Key Points:

• Encampments on college campuses now illegal in state law

• Legislation requires disciplinary action against protesters from administration

• Opponents feel language is overly broad and will lead to targeted enforcement

It’s going to become a state crime to set up encampments for protests or solicitations at state universities despite some concerns that the measure is unnecessary.

Gov. Katie Hobbs penned her approval on May 7 to legislation requiring school administrators to direct those involved to “immediately dismantle the encampment and vacate the campus.” And those who do not comply would be subject to arrest on trespass charges.

Hobbs did not explain her decision. And there was no immediate response from her press aide.

The governor’s signature came after both bipartisan support — and bipartisan opposition — to the proposal sponsored by Rep. Alma Hernandez, D-Tucson.

She said she introduced the measure in the wake of pro-Palestinian protests last year, not just the ones that got national attention like at Columbia University, but also what happened at the University of Arizona and Arizona State University. She said that Jewish students felt harassed and were forced to take alternate routes through campus.

Police broke up both Arizona incidents, though tear gas and pepper balls were used on the Tucson campus.

Despite that, no one from either university or the Arizona Board of Regents signed in favor of the legislation or testified that they supported or needed the change in law.

During Senate debate last month, Hernandez got support from lawmakers like Sen. John Kavanagh.

“These people are taking public university land and appropriating it, seizing it for themselves so other people can’t use it,” the Fountain Hills Republican said during a discussion of the bill.  And Kavanagh said there have been cases elsewhere where anti-Semitic groups “are intimidating Jewish students and removing their right to free movement around the campus.”

Yet others, like Sen. Lauren Kuby, questioned the need for the restrictions.

“These spaces are long-standing spaces for public discourse, academic inquiry and political dissent,” said the Tempe Democrat. “Public education has to remain a robust space for dialog, not a testing ground for censorship and retaliation.”

There’s also the fact that existing state law appears to give universities and community colleges the power to limit such demonstrations. It spells out that the schools can impose “reasonable viewpoint and content-neutral restrictions on time, place and manner of expression” that are necessary to “achieve a compelling institutional interest.”

Aside from making these encampments a crime, the legislation also requires disciplinary action against students who refuse to leave.

Rep. Anna Abeytia questioned the wisdom of such legislation.

“As an activist at heart, this is not a good bill for those of us who are activists and do go out and protest,” the Phoenix Democrat said when she voted against the plan in the House.

“Encampments are a form of sit-ins,” she said. “And sit-ins have a long history, particularly in the Chicano culture.”

And Quanta Crews, D-Phoenix, said she fears how the proposal could be used to quash other protests.

“There are young people who are not trying to intimidate other people … who are not trying to provide a fearful environment,” she said. Crews said it would be one worth consideration if the legislation were needed to give police more power to deal with those who intimidate others.

Hernandez’s measure, she said, is overly broad.

“I feel like it could be weaponized against different groups that are not intending to harm other students and are just trying to exercise their First Amendment right,” Crews said.

Foes also had a technical concern.

As approved, the new law bans not just any overnight temporary shelters or tents, but also makes it illegal for these items to remain “for a prolonged period of time.”

Sen. Analise Ortiz, D-Phoenix, called that unconstitutionally vague, saying it could apply to protesters in tents and even to sunscreens set up by civic groups.

That language caught the attention of Rep. Alexander Kolodin.

What that would include, said the Scottsdale Republican, is a shade and table set up by a conservative group like Turning Point USA while it is seeking to register voters on the campus. Ditto, Kolodin said, of “pro-life organizations when they’re handing out literature.”

He made no secret of his belief that enforcement would end up being based on who was affected.

“Let’s not fool ourselves about who runs these universities,” Kolodin said.

“Is this bill really going to be used against Students for Justice in Palestine? Probably not,” he said. “Is it going to get used against Turning Point and pro-life organizations? Far more likely.”

During the debate, Hernandez defended the scope of the bill. She said Students Against Apartheid, which set up encampments a year ago at the University of Arizona, refused to leave, presenting the schools with a “ridiculous list of demands,” like divesting from certain companies profiting from the war between  Israel and Hamas, halting surveillance of student organizers, publicly condemning “Israel’s genocidal campaign” and defunding the U of A police department.

“These people had no intention of leaving,” she said.