Political Notebook: Vetoing tamale vendors is one too far for Gov. Hobbs

After dozens of vetoes, Gov. Katie Hobbs finally crossed a line, angering Republicans, some fellow Democrats and a good portion of the public.

Simply put, you don’t cross the tamale ladies.

HB 2509 was one of 11 bills that Hobbs vetoed Tuesday, bringing her total to a record 62 for the session. Many of those vetoes were not surprising, given that she’s a Democratic governor often working at cross-purposes to the Legislature, with its slim Republican majorities.

She has vetoed a couple of other bills that passed with large bipartisan majorities, as well. But HB 2509 was the first one that broad swaths of the public could personally relate to.

It created a framework for people who sell foods made in their homes, which is illegal in many cases, to get good with the law. It required them to get trained in food handling and earn a certificate, as well as to label the foods with their ingredients, production date and other information.

The veto struck a never because so many of us have bought tamales, tortillas, cakes or other “cottage foods” from vendors selling on the street or out of their homes. Or we’ve sold them ourselves. That’s what made this veto relatable and objectionable enough to provoke a possible override.

The bill was by Republican state Rep. Travis Grantham, of Gilbert. One of its key supporters, in the aftermath of the veto, has been Tucson Democratic Rep. Alma Hernandez. She has the benefit of being from a family that sold cakes to help make ends meet, and of having a master’s degree in public health.

Public health was the reason Hobbs cited to justify the veto.

“This bill would significantly increase the risk of food-borne illness by expanding the ability of cottage food vendors to sell high-risk foods,” her veto letter said. She also noted that the bill does not “provide a strong enough mechanism to ensure home kitchens are free of hazardous chemicals, rodent or insect infestation.”

That last phrase annoyed Hernandez especially.

“Most of the people who sell these products are from the Latino community,” she said. “To imply our kitchens are rodent-infested is really offensive.”

Legislative leaders have said they’re planning to try to override the veto of HB 2509 next week. If it succeeds, it would be the first successful override since 1981.

But what of the other bills with significant bipartisan majorities that Hobbs also vetoed? SB 1166, sponsored by Rep. Steve Kaiser, would have prohibited the state government from requiring that job applicants have post-secondary degrees unless the job requires such degrees.

It passed in the House by 58-0, with two abstentions, but only passed the Senate by 17-11, with two abstentions. In other words, the Senate margin was not enough to override a veto.

SB 1248, sponsored by Sen. T.J. Shope would have repealed a regulatory process required of health professions that are expanding their scope. Certified nurse anesthetists, for example, had to go through this process and fight anesthesiologists to gain some rights to practice in Arizona

It’s a strictly legislative process, and Shope’s bill passed the House by 42-18 and the Senate by 21-9. But Hobbs vetoed the bill, in what Shope viewed as a nod to the interests of physicians and an insult to the Legislature.

All three of the bills would fit within the broad category of deregulation, and SB 1166 has some salience to the broader public. It would potentially open up new opportunities in state jobs to people without college degrees.

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

But only the tamale lady has that cross-cultural, multi-partisan appeal that could make it the first veto override in four decades.

Engel to run in CD6 again

Kirsten Engel, the Tucson Democrat who lost narrowly in the 2022 congressional election, has become the first Democrat to file her intent to run for the office again next year.

Republican Juan Ciscomani beat Engel by 5,232 votes, or about 1.5 percentage points, in the 2022 general election for the new Congressional District 6. That district encompasses much of the eastern and northern part of the Tucson area, stretching northwest to Casa Grande and southeast to the border with New Mexico.

In a fundraising announcement, Engel painted Ciscomani as “rolling back women’s rights, ignoring climate change, and putting big corporations ahead of working families.”

Engel, a law professor at the University of Arizona, specializes in environmental law. She served in the state House and Senate before resigning to run for Congress.

Ciscomani starts the race with a big fundraising advantage. As of the end of March, he had almost $1 million on hand, whereas Engel, who had not announced yet, had just over $2,000.

No Labels exists, sort of

You may have heard that the No Labels Party has won the right to compete on the 2024 Arizona ballot.

But it doesn’t really exist.

It’s true the Arizona Secretary of State’s office has confirmed it received enough signatures to compete in the election. But No Labels doe not exist yet in any state records.

There is no filing to establish the party. There are no fundraising records. There are no officers. If there are any members, they are keeping well hidden.

This is part of the reason for the Arizona Democratic Party’s lawsuit contesting the party’s recognition: Although No Labels has been granted the right to compete, it doesn’t formally exist in Arizona. It is simply a 501 ©(4) nonprofit corporation based in Washington D.C.

This tax category is the one that allows organizations to accept dark money, and its primary purpose cannot be political participation.

It’s a curious situation with big possible consequences for Arizona. Democrats fear that if enough centrist voters cast ballots for No Labels, it will throw Arizona’s presidential contest to the Republican candidate.