To everyone’s surprise, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey vetoed HB 2070 on Friday. (May 28). The bill, which had passed overwhelmingly in both chambers, began as a straightforward unsealing of all OBCs from 1968 forward without restriction Those covered before that date already have the “legal right” to their own birth certificates.
Although an identical bill sailed through the Arizona House in 2020, this time it was amended down quickly with the consent and support of the fake adoptee advocacy group, Heritage Arizona (aka HA! ) and the sponsor Rep. Bret Roberts to cover only those born in 2022 and beyond; thus, leaving the majority of Arizona-born adoptees behind. In practical terms, the HB 2070 law could not have been utilized by Arizona adoptees until 2040!
A veto letter was not published online immediately so there was much conjecture as to why Gov Doucey killed the bill.
Now, he could have vetoed it because he thought it was exclusive, compromised, unfair, and discriminatory, which it is. But. that is probably not his reason. He could have vetoed it because he thought it was too progressive and liberal, which it is not. But, he probably thinks it is. He could have vetoed it because he has a beef with Rep Roberts. which we hear he does. But, that’s politics! He could have vetoed it because it was stupid, which it is.
Later in the evening, the truth was outed, when a blanket veto letter covering 22 bills appeared on the Arizona Governor’s website. Gov. Doucy is pissed at the Arizona Legislature because it hasn’t gotten around to passing a state budget for the coming fiscal year: No budget; no new laws:
Some of the pieces of legislation contain good policy. But at this time our priority needs to be passing the budget for Arizonians,.
This weekend marks one month until the end of the fiscal year, and Arizonans are counting on us to work together and pass a budget that provides certainty for taxpayers and citizens. Until that happens, I do not inend on signing any additional bills transmitted by the Legislature.
The legislative session, which was supposed to end a month ago, has been extended with no known expiration date.
While Doucy is clear that he won’t sign off on any legislation until he gets the budget bill, this does not mean that HA and its adopteephobic legislative friends won’t attempt to bring the bill back for re-consideration. To override Ducey’s veto each house would need to pass it by a 2/3 majority They might also try to sneak it through by dumping it into the budget bill.
Needless to say, this can’t happen, and we are watching events closely.
For those wondering what Heritage Arizona, operated by a social working Utah adoptee (!) with no dog in the fight, has to say about the veto—so far, it’s nothing. The HA Facebook page has gone private or secret, so we have no idea what’s going on there—but it’s no doubt no good. At best HA-HAers will try to claim that their “fix” was in, and the veto was by their design so they could pull real rights out of the fire on a second round—or something equally ridiculous.
HB 2070 is not a bill that Arizona adoptees asked for or wanted. It was foisted on them .and by consequence, the rest of AdoptinLand. by a tiny band of outliers, with unknown but spurious motives, that refuses to be held accountable by its constituency. They didn’t even pretend to put up a fight. The rest of us, however, did put up a fight and will not let this abominable bill be resuscitated
HA! Take that,
For more Arizona information go to:
Bastard Nation Legislation 2021 Page
Not with a bang! Not with a Whimper! HB 2070 Gets Ripped While Activists Go Quiet
Crossposted to The Daily Bastardette
New York Adoptee Rights Coalition
HA may have gone silent but there are advocates here in AZ that have dissented and are regrouping.
As you’ve pointed out the bull was clean until it wasn’t. Those of us who have dissented were not present when the bill was changed and not privy to the info until after it was sent through by those present.
Thanks for writing. I am glad to hear that there are some Arizonians with a bastard consciousness (and conscience!) who are fighting back. The new bill,l filed yesterday is the same old same ole. We, of course, are fighting it, too. The Arizona legislature-thing, in general, is nuts, (let’s just drag out the session foroveer and screw the budget) and it’s been difficult to figure out what their game plan is.