As one of the most outspoken House Democrats, Rep. Steve Gallardo has had ample opportunity to speak this session, as the Republican majority has pushed for numerous pieces of legislation he and his caucus oppose, ranging from private school vouchers to requiring identification to cast a provisional ballot to making English the state’s official language.

The District 13 lawmaker currently serves on the Phoenix Union High School District governing board and has previously served on the Cartwright Elementary School District governing board. Before being elected to the Legislature, Mr. Gallardo was the campaign finance manager for the Maricopa County Elections Department.

He sat down for an interview with Arizona Capitol Times on May 3.

Immigrant issues have been an especially hot topic this session, even after Proposition 200’s passage in November. Why is this issue front and center now?

[Prop. 200 was passed by voters in 2004 and, in part, requires voters and those seeking public benefits to provide I.D., and also proof of citizenship at registration.]

There are two reasons. One is, I believe, that the entire state — not even the state, the entire country — is feeling the frustration of a broken immigration policy that we have in our country. However, I think it’s important to outline that fixing a federal problem cannot happen on the floor of the [Arizona] House of Representatives. It has to happen in our national capital, in Washington, D.C.

I believe that we all share in that frustration and we should be using that energy to encourage our congressional representatives and our president to finally do something — step up to the plate and solve some of our immigration problems. That’s not being done.

I talk to people in Washington and they tell me, “Steve, immigration’s not an issue here in D.C. It’s an Arizona issue.” So, I believe more pressure [is needed] from our state to Congress to actually step up to the plate and do something in regards to our border.

Two, I believe that the ultra-conservative wing of our Legislature is using Prop. 200 as a way to further more of their legislation. English-only [HCR2030 and S1364] is one. Universities [H2030 would restrict access to state colleges] and a lot of our voting measures and procedures. A lot of these bills, they’re using as an extension of Prop. 200.

Many of those bills do have unintended consequences. Those unintended consequences are not going to hurt the immigrant community or slow down people crossing the border, it’s going to hurt U.S. citizens here in our country who are trying to apply for simple public services, who are trying to attend some of our colleges, our universities, our adult education classes. Those are the folks who are going to be affected by a lot of this legislation.

Do you think these bills are a result of the attorney general’s narrow interpretation of the effects of Proposition 200?

No. I believe that, regardless of the attorney general’s interpretation of it, they are definitely using Prop. 200 as a springboard. The AG’s opinion pretty much clarified what we were saying before the campaign, that Prop. 200 was a poorly drafted piece of legislation. There were a lot of concerns, questions. The whole idea of what is a public benefit — what is the definition of a public benefit — these were concerns that we brought up.

When you start talking about the voting provisions of it, it never even talked about provisional balloting. These were issues we brought up even before the election, but they’re now coming to light.

As they start to implement Prop. 200, all the arguments we brought before the election are now coming to light, and they’re trying to fix it. And they’re trying to fix it with some of these bills.

And, to this point, the Republicans have opposed putting the Proposition 105 stipulations on those bills, which would require a 3/4 vote to change a voter-approved mandate.

And that’s one of the biggest frustrations of this whole process, that they continue to state that this is not an extension of Prop. 200, that this has nothing to do with Prop. 200, yet the elements of the circumstances behind it relate to Prop. 200 and they’re trying to fix Prop. 200. They keep referring about the overwhelming support they had for Prop. 200, and yet, it’s not an extension of Prop. 200.

Earlier, you mentioned immigration reform on the federal level. What kind of immigration reform is needed, or is any needed at all?

They definitely have to address the idea of people coming into our country legally — the whole process of being able to come to our country legally [on] a very simple path. Two, they have to look at the whole citizenship process, how one becomes a citizen.

The whole eligibility, the whole way of becoming a citizen is broken. What at one point used to take maybe a year or two, back 30, 40 years ago, now is taking five, six, seven years in order to accomplish it. So, I believe the whole path to citizenship needs to be looked at.

The whole idea of a guest-worker program needs to be looked at. The bottom line is that folks are coming into our country to work. The bottom line is we need them for our economy — we need them to serve in some of these service-industry jobs. For us not to provide that path is really, definitely, in denial. So, why not fix the problem? And, we could definitely fix it with a guest-worker program.

The whole struggle, now, is getting them to talk about it.

Gun safety is another issue you have spoken about several times on the floor. What sort of involvement should the state have in protecting citizens — especially children — from firearms?

This has been a big issue in my district. Over the last probably six months, we’ve had probably anywhere from five to six kids — we’re talking kids under the age of 10 — who had got their hands on a firearm and have either hurt themselves or killed another kid.

The whole idea of gun safety is something that this Legislature has not addressed. We talk about gun rights, we talk about the right to bear arms — I totally support the Second Amendment, but I think we forget to talk about gun safety. We forgot to talk about kids who are staying home and gun owners who are negligent. We have failed to discuss those issues and I believe that the state has got to start debating those issues.

I’ve introduced bills this session dealing with gun safety and they’ve yet to receive a hearing, but I think it’s something that the state needs to start talking about. Gun safety is something that this Legislature has failed to want to discuss.

Before being elected, you worked for the Maricopa County Elections Department. How did your experience there shape the elections legislation you have drafted?

A lot. Unfortunately, when you start dealing with election-related bills, I think many members don’t truly understand the entire logistics of our elections process, and to be able to bring that expertise to the Capitol has benefited not only my way of thinking, but the way many of my colleagues are looking at some of these election bills.

Some times you read a bill and say, “Oh, this is really simple and I understand it,” but it has some unintended consequences that they’re not aware of. To be able to understand the entire logistics and how complicated elections are benefits us.

