Opening statements:
- @senbetsyjohnson won't sign bills that aren't bipartisan
- @TinaKotek says she's a leader who can solve problems, shouts out housing projects #inBend
- @ChristineDrazan asks whether anyone is better off now than four or eight years ago

https://twitter.com/JMShumway/status/1574924360544288768

Q1: Do you support Measure 114, the gun measure?

Kotek: Yes
Drazan: No. Bend Safeway shooting was caused by mental health challenges.
Johnson: No. It places a burden on small police departments.

Debate with 12 Republican candidates for governor hosted by Timber Unity is starting shortly. I’ll share highlights in a thread here. #orgov #orpol Debate will have eight questions, all about the economy, natural resources and jobs. Because there are so many candidates, they're split into odd and even groups and each group gets four questions with 60 seconds to answer. At the end, candidates can answer a fifth question

The surprise Cyber Ninjas event in a Senate hearing room is starting. The azleg site is down, but you can watch here: player.invintus.com/?clientID=6361… Senate President @FannKfann starts by saying there won't be any public testimony or questions. This is solely to hear an update from the Senate's auditors.

Quick thread recapping the strange last hour in the Senate:

When the #azleg recessed for 2 weeks in May, Gov. @dougducey vetoed all 22 bills on his desk in an attempt to push the Legislature to work on the budget. The main thing he accomplished was pissing off all 90 lawmakers @dougducey This isn’t the first time Ducey did this: in 2018, when @JDMesnard was Speaker of the House, Ducey vetoed five House bills without warning and signed every veto letter telling Mesnard to send him a budget with money for teacher raises.

Senate is back. President @FannKfann tried to call on @RickGray for a motion, but @AZKellyT interjected with a point of order to explain that there is an active motion on the table. @FannKfann @RickGray @AZKellyT Gray makes a substitute motion to adjourn until 11 a.m. Monday. @MichelleiUgenti is calling for a roll call vote on the motion to adjourn.

The Senate has finished re-passing all 22 vetoed bills. Sen. Pace just moved to override another veto and the Senate is at recess for a few minutes. P sure the bill he moved to override a veto on was S1635 (revisers' technical corrections), which was re-introduced and revoted as SB1850 just minutes ago. No idea why there would be a veto override as well as passing the new bill

And back! Starting with votes on the budget procedures BRB SB1819, the one that was just amended with a bunch of election-related things That passed 16-14, with no additional discussion

That’s it for COWs tonight. The Senate still has three bills to vote on, but first Quezada’s trying to amend the COW report to say Borrelli’s amendment failed No dice excluding the Borrelli amendment as every R voted for it. Quezada's trying again with the Townsend amendment.

Clarifying because I was able to skim it quickly: it's not retweets, but the task force would look at "algorithmic bias." Basically, the thing where some candidates are sure Twitter or Facebook are suppressing their reach.

https://twitter.com/mendezforaz/status/1407570022394830851

.@mendezforaz asked Borrelli about this. Borrelli explains that Twitter is deleting followers and "algorithms are already in the computer to make sure a certain candidate goes to the top."

Senators rejected a @SenQuezada29 amendment to remove language shifting power from @SecretaryHobbs to @GeneralBrnovich, and now they're hearing amendments from @FannKfann that fine-tunes that language The Fann amendment also creates a "special committee on the election audit," consisting of the Senate government committee members, to review the Senate's ongoing audit and present recommendations -- including a special session for legislative action if needed.

Five bills passed (all on party lines except for the higher ed bill that got @seanbowie’s vote) and they’re on the tax omnibus now. Everyone wants to comment on the so-called flat tax. #azleg Sen. @ChristinePMarsh asks if Republicans realized they lost members every year since 2011, with the exception of the year former Sen. Carlyle Begay switched from being a D to an R. Is it possible these tax cut bills had something to do with that?

The Senate's on to COW No. 5, the one with the education BRB and the 195-page amendment. There are four Dem amendments too. First up: this @jamescita amendment that includes @Supt_Hoffman’s budget requests that weren’t honored in this year’s budget

We're getting a roll call vote on this, as @SenQuezada29 moved to effectively rewrite history by saying the amendment passed

https://twitter.com/JMShumway/status/1407451450993569797

@SenQuezada29 Kinship care motion failed 14-16, with all Democrats in favor and all Republicans opposed. Now @SenQuezada29 is pushing for a roll call vote on the @NavarreteAZ amendment for expanded access to CHIP.

https://twitter.com/JMShumway/status/1407455189611601922

It’s flat tax time in the Senate! This plan has changed since introduced, so now there will be two brackets at 2.55% and 2.98% in 2022 or until revenue is at least $12.78 billion. Then 2.53% and 2.75%, going to 2.5% across the board once revenue hits $12.98 billion. The updated plan also increases state shared revenue to 18% for cities and towns and removes the triggers required for increases in unemployment insurance. It also removes some of the tax credits conservatives didn’t like.

Now on the higher ed BRB, starting with a @FannKfann amendment that prohibits universities from requiring Covid vaccines or tests. It essentially codifies @dougducey's latest executive order targeting ASU. @FannKfann @dougducey the Fann floor amendment appears to conflict with a Mendez floor amendment that would remove the prohibition on the board of regents and universities requiring Covid vaccines. people are huddling on the floor now to determine if Mendez's amendment would be nullified

Senate approved a @FannKfann amendment that will prohibit schools from requiring the Covid vaccine (at least until it's fully approved by the FDA and not just authorized for emergency use). Amendment also allows religious exemptions for employees and bans "vaccine passports." And the Senate rejected a floor amendment from @LelaAlstonAz to increase kinship care stipends for family members who keep their relatives from going to foster care from $75/month to $250/month. This has been Alston's priority for years.

Presser starting with Cyber Ninjas CEO Doug Logan. @BennettArizona says he’ll intervene if anyone tries to talk about Logan’s tweets. “We’re not here to audit Doug’s opinions.” Teams of three will sit at these tables, with a camera recording (but not streaming) every table. Logan says this will result in total accountability.

Senate is now voting on #SB1485, the PEVL-pruning bill. In a twist, Republican @AZKellyT is voting "no" — I'm not sure yet whether that's a mistake or intentional and Dems are also huddling. Sponsor @MichelleUgenti: "Obviously this bill isn't going to pass because the senator from District 15 in a show of spite and a show of rage has decided to vote against it. It's disappointing that someone who purports to care about election integrity would do this."

Senate is now back in session and starting with a final vote on #SB1457, which will ban abortions sought solely because of a genetic abnormality. Bill also includes a personhood clause, stating that fetuses should be considered full humans with all associated rights. Sen. @LelaAlstonAz, starting debate, says bans on abortions for specific reasons (race, sex, genetics) have always been about chipping away at abortion rights.

The House is a Russian nesting doll of points of order right now. And @AthenaSalman just called a point of order *on herself* to get an answer about what they're allowed to discuss after Rs objected to Dems talking about why they think #SB1485 is a bad bill during a debate about whether the COW report should be amended to say the bill failed