Legislative leaders develop timeline for bill tracking service

Posted on by Bryan Richardson

Legislative leaders said Friday they want a soft launch of a potential new bill tracking service during the 2025 session before full implementation in July.

The Legislative Coordinating Council Subcommittee on Administration met to discuss a request-for-proposal draft meant to secure a legislative bill tracking service that can provide legislation information on all 50 states.

“My whole reason for doing this was just to see what’s out there,” House Speaker Dan Hawkins, R-Wichita, said. “If we don’t need to make a change, let’s not make a change. But there’s other stuff out there and, quite frankly, we may become better by this exercise.”

Hawkins; Senate President Ty Masterson, R-Andover; and Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes, D-Lenexa, continued the discussion that the full council started July 30.

The council renewed the Legislature’s contract with KanFocus, the bill tracking provider for the past 18 years, for a year as it starts the process of soliciting bids for a company to track legislation across the country.

Hawkins on Friday didn’t count out KanFocus as far as its ability to provide what the Legislature is seeking.

“There’s a lot of things they do that I don’t know that everybody else will do,” he said.

Sykes asked why the Legislature should move to the 50-state tracking. Hawkins said legislators could use it as a research tool before going to the Legislative Research Department with a better idea of what they’re looking for.

The draft contained some of the criteria the council will consider during the evaluation process:

  • Cost
  • Adequacy and completeness of the proposal
  • Bidders’ understanding of the project
  • Compliance with the terms and conditions of the request for proposal
  • Experience in providing like services
  • Qualified staff
  • Appropriate methodology planned to accomplish tasks
  • Response format as required by the request for proposal

Masterson said he would like the proposal to include information about the Legislature’s current capabilities for bill tracking and the desired functionality.

The subcommittee also discussed the proposed timeline.

The full council is expected to vote on the request-for-proposal document at its Aug. 21 meeting.

The council would issue the proposal in mid-September with responses due by the end of October.

The evaluation process would wrap up with a decision by mid-December, which would allow the soft launch of the service by the start of the session.

Bryan Richardson is the managing editor at State Affairs Pro Kansas/Hawver’s Capitol Report. Reach him at [email protected] or on X @RichInNews.

Richer must pay copying costs in defamation suit against Lake

Posted on by Yellow Sheet Report Staff
A judge ordered Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer to pay more than $25,000 to Merissa Hamilton for copying costs after she printed more than 100,000 pages in response to a subpoena in the defamation suit against Lake. Hamilton printed and attempted to deliver boxes of documents responsive to a subpoena from Richer and requested $32,345 to cover the costs of production. Daniel Maynard, attorney for Richer, claimed the instructions in the subpoena and rules of civil procedure required Hamilton to keep documents electronic, and Hamilton “unilaterally” made the decision to print the documents without talking with opposing counsel. Maynard asked the court to reject Hamilton’s request for reimbursement. But in a ruling Friday, Judge Randall Warner, a Napolitano appointee, acknowledged Hamilton misread the instructions, but noted it is “easy to see how a non-lawyer endeavoring to comply with Plaintiff’s subpoena could be confused. The 16-page subpoena is complicated. Rule 45 is complicated. And the cover letter’s summary of the request did not mention electronic documents or computer files.” Warner found the dispute resulted from a miscommunication but ultimately ruled the “financial burden of that miscommunication should fall on the party who wrote the instructions, and who wants the documents.” He ordered Richer pay $25,345 in copying cost as a condition to receiving the documents. Warner found Hamilton was not entitled to $7,000 for clerical costs as her claim that it took 280 hours to prepare the documents, “the equivalent of seven people working full-time for a week—is an unreasonable amount of time to spend on producing documents,” Warner wrote. He then ordered Hamilton and Richer to find a time and place to exchange the documents before August 21, with the requirement that Richer pay Hamilton upon picking up the documents.

RNC, two lawmakers ask SCOTUS to rule on citizenship voting law

Posted on by Yellow Sheet Report Staff
Petersen, Toma and the RNC filed an emergency motion with the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a Ninth Circuit decision blocking the enforcement of election laws prohibiting those who fail to provide documentary proof of citizenship from registering to vote with a state form. The appeals court originally granted a request to stay an injunction from the district court and allow the law to go into effect. But a separate appellate panel reversed the decision, citing the Purcell principle, which advises against changing election law on the eve of an election. In an emergency motion to SCOTUS, attorneys for the legislative leaders and the RNC requested an “immediate stay of the district court’s injunction to the extent it requires the state to (1) accept state-form voter registration applications lacking documentary proof of citizenship and (2) allow voters who have not provided documentary proof of citizenship to cast ballots for president or by mail.” They claim the “Ninth Circuit intervened to displace a State’s election integrity measures with an election impending,” contradicting the panel’s own application of the Purcell principle. The legislative leaders claim, absent a stay, they face harm in failing to enact duly passed laws and the RNC contends it “has an interest in having its members’ rights as voters not undermined by eleventh hour changes to election laws.” They ask the high court to issue the requested stay before the ballot printing deadline on August 22.

