The Republican-led Arizona legislature has submitted a legislative package to Gov. Katie Hobbs that they say will further strengthen parental rights and protections for children.
Among these bills are HB 2249, which would expand on Arizona’s current parental bill of rights by requiring schools to notify and obtain written consent from parents prior to facilitating a child’s social transition of their biological gender.
Social transitioning includes the usage of preferred pronouns and provision of accommodations that align with the child’s gender identity to include access to nonbiological restrooms and locker rooms.
Additionally, SB 1095 would outlaw gender transition procedure referrals or procedures for minors, and SB 1094 would allow individuals to take a civil cause of action against physicians who perform gender reassignment surgeries on minors.
Arizona banned gender reassignment surgeries on minors in 2022, and excludes gender reassignment procedures from Medicaid coverage. SB 1095 extends that ban to medications, as in puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones.
Senate Majority Leader John Kavanagh (LD-3), who sponsored SB 1094, said in a press release last week that these latest bills were created in response to requests from parents.
“Arizona families have made clear that they want commonsense protections for children and stronger parental rights,” said Kavanagh. “This legislation ensures that parents remain involved in critical decisions impacting their children while protecting minors from irreversible procedures with lifelong consequences.”
State Sen. Janae Shamp (LD-29), sponsor of SB 1015, said regulation was necessary to ensure accountability for irreversible procedures, and that a lack of regulation would essentially subject children to political experimentation.
“Arizona children are not political experiments, and parents should never be cut out of life-altering decisions involving their own kids,” said Shamp. “For too long, activists have pushed radical gender ideology into medicine, education, and government while silencing common sense and ignoring the concerns of families. These bills draw a clear line.”
GOP lawmakers have had trouble codifying bills addressing the gender transition of minors under Hobbs. In accordance with the stance of the Democratic Party, Hobbs supports gender transitions for minors and typically spurns enacting statutory pressures on this modern social practice.
The governor has consistently vetoed bills which would impose restrictions on individuals who identify as transgender. Last year, Hobbs vetoed bills that would have prohibited amending birth certificates and driver’s licenses to reflect gender identity rather than biological gender.
Hobbs also issued an executive order her first year in office requiring state employee healthcare plans to cover gender transition surgeries. Every summer since taking office, Hobbs has flown the Pride flag above the American flag in honor of Pride month.
We dropped the Pride banner from the Executive Tower to kick off Pride Month. To our LGBTQ+ community: I will always stand up for your freedom to be who you are, love who you love and your right to live with dignity and respect. pic.twitter.com/ffO9InrjX0
— Governor Katie Hobbs (@GovernorHobbs) June 2, 2026
Hobbs’ husband, Patrick Goodman, was formerly a counselor specializing in youth gender transitions at the Phoenix Children’s Hospital.
There’s also been resistance to Arizona regulation on transgenderism from the courts. In 2023, a federal court blocked Republican lawmakers’ attempt at enacting a ban on biological males who identify as females from participating in women’s and girls’ sports, the Save Women’s Sports Act. Petersen v. Doe (formerly Doe v. Horne) is pending petition with the Supreme Court.
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Arizona public schools would be required to allow students to attend off-campus religious instruction during the school day with parental consent under a Republican-backed bill approved by the Legislature and sent to Gov. Katie Hobbs.
The Arizona Released Time Education Act, SB 1741, sponsored by Senate President Warren Petersen (R-LD14), would require school district governing boards and charter school governing bodies to allow students to attend released time courses during regular school hours if the program meets statutory requirements. The measure was transmitted to the governor on June 10.
Under the bill, schools would be required to allow students to participate in released time courses if the school receives written consent from the student’s parent. Course providers would be required to keep attendance records, provide copies of those records to the school, assume legal responsibility for students while they are under the provider’s control, and provide religious instruction for at least one hour and no more than five hours per week.
🚨FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Legislature Approves President Petersen-Backed Bill Expanding Parental Rights in Education
The legislation requires released time course providers, participating students, or parents to provide any necessary transportation. Students would remain responsible for completing any other schoolwork missed while attending the released-time course.
“Parents have the fundamental right to direct the upbringing and education of their children, including their religious education,” Petersen said. “For generations, families have taught faith and values at home and in their communities. This legislation simply ensures government does not stand in the way when parents choose to incorporate religious instruction into their child’s education.”
The bill would require schools to award academic credit to students who successfully complete a released time course. School districts and charter schools would determine how much credit to award using only secular criteria that are substantially similar to those used to evaluate comparable courses, including classroom instructional time, course requirements, instructional materials, and student assessments.
The measure also provides that time spent in a released time course during regular school hours would count as instructional time and instructional hours for purposes of state requirements, average daily membership, and daily attendance calculations.
