opinion

A legislative checklist: Bills to live; bills to die

The Arizona Legislature is entering that chaotic stage of the session when the increasingly desperate urge to end the agony can overwhelm judgment.

We would like to help.

Bills that Arizona's 52nd Legislature must pass before concluding sine die:

— The "REAL ID" bill.

At the start of next year, Arizonans may need passports, assuming they have passports, to board an airplane.

The Department of Homeland Security created standards for drivers licenses. Arizona is reluctant (in the extreme) to follow them. Senate Bill 1273 would merely allow Arizonans who wanted REAL ID licenses to get them. Lawmakers had made them against the law in 2008.

Do not let the innocuous nod to national anti-terrorism conformity known as "REAL ID" fall victim to Washington-hate.

— Department of Child Safety transparency.

A better balance must be struck between protecting the identity of children and assuring that a vitally important agency is responsive to the children and families whose safety DCS must guarantee. Two bills sponsored by Republican Rep. Kate Brophy McGee help that balancing act.

— Background checks on behalf of returning foster kids.

Named on behalf of 19-month-old Angel Rodriguez, who was beaten to death by his mother's boyfriend after being returned to his mother's care, "Angel's Law" would require the Department of Child Safety to check the backgrounds of anyone living in a home before a foster child is returned there.

House Bill 2640 stipulates that DCS would have to consider any history of domestic violence or sexual assault before allowing a child to return.

— "Political committee" definition.

Rep. Michelle Ugenti has made an honest effort to spare citizens who speak out on political issues from becoming ensnared in laws that require political committees to register and disclose information. House Bill 2649 is a First Amendment safeguard for election-time speech. It is worth passing.

It comes in reaction to a judge's ruling tossing out the state's definition of a political committee as too vague. While protecting small, informal groups, it has the added benefit of once again subjecting candidates and organized committees to the state's campaign finance laws.

— Anti "ballot harvesting" proposal.

No other state allows third-party intermediaries to intercept mail-in ballots as freely as Arizona does. It need not be made a felony to attempt "ballot harvesting," but election integrity demands more safeguards.

Yuma Republican Sen. Don Shooter vowed to revive a version of the legislation which failed in committee earlier in the session. He should keep after it.

— Candidate ballot signatures.

Another election-law reform, House Bill 2608, would require third-party candidates to collect more than a handful of signatures to make the ballot. If signature-gathering is to be a meaningful exercise for major-party candidates, it should be the same for others.

Bills that must fail:

— Weapons in public buildings.

*Update: Legislation died in the Senate Monday.

No piece of legislation up this session provides more opportunity for calamitous unintended consequences than House Bill 2320, the proposal to allow citizens with conceal-carry permits to take weapons into public buildings. This includes, but is not limited to, public venues like libraries and baseball parks.

The bill represents nothing more than an embarrassing scramble by lawmakers to get the National Rifle Association to glue a pretty, gold star on their foreheads. It will throw the definition of public spaces into chaos and cost the state, at a minimum, another $16 million a year.

— The "$15 cap on some speeding tickets."

Occasionally, speed-merchant legislative leaders will use — that is, abuse — the power of their offices just so they can get away with driving fast. Are you hearing us, House Speaker David Gowan? House Bill 2662 effectively could push the freeway speed "limit" to almost 95 mph.

— Common Core repeal.

This is nothing more than hostility to Washington, D.C. We are in the middle of the process. It would be irresponsible to pull the standards before we know how well they work. Arizona schools have invested enormous time, money and effort into incorporating the standards. They must be given a chance.

— "Opting out" of the AzMERIT test.

This is the test linked to the Common Core standards. If fewer than 95 percent of a state's students take the test measuring the standards, the state jeopardizes $600 million a year in federal education funds, for no clear purpose.

House Bill 2246 would formalize a parent's right to opt out of the test, which replaces the AIMS graduation test. AzMERIT assesses progress and helps hold schools accountable. It should be no more optional than the AIMS test ever was.

Bills that escaped the Legislature that Gov. Ducey needs to veto:

— Anonymity in officer-involved shooting.

Senate Bill 1445 would prohibit for 60 days the release of the name of any officer 's involved in a use-of-force incident. In an era in which transparency — see: the investigation exonerating Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson — often presents a department's best defense of its actions, this is a paranoid step backward.

What's more, the legislation as drafted appears to permanently shield an officer's name in any disciplinary action, which could gut the transparency of the law enforcement disciplinary process.

— Allowing farm animals to be treated more cruelly than pets.

This is the "horses and chickens are not animals" bill. Proponents of House Bill 2150 wish to define farm animals differently from pets in order to escape anti-cruelty provisions.

Worse, it furthers a legislative "Big Brother" trend: Forbidding local governments from taking action on their own. Sort of, you know, like those feds in Washington, D.C.

— Abortion-reversal.

Per the federal Affordable Care Act, states have the right to forbid insurance companies from offering plans with abortion coverage if they are subsidized with taxpayer dollars. Arizona lawmakers wish to enact that provision. Fair enough.

But then Senate Bill 1318 goes on to mandate that patients be told that the effects of an abortion-inducing medication can be undone through an experimental process involving high doses of a hormone. The requirement is based on junk science. Quackery should not be given the imprimatur of state law.