The Arizona Senate Republicans issued a three-part agenda for the 2025 legislative session last week.
The first item, or “pillar,” is securing the border. The second pillar is “Preserving the American Dream in Arizona,” and the third, “Embracing Federalism and State Sovereignty,” includes securing elections.
State Senator Wendy Rogers (R-Flagstaff), who chairs the Senate Judiciary and Elections Committee, told The Arizona Sun Times that election integrity will be a priority despite Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs.
“We do not fear the veto pen,” she said. “We at the Arizona Legislature will work very hard to come up with solutions to get our votes tallied and results known by election night. We have conferred with other states like Florida for best practices. We invite the governor to join us in restoring Arizona‘s faith in our elections.“
Rogers has a hearing scheduled for Wednesday at 3 p.m., which includes consideration of SB 1011. Sponsored by Senate President Warren Petersen (R-Mesa), the bill would eliminate much of the delay in counting ballots by ending the practice of setting up emergency voting centers at the last minute before elections and voters who return their early ballots to early voting locations after 7 p.m. the Friday before the election would be required to present identification. Only if they drop the ballots off at the actual county recorder’s office that late would they be allowed to skip showing ID. Currently, voters can drop early ballots off at any location without ID up until 7 p.m. on Election Day.
Additionally, in-person voting would be expanded past Friday before the election to Saturday and Sunday before the election, but voters would be required to sign an early voting certificate that pledges that if they commit fraud, they are aware it is a felony. The bill is modeled after Florida’s laws, where election results are usually available late into the night of the election.
Much of the plan for securing the border revolves around ensuring that Proposition 314 is properly implemented. The measure, which passed with over 62 percent support from voters, makes it a state crime to enter the country illegally, allows local and state law enforcement to arrest illegal border crossers, requires the use of the e-Verify program to determine immigration status before someone enrolls in public assistance or financial aid, and makes the sale of fentanyl a Class 2 felony if the person knowingly sells fentanyl and it results in the death of another person.
The border security section also calls for more “oversight of refugee agencies that contract with the state to ensure compliance with state and federal law enforcement and immigration law.”
The first pillar includes “safeguarding Arizona’s water sovereignty” and “market-driven water conservation.” It includes “empowering and protecting law enforcement” through investments to bolster recruitment, incentivizing retention, and other measures.
The last section in that pillar is solving homelessness. The plan will “[r]equire able-bodied adults on welfare to work, participate in existing education or training programs, or volunteer within their community in order to receive benefits.” It will also “[r]egularly audit publicly funded service providers” and require them to produce annual reports on their effectiveness.
The second pillar includes housing, with plans to “restore private property rights.” The legislators plan to push back on Hobbs’ “housing moratorium that she announced on June 1, 2023, where her administration created housing boundaries that will prevent future generations from owning a home.”
The second pillar includes education. “[W]e must protect academic freedom and foster environments where intellectual diversity thrives,” the plan said. “By reforming higher education to safeguard free speech and eliminate political bias, we can ensure that universities remain centers of learning and inquiry. At the same time, encouraging alternative pathways to success will provide students with valuable career skills, creating a workforce equipped for the demands of tomorrow’s diversified economy.”
The legislators intend to reform higher education, support vocational and technical training, and strengthen parental rights in education. They intend to “[t]ake extreme ‘woke’ politics out of classrooms by ending the teaching of curricula related to critical race theory and radical transgender ideology.”
The next section in that pillar is healthcare. Plans include “a system where states recognize third-party organizations that license health professionals’ competence” as an alternative to government licensing.
Regulatory reform is part of that pillar. “We will seek out and eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse in government agencies and programs, cut government red tape, eliminate unnecessary spending, and check the power of government to raise taxes,” the legislators said. In order to cut red tape, the plan calls to “streamline regulations,” “tax reforms to encourage growth,” and “protect economic freedoms.” Finally, the second pillar calls for “Maintaining A Fiscally Conservative Budget Approach.”
The third pillar begins, “Under President Donald J. Trump’s visionary leadership, we are embarking on an ambitious initiative to utilize federal lands to address America’s housing crisis while safeguarding our natural heritage. This initiative recognizes that nearly one-third of U.S. land is under federal control, much of it ripe for development that can benefit hardworking American families.”
The third pillar calls for energy independence and modernizing infrastructure. It also calls to stop lawfare. “Senate Republicans firmly believe in the rule of law and will continue to defend state laws, especially as our Attorney General remains steadfast in her refusal to do so,” the legislators said. “We will also continue to seek appropriate relief through the courts to serve as a necessary check on abuses of executive authority at the state level. Additionally, Senate Republicans will support President Donald J. Trump, as he works to administer his agenda that the citizens of our nation overwhelmingly elected him to implement, by engaging in litigation initiated by the progressive Left in their efforts to block his policies.”
The third pillar includes cultivating blockchain technology and cryptocurrency and defending women’s rights in sports and female spaces.
The section on securing elections said plans include banning foreign funding of ballot measures, banning ranked choice voting, and “defend[ing] the integrity and security of our elections process against executive overreach through litigation where needed.”
Also, “When the Attorney General refuses to defend legislation intended to ensure only Arizona citizens and U.S. citizens are participating in the election process, legislative republicans will continue to step up to the plate.”
Hobbs is up for reelection in 2026.
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Rachel Alexander is a reporter at The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Rachel on Twitter / X. Email tips to [email protected].
