Raising teacher pay is key to recruiting and retaining excellent talent. We will not be deterred by the unions who are actively pressuring House Democrats to kill a $10,000 pay raise for teachers.”
Gress submitted a floor amendment to his bill Monday, which passed. The changes, in part, “removes the stipulation that an eligible school may receive the prescribed per teacher base salary increases from the Pay Teachers First Fund only for the lesser of the number of eligible teachers that a) are employed by the school; or b) would be employed by the school if the school had 15 students per eligible teacher.” It also tweaked elements of the proposed school online transparency portal, school districts facilities master plans, and appropriations.
Though both Republicans and Democrats campaign on adequately funding public education in Arizona, Representative Gress’s proposal has met with fierce resistance from many Democrats and school & teacher organizations around the state. Five Democrats voted against the bill in the House Appropriations Committee, and representatives from the AZ School Administrators Association, AZ Education Association, Save Our Schools Arizona, and AZ School Boards Association have registered their opposition.
In the lead-up to Monday’s deliberations, the House Democrat Caucus ardently campaigned against HB 2800, calling it a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” and “deeply flawed.”
Should the bill pass the House, it will soon head to the Arizona Senate for consideration and a potential vote in that chamber in the near future. If it clears the Senate, Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs will be forced to decide between giving teachers a $10,000 raise or denying them this much-needed increase.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | Mar 19, 2023 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
An Arizona Republican’s legislative proposal to enhance protections for pregnant women is meeting resistance from Democrats – and created an interesting exchange in a Senate committee last week.
HB 2427, sponsored by Representative Matt Gress, deals with sentencing standards for domestic violence against pregnant victims. According to the purpose of the bill provided by the State Senate, HB 2427 “classifies, as aggravated assault punishable as a class 3 felony, assault against a pregnant victim if the person knows or has reason to know the victim is pregnant and circumstances exist that classify the offense as domestic violence.”
In January, this legislation passed the House Judiciary Committee with a 5-2 vote (with one Democrat voting ‘present’). It later passed the Arizona House at the end of February with a party-line 31-28 vote (one Democrat not voting). The Arizona House Democrats strongly warned about this bill before it was approved by that chamber, writing, “Bad bills heading to the House floor this morning: Rep. Matt Gress’ attempt to sneak extreme anti-abortion fetal personhood language into domestic violence and child support statutes. Don’t be fooled, HB2502 and HB2427 are about entrenching ideological language into law.”
After voting for the bill, Republican Representative Austin Smith tweeted: “You shouldn’t harm pregnant women. All Democrats voted NO on Matthew Gress’s HB2427.”
Last week, HB 2427 was considered in the Senate Judiciary Committee and led to a noteworthy exchange between a member and a witness. The chairman of this committee, Senator Anthony Kern, asked a witness if men could get pregnant – and received an answer in the affirmative. He then pressed the witness to give her definition of a “woman” but received pushback from the witness and his colleagues on the other side of the aisle for the relevance of that question. The witness finally answered that “there are people who identify as different genders who are capable of getting pregnant” and added that she was not going to “feed into the bigotry of that question.”
The Arizona Senate Republican Caucus wasted no time in responding to what they had heard in the committee, saying: “During testimony given at committee today on HB2427, there seems to be confusion over which gender can have a baby. HB2427 would increase penalties on those guilty of domestic violence against PREGNANT WOMEN. This is the difference between Republicans and Democrats.”
Senator Mitzi Epstein voted no on the bill in the Senate Judiciary Committee and explained that she was against the legislation because she had heard from people who help victims of domestic violence that this bill could “make some victims more hesitant to call for help because it makes the penalties worse for their partners.” She subsequently noted her desire to protect “people” who are vulnerable.
Representatives from the Secular Coalition for Arizona, Arizona Center for Women’s Advancement, NARAL Pro-Choice America, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona, AZ National Organization for Women, and the American Civil Liberties Union of AZ all registered in opposition to HB 2427 during the ongoing legislative process.
