Originally published in the Democratic Women of Southeastern Arizona July newsletter
Why Flip the Arizona Legislature?
By Bob Karp
Imagine a state legislature that wants a total ban on abortion, that will not protect the right to IVF or contraception services. That will not fund public schools at a level required by a law or ignores the will of the voters and expands private school vouchers.
How about putting on the ballot a proposal to take away voters’ ability to reject Supreme Court justices and instead giving those justices lifetime appointments?
As they say in those info commercials on television, “wait – there’s more!”
With the help of the Republican controlled state legislature Former Governor Doug Ducey pushed through a 2.5% flat tax giving millions of dollars of tax breaks to the wealthy and expanded the state Supreme Court from 5 justices to 7 allowing him to stack the court with two more conservatives.
Republicans govern with the arrogance of having controlled the state legislature for every year of the last 50 years. Yet they have the slimmest of majorities in each chamber, just one seat. You wouldn’t know that by the extremist language and bills they have passed in the 2024 legislative session.
Let’s think about that one seat. In the state House Chair of the natural resources, water & energy committee, Rep. Gail Griffin (LD19) has single handedly stopped even consideration of any groundwater regulations. State Senator David Gown (LD19) authored the ballot proposition that potentially will keep justices King and Bolick on the court even if the voters reject them this November.
Democrats winning the majority in one or both of those chambers would end the influence of Griffin and Gowan. Democrats could have a voice in crafting the budget, oversight of state departments, and holding hearings on issues such as water, gun safety, and public school funding which get little or no attention from an extremist Republican caucus.
Republicans in the state legislature do not want to share power with Democrats including Governor Hobbs. Instead, they refuse to confirm her appointments, and ignore vetoes of extremist legislation by referring those bills directly to the ballot.
We deserve better. We can have a responsible government by flipping the Arizona State Legislature. Start now supporting Democrats running for the state legislature in legislative districts 19 and 21.