Fountain Hills Republican Club members welcomed the three legislative representatives to their monthly meeting Saturday, Jan. 20.

Sen. John Kavanagh, Rep. Jay Lawrence and Rep. Michelle Ugenti-Rita addressed the organization, providing members with information about bills being considered this session in the legislature.

Members also heard briefly from candidates running for different offices in the district.

Each legislator spoke specifically about bills they have introduced.

Kavanagh, who this year has been named Senate President Pro Tempore, said the state budget will be a top priority this year.

“The revenues are getting higher, but they’re still not high,” Kavanagh said. “The Democrats are expecting massive spending this year. It ain’t gonna happen. There is no new revenue this year.”

Kavanagh said he has introduced legislation to make it illegal for tickets for concerts and the like to be purchased by a third-party and resold at huge profits.

He also is asking for a law to make it a misdemeanor or higher offense for a person who is not helping another person in distress. He cited a videotape made by a group of teenagers in Florida who filmed a man drowning but made no attempt to help him. No charges were filed against the teens.

“It was reprehensible,” Kavanagh said.

Kavanagh introduced a bill to allow small contributions to a campaign be increased from $50 to $100.

Another Kavanagh bill is to make it a Class 5 felony (from a Class 6) for wearing ski masks or other disguises while protesting. Antifa (anti-fascist) groups are known for hiding their faces at protests.

Another of his bills is to make it a misdemeanor to portray a pet as a service animal.

“You can go on Amazon and order a vest for the animal,” Kavanagh said.

He noted that questions to a person with a service animal are limited, so people have taken advantage of that and claim their animals are working.

“There are 19 other states making it illegal to lie about an animal’s purpose,” he said.

In another animal related proposal, Kavanagh would make it illegal to drive with an animal in the driver’s lap.

He also is hoping the legislature will make it illegal for a registered sex offender to move near their past victim without the victim’s consent.

According to Kavanagh, one of his bills, which related to HOA’s ability to foreclose on a house when an owner owes back dues, became “so toxic because of misrepresentation by TV stations,” he killed it.

Ugenti-Rita, now in her eighth year in the Arizona Legislature, complimented the club for its involvement and for its support of her work.

She has termed out of the House and is now running for state Senate.

She agreed with Kavanagh that the budget is going to be big this year, and especially with regard to spending.

“Revenue projections depend on whose projections are correct,” Ugenti-Rita said. “But we are not looking at a lot of new money.”

She said the “theme” of her service is to reduce government.

A bill she has proposed is to eliminate the need for the car registration sticker.

“Eliminating just the sticker would save $1.8 million a year,” she said.

She pointed out that the stickers are nearly impossible to read, and they are not very effective as a way to identify current registration for vehicles.

“People would still keep the registration in the car, but they would not have to worry about the sticker on the license plate,” she said.

Another concern is to change the law that requires people who blow-dry or style hair to have a full cosmetology license.

“To earn a license, you must have 1,000 hours of study and thousands of dollars in school costs,” she said. “That is a barrier to entering the field. The industry itself is opposed to changing the law. Changing it creates more competition within the industry, but it is another way to shrink government.”

Lawrence, in his third year in the legislature, said he has introduced a bill that would prevent a person who is under the effect of substances from being arrested if the caller is reporting an overdose incident of another person.

“There are similar bills or laws already on the books in 40 states,” Lawrence said. “We must do something to fix this opioid crisis. Proposing limits to the number of prescriptions a doctor can write is another way.”

He said he and Ugenti-Rita are working on a bill together that would allow only two proxies at meetings when a bill is up for a vote.

“Right now, you can send as many as you want,” Lawrence said.

Following the presentations by legislators, the club held an auction as a fundraiser. The three legislators served as auctioneers and raised $272 for the club.

Other speakers at the meeting included outgoing Mayor Linda Kavanagh; Cecil Yates, who is running for mayor this year; former Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who is running for U.S. Senate; Eric Sloan, candidate for Corporation Commission; Dave Spelich and Mike Scharnow, who are running for town council seats. They each made brief presentations about their upcoming elections. Other dignitaries were introduced.

The next Republican Club meeting is set for Saturday, Feb. 17, when Rep. David Schweikert will speak. More details will follow. The club will have a “meet the candidates” event on March 17.