Arizona Senate opens session, reads dozens of bills and schedules committee hearings

The Arizona Senate convened for an organizational session that included a prayer, the pledge of allegiance, roll call and the clerk27s reading of dozens of bills that were assigned to committees.

Madam Majority Leader moved, citing the state constitution, that the Senate "request consent of the House of Representatives for the Senate to adjourn on Thursday, January 16, 2025 after it has completed its labors until Wednesday, January 22, 2025," and the presiding officer announced that the ayes had it.

The prayer was led by Donna Kiefer, legislative chaplain, and the pledge was led by Senator Angus. The secretary recorded 28 senators present, none absent and two excused. The reading of the journal for Jan. 13, 2025 was dispensed with and approved as recorded by the secretary.

From the president27s desk the chamber heard appointments: the presiding officer announced the appointment of Senator Bravo to the Committee on Director Nominations, the Education Committee, the Finance Committee, the Rules Committee and to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee.

The clerk read a long series of bills by number and assigned each to committee for referral. The measures read include (but are not limited to) SB 101 (early ballots; identification; tabulation), SB 1002 (pronouns; biological [text redacted in transcript]; school policy), SB 1003 (public schools; restrooms; reasonable accommodations), SB 1005 (alternative dispute resolution justice fund), SB 1006 (fair jury improvement fund), SB 1007 (public school tax credit purposes), SB 108 (eyeglasses prescriptions), SB 109 (appropriations; nuclear emergency management farm), SB 10110 (appropriations; state department of corrections), SB 1011 (early voting ballot deadline), SB 1012 (sanitary districts; directors' payments), SB 1013 (municipalities; counties; fees), SB 1014 (prohibited weapons; muffling devices; repeal), SB 1015 (blockchain technology tax fee prohibition), SB 1016 (wind farms; location limits), SB 1017 (appropriation; historical society pioneer museum), SB 1018 (false allegations of child abuse by parents), SB 1019 (photo enforcement systems prohibition), SB 1020 (disruption at educational institutions; concealed weapons), SB 1021 (ROTC cadets; state student status), SB 1022 (small claims court jurisdictional limit), SB 1023 (critical infrastructure; prohibited agreements), SB 1024 (state agencies; payments; cryptocurrency), SB 1025 (public monies; investment; virtual currency), SB 1026/SB 1027 (measures reading included virtual currency/property tax exemption and critical telecommunications infrastructure requirements in separate reads), SB 1028 (high school graduation requirements), SB 1030 (veterinary malpractice damages), SB 1031 (cosmetic sales; bridal testing prohibitions), SB 1032 (veterinarians; malpractice and professional conduct), SB 1033 (animal seizure bond amounts), SB 1034 (ASRS return to work; prosecutors), SB 1035 (post-conviction relief proceedings; hourly rate) and numerous other SB and concurrent resolution (SCR/SCM/SRC) measures that were placed with committee references as read on the floor. Many of the measures were placed in committees such as Judiciary and Elections, Education, Finance, Appropriations, Public Safety, Government, Natural Resources, Regulatory Affairs & Government Efficiency, and Health and Human Services as indicated when each measure was read.

Several committee chairs announced meeting times and locations for early-session hearings: Senator Hoffman said the Senate Committee on Government will meet the next day for three bills at 9 a.m.; the Education Committee (Farnsworth) scheduled a Wednesday, Jan. 15 meeting at 3 p.m.; Judiciary and Elections announced a hearing Wednesday at 3 p.m. in Senate Hearing Room 2; Public Safety moved its start time and noted a 3 p.m. meeting in SHR 109; Appropriations was set for 2 p.m.; and the Senate will host Indian Nations and Tribes Legislative Day the next day at 11 a.m. in the chamber.

Near the end of the brief session a motion was made that the Senate "stand adjourned until Wednesday, January 15, 2025 at 13:15." The presiding officer put the motion, and it carried.

The session was primarily organizational: opening formalities, member attendance, presidential appointments announced from the desk, the clerk27s reading of introduced measures with committee referrals, and scheduling of committee hearings for the coming days. No floor debate on the measures read was recorded in this session.