AzSCA Legislative Preview

We at Creosote Partners are so excited to serve as your legislative consultant this year. It’s an honor to work with a group of people so committed to helping our children grow and thrive. We are working to build proactive legislation for you focused on defining your role in state law (which currently has no references to school counselors) and reducing Arizona’s sky-high ratios.

Here’s provide a walk-through of how the legislature works and who will be important to our efforts.

• First, a representative or senator sponsors and introduces a bill.
• The bill is then assigned to a committee – a small group of legislators dedicated to a specific issue – for study and a recommendation for consideration by the full legislative body.
• If voted out by a majority of the committee, the bill is put on a calendar to be voted on, debated or possibly amended by the full legislative body.
• If the bill then passes by simple majority of the full body, the bill moves to the opposite legislative body (House bills to the Senate, Senate bills to the House).
• In that opposite body, the bill is assigned to another committee and, if voted out, it is debated and voted on by the full body.
• If the opposite body makes changes, the bill must return to its original legislative body for concurrence on those changes or to come up with a compromise change.
• The resulting bill returns to both the House and Senate for final approval.
• The governor then has 10 days to veto the final bill or sign it into law. A super majority of legislators can override the Governor’s veto.

Our bill must clear each of these hurdles, and that’s no easy task. We only have about 100 days before the session ends, and only about 25 to 30 percent of all bills introduced go on to become law during that same legislative session. That’s why we’re meeting with key legislators and stakeholders to discuss this bill and its critical importance to our students’ success in life. We have two sponsors, Senator Sean Bowie and Representative Jennifer Pawlik, already on board to lead the charge with this legislation. We will keep you up to date as we have an official bill introduced and a bill number attached to it. Once we do, we’re going to need your help.

Getting this bill into law will take all of us. Legislators are used to hearing from folks like us, so you – the people on the ground doing this work every day – will make a bigger impact. This is especially important if we get a hearing on the bill in committee, which is your opportunity to testify in public in support on legislation. Your AzSCA leaders can help you get signed up for the legislature’s “Request to Speak” system to ensure you get to be heard in this process.

You’ll also have opportunities to contact your elected officials directly to make a difference and get this bill moving forward. Legislators rarely hear from their constituents in personalized ways, so your direct contact, even with something as quick as a handwritten postcard, can make a world of difference.

We will help keep you up to date on the simple ways you can make your voice heard. Working together, we can advance the cause and commitment to the school counseling profession.
 
Geoff Esposito is a partner with Creosote Partners, AzSCA’s Legislative Consultant.