By Howard Fischer
Mail | X: @azcapmedia

PHOENIX - Gov. Katie Hobbs has nixed legislation designed to promote greater cooperation between local officials and federal immigration agents.

In a flurry of vetoes late Friday, the governor also rejected a host of proposed changes in state water laws, alterations to statutes governing the conduct of elections and a prohibition against the state Department of Agriculture enacting any rules designed to ensure that laying hens have enough room to spread their wings.

And school board elections around the state won't be turned into partisan affairs as some Republicans had proposed.

Those are just several of the 33 measures from the Republican-controlled Legislature that found disfavor with the Democratic governor. That brings her tally so far this year up to 52.

With dozens of measures still making their way through the process, Hobbs could easily match the 73 vetoes she issued last year. But she is a long way from breaking the all-time record - one she set herself in 2023 - of 143.

Not everything Hobbs touched on Friday was quashed. The governor signed 38 others, including a controversial bill to allow Axon Enterprises to build a campus for its international headquarters, a hotel and nearly 2,000 apartments despite a local referendum that brought the plan to a halt.

Hobbs also gave her approval to impose new requirements and regulations of "sober living homes'' that are operated by private entities to help people recover from alcohol and drug addictions. There have been a series of reported abuse where individuals were taken to these facilities but not provided any care yet the state was billed.

There's also new "stolen valor'' legislation to make it a felony for people to knowingly misrepresent their military record and honors for personal gain, a definition that includes running for office.

And Hobbs signed legislation to end the immunity of public agencies, including schools, if they fail to conduct background checks on staff who later go on to molest children and others. That is a direct outgrowth of efforts by attorney Gretchen Jacobs who acted after her special needs daughter had been sexually assaulted and there was no way to hold the school liable.

There likely won't be any more bills signed or vetoed for some time to come.

Hobbs told lawmakers Thursday they should not send her anything else until they come up with a plan she finds acceptable to fully fund services for the developmentally disabled through the end of the fiscal year on June 30. Put simply, anything that reaches her desk before that will automatically be vetoed.

The highest profile bill that met with the governor's disfavor was what was dubbed the Arizona Immigration, Cooperation and Enforcement Act, or Arizona ICE Act for short, designed to require law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration authorities.

Strictly speaking, the only mandated action was that when law enforcement had arrested someone accused of committing a crime, they had to hold them for up to 48 hours if federal authorities placed a "detainer'' on them, essentially making it easier for those arrested to be deported versus immigration officials having to go into the community to find them.

But the measure also contained a broader provision against any state or local agencies from adopting or enforcing any policy that prohibits cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

To put teeth in it, it would have required the attorney general, on request from any lawmaker, to investigate and file suit against offenders. But it also would have allowed any taxpayer to file complaints with the AG and also sue if there was no action within 60 days.

Hobbs, in her veto message, said she has "worked productively'' with the federal government to secure the border, specifically mentioning funding for a task force to stop fentanyl trafficking. "But we should not force state and local officials to taking marching orders from Washington, D.C.”

The veto drew immediate fire from the Republican Governors Association which called the governor's policies "window dressing.'' That is not surprising given that Hobbs, who faces reelection next year, has been on the defensive about her border policies.

Hobbs also rejected a series of new procedures to verify on at least a monthly basis that food stamp recipients remain eligible, including verification of employment records, income amounts and job-search activities. While benefits under what is known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program are paid for solely with federal funds, Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, said it would ensure that the funds available help those most in need.

In her veto, Hobbs cited her own experience receiving food stamps.

"Instead of creating needless frustration for Arizona families, I invite you to join me in more targeted efforts to secure transactions and prevent theft that robs eligible SNAP participants of their benefits,'' she wrote.

The governor also rejected four measures designed to alter specific provisions in state law dealing with the use of groundwater.

Some were technical, like extending the amount of time someone using water in the Willcox Active Management Area has to claim a "grandfathered'' right to pump. But some created new exceptions to pumping regulations for things like growing wine grapes.

Hobbs took a slap at lawmakers for failing to take a more comprehensive look at groundwater policy statewide, calling the vetoed measures "just political cover for the Legislature's inaction on water security.''

There also were a couple of vetoes related to electricity and regulation.

One now-dead measure would have barred the Arizona Corporation Commission from approving shutting down any coal, natural gas or nuclear power plant source unless it was replaced by something that provided equal "dispatchable'' energy, meaning something constantly available and, by definition, excluding things like wind and solar. The governor said Arizona needs "an all-of-the-above approach to energy.''

And she also found disfavor for a measure that would have allowed the construction of "small modular reactors'' without zoning and regulatory oversight. Proponents said these could fill the needs of data centers that are large energy consumers.

"This bill puts the cart before the horse by providing broad exemptions for a technology that has yet to be commercially available anywhere in the nation,'' Hobbs wrote in vetoing the bill.

Hobbs also returned several election-related bills to the Legislature with a veto stamp.

One would have outlawed paying individuals in cash or anything of value based on the number of voter registration forms collected, completed or submitted; the governor calling it "speculation'' that the practice creates problems.

She also rejected a requirement that paper used for ballots must have a watermark to ensure they are valid, saying she is confident elections can be administered fairly "without added expense and complexity.''

And Hobbs said a requirement that anything that looks like an official election-related document must have a bold disclosure "not from a government agency'' was so broad it could "inadvertently discourage qualified citizens from registering to vote.''

Other now-dead measures include:

- Requiring the teaching about fetal development to seventh- and eighth-graders, a curriculum mandate Hobbs said should be left to local schools and the state Board of Education.

- Banning the sale of any land in Arizona to a foreign entity "hostile to the United States,'' a measure Hobbs said could lead to arbitrary enforcement while noting it conflicts with federal law.

- Requiring only merit hiring by the state that Hobbs said Arizona already does but worried its wording could eliminate preferences now provided for veterans.

- Limiting fees that could be collected by the Arizona Registrar of Contractors, a move the governor said could undermine the ability to reimburse homeowners who have been harmed or defrauded by contractors.

- Prohibiting the Department of Child Safety from refusing to place a child in a foster home or kinship foster care parent based solely on the vaccination status of that child or others in the home, a measure Hobbs called unnecessary while failing to address the need for foster homes for older children in DCS custody.

- Barring state agencies from enforcing actions against those who violate regulations until the offending party is given time to fix the problems, a move Hobbs said undermines the ability to conduct inspections and threatens the health and safety of Arizona consumers.

- Giving state lawmakers control over certain federal grant funds now controlled by the governor's office and state agencies under her purview.

- Expressing support for the Electoral College, something the governor pointed out has no actual legal effect.

- Making changes to laws defining virtual currencies, crypto currencies and other digital assets, with the governor saying county treasurers are concerned about operational, legal and accounting changes the bill would require.

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