Governor Katie Hobbs has a record 24 Vetoes Including One Intended to Protect Pregnant Women
- House Bill 2427 would have lowered the barrier to file aggravated assault charges against someone who knowingly attacks a pregnant person.
- The bill was one of four that Hobbs vetoed yesterday, bringing her total to 24.
- The bill’s sponsor, Republican Rep. Matt Gress, said that his bill was aimed at protecting pregnant women. The bill would have increased the maximum possible penalty for aggravated assault in a domestic violence situation if the assailant knew or had reason to know the victim was pregnant. Opponents called it a backdoor attempt to get fetal personhood on the books in Arizona in the fight against abortion rights.
- In her veto letter, Hobbs explained existing law already allows judges to consider whether a victim is pregnant as a factor in sentencing for aggravated assault. She added that the bill did not deter domestic violence or support victims; however, the GIT team believes that increasing penalties for crimes does in fact deter offenders.
- Rep. Gress indicated domestic violence, ranging from stalking to physical violence, affects one out of every four women and one in nine men in the country. “With pregnancy comes risk,’’ Gress said. “And many women report it’s actually when they become pregnant that abuse starts or becomes intensified.’’ His bill would have allowed 5 years to be added to any sentence.
- Instead, Hobbs asked the legislature to increase funding for services and support for survivors of domestic violence.
Some of the Other Bills Hobbs Has Veteod
- HB2056 – Would have exempted some dry washes and arroyos that don’t flow steadily from certain requirements dealing with the discharge of pollutants.
- HB2440 – Requires utilities to give top priority to providing “reliable and affordable electric service” when planning new generation facilities.
- HB2472 – Would have barred the state from requiring a bank or financial institution to use a “social credit score” when evaluating whether to lend money to a customer. Rep. Steve Montenegro, R-Goodyear, said it’s about protecting the “free market’’ and protecting Arizona banks from having to use factors they do not want.
- SB1024 – would have barred tents and other structures from public streets, highways, sidewalks and other rights-or-way. (Such as “The Zone” issues in downtown Phoenix perhaps?)
- SB1063 – This bill was to eliminate cities from charging grocery taxes to help all individuals during these tough economic times while cities have lots of excess monies.
- SB1096 – This bill was to bar banks and other firms in Arizona that do business with the state from refusing to do business with firearm companies.
- SB1184 – Would have eliminated tax on apartments and rental homes and requiring the savings to flow to the renters. Hobbs had no logical argument to veto this bill so relied on legislative lawyer saying it “may be unconstitutional”.
- SB1248 – This bill would have eliminated the “sunrise process”, one of the procedural hoops now required by health care professions seeking to expand their scope of practice.
- SB1250 – would have enshrined a religious exemption to certain vaccines, like those for flu or COVID-19, in Arizona law. Hobbs noted religious beliefs already exist in federal law…which of course the GIT team (and the Constitution!) believes is the wrong place for it. These types of things should be in our State Laws if We the People support them.
- SB1305 – Would have banned critical race theory from being taught in our public schools. Instead, per Sen. J.D. Mesnard (R-Chandler), some of our children are being taught that America as a whole is a racist country.
Please fellow Evident Life Members, remember to pray for our elected leaders, especially Katie Hobbs. We fear she is being misled by unelected beauracrats taking away our freedoms and liberties. Pray that God guides her and other officials in their capacity to follow the Constitution and ensure our freedoms and liberties are not infringed.
Proof Positive – Trump Prosecution is Politically Motivated
- On last week’s broadcast of “Fox News Sunday,” George Washington law professor Jonathan Turley criticized Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s aggressive push to prosecute former President Donald Trump.
- According to Turley, Bragg’s attempt will prove Trump’s narrative that it is a “political prosecution.”
- “Well, they have discretion, but they don’t have discretion to create their own laws,” he said. “And what is being done is something that most of us consider really beyond the pale, that is Bragg is taking a New York misdemeanor, which, by the way, has expired, only a two-year statute of limitations, and he’s potentially bootstrapping that into a felony. But he intends, according to reports, to prove a federal crime that the Department of Justice itself declined to prosecute. On that effort, he’s losing already the court of public opinion. A poll came out showing roughly 60 percent of people viewed this as politically motivated. But he’s playing to a jury pool in New York.”
- “And the likelihood of finding a Trump supporter in the New York jury pool is about the same as finding a triceratops,” Turley added. “I mean, it’s not that likely. But he also has judges in New York who I think are going to look askance at this and say, wait, you’re a state prosecutor, and you’re going to prove a federal crime? I think he’s got a rough road ahead. But what he has done is handed Trump proof positive of his long narrative. This is a political prosecution.”
Lawmakers to Advance TikTok Bill
- U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) announced Sunday that lawmakers would advance legislation proposing a nationwide ban on TikTok after the video-sharing app’s CEO testified before Congress last week. House Energy and Commerce Committee officials called on TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew to testify before the panel over their national security threats, data privacy, and safety issues for the app’s 150 million American users.
- During the hearing, Chew neglected to answer whether individuals associated with ByteDance, the social media platform’s Chinese parent company, helped him prepare for the hearing. Lawmakers further pressed Chew asking if the app has spied on Americans at the request of Bejing, which the CEO denied. “It’s very concerning that the CEO of TikTok can’t be honest and admit what we already know to be true—China has access to TikTok user data,” McCarthy wrote in a tweet. “The House will be moving forward with legislation to protect Americans from the technological tentacles of the Chinese Communist Party.”
- McCarthy has previously signaled he would support a nationwide ban on TikTok as both Democratic and Republican lawmakers have raised concerns over allegations that the Chinese Communist Party has access to user data through links between TikTok and ByteDance, as well as the extent to which authorities in China maintain power and influence over both entities.
- “I think you see a bipartisan concern here with what’s happening on TikTok, especially what’s happening to the data for Americans,” McCarthy told The Hill. “There’s many different ramifications here, so I think they could come together and let the committees do their work and see what the product comes out when it gets done.”
- Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), the chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, told ABC News on Sunday that Chew’s appearance in Congress “actually increased the likelihood that Congress will take some action.”
- Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) said Chew’s testimony to Congress failed to help TikTok’s alleged threat to national security. “TikTok did itself no favors on Thursday when CEO Shou Zi Chew gave his testimony,” Krishnamoorthi wrote in a tweet. “In fact, some of the answers he gave only raised more questions about the enormous existing security risks I’ve been fighting to address.”
- President Joe Biden and several state officials have banned TikTok from government devices over data security and surveillance concerns after reports indicated that ByteDance staffers in China used the platform to monitor the locations of specific American users.