"If it's good, it's good; if it's bad, it's bad"-2/9/17

Today was my first day on the government committee, which began with a controversial series of bills, introduced by the Rep. Ugenti-Rita. The bills, HB2320, HB2002, and HB2007, were concerned with prop 105, otherwise known as the Arizona Voter Protection Act. It was a proposition passed in 1998 by voters in the state that prevented legislators from amending or repealing laws created by initiatives or referendums from voters. By prop 105, if the legislature wanted to amend or repeal a law created by an initiative or referendum, it would have to obtain a 3/4ths vote and it would have to be an amendment to further the purpose of the bill, which opponents of prop 105 argued is nearly impossible to do and prevents from scaling back a bill. HB2002 and HB2007 would put this issue to voters as to whether or not to repeal this 3/4ths requirement placed by prop 105 so that legislators could amend or repeal voter initiatives as with normal bills that go through the House or Senate. HB 2320 would require current initiatives and referendums to list on the ballot that any amendments to the bill would require a 3/4ths vote in the state legislature so voters are aware of the prop 105 requirement. Those in favor argued that the ability to amend legislation created by initiatives was vital to ensure that these laws work effectively, whereas opponents insisted that this undermined an important tool of democracy for the voters. After much debate, the bills eventually passed.

After these bills, the committee heard 6 more bills, HB2054, HB2136, HB2255, HB2284, HB2326, HB2370, and HB2373, which I won't go into great depth about them (because I have other things to talk about in this post and don't want to get distracted), so if you want to read more about them, click their names to see the run down, or you can watch the whole meeting here.

After a quick lunch outside and discovering the farmer's market outside the Capitol (every Thursday, it's delicious, come visit it!), I went down to the House floor, where legislators passed so many bills that by the time I had to leave they were still going strong. If you want to see it, you can watch part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, and part 9 (I told you it was long).

And now for the quote of the day. During the Government committee meeting, Rep. John mentioned, as he was explaining his vote, that he disliked it when people labeled bills as "bipartisan" because he believed that bills were not divided by party but by quality, finishing his speech by saying "If it's good, it's good; if it's bad, it's bad." I felt that his statement accurately labeled what I saw the last few weeks, that though many times people will vote alongside their party, many times a bill is just a bill, and when it's a good bill it will pass. One of the most surprising things about my time here at the state legislature is how easy for those "good" bills to get passed when there are great ideas brought to committees.