How I Voted on Housing Bills This Week
May 19, 2024
Hi Friend,
Welcome to Last Week at the Legislature, my weekly report to you on what happened last week in your State House and how I'm representing our community. A special welcome if you are new here!
We've been meeting just once a week (on Wednesdays) for the past month or more as Republican leadership juggles their members' travel schedules, tries to finalize some of their legislative priorities, and negotiates budget proposals to send back to the Governor in response to her revisions.
You may have seen in the news that last Tuesday, Senator Ken Bennett (R-1) said he would be a NO without changes to Speaker Ben Toma's SCR2060, recently estimated to cost $325 Million to divert already understaffed local police to arrest and jail people suspected of having crossed the border illegally. (Never mind that it would do NOTHING to actually secure the border, or keep us safer and cost Arizona millions more in court costs to defend what has already been determined unconstitutional.)
(We should be pressuring our US Congressional members to do their job. They should take action on a bi-partisan proposal to better secure the border. However, they've refused to do so since they've been told not to by their US Presidential candidate.)
However, there will surely be some serious arm-twisting behind the scenes among majority party members. So, they announced this past Wednesday that the House will not meet again until June 4. <sigh>
We did vote on several bills this week, though, and I spent a lot of time out in our community listening to your priorities. So, read on....
It's an honor to serve you in the Arizona legislature. Please feel free to contact me anytime.
Judy
Representative Judy Schwiebert, LD2
jschwiebert@azleg.gov, JudySchwiebert.com, 602-935-0468
How I Voted This Week
On Wednesday, May 15, State House representatives voted on 15 bills, including the following. You can find out more about the rest of the bills and how everyone voted here and here. (You'll just have to scroll down to click on individual bill numbers.) Again, as you see, virtually all the bills are sponsored by Republicans.
Democrats have proposed many great bills on behalf of constituents, but they almost never get this far under the one-seat majority in both chambers. Democratic members have been a part of amending many of these bills to make them better, however.
HB2720 (Carbone-R) accessory dwelling units; requirements This bill would require a city of at least 75,000 people to allow for accessory dwelling units (ADUs or casitas) on any parcel of land or lot zoned for single family homes. I wanted to vote YES on this bill because I strongly agree that ADU's are an important way to increase affordable housing, especially for older family members or young adults. However, because this bill allows the ADU's to be used as short term rentals (if the owner occupies one of the residences), community members in Phoenix and other cities where short term rentals have been destroying neighborhoods strongly objected to this bill. I voted NO because I agree with those concerns. Until the legislature rolls back the state pre-emption on cities so they can regulate their own short term rental market, I don't think it's wise for us to allow statewide expansion for STR's (short term rentals) as this bill would do. However, it passed 35-22. Having been already approved in the Senate, it now goes to the Governor's desk for her signature or veto.
HB2721 (Carbone-R) municipal zoning; middle housing. This bill requires a municipality with a population of 75,000 or more to authorize the development of duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, or townhomes on all lots zoned for single family use by January 1, 2026. I voted YES because we need more affordable housing and this "missing middle" housing is inherently less expensive than stand-alone houses. That's because the homes are generally smaller than a single-detached home on the same lot and the cost of land is split between a few households.. It passed 42-15, and now goes to the Governor's desk for her signature or veto.
Representing LD2
On Tuesday, I was part of a small group of Democrats who met with Gov Hobbs' staff on the 8th Floor regarding our budget priorities. Mine include funding for K-12 education, childcare, community colleges central to our workforce development, care for the elderly and people with disabilities, and for the arts that are so central to our lives and economy. The Governor has shared her streamlined budget with Republican leadership and is awaiting their response.
It was an honor to join Governor Katie Hobbs, Senator Christine Marsh, Rep Stacey Travers, Former Rep Joanne Osborne, and military families at Luke Air Force Base Thursday morning for the signing of HB2246 (Payne-R), a bill I helped pass to allow schools to earn a Purple Star designation. That means they provide support for military kids by offering peer partners, special teacher training, and social-emotional learning (SEL) for students.
On Wednesday, it was great as always to provide a legislative and campaign update to our LD2 Democrats. Such a great group! We meet on the third Wednesday of each month. Join us at our next meeting on June 19 at the Aspire Innovation Center, 20402 N. 15th Avenue! Find out more at the LD2 Dems website here.
Stephanie Simacek and I were honored to join Molly McGovern of UFCW and so many other remarkable people at the Arizona Democratic Party's Hall of Fame dinner. It was a spectacular evening.
I spent some extra time out in our LD2 neighborhoods this week listening to your concerns. The most frequent issues I'm hearing about from you all are abortion rights, K-12 teacher salaries, increasing homelessness, the need for affordable housing, and water shortage concerns. I'd be happy to hear from you, too. Contact me at jschwiebert@azleg.gov or call or text me at 602-769-5149.
This week, our own DVUSD Superintendent, Dr. Curtis Finch spoke frankly with 12 News' Joe Dana. "They're out to destroy public ed." he said of cable news and social media. "Ive never been in an environment like this before, where it's so politically driven and there is so much misinformation." He went on to ay that these manufactured culture wars are damaging public trust.
"... Before you drink that Kool-Aid, you need to go find out if that's in your school." Thank you, Dr. Finch. I urge all my readers to read more in the Save Our Schools newsletter - or check out the 12 News interview yourself here.
LD2 North Phoenix Community Builders
Nominate Your Favorite Local Business!
As a lifelong member of our community, I'm so grateful to the many people and local businesses who make it such a great place to live. That's why I'm excited to be partnering with the Bell Road Business Alliance and Stoke Interactive to recognize many of the local Community Builders in our neighborhood.
Check out our website at LD2NPCB.com to learn more about past recipients and nominate your favorite locally-owned businesses or nonprofits in LD2. I'm honored to be a part of recognizing them in this way for the vital role they play in making our community the safe, thriving, unique place it is.
Join Our Campaign!
Our Legislative District Will Determine the Direction of our State & Nation
We need YOU to help elect an Arizona legislature focused on the real issues we face like the teacher, affordable housing, and water shortage crises; keeping our families safe from gun violence; and reducing healthcare and other costs. Turning out voters for LD2 will help elect Democrats all the way up the ballot
Be a part of history by volunteering for our campaign today!
Join a Community Canvass. We're knocking on doors so we can listen to fellow voters about what's important to them. We want to elect listeners like Stephanie Simacek to the State House and me to the Senate who will truly represent our community Use this link to find a day and time that works for you. We'll buddy you up with someone experienced. We need door knockers and drivers.
Donate! We need everyone's help to pay for the staff, literature, and other advertising that are essential to winning these very competitive races.
Visit OUR NEW LD 2 Campaign office at 1524 W. Bell Road (behind the Discount Tire, next to the Liberty Tax office). You can still sign school board candidates and the access to abortion petitions there - or make phone calls - or write postcards.
Host a House Party
Introduce Us to Your Neighbors
Be like Libby and Ed Goff who hosted a House Party to tell their neighbors about what's at stake in this election, and then encourage them to be like you and donate or volunteer. Thank you so much to the Goffs for the wonderful party they hosted on Sunday, June 2!
Invite your neighbors to subscribe to this newsletter by sending them this link.
Paid for by Judy for AZ. Authorized by Judy Schwiebert