This week was the second-to-last week for bills to be heard in each chamber’s committees. If a bill isn’t on an agenda going into this final week, it’s chances of survival are slim. As members scramble to get their bills on before the deadline, agendas grow longer and longer. I typically have committees Monday - Wednesday, but with the increased quantity of policies to be heard, an additional committee was scheduled for both Health and Natural Resources. I heard 48 bills across five committees—a staggering amount of legislation to process. I give full credit to our incredible policy advisors for their expertise and support.

Health and Human Service committee brought many different board continuations, with the most challenging being the Massage Therapy Board and its continuation plan. The board is facing several issues, including the search for a new executive director, a need for additional resources and staff to clear a backlog of cases, and the ongoing challenge of combating human sex trafficking within the industry. Discussions are ongoing if the board should have a 1 or 2 year continuation plan.

Natural Resources, Energy, and Water Committee primarily reviewed bills sponsored solely by Chairwoman Griffin, many of which are reintroductions of legislation that was vetoed last year. If you want to get a sense of this committee and it’s policy intentions I recommend you read the Water Agenda: Gail Griffin Vs. Arizona and this op-ed by the Arizona Department of Water Resources Director Tom Buschatzke.

Thank you to everyone who reached out to Rep.’s Diaz and Griffin to advocate for my rainwater harvesting bill. It did not make an agenda but I will continue to work it.

Science and Technology committee has focused on statewide initiatives, with Yuma Mayor Nicholls presenting on the creation of the Yuma Spaceport. It would be the states first commercial spaceport that would be a launch site for small rockets and satellites. A $160M funding grant for it is in limbo as DOGE is attempting to gut the National Science Foundations budget by 50-66% and fire 1,600 employees.

HB 2484, a bill that would require public and charter school governing boards to create policies that would address students internet access and cell phone use on school grounds passed unanimously out of committee. Rep. Pingerelli sponsored this bill last year and made changes to it’s vetoed version that brought support from the AZ School Administrators and neutrality from the Arizona Education Association.

Thursday marked African American Legislative Day, and my colleague, Rep. Quantá Crews, delivered a powerful sermon before a packed joint chamber. As we face relentless DEI rollbacks, she reminded us that DEI stands for “Definitely Earned It”. She also declared that Arizona is stepping into its "Grown Woman Government" era—fitting, as our state celebrated 113 years on Friday.

I have four bills scheduled for committees this week - relating to protecting patients, addressing medical insurance fraud, and one I am running on behalf of a constituent. Will update you on the progress next week!

With kindness,

Sarah

The Hits Just Keep Coming

As a measles outbreak spreads in Texas and now New Mexico, Trump’s latest executive order takes direct aim at vaccines - this time by defunding public schools that require COVID-19 vaccinations. It was during his first term that vaccines became a partisan flashpoint, fueled by relentless disinformation from Trump and right-wing media. The consequences were deadly—an estimated 330,000 lives were lost unnecessarily due to misinformation. Now, here we are again, facing the resurgence of major health threats with both measles and bird flu infections on the rise.

I receive most of my news through Flipboard, an app that curates content from a vast array of sources based on your selected interests. Lately, my feed has been flooded with stories about DOGE, like the ‘defunding public education’ story I mentioned above. Each article is alarming on its own, but stepping back and seeing the full picture is even more chilling—it paints a clear image of the ongoing coup against our democracy and the extreme ineptness of the DOGE lackeys. (Read this dangerous example of the firing of hundreds of nuclear energy specialists that DOGE is now trying to recall back because of the severity of their clearance levels and work in counter terrorism and nuclear arms safety. Whoops.)

One recently fired federal employee described the eerie experience with DOGE overtaking his department by saying, "Right now, it feels like we’re being hacked from the inside."

For fun, I asked ChatGPT for alternative acronyms to more effectively describe DOGE and I think these are winning substitutes:

Desperate Oligarchs Gaslighting Everyone

Devoid Of Good Ethics

Here’s a sample of the headlines from articles I read this week that make me wonder—is this what Trump supporters voted for? A rogue group of unqualified, reckless Gen Z-er’s dismantling government at their whim? (The oldest was born in 2000).

This doesn’t feel Republican or MAGA, it feels like a private equity hostile takeover that is about to enter Phase 3.

Community Corner

National Low Income Housing Action Request

HUD is facing massive employee cuts that range from 50 - 75% of staff and budgets, which will bring extreme harm to programs that focus on homelessness, disaster recovery, affordable housing, and enforcing civil rights laws.

"Record high housing costs are putting the squeeze on families in every part of this country," said former HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, who now heads Enterprise Community Partners. He said arbitrary cuts to staff and funding "will only serve to destabilize our housing system and drive up costs for both renters and owners."

The National Low Income Housing Coalition is asking that you contact your Congressional representative to have them pass the spending bill in March.

And Spring Means Home Tour Season!

We had a great day at the Willo Home Tour today - see you at Coronado’s next Sunday!