Senator Kern had the final word – both in committee and on Twitter, writing: ALERT: The democrat left says men ‘can’ get pregnant, and they ‘cannot’ define what a woman is. TRUTH: Men cannot get pregnant and real MEN protect real WOMEN!”
HB 2427 passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee with a 4-3 partisan vote, and is expected to be considered by the full chamber in the near future. It is assuredly dead on arrival with Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs should the Senate pass the legislation onto the Ninth Floor of the Arizona Executive Tower.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | Feb 25, 2023 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
Arizona may no longer have a pro-life governor, but Republican legislators are working hard to champion family values at the State House and Senate – and they turned out en masse to this week’s Arizona Right to Life March in downtown Phoenix.
Senate President Warren Petersen attended the event and issued the following statement before the March: “Today we will MARCH FOR LIFE! One of the key reasons I am republican is because we believe in the sanctity of life.
The Arizona Senate Republican Caucus tweeted, “Every life is precious and deserving of protection. As pro-life advocates, we believe in upholding the dignity and value of human life from conception to natural death. At today’s #MarchForLife at the Capitol, Republican Senators and Representatives showed their support and assured Arizona residents that we will continue to fight for the most vulnerable.”
House Speaker Ben Toma also attended the March for Life, saying, “Honored to address today’s March for Life at the State Capitol. As the Speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives, I will ALWAYS fight protect the good laws that we have passed in this state to safeguard the sanctity of life!”
House Majority Leader Leo Biasiucci released a photo from the stage of the rally at Wesley Bolin Plaza, showing all the Arizonans who showed up to stand for life.
Representative David Marshall tweeted a picture of him on the March for Life sage, stating, “Thousands came out to support the unborn, Praise the Lord!”
Representative Matt Gress pledged his support to pro-life causes and laws at the rally, saying, “What an amazing day at the Capitol! We marched with thousands of Arizonans who believe life is a sacred human right. We will do all that we can to fervently protect that right.”
Senator Wendy Rogers tweeted a picture of her and her colleagues standing on the rally stage with the caption, “Honored to stand for #MarchForLife at the Arizona Capitol today.”
Senator Justine Wadsack shared photos of the March for Life rally, including one with her LD17 seatmate.
Representative John Gillette thanked all the individuals who attended the rally and March for Life: “We are grateful for the support and the thousands that turned out in support, and a big thanks to Majority Whip Martinez for getting the word out.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Corinne Murdock | Feb 17, 2023 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
TikTok may soon be banned from Arizona’s government devices, according to a proposed bill that passed out of committee on Wednesday. The House Government Committee passed the legislation unanimously.
State Rep. Matt Gress (R-LD04) introduced the ban through a strike-everything amendment rewriting HB2416. Gress coordinated with House Government Committee Chairman Tim Dunn (R-LD25) to craft the legislation.
During the committee hearing, Gress relayed remarks from FBI Director Christopher Wray issued last year concerning national security concerns on government devices with TikTok. Wray warned that the Chinese government is capable of controlling recommendation algorithms to implement influence operations, or control software on devices with the option to possibly compromise personal devices.
Gress reminded the committee that other bad actors rely on TikTok besides the Chinese government, such as the Mexican cartels. The ban would include specific carveouts for law enforcement addressing cartels relying on the app.
“The cartels use TikTok to recruit many of their contractors to wreak havoc in the United States,” said Gress.
In a Tuesday press release ahead of the committee approval of the legislation, Gress reminded Arizonans that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which controls TikTok, is capable of gathering data on American citizens’ internet activity through the app.
“When I was sworn into office, I took an oath to defend my constituents and all Arizonans from enemies both foreign and domestic,” said Gress. “This legislation fulfills this promise as the security risks associated with the use of TikTok — an application owned and operated by the Chinese Communist Party with the capabilities of gathering crucial details about personal, private internet activity — can’t be ignored.”
The legislation would require the Arizona Department of Administration (ADOA) to remove TikTok from all information technology devices used for state business and public services within 30 days after enactment.
25 states have banned TikTok on all state devices, with three states banning the app from certain state devices. The states that have banned the app from all state devices are Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
Florida, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia banned the app from certain state devices.
