What Arizona bills Gov. Hobbs signed and vetoed this week
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Gov. Katie Hobbs signed nearly two dozen bills and vetoed another 15 this week, enacting new laws on fentanyl sentencing, occupational licensing for people with criminal records and voter registration.
Hobbs signed bills to:
💊 Stiffen sentencing requirements for people convicted of selling at least 200 grams of fentanyl, which is about 2,000 pills.
- The "Ashley Dunn Act," named for a Prescott woman who died of a fentanyl overdose in 2021, creates a minimum 5-year sentence and a maximum of 15 years, with longer sentences for repeat offenders.
🗳 Create automatic notifications for people when county recorders make changes to their voter registration record.
- Defeated GOP attorney general candidate Abraham Hamadeh last year highlighted the case of a man who wasn't able to vote in 2022 because he unintentionally changed his registration from Maricopa to Navajo County.
🪪 Make it easier for people with criminal records to get occupational licenses.
- The bill shortens the number of years a conviction can be used by a state agency to deny someone a license, among other changes.
Hobbs vetoed bills that would:
🥫 Require able-bodied food stamp recipients under age 60 to participate in workforce training programs in they're unemployed.
🪧 Make it a class 6 felony for protesters to block a highways or other public thoroughfare.
🏫 Mandate that schools instruct students about communist regimes and their victims.
What's next: Now that most committees have finished up the year and legislative leaders expected most bills to be finished by the end of this week, the House and Senate are preparing to move to a once-a-week schedule while budget negotiations between Hobbs and GOP lawmakers continue.
1 new lawmaker: The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors appointed Democrat Deborah Nardozzi to a vacant House seat Wednesday.
- She replaces Jevin Hodge, who resigned last month amid revelations of sexual misconduct accusations while he was in college, less than two months after his appointment to the House.
- Nardozzi hasn't filed to run in her Tempe-based district, so she'll only hold the seat until January.
Yes, but: The House will still be down one member thanks to Democratic Rep. Marcelino Quiñonez's resignation Thursday.