6 bills our do-nothing Arizona Legislature could pass to actually help people

With just 29 days to go until Arizona government grinds to a halt due to lack of a budget, the Republican-run Arizona Legislature on Tuesday held a hearing on the latest in election conspiracy theories.

All the gang was there, with lots of talk about “domestic terrorists” (read: journalists) and “liars and cheaters” (read: Republicans who don’t believe the 2020 election was stolen). Republican gubernatorial hopeful Kari Lake and state GOP Chairwoman Kelli Ward were there, doing stand-up routines for RSBN, which live streamed the event on its YouTube channel.

There was a stunning presentation by True the Vote on its “2000 Mules” film, wherein its creators demonstrated their keen lack of understanding of how elections work in Arizona and outlined an elaborate scheme in which unnamed nonprofits dispatched “mules” to systematically stuff ballot drop boxes in Maricopa and Yuma counties.

All that was lacking was actual evidence.

The week ends with embarassing claims

There was a call by Rep. Walt Blackman, a Snowflake Republican now running for Congress, to pass House Bill 2289, requiring that all ballots be hand counted and the results reported within 24 hours of an election – a feat that Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richter has estimated would take about 2.2 million man hours. Or put another way, 93 days assuming you have 1,000 workers to count the 60 or so contests on the ballot.

And lest I forget, there was Sen. Kelly Townsend’s call for vigilantes to stake out ballot drop boxes during this year’s elections.

“I have been so pleased to hear about all you vigilantes out there that want to camp out at these drop boxes,” Townsend, the Apache Junction Republican who chairs the Senate Elections Committee, said at the end of the nearly two-hour hearing.

“We’re going to have hidden trail cameras, we are going to have people parked out there watching you and they are going to follow you to your car and get your license plate, so don’t try it. Don’t try it anymore.”

And with that, the embarrassment that is the Arizona Legislature enters into Month Six of doing absolutely nothing to advance this state.

Or our legislators could declare June the month of the open mind.

6 better ways to spend the rest of the session

Being the optimist that I am, I still see an opportunity here for our Legislature to rescue itself. After five months of inter- and intra-party warfare, wouldn’t it be nice to see these people – most of whom will be seeking our vote on Aug. 2 and Nov. 8 – emerge from their respective foxholes and get to work for the people of Arizona?

Not just the diehards who turn out in primaries, but all 7.2 million of us? The third of us who are Republicans but also the two-thirds of us who are not?

Wouldn’t it be nice if our leaders treated middle ground as the promised land rather than scorched earth?

To that end, here are my suggestions for how our leaders should spend June:

Pass a budget that boosts school spending

Both public opinion polls and recent elections have told us that Arizona voters want better funded schools. No longer are they content for an investment in our children that ranks 48th in the nation. Two years ago, they tried to raise income taxes on the rich, to raise close to a billion dollars for the schools. But it backfired when the courts ruled Proposition 208 unconstitutional. Meanwhile, a sizable number of Arizonans, including all of the rich ones, declared it unfair for voters to stick other people with a tax increase they themselves weren’t willing to pay.

It’s a fair point. It is also a fair point to note that we are fundamentally failing the 1.1 million children who attend Arizona’s public schools and our kids don’t have time to wait for the adults to fix it.

The Legislature knows what the people want and with a $5.2 billion budget surplus, they can deliver it without sticking it to rich people. Our leaders should approve major new funding for schools out of that budget surplus.

And while they’re at it, they should lift or at least ask voters to reform the antiquated school spending limit that is wholly inadequate for 21st century schools.

Prioritize school safety

Don’t arm teachers. They’re already armed up their eyebrows with overcrowded classrooms full of students who often can’t do grade-level work and an ever-lengthening list of legislative decrees about how and what they must – and must not – teach.

Besides that, with the responsibility of carrying a gun comes the responsibility of knowing how to use it and training regularly for that adrenaline pumping moment when the shooting begins.

In short, teachers should teach. And every school should have a fully trained police officer whose sole job is to guard against becoming the next Sandy Hook or Uvalde. Use some of that state budget surplus to station a fully trained, well-armed, sworn officer in every public school in the state – one who is ready, willing and able to do battle should that awful day arrive.

On guns

We know that Democrats want to grab all the guns and Republicans want to arm every newborn. Neither is going to happen, so let’s look to see what is possible.

Pass a red flag law. I don’t know of a single person, left or right, who believes that guns belong in the hands of people who are mentally unstable.

After the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre in 2018, Gov. Doug Ducey proposed a red flag law, only to watch it die at the hands of both Republicans and Democrats (one side thought it was too strict, the other too loose). After the El Paso Walmart massacre in 2019, Ducey tried again with no better luck.

After Uvalde, and yet another classroom of dead children, can our leaders really do nothing?

Pass a bill that allows a parent or a police officer to petition a court to temporarily seize the weapons of a person who they believe poses a danger to themselves or others. Make sure they can’t legally buy a weapon until they’ve been cleared to do so.

Strengthen background checks. A red flag law is no good if you seize a guy’s weapon, only to have him pick up a replacement online or at his neighborhood gun show. The vast majority of Americans believe that a person buying a gun ought to first pass a background check. It’s time that our leaders listened to them.

Bar the sale of high-capacity magazines. Jared Lee Loughner pumped 31 rounds into the crowd that gathered outside a Tucson-area Safeway to see then-Rep. Gabby Giffords one Saturday morning in 2011. When he paused to reload, bystanders jumped him, limiting the carnage to six dead and 13 injured. In Uvalde, there are reports that investigators counted at least seven 30-round magazines in the shooter’s backpack.

Pass a law banning or at least better regulating the sale of these high-capacity bullet holders built to boost the body count. Give a kid a chance by forcing the shooter to reload.

Put an age restriction on AR-15s. Buffalo, El Paso, a church in Sutherland Springs,Texas, a synagogue in Pittsburgh, Penn., a concert in Las Vegas, Sandy Hook, Marjory Stoneman Douglas, Robb Elementary School. AR-15-style semiautomatic rifles are the weapon of choice for mass shooters, the vast majority of whom seem to be young men.

It’s easy to see why. Their bullets fly fast and with devastating impact, perfect for your rank-and-rile massacre.

Pass a bill that bars or at least better regulates the sale of these assault-style weapons to 18- through 21-year-olds, maybe one that requires an enhanced evaluation before they can buy one.

Oh, I know. Some courts have said such a ban would be unconstitutional. Then again, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that laws banning abortion are unconstitutional and we all know where that’s headed.

You, dear leaders, can do it. Or, you can do nothing. Again, that is.

And before you go there, yes. I know that we will never spend enough on schools to satisfy the teacher’s union. But it’s indisputable that we’re spending far too little right now and really, how long are today’s children supposed to wait?

And yes, I know that we will never stop these massacres that occur now with appalling regularity, that evil will always exist. But can’t we at least try to slow it down?

If your child is the one who is spared, wouldn’t it be worth it?

Reach Roberts at laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on Twitter at @LaurieRoberts.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Legislature should pass these 6 actually helpful bills