Released time courses could not be provided on school property, and school districts and charter schools could not incur expenses to provide the courses. The bill also states that schools may not deny released-time course providers equal access to money, benefits, or services that schools provide to other community groups or independent entities.
Arizona law already recognizes parents’ right to have a child excused from school attendance for religious purposes under A.R.S. 15-102. SB 1741 would add new requirements governing released-time courses for school districts and charter schools.
The bill also creates a private cause of action allowing a person adversely affected by a violation to seek injunctive relief, monetary damages, court costs, attorney fees, and other relief available under law against the school district or charter school.
Petersen said the legislation is intended to strengthen parental choice while preserving safeguards around school costs and student responsibility.
“SB 1741 respects religious liberty, strengthens parental choice, and recognizes that parents, not bureaucrats, are best positioned to decide what is right for their children,” Petersen said.
The bill passed the Senate on Feb. 25 by a 16-10 vote and passed the House on June 9 by a 31-24 vote.
The proposal drew opposition from Democrats and secular advocacy groups during the legislative process. Rep. Nancy Gutierrez (D-LD18) argued during House debate that off-campus religious instruction would take away from instructional time, while Rep. Matt Gress (R-LD4) said the bill would be voluntary and require parental approval.
A staple of Arizona’s most conservative coalition of lawmakers is running to rejoin the state legislature.
Anthony Kern is seeking to once again represent the 27th legislative district, held by incumbent Republican State Sen. Kevin Payne. Kern and Payne are the only two Republicans in the race; three Democrats have filed statements of interest.
Kern last represented that district in the Arizona Senate from 2023 to 2025. Kern departed from the state legislature in order to make his unsuccessful run for the 8th Congressional District in 2024. Prior to the state senate, Kern represented the 20th legislative district in the Arizona House of Representatives from 2015 to 2021.
While in the legislature, Kern built a reputation as one of its more outspoken conservative members. This was reflected by his membership with the Arizona Freedom Caucus, and A-ratings for conservative lawmaking from the Conservative Political Action Committee, NumbersUSA, American Conservative Union, National Rifle Association, and Keep Arizona Free.
Kern held a number of committee leadership positions, including chairmanships of the Senate Judiciary and Elections Committee and the House Rules Committee, and a vice chairmanship of the Senate Public Safety Committee.
President Donald Trump and Turning Point USA have been among a number of Republican powerhouses to take notice of Kern. Trump commended Kern as “an incredible fighter for election integrity,” and pardoned him from the 2020 Trump electors case put together by the Biden Department of Justice. Turning Point USA’s affiliate, Turning Point Action, has endorsed Kern.
Although the federal charges against Kern and other electors were dropped, Democrat Attorney General Kris Mayes has pursued her own case. A court of appeals ruled last month in a loosely related case that Mayes illegally withheld communications in which she conspired with States United Democracy Center to prosecute Trump’s allies.
Prior to joining the legislature over a decade ago, Kern worked in municipal code enforcement and other public safety roles in the West Valley.
It appears that this background — combined with his repeated public commitments to limiting administrative rulemaking and expanding legislative oversight of regulations — has influenced a take from Kern that puts him at odds with other Republican lawmakers, though not with fellow conservatives.
Kern’s platform includes an opposition to automatic license plate readers (APLRs), such as the Flock Safety cameras. Unlike Kern, Payne as chairman of the Senate Public Safety Committee sponsored a bill in support of APLRs earlier this year, SB 1111.
Other aspects of Kern’s platform include healthcare reform, proposing health providers must offer one single price for products and services, and health insurance premiums and medical expenses must be tax-free; and private property protections, proposing a removal of certain alleged loopholes to squatter prevention laws.
Kern has described himself as pro-life, an election integrity advocate, an opponent to illegal migration, and a supporter of parental rights and school choice.
He has lived in LD27 for nearly 40 years and attends Fresh Start Church in Peoria.
The Arizona Clean Elections Commission is scheduled to host the LD27 primary debate on June 22.
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Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation to expand parental rights in education and prohibit federal education funds from being used to advance what the bill characterizes as radical gender ideology. Rep. Abe Hamadeh (R-AZ08) voted in support of the measure.
H.R. 2616, the Stopping Indoctrination and Protecting Kids Act, passed the House by a recorded vote of 217-198 under Roll Call 184 following adoption of an amendment in the nature of a substitute. The legislation has since been received in the Senate and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
According to a statement from Hamadeh’s congressional office, the Arizona congressman supported the legislation as part of an effort to “defend parental rights, protect America’s children, and ensure that families are empowered to make decisions about their children’s upbringing and education.”
