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State/National News Page 2  

  Articles Appearing on this Page:
 

 
1.  Arizona Bills
  2.  Two Abortion Bills Vetoed
  3.  Will Your Wallet Look Like Swiss Cheese?
  4.  Is Governor Forcing State Domestic Partner Benefits?
  5.  Passing Sexually Oriented Business Laws in Your Community.

 

1Arizona Bills

HB2002 Employment Non-Discrimination Act. (Representatives Sinema, Campbell CH & Prezelski) are responsible for this bill which seeks to add the words “Gender, Gender Identity or Expression, and Sexual Orientation” as illegal in hiring. This would make not only homosexuals but those who want to express themselves as another gender okay. Once allowed they can apply for special government funding.
-No action at this time 

HB2009 Bill Against Child Bigamy
Sponsor: Rep. D Lujan, would bar judges from awarding custody to a parent who engages in child bigamy.
-
Held.

SM1003 Citizenship for Same-Sex Couples (Senator Rebecca Rios)
Asks Congress to enact the “uniting American Families Act,” which allows same-sex partners of immigrants to be given permanent residency.
-See Article Is Governor Forcing State Domestic Partner Benefits? 
-This bill had no action.

HB 2387 Aid in Dying Rep. Linda Lopez sponsored this bill which is similar to the Oregon euthanasia law.
-Not yet assigned to committee.

HB2480-482R Aggravated Luring (Rep. Adams, Crandall, Burges, Campbell, Koponichi and Murphy.) Adds “luring minor for sexual exploitation” and “to receive 17 years.”  This allows the state to go after those who lure kids into prostitution.
-Governor signed into law.

HB2612-482R Dangerous Crimes Against Children  Those (18 and older) who commit dangerous crimes against children in 1st Degree sexual assault (12 and under) can receive life without parole unless commuted. (AFD checked into this bill and it is said it was passed last year but was not included in the wording. This adds the wording.)
-No Action at this time. 

HB2129 Internet Age Misrepresentation (Rep. Bob Robson) Makes it illegal to misrepresent your age on the Internet for purposes of luring minors.
-Governor signed into law.

HB2713 Student Religious Liberties Act  (Rep. Doug Clark)
A public educational institution shall not discriminate against students or parents on the basis of a religious viewpoint or on the basis of religious expression. Each public educational institution shall permit religious viewpoints in the same manner and to the same extent as secular viewpoints.
-Passed House Moving Through Senate.

HCR2065 Marriage (Rep. Jim Weiers, Barto, many others) States marriage would be defined as between a man and woman only.
-Passed Judiciary Committee. Billed stopped due to change in bill. Amendment added which entirely changed the bill.


2.
Two Abortion Bills were vetoed by democratic Governor Napolitano. One was the partial birth bill making partial birth abortions illegal.  The second bill was for parental notification. Both the House and Senate approved the bills.
 

3. Will Your Wallet Look Like Swiss Cheese?
[Governor] Napolitano Seeking 12 Massive Government Programs
Az Conservative

      In spite of record deficits, Governor Napolitano spoke in her State of the State address FOR new levels of state government spending.

By giving all manner of items to people, Napolitano plans to run for the next federal Senate seat.

      The state currently has no money allocated to pay for them and we are currently in debt!  By giving wonderful programs, she will be removing more money out of everyone’s pockets.  Can you afford more taxes with increased gas prices?

1.       Free college education

2.       All day kindergarten

3.       Raising dropout age to 18

4.       New schools and a Phoenix medical school

5.       (15% of students do not speak English) More English language instruction

6.       Homebuyers’ Bill of Rights

a)   License Loan Officers

b)   Go after Unlawful Escrow (they’re already doing this)

7.       Comprehensive Immigration Reform

8.       More money to Child Protection Services

9.       More Roads & Public Transit

10.   More Controls on Electricity - all utilities provide 15% of their electricity from renewable sources. Ten percent of fuel should be low in carbon emissions.

11.   More veteran counselors

12.   More govern. health information
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4.  Is Governor Forcing State Domestic Partner Benefits?
A proposal to give state employees and retired employee domestic partner benefits was quietly filed at the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office in December.  The public was given 30 days to comment. This idea was given to a state oversight (Napolitano appoint-ted) committee to decide. The health benefits would apply to same sex and unmarried couples.  Four of the seven voted for passage with three absent or abstaining.

This forces the state to pay out an additional $1.3 to $4.2 million dollars in benefits in just the first year. The program will begin in December.

Only thirteen states and District of Columbia have passed similar benefits.

 

5. Passing Sexually-Oriented Business Regulations in Your Community
Daniel Weiss, www.citizenlink.org/FOSI/pornography/A000006326.cfm

Many cities and counties in America have never considered that sexually-oriented businesses (SOBs) could target their communities, but if they haven't put in place tough, constitutionally sound regulations they may be vulnerable. Once such businesses set up shop, it is much more difficult to remove them than to pass good ordinances in the first place.

  

Legal Restrictions

If your community is vulnerable and you want to protect it, consider these key points about SOB regulation:

 

1) The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that communities may not ban SOBs outright. The Court maintains that such businesses—provided they don't violate the law—have a right to exist.

 

2) However, the Court also ruled that communities can relegate SOBs to certain areas of town in order to mitigate their undesirable secondary effects. Hundreds of land-use studies have found that SOBs increase crime and blight and decrease property values where they are located. A community can pass an ordinance restricting such businesses to industrial areas or require that they be located a certain distance from parks, churches, schools and residential neighborhoods.

 

3) The Supreme Court also allows communities to pass what are known as time and manner restrictions. This type of ordinance can restrict such businesses from operating late at night (after midnight) when crime tends to increase. Also, restrictions on how such a business operates are constitutionally sound. Such regulations can include requiring background checks for all employees (to weed out convicted felons), requiring a no-touch rule for strip clubs, removing doors from "peep show" booths, prohibiting alcohol from being sold at strip clubs, or requiring such businesses to be licensed by the city.

 

 

 

For more information

If you'd like to take action to protect your community, Focus on the Family encourages you to seek guidance from trained attorneys specializing in these matters. For reference purposes we include the following recommendations:

 

Alliance Defense Fund

15100 N. 90th Street
Scottsdale, Arizona 85260

Phone: 1-800-TELL-ADF

Our Country Should Do Better. Our Country Can Do Better!