Senate President Pro Tempore Says Governor Hobbs Is ‘Out of Touch’ with Arizonans on LGBTQ Executive Orders

Arizona Senate President Pro Tempore T.J. Shope (R-Florence) said that Governor Katie Hobbs‘ recent executive orders to provide insurance-covered sex change procedures and ban so-called “conversion therapy” are “out of touch” with the desires of the majority of Arizonans.

Last week, Hobbs signed two executive orders, one to require state employee health care plans to cover sex change surgeries and another to ban state agencies from funding, promoting, or supporting so-called “conversion therapy” for minors.

According to Hobbs, these executive orders are “necessary” to prevent hate and discrimination in Arizona.

Shope (pictured above) said, however, that Hobbs’ has misaligned her priorities as she is more concerned with ensuring taxpayer dollars go towards sex change procedures rather than helping struggling Arizona families.

“Instead of helping families struggling to keep a roof over their heads, fill their tanks with gas and put food on the table, Governor Hobbs is making sure taxpayer dollars are instead going towards elective, sex change surgeries,” Shope said.

Shope said that although an Arizona state senator canceled a meeting last week due to Hobbs’ “blatant disregard for the separation of powers” following another recent executive order consolidating abortion prosecutions under the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, she is still attempting unilateral overreach.

The chair of the Arizona Senate committee, created this year to hear all of the governor’s nominees to lead state agencies, State Senator Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek), canceled the meeting, putting a pause on all further nominations until they get a meeting with the governor’s administration to talk about her blatant disregard for the law.

“The Governor continues to show just how tone-deaf and out of touch she is with the majority of hard-working Arizonans. Director nominations hearings were suspended and yet the Governor is already doubling down with another unilateral overreach,” Shope said.

According to Shope, the Arizona Senate Majority Caucus “is committed to checks and balances and will be reviewing all legal options to ensure appropriate constitutional separation of powers.”

Senate President Warren Petersen (R-Mesa) echoed Shope calling Hobbs’ executive orders “illegal, out of touch, unprecedented overreach which did not receive proper JLBC (Arizona Joint Legislative Budget Committee) review as required by law.”

Arizona State House Speaker Ben Toma (R-Peoria) also sent a letter to Hobbs on Monday calling on her office to rescind the executive order banning state agencies from funding, promoting, or supporting so-called “conversion therapy” for minors.

Toma said that the executive order threatens to violate the Parents’ Bill of Rights, and Arizonans’ constitutional rights, including parents’ rights to speak with their therapists freely. He added that the state legislature should decide such a ban, not the governor.

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Hannah Poling is a lead reporter at The Ohio Star, The Star News Network, and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Hannah on Twitter @HannahPoling1. Email tips to [email protected]
Photo “TJ Shope” by TJ Shope. Background Photo “Arizona Capitol” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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