The Arizona Senate killed an attempt by Governor Doug Ducey to grab more power through HB2479, which would have shortened the terms of the members of the Arizona Board of Regents from eight years to four.
Education activists argue that given the fact that Governor Doug Ducey cannot seem to fill the vacant slots on the State Board of Education, there is no reason to believe he would be able to manage any appointments that might arise from his desired change.
After having spent this session ignoring desperately needed reforms to the K-12 system, and doing nothing to help stop Ducey’s effort to grab power from the Superintendent of Public Education’s Office, the Democrats finally stepped up for secondary education.
Sen. Sherwood began the debate with questions: “Do you think this is too much power? Is this a good idea?”
“Again, I think this just goes back to whoever you like sitting as governor,” replied Sen. Sylvia Allen. “If there is someone there that you particularly supported personally, you’d probably think it was a good idea. So, I guess you want to make it political; that’s fine, but if you look at it for what it is, we are asking people to take time out of their lives and serve a long period of time on that Board.”
“I want to pump the breaks on this bill a little bit. I don’t think it is wise for us to allow one person in the Executive Branch to pick their select people any way they see fit. In regards to whether I think it is a good idea – you know who do you like – as if that should determine whether we do this power change. I don’t think it is about who you like in power at all. Quite the contrary, it is about what’s wise – and what’s wise is breaking these things up and staggering it to make sure that no one can ever do that. This isn’t an issue of smaller government or bigger government. Someone is running this bill for different government, and it is not justified.”
Governor Ducey has offered few justifications for his legislation this year. Confident that Republicans, like Senate President Andy Biggs, and House Majority Whip David Livingston will carrry his water, the governor has pushed his agenda with success while the voters and their elected representatives have been pushed to the side.
| Member Name | Vote | Member Name | Vote | Member Name | Vote |
| Sylvia Allen | Y | Nancy Barto | Y | Carlyle Begay | Y |
| David Bradley | N | Judy Burges | Y | Olivia Cajero Bedford | N |
| Lupe Contreras | N | Andrea Dalessandro | N | Jeff Dial | N |
| Susan Donahue | Y | Adam Driggs | N | Steve Farley | N |
| David C. Farnsworth | Y | Gail Griffin | Y | Katie Hobbs | N |
| John Kavanagh | Y | Debbie Lesko | Y | Barbara McGuire | N |
| Robert Meza | N | Catherine Miranda | N | Lynne Pancrazi | N |
| Steve Pierce | N | Martin Quezada | N | Andrew C. Sherwood | N |
| Don Shooter | Y | Steve Smith | Y | Bob Worsley | N |
| Steve Yarbrough | Y | Kimberly Yee | Y | Andy Biggs | Y |