Tag: passed

Arizona State Senate Passes More Election Integrity Bills Relating to Primaries and Ballot Images

Neil Jones
Election Day voters

The Arizona State Senate passed more legislation Tuesday aimed at strengthening Arizona’s elections, starting with House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) 2033, sponsored by State Representative Austin Smith (R-Suprise).

“Thank you to the @AZSenateGOP for voting out HCR2033. A bigger thank you to all the grassroots activists who worked so hard to make this happen. Very grateful for you all,” Smith tweeted. “This constitutional referral to protect our party primaries and girding us against radical experimental election systems that disenfranchise voters such as ‘ranked choice voting.'”

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Arizona State Senator Seeks to Keep National Guard Troops Stateside

Neil Jones

A Senate bill (SB) from State Senator Wendy Rogers (R-Flagstaff) passed through the Senate Tuesday to protect Arizona’s National Guard from being deployed into active combat unless there is a declaration of war.

“If the president wants to use the Arizona national guard to fight wars halfway across the world, then it can only be done after a majority of the people’s representatives vote to send them there,” Rogers said on the Senate Floor. “If Congress refuses to vote, then it’s a war the Arizona National Guard should not be fighting.”

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New Bill Would Make Arizona Teacher Pay Increases Transparent, Require School Districts to Comply

Neil Jones

Arizona State Senator J.D. Mesnard (R-Chandler) shared in his weekly update to constituents that his bill, aimed at ensuring school districts comply with the state transparency laws, is moving along through the Legislature.

“Given the importance of having transparency with such a critical topic as teacher pay, I sponsored a bill (SB 1599) that would add some teeth to the law and instruct the Arizona Department of Education to engage if a school district is not in compliance. The bill has passed the Senate and is poised for a House Floor vote,” Mesnard said.

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Arizona Senate Republicans Pass Bills to Keep Explicit Performances Away from Children

Neil Jones

The Arizona Senate Majority Caucus announced Thursday that two Senate Bills (SBs) from Sen. Anthony Kern (R-Glendale) aimed at regulating sexually explicit performances, so minors are not exposed to them passed through the floor despite receiving no Democrat support.

“Senate Democrats don’t seem to have a problem with children being exposed to sexually explicit adult performances. If they did, they would have voted in support of these two bills. Instead, all Senate Democrats voted against protecting our Arizona kids,” the caucus tweeted.

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Election Integrity Legislation Addressing Early Ballot Tabulation and Polling Locations Pass Senate Floor

Neil Jones

In a weekly update to constituents, State Sen. J.D. Mesnard (R-Chandler) announced Monday that three of his election-related bills recently passed the Senate floor.

“Several of my bills that focus on improving our elections process by speeding up ballot tabulation, while preserving accuracy, security, and transparency, have now passed the Senate and are advancing to the House,” Mesnard shared.

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New Bill from State Sen. Jake Hoffman Aimed at Combating Voter Disenfranchisement Passed Through Committee

Neil Jones

Arizona State Sen. Jake Hoffman’s (R-Queen Creek) sponsored bill, Senate Bill (SB) 1695, passed through the Senate Government Committee Thursday. The bill aims to prevent any possible voter disenfranchisement in future Arizona elections by allowing counties to redo an election.

“We will never stand, as Republicans here in the state of Arizona, for voter disenfranchisement,” said Hoffman during the committee. “I stand on the side of voters, not Republican voters. I stand on the side of all voters, whether they’re an Independent, whether they’re a Democrat, whether they’re a Green Party, a Libertarian, or a Republican. I stand on the side of every single voter. You should not ever be disenfranchised because election officials broke the law.”

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House Speaker Ben Toma’s Ballot Image Bill Passes Through Elections Committee

Neil Jones

A new bill from Arizona State House Speaker Ben Toma (R-Peoria), which involves the publication of election ballot images, passed through the House Municipal Oversight & Elections Committee Wednesday. State Sen. Ken Bennett (R-Prescott), a former Arizona Secretary of State, has a mirror bill in the State Senate and spoke in favor of Toma’s bill during the meeting.

“I don’t think this is a partisan issue. We have got to come together somehow as Republicans and Democrats in Arizona to make our elections transparent, trackable, and publicly verifiable,” Bennett said.

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Democrats Advance $3.5 Trillion Budget Blueprint, Breaking Hours-Long Stalemate Between Pelosi, Moderates

Admin

The House Tuesday voted on a deal to adopt the framework for President Joe Biden’s $3.5 trillion budget and advance the bipartisan infrastructure bill after Democratic leadership and moderates broke an hours-long stalemate over how the two would be prioritized in the coming weeks.

The deal, which passed 220-212 on a party-line vote, allows for the House to begin crafting its reconciliation bill and sets the infrastructure package up to pass the chamber on Sept. 27. It followed multiple Rules Committee hearings and hours of intraparty deliberations between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her team and a group of moderate Democrats who insisted on taking up the infrastructure bill first, directly opposed to both dozens of progressives and the speaker herself.

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