AZ Legislative Update 1-29-2021

As the legislature moves into the second month of the 2021 session, legislators are spending much more time in their small offices than they usually do. Though some policy committees still hold in-person hearings with limited attendance, most committees are meeting virtually. Many meetings with constituents, staff, and lobbyists also take place online. This creates an unusual experience for lawmakers, but even more so for advocates and members of the public who want to influence policymaking decisions. Members of the legislative staff are working overtime to respond to requests and help connect people with committee hearings and bill discussions.

Almost 150 proposals earned committee approval this week, and both the House and Senate held their first floor debates and votes. The House and Senate sent four bills to the Governor; if signed, the proposals would expand employment protections for women who are pregnant or have given birth, extend water requirements for the Buckeye waterlogged area, clarify laws on broadband fees, and allow schools to discipline non-certified school staff in the same way as certified teachers.

The Senate unanimously approved a bill that would allow students to take a mental health day and gave preliminary approval to a proposal that removes some obstacles for telemedicine programs. The House passed a bill that allows public schools to reduce costs for their employees’ child care programs and designated $1 million for the Arizona Water Protection Fund.

In the House, committees advanced proposals to increase special education funding, make it easier to become a child care assistant and access funding for child care services, penalize businesses that give vaping and tobacco products to minors, remove labeling requirements for some liquor deliveries, and increase funding for long-term care facility oversight.

Senate committees approved bills to authorize overdose and disease prevention programs, invest in agricultural apprenticeships, and increase tax deductions for college savings.

House and Senate committees fast-tracked approval of bills to limit the Arizona Corporation Commission’s authority and pause teacher and school evaluations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

What’s Next?

Legislators have introduced more than 1,400 proposals this year and are working on more, but they must hurry: Next week, both the House and Senate will stop new bill introductions, and there are just three more weeks for bills to make it through committee approvals. Almost 800 proposals are still awaiting at least one committee hearing – including bills to include school counselors in the Arizona Teachers Academy, legalize fentanyl testing strips, allow the legislature to overturn certified election results, and expand the state’s controversial Empowerment Scholarship Account program.

Priority Bills

The Senate unanimously approved SB 1097 (pupils; excused absences; mental health), which allows students to take a mental health day.

The House Education Committee unanimously approved SB 1189 (special education; group B weights), which increases Group B support level special education funding weights and adds $5 million to the Extraordinary Special Education Needs Fund. The bill is not yet scheduled for a hearing in the House Appropriations Committee.

The Senate gave preliminary approval to SB 1028 (alternative assessment study committee), which creates a study committee to evaluate Arizona’s assessment process for students in special education programs.

Budget Update: Senate Republicans Have A Plan

Senate Republicans took the first step toward a state budget this week, releasing a budget “framework” that identifies funding priorities and items their caucus hopes to see in a final budget package. The framework spends a total of $12.8 billion, prioritizing tax cuts, infrastructure, debt reduction, and public safety salaries and equipment.

The plan includes:

• Taxes
  Like the Governor’s budget proposal, the Senate Republican framework sets aside funding for tax cuts but does not specify which taxes will be cut. The Senate sets aside $200 million each year for the next three years and adds another $250 million for one-time tax changes this year.
  
  In the absence of a clear plan for allocating those tax cuts, everyone at the Capitol has their own ideas about which taxes – if any – should be cut.
   
• Infrastructure
  The Senate dedicates $200 million to infrastructure projects.
   
• Debt Reduction
  Senate Republicans put $300 million toward the unfunded pension liabilities in the Public Safety Personnel Retirement System. (The state’s share of unfunded liabilities in that System are estimated to be $2 billion.)
   
• K-12 Education
  Like the Governor’s budget, the Senate plan includes the earlier allocation of $67 million to complete the repayment of additional assistance to school districts and charter schools. The Senate provides up to $250 million to fund distance-learning students at 100% of in-person student funding for one year and continues the current level of funding for school building renewal projects. It also includes another $3 million for the Arizona Department of Education’s ongoing efforts to replace its financial management system.
   
