Katie Hobbs’ Desk is Where Bills Go To Die

Arizona’s Soros-backed governor has vetoed a record 140-plus bills since taking office in January, defying the will of the people and a nearly bipartisan legislature

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) has vetoed a record 140 bills in her first 6 months in office, the bulk of which were bipartisan proposals advanced by a thin Republican majority in the state legislature, according to new analysis by Restoration News.

By June 2023, Hobbs’ vetoes skyrocketed to a legislative session record of 142 and her first legislative session as governor isn’t even over yet. Hobbs’ actions have crippled the state’s election security, protected Fentanyl abuse, helped maintain critical race theory in schools, declared war on parents—and she’s only been in office 7 months.

These vetoes reflect her radical stances on abortion, education, illegal immigration, election integrity, and Second Amendment gun rights, among others.

Recall that her 2022 campaign was backed by mega-donor George Soros, while Hobbs herself was responsible—as Secretary of State—for certifying her own razor-thin victory, over Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake in 2022.  

She’s out of touch with Arizonans and is acting more like the tyrannical governor of California, Illinois, or New York than the head of a purple state. Here we’ve collected some of the bills Hobbs has blocked from becoming law.

Education

Unlike other red and purple states that have banned the teaching of divisive and anti-American critical race theory curriculum in the classroom, Hobbs chose to veto a measure adding Arizona to that list—issuing only a brief statement:

It is time to stop utilizing students and teachers in culture wars based on fearmongering and unfounded accusations . . . Bills like SB1305 only serve to divide and antagonize.

After a local couple lost their jobs for allegedly creating sexually explicit content on school grounds for use on the pornographic platform OnlyFans, a bill was filed that would have prevented state entities from “exposing minors to sexually explicit materials” or using state facilities to “film or facilitate sexually explicit acts.”

Hobbs claimed the wording of the bill was vague and amounted to a “thinly veiled effort to ban books,” despite her own party’s hypocritical efforts to censor opposing voices.  

Another measure would have prevented the state health department from ever requiring students to get vaccinated with inoculations that received “emergency use authorization” from the FDA. In addition, she vetoed SB 1250 that would have enshrined religious exemptions for vaccinations.

Southern Border, Guns, and Culture War

HB 2469 set out tackle Fentanyl trafficking across Arizona’s southern border by declaring it a public health crisis. Hobbs vetoed the bill claiming it didn’t address underfunding issues for the state health department.

She also rejected bills that would have increased penalties for Fentanyl possession, and legislation that would have imposed a 10-year prison term for anyone selling–or attempting to sell–a single pill with two or more milligrams inside.

State lawmakers attempted to prevent transgender students from using restrooms and locker rooms that don’t match their biological gender; Hobbs called the effort “yet another discriminatory act against LGBTQ+ youth passed by the majority at the state Legislature.” She had already set the bar low by rejecting legislation forbidding teachers from using a student’s preferred pronoun.

SB 1026 would have barred the use of public funds, or the use of state-funded entities, for a “drag show targeting minors.” This was defined as any adult performers dressing in clothing and makeup of the opposite sex to exaggerate “gender signifiers and roles,” targeting an audience under 18. Yet Hobbs thought this wasn’t a priority.

HB 2667 would have allowed those with concealed carry permits to bring guns onto college or university campuses. When vetoing the bill, Hobbs wrote that allowing guns to be carried or stored on campus “could lead to greater anxiety among students, staff and faculty” and gave no thought to the positive of having a defense against active shooters.

She also vetoed a House bill preventing state or local government from enforcing any measure that could create a “chilling effect” on gun ownership, nixed firearm training for students, and prevented the repeal of the state’s prohibition on suppressors.

Elections

Hobbs even vetoed legislation that her fellow Democrats supported on ballot signature verification standards.

She also took down a House bill that would have required voting machines to be produced within the U.S., rejected limits on early voting, vetoed the implementation of a chain-of-custody for ballots, along with a requirement that the secretary of state recuse themselves from overseeing an election they’re running in—the very situation she faced as a candidate in 2022.

Hobbs blocked a potential law that would have removed Arizona from the controversial Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) program, which acts as a data collection machine for identifying new Democratic voters.

She also shot down SB 1180, which would prevent anyone from paying–or receiving–money based on the number of voter registration forms they were able to collect. Vote harvesting tactic like those depicted in the election documentary 2000 Mules.

Hobbs obstructed legislation aimed at the controversial Maricopa County tabulation process, after the county was key to her win against Lake, along with a House bill that sought to allow for hand counting in the name of accuracy.

An attempt to ban “ranked choice voting,” or any form of balloting that included multiple stages of counting, was vetoed and was the second bill of its kind to be rejected by Hobbs.

Stop Hobbs’ Obstruction

Arizona’s state government is being held hostage by Hobbs and her fellow Democrats, but she isn’t up for reelection until 2026.

In the meantime, the counter is to go after more seats in the legislature. The closer Republicans get to a two-thirds supermajority in the Arizona House and Senate, the closer they are to total control of the state’s agenda.

Arizona is a moderate state. Yet its current Secretary of State, Adrian Fontes—like Hobbs—continues pushing views better suited to a state like California.

Fontes served as Maricopa County Recorder from 2016 to 2020, where under his leadership there were various irregularities, ballot-counting problems, and lawsuits that cast a shadow over the legitimacy of the vote certification.

He was also forced to apologize back in 2017 after an Arizona legislator criticized the design of an election ballot, causing him to insult the lawmaker’s mother and tell him to go “F—” himself.

In May, Restoration News was the first to report on Fontes’ appearance at a “democracy” summit in Washington, D.C., where he blasted election integrity advocates as “fascists.”

Hobbs has failed in her duty, leading to devastating results. Criminals, the Mexican drug cartels, radicalized teachers and other nefarious actors are the ones cheering her on. Not the average Arizonan. It’s time for the state’s citizens to step up and make a change, using all the means at their disposal.