By Dillon Rosenblatt | Arizona Capitol Times
A top legislative priority for Gov. Doug Ducey to expand off-reservation gaming is stalled in the Senate after the House voted 48-12 to approve a mirror bill on March 4, Arizona Capitol Times reports (paywall).
(Disclosure) Rose Law Group represents the Professional Golf Association)
The bills from Rep. Jeff Weninger, R-Chandler, and Sen. T.J. Shope, R-Coolidge, appear to be getting hit from Democrats and Senate Republican leadership when strong bipartisanship is needed to pass the legislation because several Republican senators already said they won’t support the measures.
Sen. Sean Bowie, D-Phoenix, might be a key holdout vote. He told Arizona Capitol Times he and other Democrats in the Senate have some reservations about giving their support to a key Ducey priority while many controversial election bills are advancing through the Legislature. The gaming bills have an emergency clause attached to them, which means two-thirds is needed for immediate enactment, but can still pass with just 16 votes.
“I’m looking for more from the Governor’s Office in terms of being willing to work together and there’s a lot of bills that we don’t like – particularly around voting rights,” he said. “We would like to have a conversation and more of a working relationship around [how] some of these bills are bad public policy and we would obviously not like to see them get signed into law.”
