Republicans introduced bills that Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed in previous years as the period for prefiling got underway Monday. 

Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, reintroduced two bills Democrats heavily opposed last year about transgender rights at public schools. He told the Arizona Capitol Times on Dec. 3 he had run compromise versions of the bills last year in an attempt to get Hobbs on board with them, but the recent election showed him that voters are rejecting “woke” ideology. 

“I’m hoping that the governor and some of the Democrats have now learned their lesson from this election where, amongst other things, their uber wokeness was rebutted,” Kavanagh said.

One measure, SB1002, would prohibit school employees from calling a student by a pronoun that differs from the student’s birth sex or by a name that isn’t listed on their official school record unless a parent provides written permission to do so. 

Employees could refer to a student by a nickname that is commonly associated with their name. 

Last year’s version of the bill required schools to notify a student’s parents if an employee called a student by a preferred pronoun or name and didn’t require employees to use a student’s preferred pronoun if it was contrary to an employee’s “religious or moral convictions.”

The new legislation would ban the practice of using preferred pronouns and names that differ from a student’s sex without parental permission, and employees could still refuse even with parental permission on the grounds of religious or moral reasons. 

Another measure, SB1003, would require schools to provide a reasonable accommodation to any person who is unwilling or unable to use a restroom, changing facility or sleeping quarters that is designated for their sex.

Kavanagh said last year’s version of the bill was softer since it was limited to just shower rooms. He pointed to Hobbs’ willingness to work with President-elect Donald Trump on immigration issues as a reason why he hoped for Democrats to be swayed this year with his bills.

A spokesman for Hobbs said Dec. 3 that her stance since she vetoed prior versions of Kavanagh’s bills hasn’t changed, and the measures will likely again be met with a veto stamp if they get to her desk. 

“As I have said time and time again, I will not sign legislation that attacks Arizonans,” Hobbs wrote in her veto letter of Kavanagh’s shower bill from the 2024 legislative session, SB1182.

Republicans are also pushing a once-vetoed election measure from 2023 that they say would increase the speed of reporting election night results. 

The measure was the first prefiled Senate bill, SB 1001. It would require people who turn in mailed ballots after the Friday before Election Day to present identification when dropping off their ballots. 

The bill sponsor Sen. J.D. Mesnard, R-Chandler, says this would eliminate the lengthy process of validating hundreds of thousands of signatures for mailed ballots that are delivered days before or on Election Day.

Hobbs vetoed Mesnard’s legislation in 2023, and he called on Hobbs to sign the bill in 2025 in a Nov. 8 news release. 

“Ignoring this problem is a complete disservice to our voters who are taking their precious time to exercise their civic duty. It also continually puts us in the national spotlight, and not in a good way,” Mesnard said in the news release. 

Senate President Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, has spoken highly of the measure and said Republicans are trying to replicate election result reporting from Florida. Petersen wrote in a post on X that he met with Florida’s Secretary of State Cord Byrd to discuss ways to get election results out faster, which include establishing a cutoff for dropping off early ballots at polling places. 

Democrats are opposed to the election measure and argue it would make voting more difficult since people wouldn’t be able to drop off ballots of people in their household. 

Hobbs vetoed the 2023 version of the bill, SB1597, and wrote in her veto letter that it would present logistical and cost challenges for election administrators. 

As of Dec. 3, the only prefiled bill that wasn’t vetoed in an earlier version was HB2001, a measure from Rep. Matt Gress, R-Phoenix, that would require the State Board of Behavioral Health Examiners to issue a temporary license to a college graduate in the process of applying for an associate level license if they’ve completed a course of study in behavioral therapy fields.

Gress’ bill is an attempt to get college graduates practicing more quickly in the behavioral health field.

That measure never made it to Hobb’s desk in 2024, but it was widely opposed by most Democrats and some Republicans. It failed in the Senate in a 14-16 vote as HB2509.