Arizona State Rep. Jake Hoffman (R), along with 25 other Republican lawmakers including State Sens. Wendy Rogers and Kelly Townsend, signed a statement on Wednesday that calls on Gov. Doug Ducey to punish unlawful behavior by school officials who try to force children to take COVID vaccines and wear masks. The statement notes that such mandates are prohibited by Arizona law.
“Under Arizona’s constitutional form of government, local governments do not have the authority or power to usurp state law simply because they disagree, yet that is precisely the kind of illegal activity in which many local governments are presently engaged,” the statement reads. “The Arizona legislature, with the Governor concurring, very intentionally enacted the laws at hand to protect Arizonans and Arizona children from the threat of government mandating them to wear a mask or be injected with a vaccine. Additionally, the legislature very thoughtfully attached a retroactivity clause to the law, so that there would be clear and consistent application of the statute for families and children throughout Arizona.”
The statement calls upon Ducey to do four things, including withholding “the federal funding currently under the Governor’s management from any school district that is non-compliant with state law,” and initiating “legal action against any school district that is non-compliant with state law.” The lawmakers also note, “We sincerely appreciate the Governor’s conversations with us over the last few days and hope to see that result in swift action; however, the window to hold the rogue local governments refusing to follow state law accountable is closing and the people of Arizona’s patience is running short.”
“The blatant disregard for the State of Arizona’s authority exhibited by the non-compliant local governments is an affront to the very core of our state and nation’s form of government,” the statement concluded. “A resounding message must be delivered to any local government or subdivision of the state considering defying state law—lawlessness will not be tolerated.”
Schools that refused to comply with the law were also slammed by the Arizona GOP on Twitter.
🚨BREAKING🚨 ASU students will not be allowed to make their own health decisions this school year. This is in blatant defiance of the Governor's mandate that dictates schools cannot require face masks. Would you comply? pic.twitter.com/uvjfxYZ9gH
— Republican Party of Arizona (@AZGOP) August 11, 2021
State Sen. Kelly Townsend, who signed the statement on Wednesday, stated that
"The message ASU/schools are sending to their students is that they can ignore the law if they disagree with it. The msg I would like to send is that we will enforce the law and that a little civics lesson is in order, which would be that the legislature holds the purse strings."
— Senator Kelly Townsend (@AZKellyT) August 11, 2021
The full list of lawmakers who signed the statement can be found below.
- Representative Jake Hoffman
- Speaker Pro Tempore Travis Grantham
- House Majority Whip Leo Biasiucci
- Representative Brenda Barton
- Representative Walt Blackman
- Representative Shawnna Bolick
- Representative Judy Burges Representative Joseph Chaplik
- Representative John Fillmore
- Representative Mark Finchem
- Representative Steve Kaiser
- Representative Quang Nguyen
- Representative Becky Nutt
- Representative Jacqueline Parker
- Representative Beverly Pingerelli
- Representative Bret Roberts
- Representative Justin Wilmeth
- Senate Majority Whip Sonny Borrelli
- Senator Nancy Barto
- Senator Sine Kerr
- Senator David Livingston
- Senator J.D. Mesnard
- Senator Warren Petersen
- Senator Wendy Rogers
- Senator Kelly Townsend
- Senator Michelle Ugenti-Rita
