Hobbs vetoes bills on trans student shower rules, squatters
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Gov. Katie Hobbs continued to make good on her vow to veto any bill she considers anti-trans this week by rejecting legislation to require transgender students to use multi-occupancy showers corresponding with their biological sex.
The big picture: She has now vetoed 52 bills this session and signed 179. Last week she broke the state's veto record, and as of this week her total has risen to 195.
Zoom in: The bill also would've mandated schools provide single-occupancy showers for trans students who are unwilling to do so.
- Students who are forced to share a shower with someone of the opposite biological sex would've been able to sue for "psychological, emotional and physical harm."
Hobbs also vetoed bills that would have:
🏠 Made it easier for property owners to have squatters removed.
- The bill would've required police, upon request from verified owners with an affidavit, to immediately evict squatters and to stand by while the locks were changed.
- Hobbs wrote in her veto letter that the bill could have unintended consequences for domestic violence victims.
⚖ Enhanced penalties for people who have been convicted of three or more organized retail theft violations.
🗳 Created new restrictions on who qualifies as an Arizona resident for purposes of voting. The bill's sponsor acknowledged the restrictions could've barred out-of-state students who go to school here from voting.
- Another vetoed elections bill would have allowed federal candidates to send observers to watch the ballot-counting process, which is currently limited to political parties.
Hobbs signed 12 bills to:
🪧 Allow campaign signs to go up 71 days before an election instead of 45.
🚨 Permit off-duty police officers to put red and blue lights on their cars while working private traffic control jobs.
🇮🇪 Create an Arizona-Ireland trade commission.
And while abortion took center stage at the Capitol, lawmakers tackled legislation on other topics as well.
- The House rejected a Senate bill that would have barred countries from owning property in Arizona if they've been designated by federal intelligence officials as national security risks.
Editor's note: This story was corrected to remove an inaccurate statement that the state Senate gave preliminary approval to a "middle housing" bill.