Key Points: The two bills aim to ban the use of students’ preferred pronouns and bathrooms Both measures have been previously vetoed by Gov. Hobbs Kavanagh aims to put the measures on the ballot if the governor doesn’t approve them Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, has spent years pushing "culture war" bills, and this year is no different despite Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs's repeated vetoes. The veteran lawmaker has seen Hobbs axe measures in the past two legislative sessions barring teachers from using students’ preferred pronouns and prohibiting transgender students' use of their preferred bathrooms.  Now new versions of those same two proposals are just a vote away from heading to a sure veto stamp from Gov. Hobbs.  Kavanagh said he had hoped this year would be different after Democrats' jarring defeats in last November’s elections signaled support from voters for his point of view. However, House and Senate Democrats have remained united against the bills. "Because of the major backlash to illegal immigration and all this wokeness that cost the Democrats the presidential election, I thought that maybe the Democrats have moderated and they would support these bills,'' he said in an interview with Capitol Media Services. "Apparently they have not moderated, so I will bring them back next year as ballot referrals.'' Sending the proposals directly to voters bypasses the governor, as lawmakers did last year with bills on illegal immigration that were opposed by Hobbs but approved at the ballot box. With Hobbs facing a reelection battle next year, putting hot-button measures on the same ballot would remind voters that she opposes them as well.  Hobbs has stood firm against Republicans who control the House and Senate vetoing 52 bills so far this legislative session. Recently, in a single day, she rejected 33 bills, including one that Republican supporters named the Arizona Immigration, Cooperation and Enforcement Act. The Arizona ICE Act would have required law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration authorities and detain people with questionable immigration status for federal agents.  On April 28, the House gave final approval to another culture war measure that splits Democrats and Republicans along ideological lines, showing their stark differences on issues involving gender identity and sexual preferences. House Bill 2438 removes the ability of transgender Arizonans from having their birth certificates changed if they have sex reassignment surgery.  Democrats called it an attack on an individual's ability to have their documents reflect reality and compared it to "genocide.'' Republicans called it a common-sense application of “natural law.”  It, too, is likely to be vetoed, given Hobbs' support for LGBTQ rights. The two other measures expected to get House votes this week tackle issues Kavanagh and other GOP lawmakers have championed. They argue the need to reinforce parents' rights and the safety of female students.  Senate Bill 1002 prohibits school employees from addressing a student by a pronoun different from the one assigned at birth unless a parent is informed and gives written permission.  Democrats strongly opposed the measure, saying issues like gender can be an important part of growing up for some students — a process teachers play a large part in "All it is are kids exploring who they are, and that is a good thing,'' said Rep. Nancy Gutierrez, D-Tucson, a high school teacher. She said that for students who might be fearful of being thrown out of their home because they are gay or transgender, having teachers and other school staff support them is critical.  "So can we please just respect our young students and allow them this,'' she said during a debate on the bill banning different pronouns. "I promise you, they need to feel respected in school.''   Kavanagh and other backers argue that parents need to know if their child is struggling with their gender identity and schools are wrong to sidestep their wishes and call them by a differing pronoun without informing them. Rep. Lisa Fink, R-Glendale, said Arizona's parents' bill of rights gives parents the ultimate authority to direct the upbringing and education of their children and Kavanagh’s proposal solidifies that.   "What we're seeing is that, yes, many of these kids do present with a mental health challenge, but it's being hidden from the parents,'' Fink said. "Parents need to know and need to understand if their child is having some difficulties, that they have the ultimate responsibility, not the school, in transitioning these children.'' The second Kavanagh measure, Senate Bill 1003, tackles the use of bathrooms by transgender students. It requires schools to provide private bathrooms for any student unwilling or unable to use a multi-occupancy restroom, changing room or shower.  Kavanagh focused on locker rooms and showers, saying that girls should not be subjected to a biological male showering in the same area. "Human beings have an innate sense of modesty. Maybe it's protective, especially in the case of females,'' Kavanagh told the Senate Education Committee early this session.  "This bill simply respects that basic human sense of privacy for the same gender only in these kinds of situations,'' he continued. "By the same token, this bill tries to accommodate transgender people or anybody who's uncomfortable ... by saying provide an alternate location.'' House Democrats noted that Kavanagh has been pushing "bathroom bills'' for more than a decade — he first focused on adults before pivoting to schools in recent years.  "SB1003 takes direct aim at transgender students by restricting their ability to use restrooms and other facilities,'' Rep. Patty Contreras, D-Phoenix, said. "While these bills are designed to ensure student safety, they stigmatize our transgender students, putting them more in harm's way.'' Contreras said the bill was being "peddled by lawmakers in Arizona in an effort to sow fear and division'' and called it unnecessary. "Just let these people go relieve themselves,'' she said. "Let the students, let the adults, let the transgender folks go to the bathroom where they feel they need to go.'' Republicans see it differently, and they believe they have the public's support. They have resisted Democrats who have argued that lawmakers should address more important issues like housing. "This bill is on a different topic, one that voters have told us is important to them, one that is important to families who are incredibly concerned about efforts to carve them out of their children's education and their children's development,'' said Rep. Alexander Kolodin, R-Scottsdale.  Hobbs vetoed an identical Kavanagh bill last year, echoing arguments made in the Legislature this year. "As I have said time and time again, I will not sign legislation that attacks Arizonans,'' she wrote.  She also vetoed a version of the pronouns bill in 2023, saying, "I will veto every bill that aims to attack and harm children. Kavanagh attempted to circumvent the governor last year, pushing not only legislation but also ballot referrals. Then-Sen. Ken Bennett, R-Prescott, refused to support the ballot referral. He did vote for the bill Hobbs had vetoed, but it never received a House vote last year, so another veto never happened. "I can probably identify three or four of my nephews and nieces that would fall under some of these situations, and I have to always think of them on behalf of everyone who's in one of these situations,'' he said at the time. "How would I want a state law to affect them at such tender ages?'' Bennett expressed concern that once the measure was passed by voters, any unintended consequences could not be fixed. That's because the state Voter Protection Act bars lawmakers from repealing voter-approved laws and severely restricts their ability to amend them unless those changes "further the intent'' of the original law. Bennett is now gone, having been defeated in his GOP primary reelection. And that, said Kavanagh, convinces him that he can line up the votes to get both the pronoun measure and what's been called the "bathroom bill" to voters in 2026. “I'll get them this time, because Bennett’s gone and we have an additional vote,” he said.