Mid Session Update
The Spring season in Arizona is already well underway. Everything is blooming, the weather is warming, delayed Spring Training has given way to Opening Day and for those who pay attention to what is happening at the Capitol, we enter a new phase of the Legislative Session. Each year the session begins on the second Monday in January and is SUPPOSED to adjourn “sine die” (terminate for the year) no later than Saturday of the week in which the 100th day from the start of the session falls. This year, the 100th day is April 19th and that means the session should end no later than April 23rd.
Though this is the benchmark, in recent years that has rarely happened. This year, like many in the past, most of the committee work and regular legislative activity has ended or is wrapping up, but we are still awaiting the presentation of a budget proposal. And as of now, it doesn’t look like that is going to happen prior to April 23rd. During this lull in activity, we want to highlight some of the proposals that would improve the lives of children and families in Arizona that were either never taken into consideration or that died without making much progress.
Hundreds of bills are introduced each year and many die at some point during the process. This can happen when a bill fails to get assigned to committees or to a floor vote, when a committee chair fails to give it a hearing, or when it doesn’t have enough votes at any step along the way.
1295 Appropriation, Child Care, Waitlist- Senator Christine Marsh
Would have increased families' access to high-quality early learning programs by providing $5.7M to First Things First to expand access to Quality First, the Arizona Quality Improvement and Ratings system for child care and preschool programs in Arizona. This bill was assigned to two committees but never received a hearing.
SB 1635 Community schools Pilot Program, Appropriation (The David Bradley Community Schools Act)- Senator JD Mesnard
Establishes a pilot program housed within the Arizona Department of Education. Participants will partner with one or more local community-based organizations with the goal to coordinate academic, social, and health services to reduce barriers to learning and improve the quality of education for students in the community. The pilot would be named in memory of former State Senator David Bradley who for many years was a champion of children’s issues in Arizona. The bill had bipartisan support and was assigned to two committees in the Senate but never received a hearing.
HB2125 Electronic Smoking Devices, Retail Licensing- Representative Michelle Udall
Protects children in Arizona by bringing the state into compliance with federal law that regulates age requirements, penalties, restrictions, and licensing requirements relating to the purchase and sale of tobacco and vaping products. This bill moved through two committees in the House but stalled out before receiving a final floor vote.
HB2139 Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women- Representative Jennifer Jermaine
Established and outlined participation on a study committee on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. The State Legislature has previously made a commitment to addressing this crisis in Arizona. There was an existing study committee but legislation that passed in 2021 as a part of the budget that made changes to it was overturned in court as part of the ruling that disallowed multiple subjects to be included in budget bills. Despite having bipartisan co-sponsors and support, this bill never received a hearing.
HB2205- CHIP Eligibility FPL Increase, Representative Kelli Butler
Would have expanded access to the state's Children’s Health Insurance Program (called KidsCare) to more low-income working families. This bill was a CAA Priority Bill but it was never assigned to a committee.
HB2206/HB2306 Dental Care-Pregnant Women- Representatives Kelli Butler & Jennifer Jermaine
This pair of bills would have allowed pregnant people on AHCCCS (the state's Medicaid program) to receive comprehensive dental health care benefits. Pregnancy can increase oral health problems that if untreated, can lead to adverse pregnancy outcomes.
HB2212 Schools, Immunizations, Registered Nurses, Posting- Representative Kelli Butler
Aimed to arm parents with important information about health and safety in schools, including whether schools had a Registered Nurse, how health and safety issues are addressed, and publicly posting the immunization report school districts are already required to submit to the state. This bill was never assigned to a committee.
HB2311 School Health Program, Appropriation- Representative Jennifer Jermaine
Would have promoted and enhanced healthy and effective learning environments for all students by supporting the costs of placing school nurses and psychologists on campuses. This bill was assigned to three committees in the House but never received a hearing.
Last week, we took the legislative lull between committee work and the presentation of the proposed budget to tell you about some bills that would have improved the lives of children and families in Arizona that were either not considered or died without making much headway. As the pause at the Capitol continues so does our midsession update. If last week’s update could be titled “the good”, this week can be called the “bad and the ugly.” These are misguided proposals that harm children and families, and unfortunately have either already been signed or are well on their way to becoming law. The common theme running through these bills: Preserving prejudice in the name of protecting children.
SB 1138 Irreversible Gender Reassignment Surgery, Minors—Senator Petersen (Status: Signed by Governor)
Prohibits physicians from providing irreversible gender reassignment surgery to minors regardless of whether the procedure is recommended by the child’s physician or consented to by the child’s parents.
SB 1165 Interscholastic, Intramural Athletics, Biological Sex—Senator Barto (Status: Signed by Governor)
Requires all public schools, and any private schools that compete against them, to expressly designate their interscholastic teams based on the biological sex of the participating students.
SB 1399 Adoption, Foster Care, Religious Discrimination—Senator Kerr (Status: Signed by Governor)
Gives faith-based foster care and adoption agencies broad license to discriminate based on the organization’s religious beliefs without any threat of lawsuits and allows foster parents to impose their own religious beliefs on foster children who are temporarily in their care.
HB 2086 DHS, School Immunizations, Exclusions—Representative Osborne (Status: Pending final vote in the Senate)
Would prohibit requiring immunization from COVID-19 or HPV as a condition of school attendance.
