Goldwater Institute Daily Email
Until recently, state and local government interaction with the federal government seemed to consist mostly of local and state officials asking D.C. for more money. As a result, many states, counties and cities have ended up on their backs, hog-tied by federal mandates. What James Madison called our “compound republic” cannot stand unless state and local governments recognize their obligation to join with the people in resisting federal overreach.
Fortunately, several bills before the Arizona Legislature would let local officials stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Arizonans in fending off expanded federal regulations. For example, SCR1050, the “Freedom to Breathe Amendment,” seeks to amend the state constitution to resist federal regulation of harmless carbon dioxide emissions. Senate Bill 1098 and House Bill 2307 would authorize in-state firearms manufacturing and sales under state regulations that are far less burdensome than federal rules. HB 2337 challenges the federal government’s effort to ban the in-state manufacturing of incandescent light bulbs. And SB 1398 would mandate that counties, cities and towns use their existing rights under federal law to require federal agencies to reduce the burden of any new regulation.
Last week we asked you to contact the Governor of Arizonain regards to legislation aimed at reducing illegal immigration Thank you for your help.
Here is an update:
HB 2632, if it were to become law, will put Arizona in the leadership role for all of America to follow when combating illegal immigration We anticipate this bill being brought to the House floor Tues, Wed , or Thur and need to assure there are enough Republican votes to pass it and then send it to the Governor Assuming this bill passes, we will be asking you to AGAIN, contact the Governor, and ask her to sign into law this bill.
In the mean time, we ask that you e-mail the House Republicans and simply type in the subject line YES on HB 2632, and hit send Emails for the Arizona House Republicans can be found here
To recap, the bill will:
- Create an additional state crime of trespassing and gives law enforcement the authority to arrest someone if they have probable cause to believe they are in the country illegally;
- Give local law enforcement the opportunity to prioritize immigration enforcement over other public safety responsibilities when applicable;
- Prohibits drivers from attempting t o hire day laborers (illegal aliens) for the purpose of employment;
- Criminalizes transporting, harboring or shielding anyone if the person knows or disregards the fact that they are illegal aliens;
- Gives law enforcement more tools to help enforce our state employer sanctionslaw.
What can you do?
Contact the Arizona House Republican members here,
Thank you for your help.
Follow all current bills on the Arizona ALIS system.
Visit the Life, Liberty and Freedom website which allows you to communicate to various State Legislators.
State lawmakers voted Wednesday to force public schools to count how many students are in this country illegally, the first step toward challenging federal law that requires schools to educate all, legal and otherwise.
Officially, Sen. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, said SB1097, approved on a 5-2 margin by the Senate Committee on Education Accountability and Reform, is simply a fact-finding mission. He said there are lots of guesses but no actual data on how many of the approximately 1 million students in Arizona schools are neither U.S. citizens nor legal residents.
by Linda Gray
Special for the Republic
One of the highest priorities for me as a state lawmaker is to keep the people of my district and the state safe. Arizona has been a leader in tracking convicted sex offenders and has provided a simple-to-use public Web site so citizens can see where offenders released to the community are living.
In 2006, Congress passed the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act to protect children from sexual exploitation and violent crime, to prevent child abuse and child pornography and to promote Internet safety. The goals of the act are noble, but it is questionable whether the new requirements contained in it will make Arizonans safer. Also, the costs of putting in place all phases will be millions of dollars during a time of financial crisis in our state.
The federal government required states to comply with the act’s provisions by July 2009. To give you an idea of the struggle going on across the country, only one state has complied. Arizona is one of 49 states not in compliance and is making plans for a second extension, to comply by July 2011.
Linda Gray, a Republican, is an Arizona state senator representing District 10 in Phoenix
RINO -at-large (Republican In Name Only), Bill Konopnicki, has officially come out of the closet. He has for some time worked “in the basement” with the Democratic Minority to overrule the conservative Republican leadership. Janet Napolitano was all too happy to sign the spend us into oblivion budget.
PHOENIX (AP) — Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor has for years tried to convince states to adopt Arizona’s system of selecting judges, which aims to remove politics from the judiciary.
But a state Senate committee on Monday will consider asking voters to ditch that system and require judges be confirmed by the Senate every four years, a move supporters say would prevent judicial activism but which O’Connor called “a great step backwards.”
“We have an excellent judiciary at present, and in my opinion it would be against the best interests of Arizona to increase the partisanship in the selection of its judges,” O’Connor wrote in a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee dated Feb. 4.
A former Arizona state senator, O’Connor in 1974 helped send to voters the referendum creating the existing judicial selection system, which supporters call “merit selection.” It applies to state appellate courts and trial courts in Maricopa and Pima counties, where the vast majority of Arizona’s judges work.
For each judicial vacancy, nonpartisan commissions review applications and send the three most qualified candidates to the governor, who selects one. Voters decide whether to retain judges or remove them from office.
Sen. Jack Harper, R-Surprise, proposes that judges instead be nominated by the governor and confirmed by the Senate, similar to the federal system. Judges would have to be reconfirmed by the Senate every four years.
The bill is SCR1002, judicial appointments; senate confirmation.
Another bill being herd by the RULES committee Monday is SB1102, concealed weapons; permit; justification.
Don’t forget that legislation that you are interested in can be followed on the ALIS system.
