Trump's silver lining

The steal has been stopped ... It's all very constitutional ... And a throwback conspiracy.

During a pair of hearings on election laws at the state Capitol yesterday, a strange and unfamiliar tone began emanating from our nationally recognized hotbed of conspiracies and election fantasies.

It was… dare we say… the sound of seriousness?

After four years of openly peddling bullshit election conspiracies about fraud, rigged machines, bamboo ballots, ghost ballots, harvested ballots, injected ballots, shredded ballots, phantom voters, noncitizen voters, out-of-state-voters, Sharpies, algorithms, Splunk Logs, statistical anomalies and internet-connected devices (we could go on…), Republican lawmakers suddenly believe our elections are great again.

We wonder what changed their minds!

Yesterday’s meeting of the “House Ad Hoc Committee on Election Integrity and Florida-Style Voting Systems” and the Senate Judiciary and Elections Committee stood in stark contrast to the kind of lie-filled, Rudy Guiliani-led election Festivuses that defined Arizona’s election debates circa 2020-2024.

Instead of veering into accusations about the Mormon Church and nearly every politician in this state being in bed with the Mexican cartels for some kind of mortgage/election fraud scam, lawmakers largely focused on meat and potatoes issues of election administration, like: How can we speed up our ballot-counting processes?

The House Ad Hoc Committee on Election Integrity and Florida-Style Voting Systems, for example, spent two hours yesterday discussing late early ballots, provisional voting rates, signature curing procedures and voter roll maintenance. The Senate Judiciary and Elections Committee spent just as long discussing Republican plans to count ballots faster.

Senate Democrats vacillated between praising the goal of that legislation, Senate Bill 1011, and trashing it as an excuse to disenfranchise voters.

“It is a top priority for our caucus to ensure every eligible voter can cast a ballot -- and providing fast election results is not mutually exclusive,” Democratic Sen. Analise Ortiz explained.

And sure, Republican members of those committees threw out a few oddball accusations rooted in the belief that our elections are rigged or riggable. But the overall debate in both meetings was mostly rooted in reality.

And we’re not saying all the solutions legislative Republicans have proposed are good policy. But they are talking about policy, rather than conspiracies.

And that is very refreshing.¹

Elections have consequences. And if one of the consequences of Donald Trump winning his third presidential campaign is that Republicans stop accusing election officials of being part of a deep state conspiracy against them, well, let’s call that a silver lining.

In that spirit, today we’re highlighting three seemingly reasonable election bills from Republican lawmakers who are not folks we’d usually call reasonable when it comes to election law.

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SB1097: Elections; voting centers; polling places

Sponsor: Republican Sen. Jake Hoffman

Summary: Requires schools operated by a school district to be closed on every regular primary and general election day. Public schools with "gymnasiums" are required to provide space for use as polling places upon request. Schools are exempt from requirements that might prevent or limit their use for this purpose.

Our take: Give kids a day off school and use their gyms as polling places? What’s not to like?!

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SB1063: Juror summons; election worker option

Sponsor: Republican Sen. Mark Finchem

Summary: During the 30-day period preceding the regular general election, the jury commission is authorized to allow a qualified juror to opt to serve as a temporary election worker in the appropriate county instead of fulfilling a jury service obligation.

Our take: Skip jury duty in exchange for working the polls? Seems like a fair trade!

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HB2006: Election mailings; third-party disclosures

Sponsor: Republican Rep. John Gillette

Summary: Requires any nongovernmental person or entity that mails or hand-delivers official election-related documents, or documents resembling such, to include the words "not from a government agency" in boldfaced, clearly legible print on the outside of the envelope.

Our take: Is it the most pressing issue facing our elections? Not even close! But we don’t mind politicians cracking down on misleading political advertisers.

