Hobbs vetoes bills on school showers, residency for voting, squatters, more

PHOENIX — Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs quashed another 10 measures Tuesday sent to her by the Republican-controlled Legislature, including:

— Legislation that could have barred students from other states, attending college in Arizona, from voting in elections here;

— Defining who can shower with whom in public schools;

— Setting up new procedures to deal with squatters invading homes;

— Requiring enhanced sentences for those convicted of multiple incidents of “organized retail theft.’’

But Hobbs found more areas of agreement with GOP lawmakers than disagreements on Tuesday, signing 12 measures. Still, the day’s vetoes brought the number of bills she has rejected this legislative session to 52.

State residency rules

House Bill 2581, the measure that could have affected college students’ voting, was being pushed by Rep. John Gillette.

The Kingman Republican said there is no clear standard in state law when someone becomes a “resident.’’ That can create problems when determining the rights and responsibilities of an individual, he said.

He cited an email he got from a “snowbird’’ who normally lives in Pennsylvania. Gillette said she got into an accident and was questioned about why she didn’t have an Arizona driver’s license.

The problem, he said, is laws on who is a “resident’’ conflict.

For example, the Motor Vehicle Code says individuals have to register their vehicles and get an Arizona license immediately if they work here other than in a seasonal agricultural job, register to vote, or place children in public schools without paying the tuition rate of a nonresident.

Mohave County Assessor Jeanne Kentch told lawmakers there are other issues, such as, when is someone who has a house here entitled to special treatment like an assessment freeze available to some seniors? Ditto who is entitled to have a home in Arizona designated as a primary residence.

Gillette said his bill would have standardized that by defining “resident’’ as someone who has “actual physical presence’’ in the state for at least 181 days with intent to remain.

But Alex Gulotta said he sees a different motive.

“This is designed to keep college students from voting in Arizona,’’ said the state director of All Voting is Local. He said it would override existing laws that allow individuals to register to vote 29 days before the election.

Gillette acknowledged the measure could have prevented a student from registering to vote in Arizona. But he said that’s not his primary concern. “That’s heartburn on the Left,’’ he said.

“They live with their parents,’’ Gillette said of students from out of state. “But they’re on vacation to school essentially.’’

He said those students should cast an absentee ballot in their home state.

But Gillette noted the exceptions in his legislation to that 181-day rule.

For example, Gillette said, someone could show an intent to be a resident by taking certain actions, like getting a job, buying or renting residential property, or enrolling children in a school district or charter school. And if the individual met one of the conditions of showing residency, that 181-day requirement to register to vote would not apply.

But Gulotta said it shouldn’t be necessary for those who move here and want to participate in voting to have to take any of those actions to be considered a resident and be entitled to cast a ballot.

“It’s very likely they can’t even meet the exceptions,’’ he said.

He said it’s not just about students.

“Even the snowbird who moves here from wherever, they’re not eligible to vote until they establish that they’re eligible to vote,’’ Gulotta said.

Hobbs, in her veto message, agreed.

“This bill creates additional, unnecessary barriers for individuals registering to vote,’’ she wrote.

School showers

The vetoed legislation on showers was the latest bid by Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, to address the question of transgender students attending public schools.

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

His first proposal, going back a decade, would have made it a crime for someone to enter a restroom or locker room that did not match the person’s biological gender. That bill went nowhere.

Last year Kavanagh was back with a plan to say that a public school must provide a reasonable accommodation to any person who is, for any reason, unwilling or unable to use a multi-occupant restroom or changing facility designed for their sex.

That was defined to include any single-occupancy or employee restroom or changing facility. It precluded any facility designed for use by individuals of the opposite sex “while persons of the opposite sex are or could be present.’’

Hobbs vetoed that last year, calling it “yet another discrminatory act against LBGBTQ+ youth.’’

So Kavanagh was back this year with Senate Bill 1182, which narrowed the scope of the law to showers, defining sex “as determined by anatomy, physiology, genetics and hormones existing at the time of the person’s birth.’’

“It is inappropriate for a 15-year-old female high school co-ed to have to stand next to a 20-year-old biological male who identifies as female in the same shower,’’ Kavanagh said during the Senate vote.

But Hobbs said it was no more acceptable than what she rejected last year.

“As I have said time and time again, I will not sign legislation that attacks Arizonans,’’ she wrote.

Squatters

The bill on squatters, SB 1129, was crafted by Sen. Wendy Rogers. The Flagstaff Republican said existing laws allowing a homeowner to evict a tenant are inadequate to deal with situations where homeless people have invaded someone’s house and wrecked the premises.

It would have set up a situation where police, acting on an owner’s affidavit, could immediately go in and have someone evicted. But it drew concerns from some Democrats who feared it could be used in domestic violence situations to kick someone out of a house.

Hobbs agreed with those concerns.

“This bill fails to leverage existing legal mechanisms, respect the due process rights of lawful tenants, and minimize unintended consequences, such as for victims of domestic violence,’’ she said in her veto message.

There also were concerns raised by the League of Arizona Cities and Towns about police having to immediately respond to homeowner complaints and then remain on standby while the property owner changed the locks.

Retail theft

The measure on organized retail theft, SB 1414, was a bid to curb what retailers said is an increasing number of incidents where individuals are shoplifting not strictly to get items for personal use but as part of crime rings for resale. Backers said the enhanced penalty of up to 7.5 years in prison and a $150,000 fine was designed to deter the practice.

Hobbs, however, said she wants to wait for the findings of the Organized Retail Task Force, saying its recommendations could provide “balanced policies for this matter.’’

Other vetoes

Other bills the governor rejected Tuesday include:

— SB 1340 prohibiting the investment of public funds in any state-owned or company domiciled within a “foreign adversary’’ as determined by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce under federal law. That includes China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia and Venezuelan politician Nicolas Maduro. It also would bar putting money into a bank that has a principal place of business in a foreign adversary.

— SB 1060 which would have given candidates for federal office the ability to send an observer to watch the ballot-counting process. That is now limited to those designated by political parties.

— HB 2328 would have allowed mobile food vendors to set up on private property in residential areas, something now prohibited. Rep. Kevin Payne, R-Peoria, said it included safeguards, including requiring the permission of the property owner who would have to remain at the site.

These will be new laws

Among the measures Hobbs signed are:

— SB 1063 allowing political signs to be erected 71 days before an election, up from 45.

— SB 1196 permitting off-duty police officers who are working on private traffic control duty to have red and blue lights on a vehicle.

— SB 2637 letting the Arizona State Parks Board use certain funds to purchase drones to clean plastic, algae and other floating trash from lakes and waterways.

— SB 1063 creating the Arizona-Ireland Trade Commission.