Last November, FBI Director Christopher Wray told the House Homeland Security Committee that the parent company of TikTok, ByteDance, could monitor Americans through the app.
“There’s a number of concerns there as to what is actually happening and actually being done,” said Wray. “That’s probably something that would be better addressed in a closed, classified setting, and I could see what information we might be able to share that way, but that’s probably not much more than I could add to that, other than to say it is certainly something that’s on our radar, and we share your concerns.”
ByteDance also revealed to U.S. reporters last year that it had planned to use TikTok to monitor the physical location of specific Americans for surveillance purposes.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Daniel Stefanski | Feb 8, 2023 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
President Joe Biden gave his second State of the Union (SOTU) address on Tuesday night in front of a packed U.S. House chamber and millions of viewers around the world. As is the case with most of these speeches, members of the president’s political party applauded his words, while members of the opposing party largely condemned his statements and policies.
It was no different with members of the Arizona Legislature – some of whom could very well be members of Congress in the future. Many Republican and Democratic state legislators were very active on Twitter before, during, and after the SOTU address.
Representative Matt Gress shared a clip from U.S. Representative Juan Ciscomani’s Spanish language Republican response to the nation following the president’s speech.
House Majority Leader Leo Biasiucci retweeted a handful of posts reacting to President Biden’s statements, including his comments about an assault weapons ban, fentanyl, and Social Security.
Senate President Warren Petersen retweeted a post from U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, which fact checked Biden’s actions to increase the U.S. deficit.
Representative Tim Dunn gave some SOTU feedback to President Biden on the border crisis: “Biden SOTU speech fails to address the emergency effecting the southern border. This can end by changing his policy. This allows fentanyl to come to your neighborhood. Secure the border protect our airways from China and open up oil exploration to curb inflation.”
Senator Wendy Rogers, in addition to retweeting other posts about the president’s comments, quote tweeted a post showing Bono and Paul Pelosi chatting at the State of the Union, saying, “This shows NO RESPECT for our sacred institutions… I do not allow this in my Arizona Senate committee.”
Senate President Pro Tempore T.J. Shope also retweeted several tweets reacting to the president’s speech, and he added his own quote tweet to U.S. House Speaker McCarthy’s post of U.S. Representative Ciscomani’s Republican response, saying, “Thank you @SpeakerMcCarthy for choosing my friend @RepCiscomani to deliver the Spanish-language @GOP response to the #SOTU! The #AmericanDream is alive and well!”
Representative Jacqueline Parker quote tweeted U.S. Senator Rick Scott’s reaction to the SOTU, writing, “AZ & the federal government are like mirror images right now. The state of OUR state is worsening under Hobbs too. Our borders aren’t secure, school choice is under attack, families are suffering, & all Hobbs wants to do is spend more taxpayer money on big gov’t special interests.”
Representative David Livingston retweeted a number of posts reacting to the SOTU, including some by U.S. Representatives Jim Banks and Byron Donalds. He also shared an Axios story about Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ Republican response to the SOTU.
Representative Austin Smith had a one-word answer for President Biden when the @POTUS account tweeted about banning assault weapons: “No”
House Speaker Pro Tempore Travis Grantham shared multiple SOTU tweets from other accounts, including from U.S. Representatives Andy Biggs and Tom Tiffany.
Representative Justin Heap retweeted a post from the National Republican Congressional Committee about U.S. Representative Ciscomani’s Republican response.
Senate Democratic Leader Raquel Terán tweeted, “@POTUS brought it all in for his (SOTU) address!”
Representative Consuelo Hernandez retweeted a post, which positively reacted to President Biden taking a moment to “acknowledge the fears of black parents & their children.”
Senator Christine Marsh retweeted a post from Martin Luther King III, which read, “We must continue working to bring an end to violence everywhere in this country. It’s why I’m continuing dad’s fight to eradicate the triple evils of poverty, racism, and violence.”
House Minority Leader Andrés Cano retweeted Biden’s @POTUS account, showing him shaking hands with Vice President Kamala Harris – and the caption, “What a night, VP.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