Forcing their hands: Republican state Rep. Teresa Martinez is pushing a bill that would force state officials like Gov. Katie Hobbs and Attorney General Kris Mayes to go along with whatever immigration policies the Trump Administration comes up with, including the “largest deportation operation in American history,” Capitol scribe Howie Fischer reports. But first, Martinez, a Republican from Casa Grande, will need to get Hobbs to sign the bill. And Mayes’ office said she would “have an issue” with following any policy that is at odds with the U.S. Constitution. Hobbs isn’t out of the border security game entirely, though. She announced yesterday $17 million for a task force aimed at cracking down on fentanyl smuggling and other border-related law enforcement.

Not done yet: Now that he has some free time on his hands, former Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer announced he’ll pen a regular op-ed in the Republic. He kicked off his column yesterday by highlighting the delays caused by people turning in early ballots on Election Day, and praising the legislative solutions discussed in Republican Rep. Alexander Kolodin’s new Ad Hoc Committee on Election Integrity and Florida-Style Voting Systems – despite Richer’s distinct dislike of Kolodin.

“I realize that something associated with Kolodin and Florida might provoke a gag reflex for some Arizonans, including those with whom Kolodin regularly butts heads and, possibly, the Arizona State Bar, which recently disciplined Kolodin for his role in challenging the 2020 election,” Richer wrote.

Not up to standards: Nearly 2,000 schools in Arizona are required by state law to have detailed plans for emergencies, but the state Department of Education only has one employee to help them design those plans, the Arizona Mirror’s Caitlin Sievers reports. Unsurprisingly, none of the school plans met minimum standards last year.

Wildfire worries: As wildfires raged in Southern California, lawmakers in Arizona questioned utility officials yesterday about what they’re doing to mitigate wildfires, Arizona Public Media’s Katya Mendoza reports. Those wildfires could end up costing Arizonans more than they realize, now that insurance providers are charging more for wildfire insurance, or canceling policies altogether, Axios Phoenix’s Jessica Boehm reports. And the Los Angeles fires show they are occurring more frequently in urban areas, and potentially could happen in Phoenix.

Transforming taxes into fees: The Attorney General’s Office is investigating complaints that landlords continue to charge rental taxes, even though a new state law eliminated cities’ ability to impose rental taxes as of January, KJZZ’s Camryn Sanchez reports. Mayes has sent at least one rental company a cease and desist letter, saying they can’t just add junk fees to replace the tax.

This button turns your tax breaks into local journalism.

Honest at last: Former U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl sat down with KTAR’s Mike Broomhead for an hourlong interview on his “Amazing Arizonans” podcast, gabbing about water, estate taxes, the old days and the current state of politics.

“Since I’m no longer running for office I can say what I really believe and what I think most politicians believe but are afraid to say,” he told Broomhead.

In case you missed it: We’ve launched three new weekly newsletters dedicated to AI, education and water.

Yesterday, the first edition of the Education Agenda dropped and explained the genesis of Prop 123, which gives public schools an extra $300 million a year, and why putting it up for renewal in a special election this year might not be the best idea.

Plus, heated words over what the Maricopa County Treasurer calls “probably one of the worst school screwups we’ve ever had.”

Today, we’re launching the Water Agenda with an introduction to Arizona’s water power players, scene-setting for the year’s upcoming policy debates and a glossary of water words.

Subscribe today to become the wonkiest water whiz in your friend group!

And don’t forget to check out our A.I. Agenda, which got into Arizona’s newest charter school, with an AI-infused curriculum and what we’re calling “ChatGPTeachers.”

If you’re worried Arizona’s divided government won’t get anything done this year, fear not. Our representatives in Congress have their priorities in order.

Republican U.S. Rep. David Schweikert introduced a bill to release every record, unredacted, of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, per the Republic’s Rey Covarrubias Jr.

"The moment we begin to treat our country like adults is when they will start to trust in American institutions once again," Schweikert said.

1. That is, it’s refreshing as long as we don’t think too deeply about the reasons they were so easily convinced by, or willing to go along with, lies about our elections. Or the reasons they’re so willing to get over that belief so suddenly. Or what that all says about the quality of our politicians and the durability of our political system.