Tag: Arizona House of Representatives

Arizona State House Hosts Drag Queen Story Hour

Christy Kelly
Drag Queen Story Hour at the Arizona Capitol

On Tuesday, April 30th Arizona Representative Lorena Austin(D) in conjunction with Planned Parenthood Action hosted a Drag Story Hour at the Arizona State Capitol.

An assistant for Rep. Austin informed The Arizona Sun Times that the Drag Queen read the book “Queer and Fearless: Poems Celebrating the Lives of LGBTQ+ Heroes.”  In an official statement, the Representative declared “this is the people’s house, that includes LGBTQ+community.” Rep. Austin further claimed that there were no minors present and it was an educational event and within the mission of the LGBTQ+ Caucus.

In a statement on X, House Majority Leader Representative Ben Toma declared that “Democrat Rep. Lorena Austin deliberately misled House leadership to reserve a conference room to host a drag story hour with Planned Parenthood.” The Speaker said that the “use of House facilities for radical activism to promote dangerously perverse ideology will not be tolerated while I am Speaker.” In a bold move, he ordered that all “Democrats have lost the privilege of accessing House meeting rooms until trust can be restored.”

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Arizona Democrat Claims Police Refused to Hear His Side of Sexual Abuse Allegation in 2015

Tom Pappert
Arizona State Rep. Jevin Hodge, George Washington University

State Representative Jevin Hodge (D-District 8) acknowledged on Monday that he was accused of sexual misconduct as a college student in 2015, but claimed police would not hear his side of events.

Hodge acknowledged a Monday article which revealed he was banned from the George Washington University campus after he allegedly tried forcing a woman to have sex with him in 2015, but claimed the encounter ended without any aggressive act.

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Arizona State House GOP Demands Biden Reopen Lukeville Port of Entry, Condemns ‘Complete Inaction, Neglect’ at Southern Border

Tom Pappert
illegal migrants

Every Republican member of the Arizona State House of Representatives signed a letter on Friday, urging President Joe Biden to reopen the Lukeville Port of Entry at the southern border. The Lukeville border crossing was closed on December 1 amid the unprecedented immigration crisis.

The lawmakers condemned the Lukeville closure as “just another failure in a long” and “disastrous record of mishandling the border crisis,” in a press release announcing their letter, and revealed that all 31 Republican members of the Arizona House signed the document before it was sent to the White House.

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Candidate for Arizona House of Representatives Andrew Jackson Outlines Policy Commitments

Hannah Poling

Arizona Republican longtime Gilbert resident Andrew Jackson has outlined 20 policy commitments he will focus on during his run for the Arizona House of Representatives to represent Legislative District 14 (LD) in 2024.

This follows Jackson telling The Arizona Sun Times last week that he had officially announced his candidacy to represent Gilbert in the Arizona House of Representatives.

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Andrew Jackson Announces Candidacy for Arizona House of Representatives

Hannah Poling

Arizona Republican longtime Gilbert resident Andrew Jackson told The Arizona Sun Times that he officially announced his candidacy for a run for the Arizona House of Representatives to represent Legislative District 14 (LD) in 2024.

“Yes, it is now official. I’m running. I’m a candidate for the Arizona House of Representatives (representing Gilbert) in 2024,” Jackson told The Sun Times.

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Andrew Jackson Will ‘Soon’ Announce His Candidacy for Arizona House of Representatives

Hannah Poling

Arizona Republican longtime Gilbert resident Andrew Jackson told The Arizona Sun Times that he plans to make an announcement for a run for the Arizona House of Representatives to represent Legislative District 14 (LD) in 2024 “soon.”

“I am very close to running. There is just a process in our district of making sure I talk to everyone and prepare myself. I just want to make sure it’s the right decision. I want to give it time and not make a quick decision. If I’m going to represent Gilbert (Legislative District 14) I want to make sure that I will put in the effort. I expect to finalize my decision in two to three weeks,” Jackson told The Sun Times.

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Former Arizona State Representative Shawnna Bolick to Fill Vacant Senate Seat

Hannah Poling
Shawnna Bolick

On Wednesday the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors selected former Arizona House of Representative member Republican Shawnna Bolick to fill a seat in the State Senate for Legislative District 2 which represents areas of north Phoenix.

This follows former Republican Senator Steve Kaiser resigning last month to run a nonprofit policy group that he founded to support the Republican majority at the Arizona Legislature.

