Weekly Legislative Reports

Lawmakers returned to the Capitol for an abbreviated work week, spending a total of seven hours in floor sessions before adjourning until next Wednesday. Much of that time was consumed by debates about Bibles and tamales. During its short floor session on Tuesday, the Senate gave preliminary approval to bills that create new resources and oversight for Natural Resource Conservation Districts, criminalize owning a child sex doll, limit transgender access to women’s shelters, and exempt Arizona firearms from federal laws.

It’s the 96th day of the 2023 legislative session, and the House and Senate have hit “pause” on their work after a very unusual week at the Capitol. For just the fifth time in Arizona history, the House of Representatives voted to expel one of its members. The decision, which required a bipartisan two-thirds supermajority, came after the House Ethics Committee determined that Representative Liz Harris (R-Chandler) violated House rules when hosting a controversial legislative hearing on election claims.

This is turning out to be the year of the veto at the Arizona Legislature. House and Senate leaders have often prioritized proposals that advanced with support only from Republicans; the Governor has responded by vetoing 58% of the bills that have reached her desk. This week, she vetoed 17 more bills – including proposals that would have expanded legislative oversight of public service corporation decisions, exempted some waterways from state regulations, and limited ADOT highway messages. Governor Hobbs has vetoed a total of 37 bills this year – not as many as the record 58 vetoes by Governor Napolitano in 2005, but more than the average over the last 20 years.

It was a dramatic week at the Arizona Capitol, with an ethics hearing, a resignation in the Governor’s senior staff, and disagreements about how zoning laws affect housing affordability. Governor Hobbs signed most of the bills that reached her desk – including proposals to allow county attorneys to represent some schools, assist mobile home owners who have to move because of redevelopment, and require HOAs to allow the Betsy Ross flag.

House and Senate Republicans announced an ambitious new timeline this week, expressing a desire to finish a state budget by April 1. Their plan is connected to an existing April 1 deadline: The Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) needs legislative approval to spend federal funding for the state’s Medicaid programs in the current fiscal year, which ends June 30. Republican legislative leaders say the discussion about AHCCCS spending authority should be connected to the broader conversations about a spending plan for the next fiscal year.

The pace of progress slowed this week as legislators fought to keep bills alive for consideration. Floor calendars included bills that have stalled in the process, awaiting the right timing or enough votes to advance. House Speaker Ben Toma (R-Glendale), recognizing the delayed process this year, extended the timeline for committee hearings another week. House committees now have until March 31 to hear bills that already passed the first chamber of the legislature; the Senate is likely to extend its committee deadline, as well.