Is it time to disband the Arizona Legislature and streamline operations by letting the Center for Arizona Policy’s Cathi Herrod run the state?

I ask after reading the Arizona Mirror report on the state’s 2-1-1 service.

2-1-1, as you may know, is the community and information referral line run by the Crisis Response Network– the place you call if you need to know where to go to get help. If you need to find housing or shelter. If you need to find food or find a way to keep the electricity on.

During the Great Recession, the state Legislature eliminated its $2.6 million in state funding for the program.

Senate Bill 1011 would restore $1.5 million to 2-1-1, which now subsists on a wing and a prayer and $300,000 it gleans from other sources. But the bill is in trouble.

Why, you ask?

Because Cathi Herrod doesn’t like it.

When Herrod says 'jump,' they listen

Arizona’s 2-1-1 service fielded more than 950,000 calls last year. But three of those more than 950,000 calls – 1, 2, 3 – were from people seeking information about abortion, the Mirror’s Jerod MacDonald-Evoy reported.

0.0003 may not sound like much, but it's enough to draw opposition from Herrod.

In other words, enough to kill the bill – and essentially, the service – unless our leaders agree to change it to Herrod’s satisfaction.

Herrod is the unofficial official who runs the state of Arizona, the head of the political powerhouse for social conservatives, the Center for Arizona Policy. She’s long been on Gov. Doug Ducey’s kitchen cabinet, and she keeps key Republican legislators on her speed dial.

When Herrod says “jump,” our leaders leap to do her bidding.

It’s why a House committee recently spent two hours hearing testimony on a hideous abortion bill that not a single person supported – not even its Democratic sponsor who asked that it be withdrawn because it was mistakenly drafted to legalize infanticide. But the hearing went forward anyway, so Herrod could hold what amounted to a two-hour anti-abortion rally.

Should 900K other callers pound sand?

Herod is the driving force behind the Legislature’s continued efforts to make abortion more difficult and the court's continued rulings to throw out many of those laws. She was a major player in the drive to create a universal school voucher program – the one that voters essentially vetoed.

She made sure the Equal Rights Amendment was a no-go at the Legislature this year and she's right there on the front lines any time there’s talk of outlawing discrimination based upon sexual orientation or gender identity.

Pretty much what she says goes in this state.

So if Herrod isn’t happy with 2-1-1, its chances of funding being restored are essentially zilch.

Strike that. It’s chances are zilch without her OK.

“Longstanding public policy in Arizona promotes life. That policy prohibits any taxpayer funding of abortion,” Herrod told MacDonald-Evoy.

Herod wants an amendment to “ensure that taxpayer funding for the 211 system would not include providing information regarding or referrals for abortions or to entities that provide abortions,”

In other words, to bar 2-1-1 from answering questions from the 0.0003 percent of callers who have a question related to abortion.

If she doesn’t get it, the other 99.9997 percent of callers in crisis – people who need help – can pound sand.

Reach Roberts at laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com.