Deregulation station

🎵Come with me … and you’ll be … in a world of state deregulation.🎶

Rep. Alexander Kolodin is on a quest for deregulation, and his list of targets range from the council overseeing Arizona’s cotton industry to the credentials someone has to get to stick needles in your back.

Kolodin’s HB2031, the "Abolition of Functionally Unnecessary Excessive Regulators Act,” calls for repealing seven committees and councils overseeing different state industries and the licenses that acupuncturists and aestheticians have to obtain to make sure they’re properly trained.

It’s all part of Elon Musk’s DOGE movement. The richest person in the world’s new “Department of Government Efficiency” is intended to shrink federal government spending, and Arizona Republicans have made their own statewide versions of the effort.

The state House and Senate adopted two regulatory committees this year to weed out government inefficiencies. Kolodin’s bill will be heard in the House’s version of the committee, which he vice-chairs.

The Freedom Caucus Republican posted a video promoting the bill, where he tosses an orange behind him in dismissal of the Citrus Research Council and says he doesn’t “need the government to tell (him) how to draw” via the state Arts Commission. (We took direct quotes from the video to make the headings in this story.)

The tongue-in-cheek performance makes a show of the government backstops Kolodin genuinely wants to get rid of. But those groups aren’t finding it very funny.

Kolodin told us he picked the targets in the bill by looking for “some of the more ridiculous ones.”

“It's not for me to say what's necessary or unnecessary, and I think that's part of the problem … we’ve become the arbiter of what's necessary,” he said. “The question is: What's the proper role of government?”

It seems as if Kolodin, however, has lots of opinions on what Arizona’s government doesn’t need.

Most of the groups that his bill would cut don’t run on taxpayer dollars. The agricultural regulatory boards, for example, are funded by exports of cotton, citrus and beef. Kolodin calls that polite terminology for a taxing authority and argues that increased cost is passed down to consumers.

He said he’s done “back of the envelope” estimates on how much money his cuts would save. He never sent it to us.

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“Makeup artist license? Soon, they're gonna be asking my wife for credentials in the morning.”

There are a subset of jobs in Arizona that require state-issued licenses to work. They’re typically the occupations that create the greatest risks to public safety if someone doesn’t know what they’re doing. It’s also a way to hold professionals accountable for their work.

Kolodin’s bill calls for eliminating the Barbering and Cosmetology Board and the licenses people have to receive to work in the industry. There’s no license for becoming a makeup artist.

The board licenses beauty industry workers by requiring them to take a certain number of training hours and pass an exam.

If you get a cut at a nail salon that turns into a raging infection, receive second-degree burns from a pedicure or go partially bald after a hair treatment, the board that gives licenses for cosmetic workers to operate can take them away.

The board doesn’t use any taxpayer funds to license people. They get their funding from licensing fees, which have put $1.5 million into the state’s General Fund over the past three fiscal years, per Cosmetology Board Executive Director Frank Migali.

Kolodin called the professional licensing mechanism “a total attempt to keep competitors out of the market” and said it would have been “laughed out of the legislature back in 1912.”

But it’s probably worth mentioning they didn’t have chemical peels or burning-hot electric curling irons back then.

Also on the chopping block: The Acupuncture Board of Examiners — the people who license and regulate who can stick pins in your skin.

Kolodin, who’s also an attorney, said the boards are unnecessary because people can simply sue if they get hurt. Personal injury lawyers often work on a contingency, meaning their payment depends upon the outcome of the case, he argues. Plus, Kolodin said, the power of Google and Yelp will deter other customers from meeting the same fate.

Cathy Koluch, former president of the American Association of Cosmetology schools, worries about the other side of the courtroom.

“The hairstylists and the aestheticians and the nail techs of the world aren't going to have enough money to defend themselves,” she said. And given that injuries already slip through a system with mandated training, “the consequences of taking this away is that people are going to get hurt.”

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“Where's the beef? More like, where's the pork?”

Kolodin wants to dismantle councils representing three of the five C's of Arizona: cattle, cotton, and citrus.

“We're not the Soviet Union. We don't need a beef council or a citrus council or whatever to grow food. People are capable of growing food without the government's involvement,” he said.

Like the citrus and beef councils, the cotton council is industry-funded. They get $2 to $5 per bale of cotton sold. The citrus council gets 5 cents for every carton of juice sold, and the beef council gets $1 per head of cattle.

All three conduct scientific research for, and track the success of, their respective industries. And they were all created for the same purpose: preserving Arizona’s most precious resources.

Mark Killian is a former Republican state legislator who did a four-year stint as speaker of the House and also led the Arizona Department of Agriculture. Now he runs the Cotton Research Council, a gig he’s clearly passionate about.

He gave us a history lesson on the Cotton Council, which was founded in 1984 to eradicate the pink bollworm — tiny, striped larvae whose favorite food is cotton. Those efforts were successful, but the council is still keeping an eye on the vermin’s presence in Mexico.

The council also created AF36, Killian said, a substance that reduces the levels of a toxic chemical found in crops.

Killian praised Arizona’s cotton, tree nuts and alfalfa as “some of the best in the world.” But the state’s agriculture industry is also hugely important to national security by suppressing an overreliance on food imports, he said.

“You can't eat cell phones, you can't eat missiles, tanks, you can’t eat computers,” he said.

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“Companion Animal, Spay and Neuter Advisory Council? Sickos!”

Kolodin also wants to axe the Arizona Companion Animal Spay and Neuter Committee. That group provides sterilization services to homeless animals, animal shelters and other pet owners who can’t afford it.

The state’s animal shelters are often at capacity from overpopulation. And unsterilized cats and dogs have higher cancer risks.

It’s funded by the pet plates you can buy from ADOT for $25. The committee gets $17 of that.

Kolodin’s bill would also nix the Arizona Commission of the Arts, which disperses grants for art-related programs across the state.

It's funded by grants, like $1.1 million from the National Endowment for the Arts, which has to be matched by state funds. The commission also gets $15 for every Arizona Corporation Commission filing fee.

Communications Director Steve Wilcox pointed out that the commission has helped fund a community theater in Fountain Hills, a community choir in Anthem, and a theatre education program for artists with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Scottsdale.

And those are just a few of its projects in Kolodin’s district alone.

The Tourism Advisory Council that weighs in on the Arizona Tourism Department’s policies and budget would also dissolve under Kolodin’s bill. So would the Student Transportation Advisory Council, which helps the Department of Public Safety figure out best practices for school bus driver safety and training.

That’s a lot of government on the cutting room floor. But Kolodin says it's all in the name of the open market.

And while Gov. Katie Hobbs would likely veto Kolodin’s bill if it arrived on her desk, it’s not guaranteed a Democrat will win the executive office next year.

The likes of Elon Musk are domineering Republican talking points. The billionaire has become a successful influencer, as evidenced in Arizona Republicans’ local adoption of his government-downsizing committee.

Kolodin, for one, is certainly on board. He ends his theatrical video with a statement that could be taken two ways: as reassurance, or as a warning.

“This is a new Republican era, and this is a new Republican majority,” he said.