Bad week at Capitol for women and children
This week at state Capitol, our leaders …
... Passed a bill through committee aimed at better regulating charter schools — one written largely by the charter school industry. The bill makes modest changes but does nothing to prevent insider deals that have allowed charter school owners to divert unlimited amounts of tax money away from students and into their own stock portfolios.
... Killed a bill that would have allowed voters to eliminate legislators’ immunity from arrest during the legislative session. The proposal – popular with 99 percent of Arizona voters and apparently none of the people we elect to represent us – quietly died as the deadline to hear bills in the committee of origin passed. House Speaker Rusty Bowers never even assigned the bill to a committee.
... Killed a bill to give women a constitutional right to equal protection under the law. Arizona would have been the 38th state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. It, too, died due to lack of a hearing.
... Killed, by not hearing them, several proposed criminal justice reforms, including one that would have allowed judges to actually act like judges and reduce mandatory minimum sentences when they deem it appropriate.
... Passed a bill through committee that would bar teachers and other school employees from using school resources to push a political or religious ideology. This, despite the fact that we already have a state law that bars teachers and other school employees from using school resources to push a political or religious ideology.
... Passed through committee a bill to put a sales tax increase for schools on the 2020 ballot. This, to try to head off a teacher-backed group that is expected to make another run at asking voters to boost income taxes on Arizona’s richest residents.
... Spent two hours hearing testi-
mony on a hideous abortion bill that had zero support, including from its own sponsor because the bill was mistakenly drafted to legalize infanticide. Rep. Raquel Terán, D-Phoenix, pleaded with House Judiciary Chairman John Allen, R-Scottsdale, to withdraw her bill from consideration. Instead, he turned the meeting into an anti-abortion rally to the applause of Center for Arizona Policy President Cathi Herrod, who hailed Republicans for making it “clear to lawmakers behind the ruthless bill that they stood alone if they repealed protections for babies born alive during an abortion.”
... Passed through committee a bill that would allow loaded guns to be left inside parked cars on school property. This, after learning that a fifth of stolen guns nationwide are taken from parked cars.
... Heard from the House Rules attorney that a bill to allow certain students to be paid less than Arizona’s minimum wage conflicts with state law. House Rules attorney Tim Fleming advised our leaders that it would require a three-fourths vote of the Legislature to exempt students from the minimum wage law approved by voters in 2016. But the Goldwater Institute and the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry disagree so naturally, the bill passed on a 5-3 party line vote.
... Passed through committee a bill declaring lemonade the official drink of Arizona. No testimony was forthcoming on how we have survived 107 years without an official state drink.
... Passed three bills through committee that would expand the number of school children who don’t have to be immunized. This, over the objections of the Arizona Medical Association, the Arizona Academy of Family Physicians, the Arizona College of Emergency Physicians, the Arizona Osteopathic Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Arizona State Association of Physician Assistants, the Arizona Pharmacy Association, Health System Alliance of Arizona, the Arizona Public Health Association, the Arizona Alliance for Community Health Centers, the March of Dimes and various other groups that teamed to write a letter begging our leaders not to bring back utterly preventable diseases. “We implore you not to lead Arizona to the bottom and contribute to the spread of untold disease and human suffering.”
Speaking of untold disease and human suffering, we are 42 days into this legislative session, not even halfway to that hallowed day when our leaders can pronounce that their work is done.
And the rest of us can breathe a sigh of relief.