John --

Good morning! Happy Monday, and welcome to another addition of our stay at home legislative updates. I hope you and your family are doing well and staying safe.

I recorded our weekly video update this morning – you can watch the video on my Facebook public page here.

We continue to closely monitor COVID-19 case numbers from the Arizona Department of Health Services. Below are the updated numbers, as of yesterday, for the zip codes in Legislative District 18, along with the change in case numbers compared to last Monday:

85044: 24 (+3)

85045: 6-10 (+0)

85048: 32 (+7)

85202: 138 (+44)

85210: 29 (+9)

85224: 156 (+84)

85226: 22 (+3)

85282: 40 (+5)

85283: 40 (+4)

85284: 6-10 (+0)

A big jump again in 85202 (Mesa) and 85224 (Chandler) – important to point out that these zip codes contain large hospitals (Banner Desert in Mesa and Dignity Regional in Chandler), and some cases get assigned to the hospital and not the home address of the patient. There are also a few nursing homes in 85224, and those homes have had a high number of cases in recent weeks.

As the state continues to increase its testing capacity, the Department of Health Services has ramped up its “testing blitz” to locations across the state every Saturday through May 16^th, including a location in south Tempe near Guadalupe Road and Rural Road. You can find more information on the testing locations, and how to sign up, here: https://www.azdhs.gov/preparedness/epidemiology-disease-control/infectious-disease-epidemiology/index.php#novel-coronavirus-testing-blitz

As you know, our legislative session has not concluded, and we are still technically at recess since we left the capitol in mid-March. The Senate president and House speaker could conceivably call us back at any time, albeit with a few days notice. Two weeks ago an announcement was made about returning Friday, May 1^st and adjourning the session, but that did not happen after some of my colleagues in the majority caucus bristled at the notion of adjourning the session and killing all of the bills that had not yet made their way through the legislative process.

We will inevitably be called back at some point for a special session, likely related to the budget and potential COVID-19 related legislation. There are two ways to call a special session: either through the governor, or if two thirds of the legislature approves it.

I sense that the votes are there in both chambers right now to adjourn the session, and potentially reconvene either later this month or sometime during the summer, for a special session just focused on the state budget and additional relief measures.

However, in recent days, the turmoil in the majority caucus has increased. Some of my colleagues are now mad at the governor for his extension of his stay-at-home executive order through May 15^th. They want the state to open up soon, and some want to introduce a resolution to overturn the governor’s executive order. Some activists are also now circulating *recall petitions* against the governor as well.

The latest? If we stay in session, then these members could introduce a resolution to overturn the governor’s executive order around essential businesses and stay-at-home measures. If we adjourn, they can’t. The current executive order expires May 15^th, or next week. If the governor extends that order again, or doesn’t loosen restrictions enough for the liking of some of my colleagues, watch out.

So there doesn’t appear to be much of an appetite for leadership in the majority party to go against the will of some of their members and adjourn the session. We continue to work with and talk with leadership daily on ways we can work together and seek the best legislative path moving forward.

As we discuss when to gradually open up the economy again, we are looking at several sources of data. Economic data is critically important, but so are the number of tests being administered daily, the number of cases, and our health care capacity, particularly in rural areas and in nursing homes.

In the next week or two, you will start to see certain retail stores and restaurants open up gradually, provided that they are practicing social distancing and allowing things like curb side pickup.

The final decision about what to do with essential businesses and when to modify or lift the stay at home order is ultimately up to the governor. As we’ve seen throughout the country, governors have approached this in a myriad of ways, with some states opening up sooner than others and others enforcing their orders longer because of higher case numbers.

I am eager to re-open the economy and get back to some sense of normal, all while doing the best job we can to protect the health and safety of our constituents. These decisions are informed by data and focused on what’s best for our local small businesses *and* the public welfare. We are all in this together, and we will get through this together.

On a final legislative note, we had two committee hearings last week! I am a member of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC), and the Joint Committee on Capital Review (JCCR). We had our Q1 meeting last Wednesday over Zoom, and it was quite the adjustment to have two dozen people try to convene a committee, particularly when you include the fact that it was being broadcast over the internet as well. There were some hiccups, including members speaking while they were on mute and spotty Wi-Fi at homes for some of the rural members.

The hearings, which ended up lasting about five hours overall, did educate us on how difficult it would be to convene a full legislative session over video as well. Having thirty members, along with staff, all on one video call, where we would have to vote and pay close attention to legislative rules and procedure, would be difficult. Legislative rules state that a quorum of members have to be physically present at the capitol for any floor business, and my preference would be to vote and be present in person, assuming I am healthy enough to do so. But some members would no doubt be more comfortable participating over video and social distancing, so any attempt to conduct a floor session with some members in person and some over video would be interesting to say the least.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

A reminder that the state’s one stop shop for relief measures, including information about unemployment benefits, housing assistance, Medicaid, and more, can be found at: https://arizonatogether.org

The Arizona Department of Health Services (DHS) website has a site that is being updated daily with information on the number of cases, including by ZIP code: https://www.azdhs.gov/preparedness/epidemiology-disease-control/infectious-disease-epidemiology/index.php

The Arizona Department of Economic Security (DES), which covers SNAP benefits, unemployment benefits, and other forms of economic assistance, has a resource page here: https://des.az.gov/services/coronavirus

If you or someone you know needs assistance from a local food bank, you can find a directory of resources here: https://www.azfoodbanks.org/index.php/foodbank/

Our Arizona 211 hotline is back up and running and is a great resource. https://211arizona.org/

Finally, this week is Teacher Appreciation Week, and I wanted to give a special shout out to all of the amazing teachers and educators in our community who work so hard for our students and our schools. I’ve met hundreds of teachers over the years through my school visits and through other events, and walked through many of their classrooms. THANK YOU for all the work that you do, and continue to do during these difficult times.

That’s it for this week’s update – please continue to check my social media feeds throughout the week for more updates, and please let me know directly if there is anything else I can do to be helpful. Take care, stay safe, stay at home if you can.

Sean


http://www.seanbowieforaz.com/