By Rep. Pam Powers Hannley.
The Arizona Legislature has a 100 day target for the length of each session. With more than 1000 bills proposed and more than 300 signed into law each year, the Legislature rarely finishes in 100 days.
April 19, 2022 is day 100 for this year. We are lurching slowly toward a budget, with more than 100 bills waiting to be heard and a few large projects — like education funding, the proposed Water Authority, and a potential “repeal and replace” revival of the Flat Tax — hanging in limbo. As I write this note, it is Wednesday, April 13, and the Arizona House is temporarily adjourned until Monday, April 18. This is a repeat of last week, when we gaveled in for business on Monday, April 4 and promptly adjourned until Thursday.
Nobody wants a repeat of 2021.
The 2021 session ended on June 30. It was the longest and most grueling session in recent history. It was lengthy and intense because the Republicans demanded passage of every segment of their radical economic and social agenda. Controversial items like voter suppression, critical race theory ban, online sports betting, attacks on education and its funding, school voucher expansion, criminalization of abortion patients and doctors, the Flat Tax and other tax break schemes for corporations and wealthy Arizonans gummed up the Legislative process and the budget in 2021. Last year’s plethora of bad legislation resulted in multiple lawsuits and citizens initiatives being filed to stop them.
Unfortunately, the 55th Legislature is the most radical group I have dealt with in my six years in the Arizona House. Bad bills that were unconstitutionally stuck into last year’s budget and knocked out by the courts are back in 2022.
So, what did we do in the first 100 days?
Below is a complete list of the 37 video Legislative updates and podcasts that I have created in 2022 … so far. Check out the good, the bad and the ugly from the “sausage” factory in Phoenix.
Unfortunately, we’re not done yet. Some of the bills mentioned in my updates below are still in play. To keep up-to-date as the session progresses into the budget debate, follow and subscribe to my videos updates on my Facebook page or my YouTube Channel, my blog posts at PowersForThePeople.net and my A View from the Left Side podcast on most podcasting services including iTunes.
2022 Video Updates & Podcasts by Rep. Pam Powers Hannley
January 8, 2022: Podcast: Tucson Vigil for Democracy: Remembering January 6, 2021
January 11, 2022: #AZLeg Opening Day Super Spreader Event (video)
January 14: Ducey Is Ignoring COVID Math (video)
January 14: Stay Safe! #AZ Legislators, Staff & Lobbyists Test Positive for COVID (video)
January 15: My Focus Is Food & Housing Security (video)
January 20: Dirty Money Hates Clean Elections (video)
January 21: Group Prenatal Care Would Benefit Moms & Babies (video)
January 24: Podcast: Rep. PPH Capitol Updates (Jan. 10-20, 2022) (audio)
January 24: Should Marijuana Be Regulated like Other Recreational Drugs? (video)
January 25: There’s Progress in Maternal & Child Health … But We’re Not Done (video)
January 31: Does Arizona Really Need Cheaper Guns & Guns on Campus? No. (video)
February 1: Black History Month in #AZLeg Starts with Anti-Abortion Manifesto (video)
February 3: Specialty License Plates: the Ultimate in Picking Winners & Losers (video)
February 3: Podcast: Rep. PPH Capitol Updates: Marijuana Regulations to Cheaper Guns & More (audio)
February 7: Republican Bill Blocks COVID Vaccines from K-12 School Vaccine List (video)
February 8: I Am the Most Independent Voting Democrat in the #AZHouse: Here’s Why (video)
February 10: African American Leader Calls Out Critical Race Theory in #AZLeg (video)
February 15: More Guns in Schools & on Campuses Won’t Make Anyone Safer (video)
February 16: Republicans Push to Expand School Vouchers … Again (video)
February 16: Podcast: Rep. PPH Capitol Updates: COVID Vaccine Bans to School Vouchers & More (audio)
February 8: Arizona House Raises Education Spending Limit (Floor Speech video)
February 18: Bullying in the Arizona House Is Unprofessional (video)
February 22: Republicans Push 100 Bills to Discourage Voting & Sow Chaos (video)
February 28: To Fix Housing Crisis: Focus on Ending Preemption & Keeping People Housed (video)
March 2: Just Say ‘NO’ to SB1093 & More Tax Breaks (Ways & Means vote explanation video)
March 8: Republicans Propose $900 Million for Border Wall & More (video)
March 8: Podcast: Rep. PPH Capitol Updates: Tax Breaks & Voter Suppression to the Border Wall (audio)
March 8: What’s the Controversy over HB2839 & Election of PCs? (video)
March 9: Duplicate Bills Waste Time & Money (video)
March 10: It Wouldn’t Be a Session of #AZLeg without Anti-Worker Bills (video)
March 18: Podcast: Rep. PPH Capitol Updates: ‘PC Bill Drama, Wasting Time & Anti-Worker Bills (audio)
March 22: Bills Tackling Homelessness & Addiction Ignore Poverty Link (video)
March 23: Democrats Grill Boyer on Massive Expansion of School Vouchers (video)
March 24: ‘Social Engineering Day’: Featuring Republican Overreach into Person Decisions (video)
March 29: Multiple Ambulance Bills Point to Need for Study Committee (video)
March 30: Study Hall 1964 Collides with Education Culture Wars 2022 (video)
Stay tuned for more!