• Special Education
  The Senate plan sets aside $5 million for a one-time deposit in the Extraordinary Special Education Needs Fund.
   
• Dyslexia Screening
  The Senate budget includes $300,000 that will help fund the implementation of dyslexia screening and teacher training requirements the legislature enacted in 2019.
   
• State Employees
  The Senate plans for a 5% pay increase for state employees, noting the workload they’ve taken on as the state reduced the number of employees that operate state agencies.
   
• Cybersecurity
  The plan adds $495,200 for a Cyber Task Force within the Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs.
   
• Broadband
  The Senate puts $2 million into an existing program designed to expand broadband access in rural Arizona.
   
• Tax Compliance
  The Senate allocates $854,900 to help businesses understand and comply with the state’s taxation laws for online sales.

The Senate framework is designed to be a solid starting point, and a way to focus the ongoing negotiations with the House and Governor’s office.

COVID-19 Sparks Debate about Emergency Authority

Legislators from both sides of the aisle have criticized Governor Ducey’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Democrats think he has not done enough to stop the spread of the virus and assist Arizonans who lost their jobs; some Republicans believe he has violated personal freedoms by limiting business operations and ignored the balance of power in government by not involving the legislature in his decisions over the last year.

Now that the legislature is in session, those debates have begun in earnest.

This week, the Senate Government Committee narrowly approved controversial bills that would have immediate and long-term impacts on executive authority during a state emergency:

• SCR 1001 (state of emergency declaration; termination) would immediately end the state declaration of emergency for COVID-19, which the Governor issued on March 11, 2020. This would end his executive actions under the emergency declaration, as well, including executive orders on hospital operations, telemedicine, and COVID-19 vaccinations.
   
• SB 1084 (state of emergency; automatic termination) would allow a Governor to declare a state emergency but would end that emergency after 21 days unless the legislature voted to extend it.
   
• SCR 1003 (executive orders; emergencies; reauthorization; termination) would ask Arizona voters to change state law to end a state of emergency after 30 days unless the legislature voted to extend it. The legislature would have to act every 30 days to keep the emergency declaration in place.
   
• SCR 1010 (legislative special session; emergencies) would ask Arizona voters to change state law to require a Governor to call a special legislative session when issuing a state of emergency.
   
• SCR 1014 (automatic termination; state of emergency) would ask Arizona voters to change state law to end a Governor’s declaration of emergency after 21 days unless the legislature voted to extend it for another 21 days. The legislature would have to act every 21 days to keep the emergency declaration in place.

Sponsors of the proposals say the state has been under a “dictatorship” because the legislature was out of session while the Governor made decisions about the COVID-19 pandemic. The bills passed the Senate committee, but the conversation is far from over: Legislators have introduced nine additional proposals that all seek to address the Governor’s authority to declare an emergency and the duration of a declared state of emergency.

It’s not clear, though, whether any of them will advance to the Governor’s desk or the Arizona ballot. Democrats are not interested in limiting executive authority over emergency declarations; key Republicans say they’re willing to consider changing authority for future emergencies but do not want to immediately end the COVID-19 emergency declaration without understanding the many implications of that action.

In the News

Enrollment for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act is open again. Arizonans are lining up for recreational marijuana. Arizona lost a prominent advocate on water policy. The Arizona Bioscience Roadmap Steering Committee has new leaders. The Governor added $1 million to help restaurants add outdoor dining and comply with COVID-19 guidelines. Governor Ducey isn’t planning to run for the U.S. Senate. Slow U.S. Census data will delay the work of Arizona’s Independent Redistricting Commission. Drought Contingency Plan has Arizona impacts. This legislator is the new leader of the Arizona Democratic Party. Maricopa County and Senate Republicans still don’t agree on election audits. There’s already an ethics complaint against new state Senator Wendy Rogers (R-Flagstaff). Arizona cities want to delay the start of baseball.

On the Bright Side…

Everyone’s practicing their Zoom game face.