This year was tumultuous and stressful, as any visit to a news website can attest to. Much like the federal government, the Arizona state government had an eventful year. These happenings may not have much to do with emergency medicine, but it is important to reflect on the past year as the new Arizona Legislature begins its session in January.
Garnering national attention in the spring, K-12 teachers across the state participated in a strike
that affected nearly a million students. Arizona has ranked last or close to last in several metrics
of public education for years compared to the rest of the states. Funding was the focus of the
RedForEd movement, which ended in May after Gov. Doug Ducey signed HB 2663 into law.
The deal provides a 20% raise to schoolteachers over the next two years, along with hundreds of millions in funding for school districts, totaling over a billion dollars. The powerful movement
continued into November when it helped squelch Proposition 305. The ballot measure rejected
SB 1423, which would have given funding for students wishing to use non-public education
resources. The proposition was framed as diverting state money to private schools. However,
proponents claimed that passing proposition 305 would reduce the resources available for
students with special needs.
Abortion
The AZ Senate passed SB 1394, requiring healthcare providers to ask women why they are
seeking an abortion during initial consults. After a round of amendments, the law specified
available responses to include whether an abortion would be elective, for health reasons, because of domestic violence, or for other reasons. Supporters of the law claimed that it would allow the government to be better informed on issues of abortion in the state, while others argued that it creates a barrier to abortion access and intrudes on the personal lives of women. The bill was signed into law after two months of contentious debate.
November Election
Democrats flipped 40 seats in the federal House of Representatives that were previously held by Republicans, sealing a new Democratic majority. In the AZ House, Democrats made
proportional gains by flipping 4 of the 60 seats, but remain in the minority with 29 seats. The AZ
Senate remained unchanged, with Republicans holding a 17 of the 30 seats. Gov. Doug Ducey
won reelection for governor, completing the Republican control of the state government. Arizona is split up into 30 legislative districts, each sending a senator and two representatives. Split-ticket voting is uncommon in the state. District 17 was the only one to send representatives from different parties, and only District 28 sent a senator from a party different from their representatives.