Discovery disputes continue to dog Richer, Lake in defamation suit

Posted on by Yellow Sheet Report Staff
Lake and Richer are tied up in another discovery dispute, this time over the identities of those behind Lake’s social media accounts and private recordings containing discussions of Richer’s alleged involvement in election interference. Richer claims the names behind Lake’s socials are relevant to fully understanding the scope, reach and motivation behind defamatory statements. Lake’s attorney objected to the request and contended the “‘universe’ of conduct for which Lake can possibly be found liable is finite and not subject to expansion through discovery at this stage of the case.” Richer also sought “non-public” recordings from Lake’s husband, Jeffrey Halperin, in which the defendants in the case “discussed Richer’s alleged involvement with election interference.” Richer also asked for information on property Halperin and Lake own. An attorney for Halperin claims information on shared property is already in the record and found the request for recordings “only serve to harass and remain outside the scope of discovery.” Halperin’s attorney further contends private recordings would be irrelevant to establishing damages to Richer’s public reputation. A judge set a status conference for August 29 to hash out the discovery disputes.

Supervisors set to appoint Terech’s replacement Monday morning

Posted on by Yellow Sheet Report Staff
The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors will appoint a House representative to fill a vacancy in Legislative District 4 on Monday. Former Rep. Laura Terech resigned on June 30 to work with the Secretary of State’s office. On July 10, LD4 Democratic precinct committeemen nominated three people for the board to consider to replace Terech for the remainder of the term. They nominated former state Rep. Kelli Butler and Karen Gresham, who are both running for House seats in the district this November. The third nominee was former House Minority Leader Eric Meyer, although he said he hopes the board picks Butler or Gresham. Precinct committeemen are required by state law to nominate three people for a legislative appointment. Terech is the seventh House Democrat who has resigned from office during the 56th legislative session, joining former Reps. Athena Salman, Amish Shah, Jennifer Longdon, Leezah Sun, Jevin Hodge and Marcelino Quinonez. This appointment from the board of supervisors will take longer than a month, but the legislature hasn’t been in session since Terech resigned. The board’s special meeting on Monday will also include canvassing the primary election results. It’s scheduled at 10 a.m.

New president of University of Arizona named

Posted on by Yellow Sheet Report Staff
ABOR unanimously appointed Suresh Garimella to serve as the next president of University of Arizona following a months-long search to replace Dr. Robert Robbins. The move comes after Robbins stepped down in April following months of turmoil. Under Robbins, the university suddenly faced a $177 million deficit, though the university has since made cuts, bringing the deficit closer to $50 million. In his resignation, Robbins said he was prepared to serve through the end of his contract in June 2026 but would be willing to step aside if ABOR found a replacement before then. ABOR announced an 18-member presidential search committee shortly after Robbin’s decision to step down. On Friday, ABOR appointed Garimella as the 23rd president of UofA. Garimella hails from the University of Vermont, where he serves as the 27th president. During his time at UVM, he prioritized affordability, freezing student tuition for the first five years and heading a scholarship program to ensure tuition-free education for low income students. Garimella previously worked as a professor of mechanical engineering and Executive Vice President for Research and Partnerships at Purdue University. Robbins will remain in the role until ABOR and Garimella finalize contract negotiations, which will likely be later this fall, according to an ABOR press release.

Media Advisory: Primary Election Canvass

Posted on by Yellow Sheet Report Staff
WHAT: The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors will meet as required by Arizona law to discuss and vote on the canvass of the July 2024 Primary Election.  This public meeting with include presentations from Elections Directors Scott Jarrett and Rey Valenzuela as well as Q&A from the Board of Supervisors.  This meeting does not include a public comment period.   WHEN: Monday, August 12, 2022.  10 a.m. WHERE: Board of Supervisors Auditorium, 205 W Jefferson St, Phoenix, AZ 85003 LIVE STREAM: We will stream this meeting to YouTube for members of the public or media to watch live or replay later.

