Key Points

• “Valor Act” would criminalize impersonating a veteran.
• The bill passed out of the House unanimously but is held in the Senate Judiciary and Elections Committee. 
• Republicans and Democrats in the House called on Sen. Wendy Rogers to stop blocking the bill. 

A bipartisan group of lawmakers are calling on Arizona’s Senate president to advance legislation that would establish criminal offenses for people who impersonate an armed forces veteran. 

The House passed HB2030, titled the “Master Sergeant Orlando Dona Valor Act,” on Feb. 11, 58-0. 

But nearly a month after the bill was assigned to the Senate Judiciary and Elections Committee on Feb. 27, the bill has yet to receive a hearing.

Now, House legislators are accusing Sen. Wendy Rogers, R-Flagstaff, of using her position as chair of the committee to block the bill that passed unanimously out of the House. 

“Silence in this is compliance in this,” said the sponsor of the bill, Rep. Walt Blackman, R-Snowflake, during a March 19 press conference with veterans and other lawmakers. “Those members who have not spoken up and said that this is wrong, you have veterans in your communities; in every single district in this state.”

Blackman, a U.S. Army veteran, said he believes the reason for Rogers’ inaction is personal. In 2024, Rogers and Blackman both ran in Legislative District 7, but Rogers, a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, was a staunch supporter of Blackman’s primary opponent Steve Slaton.

On his website, Slaton claimed that he worked as a crew chief and co-pilot on a Cobra helicopter, serving in Vietnam and Korea. But the DD-214, the official military record, does not mention Vietnam, and only that he was listed as a helicopter repairman in Korea.

Blackman and the Navajo County Republican Committee accused Slaton of altering his military records on the campaign trail to falsely claim service and military commendations from Vietnam. And although Slaton has repeatedly denied the accusation, Rogers continued to support him after many Republicans called for him to drop out of the race.

Blackman said he believes Rogers and Sen. Mark Finchem, R-Prescott, are protecting Slaton by attempting to kill his bill. 

“This is a no-brainer bill,” Blackman said. “I am asking Senator Rogers and I am asking Senator Finchem to either get on board or get out of the way.”

Neither Rogers nor Finchem responded to requests for comment sent from the Arizona Capitol Times.

On the morning of March 19, Blackman and the House Government Committee passed a striker amendment on SB1424 that carried the same language as Blackman’s House bill. If that Senate bill passes out of the House, it would only need to return to the Senate for a full vote, allowing Blackman to bypass Rogers’ committee.

SB1424 is sponsored by Sen. Shawnna Bolick, R-Phoenix, who said she agreed to run the striker to keep the bill moving forward. Both of Bolick’s grandfathers served in the U.S. armed forces. 

“We should not be putting personalities over good policy,” Bolick said. 

Because of the criminal penalties that are associated with the bill, it was assigned to Rogers’ committee. Blackman said he doesn’t blame Senate President Warren Petersen for assigning it to Rogers, but called on him to either assign his bill to a different committee or put Bolick’s bill up for a vote when it returns to the Senate. 

Petersen said in a text to the Arizona Capitol Times that he’s unwilling to circumvent his committee chairmen.

“As President, I have empowered my chairmen. If they hold a bill, it is dead, even if I like the bill. I think it is good for the institution when leadership respects their chairmen and does not go around them,” Petersen said.