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AZ Legislative Update 4-09-2021

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Progress slowed to a crawl at the Arizona Capitol this week. Floor sessions were short and early in the day, leaving lengthy afternoons without any official activity. The scheduling did not bring peace and quiet, however; Senate President Karen Fann (R-Prescott) escalated her fight with the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors over the 2020 election, and Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman (D) and House Education Chair Representative Michelle Udall (R-Mesa) disagreed on school funding.


The floor sessions did not take up much of the days, but they still featured some sharp debates. The Senate failed to pass bills to ban online traffic schools, allow schools to adapt instructional time models, and put new limits and penalties on abortions. It also suspended the consideration of a bill that would outlaw abortions after a fetal heartbeat could be detected.
 

Republican Senators narrowly approved bills to prevent private funding of elections, make it harder to sue agricultural operations, allow a legislative committee to ask the Attorney General to determine the legality of a Presidential executive order, and ask Congress to oppose H.R. 1.

The House passed a controversial bill that requires future ballots and official election publicity pamphlets to remind voters that state law limits legislators’ ability to alter voter-approved proposals. After much debate and two separate floor votes, the House approved a bill to require courts to allow virtual appearances in eviction proceedings.

Outside of floor votes, the legislative debate about changes to early voting escalated when a group of business leaders and voting rights activists opposed the bills.

The majority of the bills that passed the House or Senate this week did so without much controversy, though. Legislators agreed to take a closer look at the impact of suicide prevention programs for veterans, increase education about driving on the right, change how state agencies decide whether past crimes should prevent someone from being licensed to work in certain professions, impose stricter penalties on people who commit sexual offenses against children, and increase awareness of health profession preceptorship options.

Governor Signs New Laws

Governor Ducey signed 22 new laws this week – including a delay to the state income tax filing deadline, liability limits for businesses and medical professionals during a public health pandemic, new options for courts to allow drivers to keep their licenses even if they have traffic fines, and a ban on enforcement of federal gun laws if they violate the 2nd Amendment.

The Governor has signed a total of 189 laws this year and has not voted any bills that reached his desk.

Another 63 proposals await his signature.

Priority Bills

The legislature did not advance priority bills this week, but special education funding is included in ongoing budget negotiations.

What’s Next?

There are approximately bills still making their way through the legislative process, and the House and Senate will schedule debates and votes throughout next week. There are some high-profile topics to be considered – including expanded access to telemedicine, limits to executive power during a state of emergency, and amendments to the laws on gaming in Arizona.

Much of the real action is behind the scenes, though, as legislative leaders continue their budget negotiations.
 

House, Senate Split on Unemployment Funding

The debate about how to increase unemployment insurance benefits in Arizona escalated this week when two sponsors of the House version of the bill published their criticism of Senate President Karen Fann’s (R-Prescott) version of the bill. Both proposals are in the final stages of the legislative process but have been held up by disagreement about whether the legislature should reduce the duration of unemployment funding. The sponsors of the House bill oppose the Senate’s attempt to drop unemployment benefits from 26 weeks to either 20 or 22 weeks, depending on the current state unemployment rate.

The House bill sponsors reiterated their opposition to any cut to unemployment benefits. “Ultimately, reform that doesn’t serve the interests of people in need isn’t good reform,” wrote Representatives David Cook (R-Globe) and Dr. Randall Friese (D-Tucson).

Fann has not publicly responded to the criticism, but in a hearing last week, she defended the cut to the duration of unemployment benefits. “We know that when unemployment is below 6%, there literally is almost no reason why anybody can’t get a job,” she said.

Neither the House nor Senate version of the increase to unemployment benefits is currently scheduled for a vote.
 

Budget Update: Which Taxes to Cut?

Since the beginning of the 2021 legislative session, Governor Ducey and legislative Republicans have made it clear that they plan to cut taxes this year. It just wasn’t clear which taxes they plan to cut. This week, House Republicans started sharing some of their ideas with their colleagues to gauge whether they have support to include their priorities in a state budget.

The House proposal includes several priorities:

  • A flat income tax rate of 2.5%, phased in over three years, to replace the existing tax system in which tax rates increase as taxable income grows.
  • Reduced commercial property taxes through a drop (from 18% to 17%) of the property assessment ratio.
  • An alternate income tax for small businesses, designed to avoid an increase in taxes from the voter-approved education surcharge outlined in Proposition 208. Unlike a Senate proposal that would decrease the funding generated by the Prop. 208 surcharge, House Majority Leader Ben Toma (R-Peoria) claims his proposal would include state revenues to offset impacts to the Prop. 208 funding. 

The House has not released any details publicly and there’s still no sign of a broader budget proposal, but Republicans say they’re making progress in their closed-door negotiations.

In the Courts

The Arizona Attorney General asked a court to restart executions.

In the News

The Arizona Department of Emergency & Military Affairs got a new director – the first woman to hold that role. The Arizona Department of Homeland Security got a new director and new responsibilities over cybersecurity. The Senate Finance Committee unanimously approved Governor Ducey’s new Arizona Department of Revenue director. Counties can keep their mask mandates. The Arizona Economic Recovery Center wants to help communities build a more robust economy. The legislature has not aligned state tax laws with federal changes. Continued drought along the Colorado River means changes for the Southwest water supply. The state got $65.8 million in federal funding to help with COVID-19 vaccination efforts. Governor Ducey took on another national political role.

On the Bright Side…

This Arizona community college professor is going to new heights.

Posted:  16 April, 2021
Author: Susie Cannata
Read more from Susie Cannata

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