Once under fire, DCS recovers missing children in its care

Posted on by Yellow Sheet Report Staff
The Department of Child Safety recovered 12 missing children who were wards of the department in a recent operation, according to a July 23 press release. Over several weeks, the agency worked in coordination with the U.S. Marshals Service and law enforcement, recovering 49 missing children in total. The agency, which faced scrutiny from lawmakers at the start of the session for the number of children who went missing in its care, has seen a 30% reduction in missing, abducted and runaway children over the past year. Farnsworth, who chairs the Transportation, Technology and Missing Children committee, said he is still meeting with the agency on a weekly basis. “I believe we are making slow progress in the right direction,” Farnsworth said. “But, the situation is still disastrous.” The department has not released an updated report with missing/abducted children data for August, but a May document reported 21 missing/abducted children and 124 runaway children.

As Arizona Students Head Back to School, Gallego Introduces Bill to Reduce Chronic Absenteeism

Posted on by Yellow Sheet Report Staff
PHOENIX – As students across Arizona head back to school, Rep. Ruben Gallego (AZ-03) this week introduced the Keeping Our Students in School Act to help school districts reduce chronic absenteeism. “Education allowed me to live my American dream. Now, as a dad, I want all Arizona kids to have that same opportunity. But we are currently leaving an entire generation behind,” said Rep. Gallego. “I’m proud to introduce this bill that will give schools the resources they need to ensure students are in the classroom and able to learn.” A student is typically considered chronically absent if they are absent from school for more than ten percent of school days by the end of the year. In Arizona, the percentage of chronically absent students was 28 percent in the most recent year on record, more than double the rate of the school year before the pandemic. Impacts of chronic absenteeism include a dramatically increased likelihood of dropping out of high school, an increase in missed early learning milestones, and an increased risk of poverty, diminished health, and involvement with the criminal justice system. To address this problem, the Keeping Our Students in School Act would create a competitive grant program for local education agencies (LEAs) to fund proven absenteeism-reduction interventions, including:
  • Providing student transportation to and from school.
  • Conducting student home visits and wellness checks.
  • Creating student mentorship programs.
  • Investing in absenteeism monitoring software or other tools.
  • Hiring specialized instructional support personnel.
  • Conducting learning loss assessments.
Full text of the legislation can be found HERE. The legislation comes after, in May, Rep. Gallego sent a letter to Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona calling on the Department to do more to address the issue of chronic absenteeism.

Kelly, Sinema Announce Approval of Internet for All Plan, Unlocking Nearly $1 Billion for Arizona Broadband

Posted on by Yellow Sheet Report Staff
Arizona Senators Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema announced that the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has approved Arizona’s  Internet for All proposal, clearing the way for Arizona to receive nearly $1 billion from the Sinema-led and Kelly-shaped Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to deploy high-speed broadband in every corner of our state.  Authorized by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program will provide $988,112,231.37 for Arizona broadband—providing  investments to expand high-speed Internet access by funding planning, infrastructure deployment, and adoption programs.  “The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is improving lives every day, and today’s announcement will help give every Arizonan, regardless of where they live, access  to reliable, high-speed internet,” said Kelly. “Expanding broadband access is crucial for economic development, education, and healthcare, especially in rural and underserved communities. I am proud to have worked alongside my colleagues to secure these funds and will continue working to bridge the digital divide.”  “Today’s funds authorized by our Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will make internet more accessible and affordable for Arizonans in all corners of our state. I’m ensuring our investments from our Bipartisan Infrastructure Law continue delivering for Arizona,” said Sinema, co-author and lead negotiator of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.  Kelly and Sinema’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law makes historic and sweeping investments in repairing and upgrading America’s critical infrastructure, including  $65 billion to deploy high-speed broadband, expand broadband internet access, and help families afford broadband service.   Specifically, the law invests over $14 billion to make the internet more affordable and requires internet providers to offer a low-cost option to participate in federal broadband deployment funding. Following passage of the infrastructure law, the Federal Communications Commission established the Affordable Connectivity Program using the funding Kelly and Sinema secured to help Arizonans access affordable internet. The program provides eligible families $30 a month toward their internet bills and $75 a month toward internet service in tribal areas.  Kelly and Sinema led bipartisan Senate negotiations with Republican Senator Rob Portman of Ohio and senators from both parties. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law was supported by groups including The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Business Roundtable, The National Association of Manufacturers,  The AFL-CIO, The National Retail Federation, The Bipartisan Policy Center, North America’s Building Trades Unions, the Outdoor Industry Association, The American Hotel and Lodging Association, The National Education Association, as well as hundreds of mayors across all 50 states.

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