Grand Canyon Times

Although the Arizona State Legislature has been suspended due to the COVID-19 outbreak, conservative advocates are calling on the lawmakers to get back to work. 

“I am in the process, with my team, of writing and sending an email to each legislator asking them to meet again after stay-at-home orders are lifted,” said Steven R McEwen, Arizona legislative liaison for the Convention of States (COS) project, a non-profit group calling for a nationwide conference under Article V of the U.S. Constitution. 

The legislature was originally scheduled to resume session on April 13, according to Scott Mussi, president of the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, which lobbies lawmakers about fiscal, tax, economic policy and job creation.

“Now it’s been pushed to May 4 but, if they do come back, we don’t know how much time they will stay in session,” Mussi told the Grand Canyon Times. 

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey issued Executive Order 2020-18 on March 30, which became effective March 31 and asks residents of the state to limit the time away from their place of residence or property, according to a news release.

“It’s concerning that the governor is willing to put everybody on lockdown,” McEwen said. “It's a heavy-handed, knee-jerk reaction.”

As of April 15, the Arizona Department of Health Services states on its dashboard that there are 3,962 COVID-19 positives cases and 142 COVID-19 deaths within the state. 

“We haven’t been heavily hit and there hasn’t been a huge upswing in cases,” Mussi said in an interview. “People want to make sure they are doing what’s being asked and to work together locally and nationally but they are getting restless.”

Up until the pandemic shut down the legislature, the Arizona Free Enterprise Club had been working on a bill with lawmakers that would have targeted tax relief and reform.

“We had a $1 billion budget surplus in the state, which was created by tax increases, and there had been discussions about returning the money back to the taxpayers but since the virus hit, those issues are no longer on the table,” Mussi said. “Now we have a $1 billion deficit because of the shutdown.” 

About 350,000 Arizona residents have applied for unemployment benefits, according to media reports.

“This will cause severe societal damage if we don’t reopen soon,” Mussi said. “Anytime you have a massive economic collapse or depression, you see increases in homelessness, suicide, health issues, substance abuse and how do we fund basic services?”

There are 42,000 people in Arizona and 1.5 million nationwide who are members of COS and believe that federal legislators have given all their power to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“We want term limits for Supreme Court justices,” said McEwen about the group’s push for a convention of states. “Much like bureaucrats, Supreme Court judges are dictating what happens to our people and our country while elected officials sit back.”

Arizona is among the 15 states whose legislatures have passed a COS resolution. 

The other states include Alabama, Alaska, Missouri, Texas, Utah, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Tennessee. However,  34 states are needed to join before action can be taken toward hosting a convention of states as outlined in Article V of the U.S. Constitution.