#AZHouse Republicans Censor Dems to Block Speech on #ERA, Women’s Rights (video)

Posted on by Pamela Powers Hannley

Ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in Arizona was in the news and in the streets this week. ERA supporters launched an ambitious 38 Mile March for the ERA through the streets of Phoenix– starting at the Capitol on Monday, March 11 and ending there on Wednesday.

After the speeches, supporters filled the gallery of the Arizona Senate, and a contingent of 30 or so supporters went to the Arizona House. In the Senate, there was a motion to suspend the rules and vote on the ERA. In the House, Democrats attempted to introduce the ERA supporters in the gallery and were shut down when the Republicans decided to police the content on our speech– in addition to strictly limiting our time to one minute.

The news stories covered the Senate action because that was the official vote. They didn’t cover the censorship fiasco in the Arizona House.

I gave one of the first ERA introductions and was allowed speak. Later introductions were cut off by the Republicans.

Patriarchy and suppression of speech were on full display. You can watch the whole scene here on the official video. Points of Personal Privilege start at around 2 minutes. Note the lengthy introductions that are allowed for people who are representing other groups– not the ERA.

Rep. Athena Salman starts the ERA introductions at about 10:28 minute mark. She and I both got through our introductions without interruption. Things heat up when Minority Leader Charlene Fernandez (at the 13:16 minute mark) tries to introduce an ERA marcher from Rep. Warren Petersen’s district and is gaveled down and scolded by Speaker Pro Tempore T.J. Shope. At 15:43, Shope shuts down Rep. Raquel Teran and tells the gallery to be quiet. At 17:08, Rep. Randy Friese is not shut down. At 18:14 Rep. Mitzi Epstein is shut down and protests Shope’s censorship of her speech.  At 20:25, Rep. Isela Blanc is allowed to introduce her student shadow, but when she starts the ERA introduction, she doesn’t get more than a few words into her introduction before Shope stops her. At 21:17, Salman reads the rule book and calls out the Republicans for censoring our speech. The gallery and the Democrats burst into applause and get the gavel. The rules limit the amount of time we can speak to one minute but not the content.

The scene devolved after Shope ruled Salman out of order. Friese protested the ruling of the chair and called for a roll call vote (23:05). This resulted in multiple speeches about the ERA and freedom of speech– and multiple women being called out of order for speaking truth to power. I watched the whole fiasco on video, and it is shocking how many women were disrespected– House members and women in the gallery.

Continue reading #AZHouse Republicans Censor Dems to Block Speech on #ERA, Women’s Rights (video)

Arizona Women Win 42 Legislative, State & Congressional Races (video)

Posted on by Pamela Powers Hannley

Arizona has a history of electing women to public office. In 1932, Arizona elected Isabella Greenway to the US House of Representatives. In 1972, State Senator Sandra Day O’Connor was the first female president of the Arizona Senate. In 1998, Arizona voters elected five women to run the state government— Jane Hull (Governor), Betsy Bayless (Secretary of State), Janet Napolitano (Attorney General), Carol Springer (Treasurer), and Lisa Graham-Keegan (Superintendent of Public Instruction). To this date, Arizona’s Fab Five remain the most number of women elected to state government at the same time. In 2017, the Arizona Legislature had the highest percentage of women (40 percent) of any state Legislature in the Country.

In 2018, Arizona elected its first female US senator and 41 other women to political office. Out of 108 races, women won 39 percent of them this year. After inauguration in January 2019, half of Arizona’s statewide offices (4/8), 27 percent of our Congressional delegation (3/11), and 39 percent of the Arizona Legislature (35/90) will be women.

Most of the woman who won are Democrats but not all. In the Congressional races, US Senate was won by Kyrsten Sinema (D), Ann Kirkpatrick (D) took CD2, and Debby Lesko (R) was re-elected to CD8. On the statewide level, women took: Secretary of State (Katie Hobbs, D), Treasurer (Kimbery Yee, R), Superintendent of Public Instruction (Kathy Hoffman, D) and one of the Arizona Corporation Commission seats (Sandra Kennedy).

