John --



Good morning, and welcome to our latest weekly update from the state capitol!



It’s a little bit of a somber day, because later this morning I will be attending the memorial service for my good friend and former colleague David Bradley. He passed away a couple of weeks ago from cancer, and many of my colleagues and I are still devastated.



I served with David for four years, including his stint as our minority leader in 2019 and 2020. David was a kind, generous, humble man who entered politics for the right reasons and was a joy to work with every day.  



As someone who marches to the beat of their own drum and seeks to work with all my colleagues regardless of party, David always trusted me that I knew what I was doing and gave me a great deal of autonomy during the two years he was leader. We were able to accomplish a great deal together, and not a day goes by when I do not miss him as our minority leader and wish he were still with us on the Senate floor every day.



I spent countless hours with him in his office reflecting on the issues we were working on each day, going over strategy, and filling each other in on what we were hearing.



I miss him dearly and will reflect on many of those memories during the service later this morning.



What’s going on at the state capitol, you ask? Well, we are nearing the deadline for bills to be heard in committees, with next week being the deadline for all committees other than Appropriations (we get an extra week there).



We are also debating and voting on a lot of bills on the Senate floor. While many good and substantive Senate bills have passed through the chamber and sent to the House (including several of my own bills!), that also means we are seeing some not so good bills as well.



Last week, working in a bipartisan way, we defeated over a dozen bills on the floor, primarily bills dealing with elections. These bills would have made it harder for Arizonans to vote and make the elections process much more difficult for our counties to manage if passed into law. We also defeated a bill that would have prevented cities and towns from having their own government relations staff to work with the legislature.



There are more bad bills on the way, chiefly dealing with elections and attacks on our LGBTQ population. You can trust that I am working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to defeat bills that I believe are bad for the state.



Another ray of good news: we temporarily halted a bill in our Senate Finance committee last week that would have exempted all gun sales in the state from sales taxes. Why is this necessary, you ask, especially considering that the firearms industry seems to be doing quite well at the moment? Good question!



As I explained in committee, this just seems like a tax cut for the sake of a tax cut, and it would cost the state tens of millions of dollars a year in TPT revenues.



After questioning, it became clear that there was bipartisan opposition to the idea on the committee, and the bill was held. It is coming back later this week, however, and it may need to get amended (i.e., watered down) to move forward. Stay tuned!



You may have heard the news on Friday that a superior court judge struck down Proposition 208 and the tax dollars associated with it. The voters in 2020 approved this investment in our K-12 schools, and those dollars will now no longer be collected.



What impact does this have on the state budget this year? Well, now we have more certainty about what our tax situation will be over the next couple of years, and with the record surplus we currently have, it is my sincere hope that we can work on a bipartisan budget this year that makes the critically important investments in K-12 that we need.



I am asked all the time about what the state budget situation is, and based on all my conversations thus far, it has not moved very much yet. My colleagues were waiting for the court ruling, and now that the ruling is in, I expect those conversations to pick up quite a bit.



As I have shared in recent updates, I am very gettable on the budget this year, and plan to prioritize additional investments in K-12 and higher education along with the creation of an Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for working Arizona families.



It’s my last year in the Senate, and I want to govern. I expect our session this year to drag on quite a bit, and during the time we are there, I plan to work with my colleagues on a budget plan that makes the investments I discussed above. Stay tuned!



Thank you as always for reading, and for your support!



Sean





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