By Howard Fischer
Capitol Media Services
PHOENIX -- Katie Hobbs is hurtling toward setting a new record in Arizona for the number of bills vetoed in one year.
But the Democatic governor insists it's not because she lacks the ability to work across the aisle with Republican legislators.
Hobbs told Capitol Media Services, is their fault in what they approve. Put another way, she said, if they stop sending her bad bills she'll stop putting her veto stamp on so many of them.
"I have made it clear that I'm not going to sign legislation that is solutions in search of a problem, that takes away people's freedom,'' the governor said.
What is virtually certain is that when lawmakers return from their break they will resume approving of measures that advance the GOP policy agenda. And there are a host of bills in the pipeline that are virtually certain to meet with the governor's displeasure, from changes in election laws and cuts in the state income tax rate to easing some groundwater egulations.
That all but guarantees she will set a record.
As of right now, Hobbs has vetoed 138 bills since the Legislature convened in January. That is just five short of her tally in her first year in office in 2003 for the entire session.
House Republicans aren't taking kindly to her effort to blame them.
"Gov. Hobbs has made vetoing good policy her full-time job, rejecting bipartisan solutions supported by the elected representatives of the people of Arizona,'' said Andrew Wilder, spokesman for House Speaker Steve Montenego and the GOP caucus. "Instead of governing, she's cementing a record as an ineffective obstructionist whose only accomplishments cater to the extreme fringe of her party.''
Not everything that Hobbs has rejected have been strictly partisan affairs. There have been a few bills that she has rejected that have had some support from legislative Democrats.
One, for example, would have ensured that parents are entitled to a minor child's medical records, regardless of whether parental consent is required for treatment. There are exceptions under existing law to the need for that consent such as emergency situations, including those that might involved a drug overdose, and instances where a minor may have contracted a venereal disease.
Hobbs said the proposal by Republican Rep. Julie Willoughby of Chandler would create "legal ambiguity'' for healthcare providers who have existing obligations to patient privacy.
Several Democrats also supported a proposal to pave the way for "small modular nuclear reactors'' in Arizona.
But the vast majority of what met with the governor's disapproval were Republican-only affairs. And they run the gamut from major policy issues to the more banal.
Take the measure, also by Willoughby, to impose mandatory employment and training requirements to get food stamps. Hobbs said lawmakers should instead use their efforts to support an existing voluntary program for recipients to get jobs and training.
The governor also nixed a requirement for the state's Medicaid program to provide a "conspicuous link'' on the agency's website directing people to information on adoption and to support pregnant women. Hobbs saw it through the lens of efforts to attack reproductive freedom in the wake of voters putting a right to abortion in the Arizona Constitution.
And only Republicans supported a proposal by first time Scottsdale Sen. Carine Warner to make all school board elections into partisan affairs.
But what Hobbs said she really doesn't understand is why Republicans are surprised at some of her decisions.
"Some of these vetoes are bills that have been sent to me multiple times, even in one session,'' she said. "It's ridiculous, quite frankly.''
Among the reruns was a proposal by Sen. Wendy Rogers to allow those who have a state-issued permit to carry a concealed weapon to bring them onto college campuses.
And then there were a pair of bills from Sen. John Kavanagh. The Fountain Hills Republican wanted to ban teachers from referring to students by a first name or pronoun that did not match their gender at time of birth and prohibit students from using a restroom other than the one based on the sex they were assigned when born.
Then there were the measures sent to Hobbs to score political points, with little belief they would be signed, like the proposal by Rep. Teresa Martinez, R-Casa Grande, to ensure that Arizona schools were aligned with the orders of President Trump and were referring to what had been known for centuries as the Gulf of Mexico instead as the "Gulf of America.''
Hobbs lumped that in with other measures that she rejected, saying they take away attention from what she believes should be the focus of lawmakers.
"I would like the Legislature to prioritize lowering costs, addressing our housing crisis, securing our water future, securing the border,'' she said.
On that last point, Republicans have advanced measures they say are designed to do just that.
One of those was crafted by Senate President Warren Petersen. The Gilbert Republican sought to ensure state and local law enforcement cooperate with federal immigration officials and, specifically, that they honor requests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain people sought by the federal agency.
The governor clearly recognizes public sentiment on that, what with voters in November having approved Proposition 314 on a 63-37 margin. It allows state and local police to arrest those who are not citizens who enter the country at other than a port of entry.
So Hobbs, in her veto message of the Petersen bill, said she has worked with the federal government to secure the border, cited efforts to stem the smuggling fentanyl, and sought to keep border communities safe.
That explanation left Petersen cold, responding to the veto by calling it "another slap'' at Arizonans who "suffered greatly'' at the open border policies of the Biden administration.
But Petersen, who is running to be the Republican nominee for attorney general in 2026, declined to discuss what he thinks of the governor's overall veto record and her explanation of why so many GOP-sponsored bills have wound up being returned with veto stamps.
For all of the vetoes that have occurred, and all that are yet to come, Hobbs said she still believes that there are areas of accommodation where she can work with the Republican majority. All they need to remember, she said, is what she told them when the session started in January.
"I made it really clear in my State of the State that I wanted to work with the Legislature to advance opportunity, freedom and security for Arizonans,'' the governor said, saying she has tried to work with lawmakers "to achieve these goals and address the needs that Arizonans have.''
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