The three Arizona state legislators who represent Sedona and the Verde Valley — Republicans Sen. Ken Bennett, Rep. Quang H. Nguyen and Rep. Selina Bliss — stopped by the Mingus Mountain Republican Club luncheon at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Hall in Cottonwood on Tuesday, Sept. 12, to speak to a capacity crowd of 100 attendees. The first regular session of the legislature adjourned on Monday, July 31, having set a record for the longest regular session in Arizona history at 204 days, beating out the 1988 session at 173 days.

Selina Bliss

Bliss said that GOP-controlled Senate’s rejection of several gubernatorial nominees and the negotiations over Proposition 400 were the two main reasons for the extension.

“Never did I think, as a freshman, I would be walking into a situation where the Republicans did not have a wider majority in the House [and] the Senate or a Republican governor,” Bliss said, discussing the current makeup of the Arizona legislature. “This has been a difficult start for me. We are known as a ‘divided’ or ‘split’ government, now I appreciate some that say we are [a] shared government, and that’s indeed true … But as a divided government, when you look at the executive branch and the legislative branch, we don’t share the same values.”

Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs had vetoed a record breaking 143 bills as of Monday, Aug. 7, far surpassing the previous record of 58 set by Janet Napolitano in 2005.

“As a result of the split government, another number you will see that’s probably not considered normal is a larger-than-normal amount of executive orders from the executive branch,” Bliss said. “The governor is bypassing us legislators by just issuing executive orders, and you’ve seen quite a few come out of her office. On our side, we’re countering with House and Senate concurrent resolutions, where we can pass a bill to get it on the ballot for you to vote on without her signature. So it’s going both ways.” 

Verde Valley issues that Bliss briefly touched on included the LD- 1 team’s assistance in arranging a three-year in-network agreement between Yavapai Regional Medical Center in Prescott and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona in April. Additionally, Bliss touted the efforts she and her colleagues made with the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors in attempting to counter a trend of decreasing services offered by Northern Arizona Healthcare at Verde Valley Medical Center in Cottonwood.

Legislative showdowns over the Border Strike Force and the Empowerment Scholarship Accounts were also discussed.

“We saved school choice — which, by the way, don’t let people tell you that Empowerment Scholarship Accounts cost the state. They actually save the state money,” Bliss said of the $943 million program. “It’s $7,000 per pupil for going to a nonprofit public school versus $14,000 per pupil.”

“The universal school voucher program is unsustainable,” Hobbs wrote in a July press release.

“Unaccountable school vouchers do not save taxpayer money, and they do not provide a better education for Arizona students … Spending on ESA vouchers could account for 53.25% of all new K-12 education spending in the FY 2024 budget going towards only 8% of Arizona students.”

Bliss noted that she and Nguyen also introduced a measure to shorten the timeline for residents to get concealed weapon permits from four or five months to a matter of days through the implementation of a “new electronic system” for the process through the Arizona Department of Public Safety.

Quang Nguyen

If Democrats win a House majority “the very first rule that they would like to implement is to remove all guns off the floor,” Nguyen said. “I do carry my firearm on the floor all the time all day long. Instead of introducing a house rule to serve all of us, their No. 1 priority is to make sure that I can’t protect myself and my coworkers.”

Nguyen gave an update on SB 1487, which he and Bliss introduced to ask Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes to investigate the legality of the city of Phoenix’s transfer of 599 unclaimed small arms to the National Police of Ukraine. The Phoenix City Council passed an ordinance authorizing the transfer on June 28.

“That is against state law,” Nguyen said. “We had no intention of punishing anybody. We just asked them to repeal the ordinance … But since they shipped the firearms, that paragraph became a true statement … so [the] city of Phoenix will stand to lose about $630 million in state shared revenue, and we’re going to make sure that we’re going to do something about it.”

Phoenix Director of Communications Dan Wilson confirmed that the weapons have been shipped.

The Arizona Attorney General’s Office announced on Wednesday, Sept. 20, that Phoenix’s ordinance to authorize the arms transfer through the private export company DTGruelle was in conflict with Arizona Revised Statutes §12-945, §12-943 and §13-3108(A). 

