Ask voters about immigration and nondiscrimination, Speaker Toma. I dare you

EJ Montini, Arizona Republic
·2 min read
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House Speaker Ben Toma on the House floor inside the House of Representatives in Phoenix on Jan. 24, 2024.
House Speaker Ben Toma on the House floor inside the House of Representatives in Phoenix on Jan. 24, 2024.
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This is how it works at the Arizona State Capitol:

Republicans introduce bills on topics they hope will fire up the MAGA base — immigration and border security, for example, which are under federal jurisdiction — knowing they will be vetoed by Gov. Katie Hobbs.

Democrats introduce bills like, for example, House Bill 2625, which would expand Arizona’s current nondiscrimination protections to include sexual orientation and gender identity — knowing that Republicans who control the Legislature, and who have a proven hostility toward the LGBTQ community, won’t even give it a hearing.

Republicans do have one advantage, however.

House Speaker Ben Toma is pushing House Concurrent Resolution 2060, which opponents call this year’s version of SB 1070, legislation that made Arizona a national (if not worldwide) pariah, and has cost Maricopa County taxpayers $250 million in lawsuit payments.

So far.

Arizona voters should tackle both issues

Still, given that Republicans control the Legislature, Toma’s resolution can be sent by GOP lawmakers directly to voters, where we all will get to decide if we want to approve what Toma (who — surprise, surprise — is running for Congress) calls “one of the toughest anti-illegal immigration laws ever written.”

But since Speaker Toma clearly is a believer in taking issues directly to the voters, why not do the same with the nondiscrimination proposal?

Many Arizona cities already have such regulations in place, so there is no doubt that it’s an issue of interest to Arizona voters, as is border security and immigration.

And since the Legislature can’t come to any agreement on either of these issues, why not allow the people to decide both?

In fact, there is literally only one reason that Republicans who control the Legislature would not put a nondiscrimination question on the ballot:

They know it would pass.

Reach Montini at ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Republicans should put immigration and nondiscrimination on the ballot