2006 - Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence

A r i z o n a C o a l i t i o n A g a i n s t D o me s t i c V i o l e n c e

AzCADV Legislative

Summary

July 2006

47th Legislature

2nd Regular Session

Table of Contents Page

Introduction 1

The Budget 2

Telephone Interference 3

”Anyone” 911 Correction 3

Strangulation/Suffocation 4

Session Surprises 5

Messages from Friends 6

Special Thanks 7

AzCADV Systems Advocacy

Through our public policy efforts, AzCADV advocates for systemic change to more adequately address the needs of domestic violence victims in

Arizona. In order to achieve this goal, the Systems Advocacy Department monitors public policy and institutional practices, collaborates with various partners to encourage systemic change, and provides information and education to create more knowledgeable and engaged community members.

Advocating for systemic change is a fundamental means to fulfilling the

Coalition mission.

In addition to the $2.8 million dollar increase in the State budget for new domestic violence shelter beds, this session we were successful in the passage of two key legislative priorities and the defeat of many ill-intended bills. As this Legislative Session fell on an election year, many of our initiatives were over-shadowed by the overwhelming amount of immigration reform, English Language Learner stalling, and tax reform legislation and partisan politics and posturing. This Legislative Session lasted a near record 164 days, the fifth longest session in State history.

During this Legislative Session, it was often heard—whether by a

Representative or Senator explaining their vote or the Governor explaining a veto—that the reason for their action was because of an overwhelming response from their constituents. It is true that there is power in numbers and it is with our collective voices that we have been heard. Thank you to you: our friends and supporters for your continued, dedicated efforts in keeping domestic violence issues a priority for Arizona’s leaders and the increased safety and welfare of domestic violence victims our focus.

This session, perhaps more than most was marked by great change. The passing of Senator Marilyn Jarrett (a great champion!) and the pursuit of higher levels of office brought many new faces to both the House and the

Senate this session. An election this fall will also contribute to the changing landscape of the Legislature. As we begin strategizing for the next session, we look forward to reuniting with our supporters and making new friends

(and champions!) as we at the Coalition recognize that great change brings many great and new opportunities.

301 E. Bethany Home Road, Ste. C-194 Phoenix AZ 85012

Phone: 602-279-2900 Fax: 602-279-2980 TTY 602-279-7270

Email: acadv@azcadv.org

Website: www.azcadv.org

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The Budget: An Annual Epic Battle

The budget process is often referred to in the media and in casual conversation among observers in terms of war; as an embittered “battle” with each side “drawing lines” and “rallying troops”. It is not a stretch to imagine that in the “war” against domestic violence some of our most contentious “battles” are fought for funding. Our “battles” are waged on many fronts: national, state, private—our victories measured in the increased safety of and services for victims.

Despite a record surplus and monthly revenue for the state exceeding projections by the tens of millions of dollars, this year’s budget battle proved to be no less dubious than in years past. The Executive Budget requested an increase of $2.8 million dollars for new shelter beds as part of an incremental approach to ending Arizona’s domestic violence shelter turnaway problem. The Legislative Budget started slow, with an appropriation of $1.5 million dollars with a new stipulation for an appropriated amount for faith-based shelters. While on-going negotiations quickly raised the

Legislative Budget to mirror the Executive Budget, the faith-based provision remained—appropriating half of the $2.8 million. This provision presented obvious capacity issues—of Arizona’s 30 domestic violence shelters, only five could be considered “faith-based” as their parent company is a religious organization. By educating legislators on this issue, we were able to negotiate a decreased appropriation of $700,000 toward faith-based shelters.

While we consider the $2.8 million dollars for domestic violence shelter beds among the many successes of the budget signed by the Governor, of great concern will be the impact massive tax cuts will have on future funding and those human service needs neglected in the budget (such as child care assistance and health care initiatives for working parents).

Among our many champions, Senator Jim Waring, once again, went above and beyond, advocating for fully funding the domestic violence appropriation. Special thanks to our friends and partners at the Protecting

Arizona’s Families Coalition for all of their shared commitment and representation!

As we begin strategizing (already!) for the next budget ‘battle’, the Coalition encourages you to be among those speaking on behalf of those who cannot and those who haven’t yet been heard. Domestic violence is a multidimensional issue with a great many unmet needs. Now is the time for the

State to begin addressing these needs with the financial commitment to end domestic violence in our communities.