HB 2112 Classroom Instruction, Race, Ethnicity, Sex—Representative Udall (Status: Pending final vote in the Senate)
Would prohibit teachers from discussing societal issues related to race, ethnicity, and sex. Would also subject teachers to disciplinary action, including suspension or revocation of their teacher’s certificate, and subject school districts to civil legal penalties for subsequent or continued violations.
HB 2616 Mask Mandates, Minors, Parental Consent—Representative Chaplik (Status: Passed Senate and pending transmittal to Governor)
Bars any government entity, school or charter school from requiring a mask or face covering be worn by a minor without the express consent of their parent or guardian.
Rachel Yanof joins our team as the new executive director for the AZCenter. As an educator and non-profit leader in Arizona for nearly 20 years, Rachel has witnessed how broken systems impact children as their parents or guardians lived in poverty, lacked affordable housing, food, and child care. She understands that all systems are interconnected and that changing a student’s trajectory with just education is not enough. Throughout her career, she has demonstrated a commitment to advancing racial and gender equity most recently as the founding executive director of Achieve60AZ, a statewide effort to increase postsecondary attainment across the state. After graduating from Georgetown University, Rachel positively impacted underprivileged student academic attainment through her work as an educator in the Roosevelt Elementary School District and administrator where she started Phoenix Collegiate Academy. Under her leadership, Phoenix Collegiate Academy grew to serve 600 students annually with three schools from grades K through 12. Rachel is excited to lead the AZCenter and its work to continue to be a strong and influential voice for improving the lives of all Arizonans because she is passionate that everyone should have access to quality housing, education, health care, and other basic needs with equitable pay and paid leave.
Kylie Barber is the Early Childhood Policy Director at Children’s Action Alliance. Prior to joining the CAA team, Kylie worked in Washington D.C. lobbying for federal health policies specifically related to children with rare diseases and their families. Kylie has completed work in early childhood education policy, early intervention program development, and international children’s rights. Additionally, Kylie has teaching experience working in both infant and preschool classroom settings. Kylie holds a Master of Jurisprudence in Children’s Law and Policy from Loyola University Chicago School of Law, as well as a Master of Science in Child Development with specializations in Infancy and New Language Learners. In effort to maximize the human capital and ensure the well-being of young children worldwide, Kylie is currently pursing her Master of Legal Studies in International Rule of Law and Security from Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law.
Calli Jones is the federal engagement coordinator, a new area of focus for both CAA and AZCenter. Her prior experience in community organizing specifically with advocating for student voting rights and expanding civic engagement opportunities throughout Arizona is an invaluable asset as she works on mobilizing communities across Arizona to advance policies at the federal level. Through her congressional work, most recently as the assistant to Senator Martin Quezada in LD 29, Calli understands why improving the lives of children and families is critical in Arizona as the state has some of the highest poverty levels and one of the lowest income thresholds in the country. Calli holds bachelors’ degrees in Political Science, Criminology, and Criminal Justice from Northern Arizona and is currently pursuing her Master's in Public Administration and Policy from American University.
Sarah Kader is the Senior Campaign Strategist at the Arizona Center for Economic Progress. In this role, Sarah manages People First Economy, a proactive revenue coalition campaign of the Arizona Center for Economic Progress, One Arizona, and the Arizona for Empowerment. This campaign seeks to uplift the needs of long-neglected communities in Arizona through policy change at the State Capitol. Prior to joining the AZCenter, Sarah worked as the Director of Operations at the Statewide Independent Living Council, and before that as an attorney at the Arizona Center for Disability Law for eight years. As an attorney, Sarah represented individuals with disabilities in cases related to health care, special education, employment, accessibility, and discrimination in jails and prisons. Sarah holds a B.A from the University of Arizona and a Juris Doctor from Syracuse University.
Lane Santa Cruz is the Southern Arizona Organizer with the Arizona Center for Economic Progress working on the People First Economy for Arizona. They have spent over 15 years working on issues related to co-governing, sexual/gender violence prevention, food justice, migrant rights, and mobility justice. Lane’s goal is to make sure that state policies are informed and developed from community-based experiences and that investments put the needs of people first. Lane holds a Ph.D. in Teaching, Learning, and Sociocultural Studies from the University of Arizona. Their multi-modal dissertation examined the historical hegemonic making of U.S. education, and how compulsory schooling framed acceptable notions of culture, language/literacy, and knowledge production.
Cora Tso is the inaugural Tribal Policy Fellow at the Arizona Center for Economic Progress. Her work aims to promote new economic opportunity through progressive advocacy and policymaking, as well as, to inform policymakers on how smart state tax and budget policies can strengthen Arizona by strengthening Arizona's 22 Tribal nations. Her deep commitment to serving Tribal communities derives from her upbringing on the Navajo reservation and her identity as a Navajo woman. Cora has extensive experience working with Tribal governments at the local and federal levels in Arizona, California, and Washington D.C. She is a proud member of the Navajo Nation and is originally from Shonto, Arizona. Recently, Cora earned her Juris Doctor degree with a Certificate in Indian Law from the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University, and she is currently working toward becoming licensed to practice law in Arizona and the Navajo Nation.