Illegal Immigration Issues: SB 1070
A House panel approved SB 1070, a bill designed to implement tougher federal immigration laws and give police more power to arrest suspected illegal immigrants and charge them with crimes.
The bill would make an illegal immigrant's presence in the U.S. a crime and create the charge of "willful failure to complete or carry an alien registration document." The bill also makes it a crime for illegal immigrants to work or solicit work in Arizona.
SB 1070 would require officers to ask the immigration status of anyone they come across during regular police activity. Further, those who knowingly hide, assist or carelessly ignore individuals who are known illegal immigrants would also face criminal charges.
State Parks Bill: HB 2599
Despite recent turmoil surrounding the closure of state parks, lawmakers shot down a proposed measure that would allow the Arizona State Parks Board to charge a car registration fee in order to gain money to re-open closed parks and maintain those that still exist. Lawmakers instead adopted a voluntary donation measure for the parks. Visitors will have the option to donate $10 upon registering their vehicles.
Student Insurance: HB 2295
Initial approval by the House of Representatives has pushed a bill forward that will help full-time students apply for unemployment insurance. HB 2295 would stop the Department of Economic Security from rejecting full-time students' claims based on the belief that they cannot hold a full-time job and also be a full-time student.
As it exists now, benefits are offered to those who can show they are available to work full-time, they worked a specific number of hours in a year, and they were "let go" from a job and not fired.
Sales Tax Hike: Proposition 100
Arizonans will vote whether to provisionally increase the state sales tax on the May 18 special election ballot. Proposition 100 would raise the state sales tax from 5.6 percent to 6.6 percent, an increase of one penny on every dollar spent. Legislators proposed the initiative as a possible solution to Arizona's growing deficit, now at more than $3 billion. The proposition could yield $1 billion a year.
