Racial healing, protecting tamale sales among early bill filings at Arizona Legislature

The tamale bill will rise again.

The popular legislation, which would have legalized street sales of home-cooked perishable foods, sparked a mini revolt at the Arizona Legislature earlier this year when Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed it, citing food safety concerns.

Although a veto override failed, Rep. Travis Grantham says he's ready to run the bill again — this time with hopes of gaining the governor's support.

"I'm waiting to drop it in the hopper," Grantham, R-Gilbert, said, referring to the colloquial term for filing a bill.

Acknowledging racial issues

Roughly six weeks before the Jan. 8 start of the 2024 session, more than a dozen bills have been filed. Typically, lawmakers introduce about 1,500 to 1,700 bills each year.

Among the early submissions is a bill that would call for observance of the national day of racial healing, held on the third Tuesday in January. It would immediately follow the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

It comes from Rep. Quantá Crews, D-Phoenix, who was appointed last spring to fill a vacancy. House Bill 2001 is her first piece of legislation.

"It’s a good opportunity to learn how prejudice and racism affect us,” Crews said of the observance, now approaching its eighth year. “Facing this dead on as a nation helps. We can hide and we can pretend that things didn’t happen, but that didn’t get us anywhere.”

A longer life for state agencies

Also in the proverbial hopper is a bill from all 14 Senate Democrats that would continue the Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and Blind for 10 years.

Senate Bill 1001 would move the agency's termination date to 2034. That would effectively add six years to the four-year extension that lawmakers approved earlier this year amid unexpected controversy over the Tucson-based school. Republicans had pushed for as little as a two-year life span, but settled on four.

Typically, state agencies are extended for eight years if they get a favorable audit.

As proof of that, there is House Bill 2012, which would continue the state Department of Forestry and Fire Management until 2032.

It is one of 11 bills from state Rep. Gail Griffin, R-Hereford and chair of the House Natural Resources, Energy & Water Committee.

Most of her bills thus far propose inconsequential tweaks to existing law. Such bills can also be a handy placeholder for legislation that may be needed later in the year, when the official filing deadline is past.

Tamale bill, take two

As for his home foods bill, Grantham said he's not making any material changes. He hasn't received any guidance from the Governor's Office on what would make the bill acceptable to her, he said.

Rooted in tradition: How the 'tamale lady' became a symbol of growing Latino political influence in Arizona

He noted the bill was popular with the public and lawmakers, drawing strong Democratic support.

"I'm always looking to spread freedom,” he said.

Hobbs has said she would sign a revised bill that meets her concerns. They include protections against home kitchens that might expose food preparation to hazardous chemicals, rodents or insects, as well temperature-sensitive foods that might be stored incorrectly.

The winnowing process

These early bird bills are just a fraction of the legislation that will be introduced for 2024.

Legislative statistics show that over the past two years, the Legislature as a whole has filed an average of 1,700 bills per year, including resolutions, memorials and ballot referrals.

But very few of those measures were passed into law. In 2022, the last year of Republican Gov. Doug Ducey's tenure, 387 bills were actually signed into law, or 23.9%.

This year, Hobbs, a Democrat, signed 205 bills, just 13.1% of the bills that reached her desk. She also set a record, vetoing 231 bills in her first year in office, records show.

Not talking: Why did Democrats change their votes on the tamale bill? Most in Arizona House won't say

Reach the reporter at maryjo.pitzl@arizonarepublic.com or at 602-228-7566 and follow her on Threads as well as on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter: @maryjpitzl.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Tamale bill to return as Arizona lawmakers start filing bills for 2024