Arizona Senate passes Republican 'pay-to-play' reform bill, not Hobbs' plan

A measure designed to give the public more information about state contractors who also donate to political campaigns passed the Arizona Senate with just Republican support, despite bipartisan calls to reform the state’s procurement and campaign finance reporting laws.

Senate Bill 1186 was inspired by play-to-play allegations levied against Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs after Arizona Republic reporting revealed that Sunshine Residential, a state group home provider, received a sizable rate increase after its owner donated to Democratic electoral efforts.

The legislation would require state contractors and companies bidding on state business to disclose “anything of value” they’ve given to a governor or related political efforts over the past five years.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. T.J. Shope (R-Coolidge), passed the Arizona Senate on a 17-12 partyline vote.

Hobbs recently released her own proposal to reform the state’s procurement and campaign finance laws by banning businesses seeking state contracts from making large political donations during the bidding process and making it easier for the public to keep an eye on who is winning those contracts.

So far, the governor’s pitch hasn’t made any progress at the state Legislature.

Still, both Shope and Senate Minority Leader Priya Sundareshan (D-Tucson) said on the floor of the Arizona Senate that they hope Republicans and Democrats can continue to talk through their differences as SB 1186 makes its way through the legislative process.

“I would like us to have a serious conversation about how to make the procurement process more transparent and ethical,” Sundreshan said before voting no.

Gloves off

But a compromise is not in the cards right now, Shope said.

“Not after the Gov went on the smear campaign against me that pretty much blew up in their face,” Shope said.

He was referring to a report prepared by Hobbs’ staff showing Shope didn’t disclose $4,900 in meals and other entertainment paid for by lobbyists last year. Capitol Media Services reported that Hobbs, too, has failed to disclose similar perks, dating back to her days as a lawmaker in 2011.

The political spat has called into question whether Shope’s bill has any chance to make it past Hobbs’ desk if the House of Representatives passes it this year. The governor already vetoed a similar bill sponsored by Shope last year after the Arizona Republic first reported on Sunshine Residential’s rate increase and political contributions.

Disagreements over the bill aren’t just political, though.

Shope argued Hobbs’ proposal doesn’t address the central issue highlighted by the Sunshine Residential scandal.

“After vetoing our bill last year, the Governor came back this session with her own proposal, but it still leaves the biggest gap untouched,” Shope said in a statement. “Her plan focuses on releasing information after contracts are awarded. Our bill requires transparency before decisions are made, when it actually matters.”

Democrats, for their part, argue Shope’s bill lacks teeth and isn’t as comprehensive as the governor’s plan, which also addresses lobbying at the Capitol and invests more money in updating the systems the public uses to examine government contracts.

Sundareshan, the Senate’s top Democrat, tried to amend Shope’s bill to add some of the reforms backed by the governor

That includes the creation of a searchable online portal where the public can look up information about who holds state contracts and a ban on political contributions by potential contractors during and immediately after the bidding process.

The Republican-led Senate rejected those changes.

Sundareshan argued that, without those changes, Shope’s bill is more about sending a message to Hobbs than actually solving the problem.

“I don’t see this bill as one that is going to be able to be operationalized,” she said. “Right now, without the amendments that would make it workable, what this does is it’s much more of a messaging bill, rather than something that actually would help us achieve the transparency that my caucus as well as yours hopes to provide here.”

The House

SB 1186 must still pass the House before it can move on to Hobbs’ desk, meaning there are still opportunities to tweak or change the legislation.

House Minority Leader Oscar De Los Santos (D-Laveen) declined to say whether House Democrats will try to amend the bill to reflect the governor’s proposal.

He did say he supports efforts to reform the state’s procurement laws but believes Shope’s bill is flawed, arguing it introduces politics into the equation.

“So I do prefer the governor’s proposal,” De Los Santos said.

SB 1186 has not yet been assigned to a committee in the House, the first step legislation must accomplish to pass out of the chamber.

Shope said he has “no idea” whether the House will move quickly to pass the bill.

“Especially since they decided to go forward with an investigation,” he said, referencing an outside House Republicans’ decision to hire an outside attorney aligned with President Trump to investigate the pay-to-play allegations against Hobbs and Sunshine Residential.

It’s still unclear how long that investigation will take.

Trump recently nominated Justin Smith, the attorney hired by the House, to serve on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

House GOP spokesman Andrew Wilder said Smith will continue to work on the investigation “until at least the end of April” before handing the case off to Michael Martinich-Sauter, Smith’s partner at the Missouri-based James Otis Law Group.

Wilder said the investigation will not affect the House’s consideration of SB 1186.