🇺🇸NEW🇺🇸
Congressman Hamadeh Applauds Passage of Bill to Protect Children from Radical Indoctrination
— Office of Congressman Abe Hamadeh (@RepAbeHamadeh) May 26, 2026
The legislation was introduced by Rep. Burgess Owens (R-UT) and advanced with support from Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI). According to Hamadeh’s office and congressional materials, H.R. 2616 incorporates provisions from previously introduced legislation, including the PROTECT Kids Act and the Say No to Indoctrination Act.
Among its provisions, the bill would require schools receiving federal funds to maintain communication with parents regarding significant decisions involving their children and would prohibit federal funding from being used to promote concepts or instruction characterized in the legislation as “radical gender ideology.” The bill would also codify executive actions issued during President Donald Trump’s administration recognizing two sexes.
Hamadeh said the legislation addresses what he views as increasing ideological influence within public education.
“Indoctrination of any kind does not belong in the classroom; education does and little of it is occurring due to the fact that too many administrators and predatory teachers have turned our classrooms into incubators for radical thought,” Hamadeh said.
Hamadeh said he supported the legislation because of what he described as growing ideological influence in public education. “Our students are supposed to be exposed to the wonders of science and the elegance of math; instead, they are being turned into foot soldiers for the extreme left.”
Kim Miller, founder and president of Arizona Women of Action and America’s Women, showed support for the bill, citing both religious and constitutional arguments for parental authority in education and referencing the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Pierce v. Society of Sisters.
“Parents have the fundamental liberty to direct the upbringing and education of their children,” Miller said. “As Proverbs 22:6 reminds us, ‘Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old, he will not depart from it.’ The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed this principle in Pierce v. Society of Sisters, declaring that ‘the child is not the mere creature of the State.’ Bills like the Stopping Indoctrination and Protecting Kids Act rightly restore parental authority and ensure classrooms teach truth rather than radical ideology.”
H.R. 2616 now heads to the Senate for further consideration.
For years, Americans were told our schools existed to expand minds, encourage debate, and prepare young people to think independently. Today, too many do the opposite.
Conservative voices are being shouted down, disinvited, or silenced by radical activists and administrators more interested in appeasing the far left than defending free speech. What happened recently in South Carolina is just the latest of numerous incidents across the country.
Lt. Governor Pamela Evette, a successful businesswoman, unapologetic conservative, and strong supporter of President Trump, was pushed out of delivering the commencement address at South Carolina State University after activists objected to her political beliefs. University officials cited “security concerns,” but the real issue was ideological intolerance.
From Ivy League institutions to taxpayer-funded public universities to our K-12 schools, activists increasingly dictate who may speak, which ideas are acceptable, and what students are allowed to hear.
Administrators routinely surrender to pressure from the left while treating conservatives as threats rather than participants in open debate. That should concern every American.
Our education system has drifted far from its mission. Instead of teaching students how to think critically, schools now teach them what to think. Activism has replaced scholarship, and ideological conformity has replaced intellectual diversity. And taxpayers are funding it.
The time for cosmetic reform is over. America needs structural change.
First, tenure at publicly funded colleges and universities must end.
Tenure was intended to protect academic inquiry. Too often now, it protects ideological activists from accountability while classrooms become platforms for political agendas unrelated to education.
After the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk last year, several professors openly celebrated or excused political violence against someone they opposed politically. That moment exposed how radical parts of academia have become.
Lt. Governor Evette rightfully called for the end of tenure because employment should be based on performance and professionalism, not guaranteed lifetime protection.
Second, our schools must return to education instead of indoctrination.
Parents expect schools to teach reading, writing, math, science, history, and critical thinking. They do not send their children to be immersed in divisive identity politics, anti-American rhetoric, or gender ideology.
Students should graduate understanding the principles that built this country, capable of thinking independently, and able to engage with opposing viewpoints.
Finally, parents must have real authority over their children’s education.
For too long, bureaucracies and special interests trapped families in failing schools. Every parent deserves the freedom to choose the educational setting that best serves their child, whether public, charter, private, technical, or homeschool.
Choice creates accountability. Competition drives improvement. Parents, not government officials, should make these decisions.
This is not just a South Carolina problem. It is happening nationwide.
We need conservative leaders like Lt. Governor Pamela Evette, who are willing to confront these problems directly. She understands what is at stake and has consistently fought for parental rights, accountability, school choice, and classrooms focused on education instead of activism.
If we fail to reclaim our schools and universities now, the consequences will reach far beyond the classroom.
Mick Zais is a contributor to The Daily Caller News Foundation and has been a dedicated conservative voice in the fight for education reform. Zais served as Acting Secretary of Education and as Deputy Secretary under the first Trump Administration. He also served as Superintendent of Education in South Carolina from 2011 to 2015 and President of Newberry College from 2000 to 2010. Zais retired from the Army as a brigadier general.