Continue reading Arizona Women Win 42 Legislative, State & Congressional Races (video)

Healthcare & Equality: Two Big Events on Nov 1 (video)

Posted on by Pamela Powers Hannley
ERA

When your state and your Congressional district are being targeted by both major political parties and several special interest groups, the days leading up to Election Day are fast-paced as national groups and speakers come to Arizona.

Nov. 1 is a big day for political events.

Tucsonans Talk Back to McSally & Trump Jr.

As Donald Trump Jr. stumps for Congresswoman Martha McSally in Maricopa County, Tucsonans will be protesting in front of her office on Broadway Blvd. Organized by Arizona Healthcare Voters, the purpose of the rally is to call out McSally’s lies about her votes on the Affordable Care Act and on healthcare in general. Media advisory here.

As the ranking member of the Arizona House Health Committee, I am happy to be participating in this event hosted by Arizona Healthcare Voters.

The US has the most expensive and least effective healthcare insurance system when compared to other developed countries. McSally and the Republican Party want to make our already overly complicated and expensive system even more restricted and more expensive. That is going in the wrong direction.

Come on down and tell McSally what you think of her record on healthcare, health insurance, the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, Medicaid, and more.

The organizers’ Facebook event is here.
https://www.facebook.com/events/429229150943449/

Equal Means Equal presents: The Equality Tour 2018

To gear up for Nov. 6 and for the 54th Session of the Arizona Legislature, the Equal Means Equal Equality Tour is stopping in Tucson on Nov. 1 and in Tempe in Nov. 3.

The directors of the movie “Equal Means Equal,” Kamala Lopez and Natalie White, will be in town for the event.

Come on down for a full evening of entertainment– dotted with a few speeches. I will be one of the speakers, along with LD9 Senate candidate Victoria Steele.

Continue reading Healthcare & Equality: Two Big Events on Nov 1 (video)

#AZ Republicans Refuse to Debate #ERA… again… (video)

Posted on by Pamela Powers Hannley
Rep. Pamela Powers Hannley

For the second year in a row, Arizona House Democrats used the “ninja parliamentary move” to force a vote to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). For the second year in a row, House Republicans chose to hide under their desks– rather than making history by ratifying the ERA.

In 2017, two Republican women, Reps. Michelle Ugenti-Rita and Heather Carter, voted for women’s rights, along with all of the House Democrats. For the 2018 vote, Ugenti-Rita and Carter were missing in action.

Zero Republicans voted for equal pay or equal rights for women.

The AZ Blue Meanie did a great recap of the ERA debate and collected coverage from other outlets. You can read it here: GOP Legislators Reject Equal Rights for Women Because Abortion (Updated).

Below the fold are the text of my speech urging ratification of the ERA and a video.

Continue reading #AZ Republicans Refuse to Debate #ERA… again… (video)

Arizona House Dems Drop 2018 #ERA Bill

Posted on by Pamela Powers Hannley
ERA in Arizona

In 2017, the Equal Rights Amendment was introduced in eight states, debated in three, and ratified in one– Nevada. The Arizona Legislature was one of the bodies that debated the ERA. (Watch the video.) I have vowed to introduce the ERA every year until it is ratified by the states. Only two more states are needed. This could be the year the ERA is finally sent back to Congress to become an amendment to the US Constitution.

On Thursday, January 11, 2018, I dropped the ERA– with the help of some of my Democratic sisters. All of the House Democrats signed the bill. I stopped asking Republicans to sign the ERA, when I confirmed that Republican Rep. Michelle Ugenti-Rita also has introduced the ERA this year.  Ugenti-Rita and Rep. Heather Carter were the only two Republicans who voted to hear the ERA in 2017 (rather than shutting down debate, as the Republican leadership wanted to do.)

You’ll remember that in 2017 the Democrats forced the ERA debate by using parliamentary procedures. We did this because Rep. Eddie Farnsworth, chair of the Judiciary Committee, refused to hear it in committee. (Committee chairs often kill bills with this parliamentary procedure.)

In 2018, the ERA is coming in the front door of the Arizona Legislature.

Continue reading Arizona House Dems Drop 2018 #ERA Bill