Phone: 602-279-2900 Fax: 602-279-2980 TTY 602-279-7270



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TELEPHONE INTERFERENCE

“Help me, hurry! I need to use your phone! It’s an emergency!!” says an obviously panicked man as he runs into a convenience store. Grateful for the use of the phone, he dials. “Honey, was that 2% or skim milk that you wanted me to pick up?” No, that’s not some sort of joke! That’s a concern voiced by members of the Senate Judiciary Committee on one of the

“unintended consequences” of making the interference of an emergency telephone call a misdemeanor. A rocky start, indeed!

The intention, of course, was to recognize that if a batterer intentionally prevents a victim from summoning emergency services by way of, for example, ripping the phone out of the wall—it should be a crime and to modernize the existing language that referenced “party lines” (Think back to the Andy Griffith Show!). Despite its obvious application to other instances of crime (carjacking, robbery, assault) the Senate amended the bill to apply only in incidents of domestic violence. In the House Judiciary Committee,

Representative Farnsworth amended the bill, removing the domestic violence provision, returning the bill to its original form. Though there was still some grumbling among some House members—“Does this mean I have to give up MY cellphone or PDA??” was repeatedly heard, it passed out of the House and Senate and was signed by the Governor on May 2 nd

, 2006.

Many thanks to our sponsors—Senator Dean Martin, Senator Ron Gould,

Senator John Huppenthal, Representative Bill Konopnicki, and

Representative Steve Yarbrough.

TENANT PROTECTION

In recent years the Coalition has advocated on behalf of various bills that would prevent victims of domestic violence from being penalized for unintentional violations of “Crime-free, Drug-free” Lease addendums. These addendums, a part of many rental agreements, often dictate that if someone calls law enforcement for any reason, eviction can occur. In 2004

Representative Chase sponsored HB2317 that protected victims from being evicted for summoning emergency personnel in a domestic disturbance. Last year the session ended before a technical correction to that bill could be passed.

This session, Representative Cheryl Chase again sponsored legislation,

HB2124, which offered a technical correction to the legislation successfully passed in 2004. This technical correction addressed another ‘unintended consequence’ of the Crime Free Drug Free Lease addendums—if someone


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A r i z o n a C o a l i t i o n A g a i n s t D o me s t i c V i o l e n c e else (a neighbor or other concerned party) summoned emergency personnel on the victim’s behalf. With HB2124’s passage through the House and

Senate and signed by the Governor on May 2 nd

, 2006, victims of domestic violence should no longer be adversely effected for summoning emergency services.

Many special thanks to Representative Cheryl Chase for her perseverance and dedication and to HB2124’s co-sponsors Representative Reagan,

Representative Weiers, Senator Martin and Senator Waring!

STRANGULATION (it’s not choking)

Eight pounds of pressure for eight seconds. A perpetrator’s hands applying eight pounds of pressure around a victims neck for eight seconds is enough to render the victim unconscious. A few precious more seconds and its enough to induce irreversible brain damage or death. The difference between strangling and slapping someone is obvious—the message with a slap to the face is ‘I can hurt you’, the message from strangling someone is ‘I can kill you’. Why, criminally, should the punishment be the same?

This year, along with many other states across the country, the Coalition initiated legislation (SB1164) that would increase the penalties for strangulation and suffocation from a misdemeanor to a felony charge. The reception from lawmakers was surprising. In a hearing in the Senate

Judiciary Committee, Senator Brotherton expressed concern that ‘schoolyard rough housing’ and ‘kids imitating wrestling moves’ would suddenly be charged as felons. Essentially a non-issue (children aren’t currently being charged with misdemeanors for schoolyard rough housing!), Senator

Brotherton’s argument was found to be convincing enough among his colleagues and was amended on the floor. Among the amendments offered was one that classified only strangulation in incidents of domestic violence would be considered felony charges and another that exempted law enforcement and corrections officers from its application (‘Choke hold’ manuevers, interestingly enough, are actually banned from use in many peace officer training curriculum because there are “safer” methods for detaining or restraining suspects!).

The amendments in the Senate were for naught! The original bill, SB1164, was surrendered by it’s sponsor, Senator Martin, for a strike-everything amendment in Representative Farnsworth’s Judiciary Committee in the

House. The striker was for a twice-killed bill of Representative Murphy that offered foster children a grant program to attend private school. The move received a bit of press, including a scathing story by Dennis Welch of the

East Valley Tribune. For a short while, it appeared as though the buzz from the story combined with an appropriation in the Legislative budget for the grant program might be enough to revive the original intention of SB1164


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A r i z o n a C o a l i t i o n A g a i n s t D o me s t i c V i o l e n c e but it was not to be. Language in the strike-everything amendment was needed to support the budget line item that both House and Senate

Leadership and the Governor agreed to.

