Tamales to ticket bots: Arizona lawmakers file 122 bills ahead of session

Editor's note: This article was revised on Jan. 7 to update information about Senate Bill 1015.


After the fireworks and hangovers from New Year’s fade away, Arizona’s politicians will prepare to converge on the Capitol for the second session of the 56th Legislature, which begins on Jan. 8.

But the dance has already begun. As of Dec. 27, elected officials had prefiled 122 bills, with 97 in the House and 25 in the Senate. The bills vary in significance and cover a wide range of topics, from education to agriculture. While some have bipartisan sponsors, the vast majority have been prefiled by Republicans.

Many of the bills are straightforward and reflect the fundamental functions of government. Some of them appear suited to serve as talking points for politicians, solving problems that don’t really exist but that capture the public’s imagination. Others seem like the types of changes to the law that a politician may want to see pass under the radar.

With a slim one-seat majority in both the House and Senate, Republicans still have an advantage in passing legislation. But most of what they pass will have to gain approval from Gov. Katie Hobbs, the Democrat who earned the moniker Veto Queen in her first year in office.

Prefiled bills will continue to roll in until legislators begin the 2024 session.

Culture Wars in the Senate

Republican Sens. Justine Wadsack and Jake Hoffman are teaming up on a series of “anti-woke” bills that amount to little more than a political grandstanding crusade.

One bill, SB 1005, prohibits spending public money on diversity, equity and inclusion training. Another, SB 1006, orders the state board of investments to divest from companies that donate or invest in companies that promote or facilitate abortions for minors.

The pair of lawmakers co-sponsored SB 1011, which bans Arizona’s cities from making policies or projects that “reduce overall system capacity of motor vehicle traffic” and remove requirements for cities of more than 50,000 to include cyclists in transportation plans or systems.

Another of their bills, SB 1013, blocks the state treasurer from considering social and environmental factors in investment decisions and from talking positively in public about investment benefits.

If all this wasn’t enough for the paranoid hearts and minds of the Republican voter base, Wadsack and Hoffman filed SB 1014 to ban financial institutions, insurers and credit reporting agencies from discriminating based on political affiliation or “other social credit, environmental, social justice” values-based criteria.

Taking a shot at early voting

On Dec. 18, Hoffman filed SB 1009, which bans candidates for political office from distributing early voting request forms. Only political parties, county recorders or election officials would be able to distribute the forms. The effort appears to be another vain attempt by Republicans to say they are trying to protect election integrity when really they are trying to get fewer working-class people to vote.

One bill from Sen. John Kavanagh, SB 1017, adds Tom Horne’s controversial Department of Education to the list of state agencies that can employ legal counsel or incur debt for legal services. Perhaps the scandal-plagued Horne is expecting lawsuits in the coming months.

Another Kavanagh bill, SB 1015, allows the Arizona Department of Transportation to sell special National Guard plates to anyone, including service members “discharged from the armed forces under conditions less than honorable." Kavanagh told New Times he sponsored the bill after being approached by the National Guard Association, which wants anyone to be able to purchase the plates to help raise more funds for the charity. Currently, only National Guard members and their families with honorable discharges can purchase the plates.

Democratic senators are sponsoring SB 1001 to keep the Arizona School for the Deaf and Blind open through 2033. In April, HB 2456 passed, allowing the school to stay open for at least four more years. However, many Democrats, and some Republicans, expressed their doubts about the bill. Democrats said the shorter timeline makes it harder to attract qualified teachers to sign contracts since the school’s future is less certain.

Republican Sen. Wendy Rogers, known for her ties to antisemites and calling for the execution of her political enemies, has been crafting up a few bills as well. SB 1004 prohibits foreign nationals and companies from certain countries, including North Korea, Syria and China, from owning land in Arizona. It also creates an office of agricultural intelligence within the Department of Agriculture to investigate potential violations of the law. The bill comes months after Hobbs canceled the state’s land leases that gave a Saudi-owned farm unlimited access to water.

‘Tamale Bill’ returns to Arizona legislature

Some bills in the House touch on contentious issues with bipartisan support.

One notable topic from the 2023 session is making its way back to the halls of the Capitol. The "Tamale Bill" that aimed to do away with fines for selling homemade food passed in a bipartisan vote but was vetoed by Hobbs on April 18. Rep. Travis Grantham, a Republican, has filed HB 2042 to alter the definition of “cottage food” and the requirements for a person who wants to sell homemade food.

The bipartisan HB 2032 aims to remove school building blueprints and floor plans from public records. The bill comes in response to concerns about school shootings. Also in education, two Democrats and two Republicans in both chambers filed HB 2041 to increase access to funding for mental health professionals in schools.

Another bill filed by a bipartisan group of lawmakers, HB 2040, bans the use of bots to bulk purchase tickets to public events, such as concerts and sporting events. The bill sets a $10,000 fine per ticket and empowers the Arizona Attorney General to investigate potential violations of the law. This could make Taylor Swift proud.

On Nov. 15, Rep. Quantá Crews, a Democrat, filed HB 2001, which declares the day after Martin Luther King Day as the National Day of Racial Healing in Arizona. The idea initially was launched in 2017.

Rep. Selina Bliss, a Republican, filed HB 2047 to allow incarcerated people to extend their time in reentry programs to 180 days. Current programs are limited to 90 days. To be eligible for the extension, the individual must not have been convicted of a sexual or violent crime.

Finally, an alarming and worrisome bill, especially for journalists, was filed by Republican Reps. David Cook and Laurin Hendrix. HB 2038 makes recording an electronic conversation without providing notice to all parties involved a class 5 felony. Currently, Arizona is a one-party consent state, meaning you don’t need anyone’s permission to record a phone conversation.