“Staff is reviewing the recent report from the Arizona Attorney General’s office to determine a recommended course of action,” Wilson said. Phoenix City Council will consider repeal of the ordinance on Tuesday, Sept. 26.

Nguyen subsequently called the city’s proposed resolution a “roundabout way of breaking the law.” “It’s sort of like me robbing the bank and [saying], ‘I’m sorry, I’ll just give you the money back.’ In this case, you can’t even give money back because the guns are sent,” Nguyen said. “I don’t know what the next step is. But I’m looking for some form of a penalty.”

Nguyen further argued that the transfer shortchanged the state’s general fund, as those firearms would normally have been resold, with the proceeds going to the state of Arizona’s general fund. He estimated the value of the total shipment as being “north of” $350,000.

Nguyen also discussed the passage of HB 2169 that he sponsored, which outlawed the possession, sale and importation of sex dolls that resemble children.

“[The] legislation defines ‘child sex doll’ as an anatomically correct doll that has the features that resemble an infant or a child who is under 12 years of age and is intended to be used for sexual simulation or gratification,” Nguyen stated in a May press release announcing its passage by the House 58-0 before it was signed by Hobbs on Monday, May 22. “A movement of legislation to eliminate these objects within states has commenced across the country, with at least five other states having similar legislation in effect.”

“I’m going to be pushing the child sex bill,” Nguyen said. “Apparently in the state of Arizona, if an adult has sex with a 15-year-old child, it’s a very minor crime. It’s [a] Class 6 felony and it can be beaten down to Class 1 misdemeanor, and you walk away free. That’s the reason why pedophiles are coming to Arizona because they know we are so light on 15-year-olds.”

Nguyen said “I personally brought back about $55.9 million, and I am glad Mr. Andy Groseta is sitting here … Agriculture, ranching, law enforcement, highway construction, and out of that $55.9 [million], $29.6 million [was] on fixing roads and highways and $750,000, because the Copper Canyon Fire District asked for it.”

Groseta is a Cottonwood rancher and former president of the Yavapai Cattle Growers Association president.

Phoenix infrastructure was brought up with regard to the passage of Senate Bill 1102, which will allow Maricopa County to ask its voters to extend a half-cent transportation tax that has funded projects like the light rail.

“Because we supported Proposition 400 we’re being vilified and demonized by different organizations,” Nguyen said, referring to last month’s scorecards released by the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, which gave the LD-1 legislators middling scores largely based on their votes on Prop. 400. “It is an extension of a sales tax to allow Maricopa County to vote for their own taxes. We didn’t vote to raise taxes. We voted so they can play in their own sandbox.”

Ken Bennett

Bennett largely used his time to discuss the scorecard methodology used by conservative non-governmental organizations, but reiterated the trio’s commitment to pro-life and Second Amendment issues. He also called for party unity considering their slim majorities in the House and Senate.

Among Hobbs’ vetoes was one of HB 2560, which was sponsored by Bennett and Speaker of the House Ben Toma [R] and would have mandated that county recorders publish a roster of all registered voters, a list of individuals who participated in each election and the original ballot images used in result tabulation.

“She said that the reason that she vetoed the bill is that in primary elections, where we vote on party ballots, all Republicans are voting on a Republican ballot, Democrats on the [Democrat ballot], Libertarians, and in some areas, there’s not very many Libertarians.” Bennett said.“If there’s just one Libertarian that voted in one precinct somewhere else, if you can find the one Libertarian ballot, you can tell how John Smith the one Libertarian [voted]. So the very first bill that I’m going to introduce next year, I’ll fix that problem. It will only apply this idea in the general elections.”

Two petitions were circulated during the meeting, one seeking a recall of Cottonwood Mayor Tim Elinski and one from Kara Woods, who is seeking the Republican nomination for Yavapai County superintendent of education in competition with outgoing Cottonwood-Oak Creek School District Superintendent Steve King, who is also in that race.