Democrats Call Out Ducey & GOP Lawmakers Re Inadequate COVID19 Plans (video)

Democratic Legislators pushed back against Governor Doug Ducey’s lackluster performance in the battle against COVID19 at a press conference on Dec. 8, 2020. Ducey has left millions of dollars in federal funds unspent, as tens of thousands of Arizonans are scheduled to be evicted on January 1, 2021 if government does not act. On social media, one Democratic “railbird” recently quipped that Ducey’s COVID19 slogan is: “It’s the least I could do.”

At Tuesday’s press, Democrats were less snarky but just as direct. “Checking the boxes is not enough,” said Minority Leader Reginald Bolding, pictured above calling out Ducey during the virtual press conference. “Treat COVID19 like the public health crisis it is, not like a public relations crisis.”

As of Dec. 8, Arizona had recorded 378,157 cases of COVID19, 6,973 deaths, and 2,780,498 tests.  On Tuesday, Arizona hit another record reporting 12,314 new cases. In this AZ Central article, an Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) spokesperson said they expected a surge in new cases after Thanksgiving because they expected some people to “break their [safe COVID19] bubbles” and have parties. ADHS expects even more COVID19 cases during and after the December holidays and New Years, if people have more parties. Setting a dangerous standard, President Trump is planning to host several large mask-less, super-spreader holiday parties before leaving the White House in January 2021. I know it’s tough not to see family over the holidays. I had pink eye, a COVID19 symptom, over Thanksgiving and self-quarantined in the guest house until I got a nasal swab test and it came back negative. Other Legislators have not been so lucky.

What is the majority party doing to address Arizona’s COVID19 crisis, since Ducey’s response to the pandemic has been inadequate and often risky? They’re holding super-spreader events! Last week, several Arizona Republican Legislators met with the President’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani in a large mask-less event about baseless election fraud claims and Trump’s multiple lawsuits.

After that event, newly elected GOP lawmakers and others went to the Arizona House New Member Orientation at the Capitol. Masks are theoretically required in the Arizona House, but the newly elected Republicans blatantly disregarded the “mask mandate”. Only one Republican, Representative-Elect Joel John wore a mask along with all Democrats and the House staff.

A few days later, Giuliani, who had traveled to several states (including Arizona) to drum up support for Trump’s election lawsuits, announced he tested positive for COVID19. All of the Legislators who were at those meetings, along with their family members and some staff, potentially have been exposed by Giuliani to COVID19. It is sad and horrifying that significant number of Republican Legislators remain anti-science, COVID-deniers. Thanks to Giuliani and Republican Legislators, the Arizona House is closed. How many people in this Giuliani group photo will test positive for COVID19? In Michigan, at least eight Legislators and 21 staffers have tested positive after meeting with Giuliani. In fact, Michigan canceled the session because of COVID19.

That is the setting for the Democrat’s press conference on Tuesday. The Democrats called for a statewide mask mandate. Arizona is one of only 14 states without a statewide mask mandate. They also called for no gatherings of more than 25, an end to contact sports and other precautionary measures, like , suggested by public health officials. They also called for the governor to extend the moratorium on evictions, which ends Dec. 31, 2020. (Watch the video below for details.)

“Arizona is reaching a life-threatening COVID19 surge … Swift action is needed,” said Rep. Randy Friese, MD, who became somewhat emotional as he described the unnecessary loss of life due to the federal and state governments’ woefully inadequate response to COVID19. Rep. Amish Shah, MD, was unable to attend the press conference because he worked all night in the ER.

Reps. Kirsten Engel and Mitzi Epstein discussed the problems with evictions and stingy unemployment benefits in Arizona and outlined Democratic ideas.

COVID in the Legislature: Health Update

Besides the two Legislators who are doctors and who have been working throughout the pandemic, many other Legislators have been touched by COVID19. At the press conference, Reps. Sally Ann Gonzales and Lorenzo Sierra gave impassioned accounts of their personal COVID19 stories. Gonzales’ brother recently died from COVID19. Both Sierra and his wife had COVID19; he was hospitalized with a severe case and on a ventilator for several days. Senator Lupe Contreras and some of his family members have hade severe cases of COVID in the spring and also have recovered. Rep. Arlando Teller is currently hospitalized with COVID19 and has been there for more than a week; his mother recently passed from COVID19. Rep. Andres Cano tested positive and is self-quarantined with no symptoms. Rep. Raquel Teran and her husband tested positive, self-quarantined, and are OK, but one of their family member recently passed away from COVID19. I had pink eye, a COVID symptom, over Thanksgiving, self-quarantined, and tested negative . Several newly elected House Democrats were potentially infected at the New Member Orientation at the Capitol last week and are seeking testing. You’ll note the people coming forward about their COVID19 status are all Democrats. Are the Republicans immune? Of course not, except for a few, they’re just not talking. Many Legislative Republicans are in deep denial and are still pretending the COVID is “just a cold” or “just the flu” or a hoax. Rep. Joanne Osborne, who owns a jewelry store that opened back up in May or June, reported that she tested positive for COVID. Senator Sonny Borrelli sent out a Tweet alluding to having had COVID19 and survived. Democratic railbirds claim that Rep. Anthony Kern, who lost re-election, also has had COVID19.

Given that at least eight Michigan Legislators and 21 Legislative staff members have tested positive for COVID19 after the mask-less, super-spreader events with Giuliani. How many Arizona Legislators and staff have been infected? What kind of contact tracing is being done with the Legislators who may have been infected? It’s time for Speaker Rusty Bowers and President Karen Fann to stand up to the anti-science wing of their party. We shouldn’t be forced to attend events in person — as the newly elected members were — when clear public health standards are being ignored and stated policies are flagrantly disobeyed.

Check out the video. It was a powerful press conference with many good ideas. It was nice to hear somebody outline a plan that is based in science. (The topics covered in the video basically follow the order in this blog post.)[fusion_youtube id=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K56Jlqx3wfo” alignment=”center” width=”” height=”” autoplay=”false” api_params=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” css_id=””][/fusion_youtube]