Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed a bill that would have given the state Legislature the power to authorize county sheriffs to haul in people who refuse to testify before lawmakers.
House Bill 2824 would have added new teeth to subpoenas issued by the Arizona Legislature.
Under current law, the entire House or Senate can vote to hold a witness in contempt for failing to respond to a legislative subpoena. And the law gives the sergeant-at-arms — law enforcement officers who work for the House or Senate – the power to arrest those people and bring them before lawmakers.
HB 2824 would have given select individual lawmakers the power to hold a witness in contempt, including the speaker of the House, the Senate president and the chairperson of legislative committees. And it would have given county sheriffs, along with the sergeant-at-arms, the authority to arrest people who fail to comply with legislative subpoenas.
And if those witnesses lied to lawmakers, they could face prison time.
That’s because HB 2824 would have required any person giving sworn testimony to the Arizona House or Senate to do so “under the penalty of perjury.” Perjury is a class four felony in Arizona, which can carry a prison sentence of one year or more.
“Personally, I don’t think we should be lying, period,” said Sen. Jake Hoffman (R-Gilbert), who inserted the perjury language into the bill after Sen. Mitzi Epstein (D-Tempe) asked if lawmakers should also be held accountable for lying during committee meetings.
“But especially if you come down to testify before this committee essentially to influence the political process and to influence the force of government — either in your favor or to protect yourself from it — you should not be able to lie to members of the legislature when you do so,” said Hoffman, who stands accused of fraud and other crimes after he signed a document falsely claiming President Donald Trump defeated former President Joe Biden in Arizona’s 2020 presidential election.
But Sen. Lauren Kuby (D-Tempe) argued the legislation would “certainly be used, abused and politicized.” She suggested, if passed, the bill would be used to target statewide elected Democrats.
Hobbs agreed.
In a veto letter, Hobbs said HB 2824 “weaponizes the power of the Legislature in a way that could be used to intimidate Arizonans.”
“Holding someone in contempt is a very serious matter and is best left to be determined by the entire body rather than any one legislator,” she wrote.
