Arizona Judicial Branch

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PUBLIC PROGRAMS; CITIZENSHIP

Rep. Boone

Various education-related services and benefits would be denied to illegal aliens. Government agencies were to report semi-annually how many total applications were processed and how many were refused because the applicant was an illegal alien.

GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE said while she agrees that public programs should not be available to those who consciously decide to come here illegally, this bill would punish even long-time residents of this state who were brought here as small children by their parents.

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FEDERAL FUNDS; REPORTING

Rep. Nelson

The Governor's budget office would have been required to prepare an annual report on all non-appropriated monies. The Department of Administration annual report on financial transactions would have had to include all appropriated and non-appropriated monies.

GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE said that while she believes in making the process by which federal funds are administered in the state transparent and available for public review, she is, like predecessor governors of both parties, opposed to legislative efforts to appropriate or condition the spending of federal funds.

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CAPITOL POLICE; TRANSFER

Rep. Pearce, et al

Authority over the Capitol Police would have been transferred from the Department of Administration to the Department of Public Safety.

GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE said the bill does not appropriate money to facilitate the high cost of transferring a law enforcement agency from one agency to another.  The bill also failed to address a number of other legal changes required to make such a transfer work.

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ELECTED OFFICIALS; OFFICEHOLDER EXPENSES; ACCOUNTS

Rep.  Cajero-Bedford, et al

Persons elected or appointed to a statewide elective office and members of the Legislature would have been permitted to maintain officeholder accounts for non-campaign expenses.

GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE said the bill runs counter to the intention of the citizen-approved Clean Elections law.

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PRIVATE PRISONS; MEXICO FACILITY

Rep. Jones, et al

The Dept of Administration, in cooperation with a new Foreign Private Prison Commission, would have been required to call for bids to construct a private prison in Mexico to house foreign national prisoners. The act would not have become effective unless the United States agreed to amend a treaty with Mexico on the execution of penal sentencing by June 30, 2010 .

GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE said that the bill would neither fix our border problems nor reduce the cost to incarcerate criminal aliens.

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ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS

Rep. Boone, et al

The current statute (ARS 15-756) relating to programs, requirements and funding for English language learning (ELL) would have been repealed and replaced by new language that mandated schools to identify, assess classify and monitor pupils whose primary or home language is not English. Each school district and charter school would have been required to adopt a plan to implement Structured English immersion (SEI) and to submit specific funding requests from an SEI Fund established for the purpose. A 7-member Arizona English Language Learners Task Force would have been established to develop models of SEI for schools.

GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE said that contrary to a negotiated agreement, legislative leadership did not develop a bi-partisan bill to satisfy Flores . She also said the bill was a disservice to the state's students who need ELL programs because the funding was grossly inadequate. The governor also objected to a new bureaucracy to approve ELL programs. She said the bill is not reasonably calculated to comply with the court's order and that when she is informed by both minority and majority leadership that a bi-partisan bill is ready, she will call a special session.

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GENERAL REVENUES; BUDGET

Rep. Pearce, et al

Budget bill dealing with federal funds, the Lottery and the Sports & Tourism Authority for fiscal 2005-2006.

GOVERNOR LINE ITEM VETOED the sections of the bill that included:

·         Elimination of the minimum distribution of sales tax revenue to the Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority.

·         A requirement that unrestricted federal money to be deposited into the state general fund to pay for "essential government services."

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FULL-DAY KINDERGARTEN; EXPANSION

Rep. Boone

Would have appropriated $38 million for full day kindergarten in FY 2005-2006 and $5.5 million for kindergarten vouchers. No additional appropriation for full-day K was allowed beyond this year until JLBC reviewed the study, and future appropriations for full-day K were to be made annually.  All schools that offer full-day K must have also offered half-day K with "academically meaningful instruction" in standards adopted by the Board of Education.

GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE said she has consistently opposed vouchers because they fail to further education opportunities for all Arizona students.

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MARRIAGE DISSOLUTION; MISCONDUCT

Sen. Johnson, et al

The requirement that marital misconduct be excluded as a factor in various divorce proceedings including disposition of property and computation of spousal maintenance and child support would have been repealed.

GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE said the bill would bog down already overloaded family courts and that protections in this area already exist.

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ENGLISH AS OFFICIAL LANGUAGE

Sen. Verschoor

English would have been established as the official language of the state, government officials would have been required to preserve, protect and enhance the role of English, and official government functions would have been required to be conducted in English. Government representatives would still have been able to communicate in a language other than English as long as official action was conducted in English.

GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE said while she agrees that non-English speaking Arizonans should be encouraged to learn English, this bill is overly broad, not properly funded and does not accomplish that goal. She also said that because of drafting problems, speakers of native American languages could have been denied services to which they are entitled.

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VOTER REGISTRATION INFORMATION; PRIVACY; CITIZENSHIP

Sen. Martin

An elector whose name is on a precinct register but who does not have ID required by Prop 200 would have been allowed to cast a provisional ballot upon presenting other forms of ID (e.g. utility bill, vehicle registration, Indian census card, etc.). Documents submitted to County Recorders to verify citizenship would have been considered confidential and not subject to public records law.

GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE said the bill would have interfered with a lawful citizen's right to vote by placing undue restrictions on voters being able to cast provisional ballots.

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AGENCY BUDGETS; RESPONSIBILITIES

Sen. Martin, Sen Jarrett

During the year of a state agency's sunset review, the agency would have had to link its mission statement and strategic objectives to the agency budget; prioritize its activities and assign a cost to each.

GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE said much of the information required in the bill is already provided in different forms to the Legislature, the Auditor General and JLBC. It would have also imposed an activity specific cost identification requirement on agencies whose current accounting structures could not support that change. The Governor also objected because the bill would have required executive agencies to conform their reports to formats defined by JLBC, in effect giving JLBC statutory authority over some duties of executive branch agencies.

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LOCAL ENFORCEMENT; FEDERAL IMMIGRATION LAWS

Sen.  Johnson, et al

Peace officers would have been authorized to enforce federal immigration laws.

GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE said the bill did not represent a real solution to the state's immigration problems and lacked funding for necessary training.

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CIVIL RIGHTS; IDENTITY DISCLOSURE PROHIBITED

Sen. Martin, Sen. Bee

A subpoena issued by the Attorney General's Civil Rights Division would have had to inform the recipient of rights and obligations as provided by law and rule. Other provisions were included

GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE said the bill imposed a host of unnecessary restrictions on the Attorney General's Office when investigating civil rights cases and hampered the enforcement of civil rights cases.

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BAR LICENSES; FIREARMS; POSTED NOTICES

Sen. Harper, et al

Firearms would have been allowed in bars and other establishments that sell alcohol for on-site consumption, although it would have been illegal for a person carrying a firearm to consume alcohol. If an owner wanted to prohibit patrons from carrying weapons, the owner would have to post a notice at every entrance.

GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE said that the state's law enforcement community opposed the bill and that the concerns of bar and restaurant owners were not sufficiently addressed.

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BUDGET RECONCILIATION; CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Sen. Burns, et al

Various provisions related to the justice system.

GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE objected to lack of funding for various programs.

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GENERAL APPROPRIATIONS; 2005-2006

Sen. Burns, et al

General appropriation bill for FY 2006 for state agencies.

GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE objected to lack of funding for several programs.

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CLEAN ELECTIONS; RULES; REPORT

Sen. Huppenthal

By August 1, 2005 , the Citizens Clean Elections Commission would have been required to determine and make public how many pages of rules, policies and documents it likely would have adopted by 2010.

GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE said the bill serves no purpose other than to create busywork for the Commission.

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SECURE AND VERIFIABLE IDENTIFICATION

Sen. Martin, et al

State and local government agencies would not have been able to accept any ID document not issued by a local Arizona government, an Indian tribe or a state or federal authority, and that ID must have been verifiable by a law enforcement or homeland security agency when providing public services, including law enforcement that required recipients to produce identification. Law enforcement services would not have been withheld, but an unverifiable document could not have been used to establish identity. The bill carried exceptions required by treaty, federal law or to report a crime.

GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE said the bill was poorly drafted, overly broad and lead to unintended consequences including the inadmissibility of any foreign passport to establish identity. The matriculate consular card issued by the Mexican government and legally carried by Mexican nationals could not be used to establish identity.

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TUITION ORGANIZATIONS; TAX CREDIT; BUDGET

Sen. Martin

This budget bill would have authorized income tax credits for corporations who contribute to student tuition organizations. The program would have been capped at $5 million statewide per calendar year and procedures were included permitting the Department of Revenue to monitor and pre-approve contributions. The bill included various implementation provisions.

GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE said that the budget agreement reached with legislative leaders included a requirement that the bill carry a sunset provision, which it did not. She said the deal included a promise from leaders that they would develop a bi-partisan bill to fund the Flores case, the Governor said that was not done.