Highly suggested reading: Save Our Schools Weekly Education Report, and Civic Engagement Beyond Voting’s AZ Legislature Weekly Report.

This week only about 150 active bills have survived, out of the over 1600 dropped this session. March 24th will be the next deadline for bills to move forward: all non-appropriation bills must have cleared committee in both chambers by then, or they are dead for the year. The more legislation from this session that dies on the vine the better off Arizona will be. There are a few bills that would improve people’s lives, of course, but they are few and far between and most are unlikely to receive needed Republican support. Improving people’s lives is not really a major subject of interest to the AZGOP these days. If voters want the AZLeg to actually do constructive work to improve our lives they will need to ensure a Democratic majority in the AZLeg, and a Democratic executive leadership team anchored by the Governor’s office.

Save Our Schools highlights one of the most pernicious bills now pending, HB2808:

Meanwhile, the governor’s office is pushing a bill that would punish low-income schools. HB2808 is a school takeover bill that targets urban, rural, and indigenous low-income students and communities. Rather than address the glaring inequities in funding at these schools, this bill threatens school takeovers by in-state and out-of-state charter companies, with no accountability for the hundreds of millions of dollars it would give those private operators. Instead of doing the hard work of identifying resources to support students at D- and F-rated schools, this bill threatens to tear communities apart by taking over or shutting down schools that don’t perform well on standardized tests.

Many other attacks on public education are moving through the legislature under the guise of “transparency.” From banning books to shutting down accurate teachings of American history, these bills seek to divide communities by driving wedge issues for political gain. It’s important to recognize that these policies are being pushed by the same special interests who want to divert our taxpayer dollars to voucher schools that offer zero transparency in curriculum.

CEBV has issued two alerts for the week to address some of the most urgent issues pending this week:

Alert #1: Don’t write laws for angry extremists

National conservative think tanks are pushing a host of proposals that reflect a partisan backlash against K-12 schools. Among them: HB2161, Arizona’s version of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Our bill has been watered down to remove direct references to sexual orientation and gender identity, but its strikingly similar wording still might force teachers to out a child who confides in a teacher that she is pregnant or gay. 

HB2161 would require public schools to give parents access to all their children’s records, including psychological records and services that do not require parental consent, unless the situation is severe enough that it triggers abuse reporting law. Any parent could file a complaint, which they could escalate to court if it was not resolved to their “satisfaction.” (Side note: SB1211, a similarly designed bill that requires public schools to post a list of every single item teachers use or discuss with students, is scheduled for the Senate floor on Monday. See “bills on the floor” for more, and contact your senator.)

This impossibly vague obligation puts a disturbing amount of power in the hands of small groups of angry extremist parents who are being urged on by powerful ultra-conservative interests. One such parent in Rhode Island filed over 200 public records requests at a local public school (which her child never attended) in a purported attempt to “overload the system and cause chaos.” Since then she’s appeared on Fox News and traveled nationwide on behalf of the Goldwater Institute. Why are we rewriting state law for this kind of person?

This bill will breed conflict between parents and already-overworked teachers. It will result in baseless lawsuits, and schools firing staff because there’s no other way to deal with a belligerent, unreasonable parent. Many kids fear losing the safe and supportive environment that is their public school classroom.

HB2161 is scheduled for Senate Education Committee, Tuesday. Use Request to Speak to OPPOSE.

Alert #2: Don’t waste our tax dollars on an ineffective wall

This week House lawmakers will consider SB1718, which would spend $1.1 million and 14.5 full-time equivalent positions on “border security,” most notably a wall. If this bill passes the House, the concept is expected to be wrapped into the state budget. 

We’ve seen several bills this session pushing border walls as barriers to immigration. (HB2317, to spend $150 million, and SB1032, to spend $700 million, are through their chambers of origin and await crossover committee hearings.) But the idea that a wall is going to stop anybody is patently absurd. 

Walls are medieval technology, and the tools that defeat them are just as antiquated. The existing wall has been breached more than 3,000 times in the past 3 years. All it takes is a homemade ladder made from $5 in materials to get over a wall that costs $12 million per mile. Even the libertarian Cato Institute opposes walls, saying the push for a wall is “harmful, wasteful, ineffective and offensive.” In another article they observe, “Illegal immigration would disappear without a wall if it were legal for immigrants to move to the United States. That’s the only reform that will create lasting progress at the border.” 

Meanwhile, conservative politicians are tripping over each other to use the border wall as a backdrop. Every one of them is promising to finish construction or miraculously secure our southern border. As one person says, “Border walls are just backdrops for politicians who want to rile up their voters. They have political value, and that’s what counts.” Politicians shouldn’t waste our tax dollars for a photo op. 

This bill is being fast-tracked. SB1718 will be heard in the House Military Affairs & Public Safety Committee on Monday, and in the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday. Use Request to Speak for both committees to OPPOSE.

CEBV has suggestions of what you can do with your limited time to help stop the worst excesses of the #AZGOP in the AZLeg:

• If you have 10 minutes: Act on the two Alerts. (See below)
• If you have 30 minutes: Use Request to Speak on bills in committee.
• If you have 40 minutes: Also contact your reps and senator regarding bills on the floor.
• If you have 50 minutes: Also contact your reps and senator regarding bills in Rules committees, which may head to the floor this week.
• If you have 60 minutes: Watch a committee hearing, either in person or via live broadcast.
• Need help? Our last Monday night RTS training of the session was rescheduled, and is now this week! Also, join us for a Sunday afternoon RTS Happy Hour (these go through the end of the session) or watch our 5-minute RTS training video (best on a separate device you can pause as needed).