It’s not easy to be on this side of a bill hijacked by a strike-everything amendment—but it is part of the process. This session we were able to introduce legislators to the issue and received media support in the process.

Many thanks to our sponsors Senator Dean Martin, Senator Ron Gould,

Representative Bill Konopnicki, and Representative Steve Yarbrough!

SESSION SURPRISES

The Coalition also consulted on a number of bills that (initially) fit with our

Legislative Priorities. One of these bills, a mid-session surprise, was introduced by Senator Toni Hellon on behalf of a constituent who had had difficulty terminating her lease following a domestic violence incident.

SB1416 initially had a great start but was quickly amended in the Senate

Commerce and Economic Development Committee when the Arizona Multi-

Housing Association wanted to impose rigid standards of proof for victims to be able to terminate their leases. The Arizona Multi-Housing Association supported the amendment which ultimately removed domestic violence victims completely from the language of the bill. The initiative lacked enough support to make it out of the Senate, but was a great learning experience for the Coalition to see what kind of barriers and opposition existed for our future efforts.

Another such bill was the Orders of Protection Service bill (SB1342).

Introduced by the Administrative Office of the Courts, it contained language that stated that any court could order any jurisdictional law enforcement to serve an order of protection. While this may address the issue of responsibility for the service of the order, it didn’t go far enough to address the facilitation of the order from the courts to the servicing law enforcement agency. Another, and probably more monumental, barrier to this bill’s passage was that it didn’t have the full support of the law enforcement community. While ALL parties share a common goal, the Coalition included, it is a way of reaching that goal where parties differ. As this has consistently been identified among those in the domestic violence community as a priority, we look forward to taking the right path to addressing this issue with all of our partners.

MESSAGES FROM OUR FRIENDS AT THE CAPITOL


Phone: 602-279-2900 Fax: 602-279-2980 TTY 602-279-7270



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This session, we gave legislators the opportunity to send a message to you!

Here’s what they had to say:

“Thanks for bringing attention to such a serious problem. Thanks to the efforts of your group, domestic violence is now a priority for the legislature, and together we can work to increase awareness and provide services for those in need.”

Senator James Waring, District 7

“While I am pleased to have been part of the Legislative effort that enabled the Domestic Violence community to receive 100%of its requested funding this year, it is clear that more allies and stronger efforts MUST be made to secure even more funding for our shelters.

Women and children must have sanctuary in times of domestic crisis.

My goal is to continue working with DV activists and to reach deeper into the community and across party lines to build a stronger DV network within our state. Thanks to all who helped to make this year so successful, and I look forward to a renewed effort on behalf of women and children in the coming year.”

Senator Paula Aboud, District 28

“Thanks to the tireless work of social workers and community advocates for survivors of domestic violence, more women and children will have access to shelter and safety in the coming year.

Thanks to the Coalition for its work to secure additional funding for domestic violence emergency services, and for continuing to fight for prevention services throughout the state.”

Representative Kyrsten Sinema, District 15

“Having worked with families for over thirty years, I know that working with families in crisis requires a different kind of spirit. Thank you to those of you working with families in crisis, with those affected by domestic violence because it takes a great deal of compassion, a whole lot of dedication, and a strong conviction and belief that no one deserves to be hurt by someone they love.”

Representative Steven Yarbrough, District 21

“I’m so proud of the work that you do to fight domestic violence in this state. It is a pleasure to work with people who are so knowledgeable and passionate about their work; and I appreciate your accessibility to me, as a legislator. Keep up the good work.”

Senator Toni Hellon, District 26


Phone: 602-279-2900 Fax: 602-279-2980 TTY 602-279-7270



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“I am so appreciative of the work that all of you do in providing hope and assistance to victims of domestic violence. We must all continue to work together to ensure that those who experience violence at home find safety in the community and safety in our laws.”

Representative David Lujan, District 15

“Your job in our state is so important, I am grateful and inspired by all the difficult work you do. Thanks.”

Senator Ed Ableser, District 17

“Keep up the great advocacy work. The DV community is an influential group that needs to hold the Legislature accountable. With the budget surplus Arizona is experiencing, there is no reason that

Domestic Violence shelters and related programs are not fully funded.

Arizona's battered women and children must be protected.

”

Senator Rebecca Rios, District 23

SPECIAL THANKS!!

A special thanks to the Arizona Coalition Against Domestic Violence’s

Legislative Committee, chaired by Katie Hobbs, for their hard work and dedication this legislative session!


Phone: 602-279-2900 Fax: 602-279-2980 TTY 602-279-7270



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2006 - Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence

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