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Arizona State Representatives Declare Frustration Towards Democrats Lack of Support Requiring Students to Say the Pledge of Allegiance

Hannah Poling

Arizona state representatives are declaring frustration towards Arizona Democrats’ lack of support in requiring publicly funded schools to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

Earlier this year, State Representative Barbara Parker (R-Mesa) introduced House Bill (HB) 2523, which attempted to require that the state’s public primary and secondary schools “set aside a specific time each day for students who wish to recite the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States flag,” adding that “each student shall recite the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States at this time.” The bill allowed students to refuse only when they are over 18 or have parental permission to refuse to recite the pledge.

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House Censures Democratic Lawmaker After Ethics Committee Found She Committed ‘Disorderly Conduct’ by Hiding Bibles

Rachel Alexander

The Arizona House of Representatives voted to censure State Representative Stephanie Stahl (D-Flagstaff) by a vote of 30-28 on June 13 for hiding Bibles placed on a table at the House lounge at least three times. Earlier this month, the bipartisan House Ethics Committee unanimously determined that Stahl committed “disorderly behavior” and referred the matter to the full House to consider what discipline to implement. 

Some legislators made arguments on the House floor recommending expulsion, pointing to the ouster of former State Representative Liz Harris (R-Chandler) in April for what many believed was not any worse behavior. “How we operate while we are here depends greatly on our leadership and our consistency while we’re in session,” State Representative Joseph Chaplik (R-Scottsdale), the Ethics Committee chair, said. “I vote yes.”

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Surveillance Footage Reveals Democrat State Representative Hiding Bibles from View at Arizona Capitol

Neil Jones

New surveillance footage at the Arizona State Capitol, first covered by AZ Family, shows State Representative Stephanie Stahl Hamilton (D-Flagstaff), an ordained minister, taking two Bibles placed around the House’s member-only lounge and hiding them out of view.

“It’s bizarre and juvenile for an elected public official, an ordained minister nonetheless, to act in this manner. Such actions are disrespectful to the Bible and people of faith, and to the institution of the House and its members,” said House Majority Caucus spokesman Andrew Wilder in a statement emailed to The Arizona Sun Times.

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Arizona State Rep. David Cook Shares Successes from Ad Hoc Committee on Wildfires and Hopes for Future Legislation

Neil Jones

Arizona State Rep. David Cook (R-Globe) led the House Ad Hoc Committee on Forest and Wildlife Management, and following the committee’s conclusion, Cook shared the successful results and efforts made by the committee in a massive final report Tuesday.

“I want to thank all the members that served on this committee – the final report shows their hard work and commitment to addressing this issue,” said Cook. “As a result of the five hearings we held around the state, we are better informed of the critical issues that can be addressed before Arizona families and communities are impacted by new catastrophic wildfires and post-fire flooding. In Arizona, we unfortunately know all too well that it’s a matter of ‘when,’ not ‘if’.”

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Arizona Legislature Passes 15-Week Abortion Ban

Admin

On Thursday, the Arizona State Legislature passed a bill that would ban all abortions after 15 weeks.

ABC News reports that the Arizona House of Representatives voted along party lines to approve the bill, which is similar to a law already passed in Mississippi that has sparked perhaps the most influential Supreme Court case on abortion since 1973’s Roe v. Wade. Having already passed the State Senate, the bill now goes to the desk of Governor Doug Ducey (R-Ariz.), who is expected to sign it.

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Federal Court Dismisses Former Arizona Lawmaker’s Lawsuit Against State Legislature for Wrongful Expulsion over Sexual Harassment Claims

Corinne Murdock

A federal court dismissed a lawsuit filed by former State Representative Donald Shooter claiming that his expulsion from the legislature due to sexual harassment allegations was conspired. Circuit Court Judge Daniel Collins issued the ruling last Thursday in the case, Donald Shooter v. State of Arizona, et al.

Shooter alleged that former speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives and current state senator, J.D. Mesnard (R-Chandler), and Governor Doug Ducey’s former chief of staff, Kirk Adams, orchestrated his expulsion from the legislature. He claimed that he was targeted while serving as the Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman after he attempted to investigate further the possibility that the state was engaging in no-bid contracts for technology purchases. Due to this, Shooter asserted that he was deprived of equal opportunity and due process. Collins dismissed the case for a failure to state a claim: the judge found no plausible inference of sex discrimination, and opined that no due process claim could be present because Mesnard and Adams were entitled to qualified immunity.

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Arizona Lawmakers Approve Mandated Investigations into Mismatched Ballot Signatures

Peter D'Abrosca
John Kavanagh

The Republican-controlled Arizona House of Representatives passed an amendment to an election integrity bill Monday that would require county attorneys or the state Attorney General’s office to investigate mismatched signatures on early voting ballots. 

The amendment to SB 1241 by Rep. John Kavanagh (R-District 23) is meant to protect the integrity of early voting, and Arizona’s elections as a whole according to the representative. 

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