In the 14 years there [at the County Elections Department] I learned so much, not just the candidate filing, campaign finance, ballot tabulations, but I learned the whole back-room-type process that needs to go on.

Some of the provisions in Prop. 200 when I read them, with regards to voter I.D., I was able to list a whole slew of concerns. One was the
actual provisional voting, and that’s an issue that we’re dealing with now. And the AG has come out and said, there’s a problem. Prop. 200 never indicated provisional voting.

Do I believe that was the intent of the drafters? No. I believe if they truly understood the logistics of elections, they would have been able to fix it before putting it on the ballot.

Why should the state move to a vote-by-mail-only system?

That’s something that I definitely have supported. I sponsored a bill a couple years ago [and this session, H2334] that actually went that way. Two things: if you look at those cities and towns that have all mail-in ballot elections, you have seen several things — Paradise Valley is one particular one, Litchfield [Park] is another — they have doubled the increase of voter turnout and they have lowered the cost of their elections. Bottom line.

If you start looking at voter apathy, we start wanting to look at different ways to energize the electorate of the state of Arizona, to get people involved in our democratic process. But we fail to look at what people want. They want convenience. You look at the number of people who are voting in our elections, more and more are voting by mail — it’s simple, it’s easy, they can do it from home.

Many of our citizens are working two jobs, are raising families, it’s very difficult for them to get to the polls. So, how do we make it more convenient? I think an all-mail ballot is our answer.

It will increase voter turnout in our state and lower the cost of the election — what’s not to like?

The fear behind the all-mail-ballot election has always been what’s going to be the outcome? That’s where the partisan politics gets into play, is that Republicans don’t know if it’s going to benefit Democrats or them, Democrats don’t know if it’s going to support Democrats or Republicans.

The bottom line [is] they benefit the state of Arizona. Any time you can have an increase in voter participation, it’s a win-win. You look at this previous Maricopa County election where we created a hospital district — I mean, this thing is costing taxpayers millions and millions of dollars, but yet the voter turnout was very minimal. You look at the Maricopa Community College bond election — this is a billion-dollar bond election, but yet voter turnout was very minimal.

I believe any time you can increase voter turnout in those areas and in statewide elections, it’s a big win for the state of Arizona.

What can the state do to ensure as few voters as possible are disenfranchised?

In regards to Prop. 200?

Yes.

It was probably the biggest impact to minority voters, elderly voters and rural voters. They are now stating that you are having to apply identification in order to vote. You look at the folks that are voting at the polls on election day — and, keep in mind, the voter ID only applies at the polls, it doesn’t apply to early ballots — they are your elderly people, they are your minority communities and rural Arizona. Those are the folks that are going to be impacted

In this particular case, I believe provisional balloting is a must. You must have provisional balloting, not just for that segment of our society, but for any one. Anyone who shows up to the polls without proper identification should be given the opportunity of voting a provisional ballot.

What we have seen in previous bills, and H2044 was the provisional balloting bill that the governor vetoed — this bill would have stated a certain segment of our population gets a provisional ballot. Not everybody, only a certain segment. If you meet these criteria, you get to vote a provisional ballot. If you don’t, regardless if you’re a citizen, regardless if you’re an eligible voter, regardless if you have voted all these years, you’re still not voting.

I believe provisional balloting must be opened up for anyone who shows up at the polls. Having that voter vote a provisional ballot is more safe than actually showing ID, because now you’re verifying the actual signature of every ballot, every ballot is being verified.

When you go to the polls and you show ID, you are depending on the worker there at the polls. You’re depending on them to make a crucial judgment — is this person him or not? With provisional balloting, it’s going back to the elections department where you have experts that are going to look and analyze every single ballot.

If folks were so concerned with the protection of the integrity of our elections, let’s look at all-mail-ballot elections, because every mail ballot is analyzed. Every ballot is checked to make sure they’re a citizen and it’s the right person. Voter ID only took care of the people that went to the polls, it never talked about vote-by-mail.

How does your work on the PUHSD board and at the Legislature intertwine?

It has played a tremendous benefit. To be able to be on an elementary and a high school board and be at the Legislature brings a whole new perspective of what some of our local governing boards are dealing with.

AIMS [Arizona’s Instrument to Measure Standards] is the perfect example. One of the biggest concerns on every one of our campuses is AIMS. How are we going to get some of these kids who are trying very hard, who are attending the classes, who are attending the AIMS prep sessions, but are still trying very hard to be able to pass AIMS, how are we going to deal with those kids? I’m able to take that information back to the school board and take information from the school board and bring it back to the Legislature, hopefully to come up with legislation that will benefit not only Phoenix Union, but the entire state.

You recently had a group of students from Phoenix Camelback High School visit you at the Legislature. What sort of insight did they gain to the political process and what kind of advice did you give them?

These were all seniors, they’re all graduating, many of them are going to college. My message to them was to continue that education. Education is key. My second message is to be able to inform them that they’re able to do anything that they want. Here I am, I’m a legislator who’s not much older than many of these students, I come from the same neighborhoods that they do, I was born and raised in the West Valley, I was born and raised on the playground, and what I told them was, “When I was your age, I never thought the governor of the state of Arizona would know who I am. Not only does she know who I am, she’ll call me and ask me what I think.” That’s a wonderful feeling.

You can do anything you want in your life, and that was my message to them, as long as they have it in their heart and their minds that they want to do something, they can do it. A lot of these kids face some major hurdles in their lives. There’s a lot of struggles they have to deal with on a daily basis. But, anything is possible, as long as they have in their heart and their mind what they want to do.

Thank you.

Any time. Thank you. —