A bill that limits faculty participation in decision making is on its way to the governor’s desk. 

The Arizona Senate passed the bill Wednesday, House Bill 2735, that weakens language around shared governance — the collaboration in decision making between faculty, staff and students with highest level university leaders —  at the state’s public universities. 

Next, the bill will head to Gov. Katie Hobbs’ desk where she will either sign it into law or veto it. Hobbs’ office told Arizona Luminaria that they “don’t comment on bills that are on the governor’s desk” but that she will take action within five days.

Leila Hudson, the chair of the faculty senate at the University of Arizona and an associate professor of Middle Eastern and North African Studies, sent a response to the vote in an email to UA faculty Wednesday.

“The news of the vote came as a surprise to most of us and appears to be part of the sine die bill cleanup that comes as part of the adjournment of the session as state budget negotiations come to closure. A couple of state Senators spoke passionately and effectively against the bill,” she wrote.

Previously, State Rep. Nancy Gutierrez, a Democrat representing District 18 in Tucson, said the bill was likely dead during a University of Arizona all-faculty meeting in April.

“The governor adamantly spoke out against this and it has been stalled in the Senate since March,” she said at the meeting. “Nothing’s done dead until sine die. But I want to tell you that that is good news.”

Gutierrez also said the governor and the other state university presidents, not including UA President Robert Robbins, were against the bill and that its passing was improbable.

The proposal swaps the faculty, administration and regents’ current shared participation in governance for a vague “consult” role by faculty. Specifically, revisions strike language from Arizona laws that empower faculty members of each university through their “elected faculty representatives” to “participate in” the governance of their respective universities. 

The bill originated in the House with State Rep. Travis Grantham, a Republican representing District 14 in Maricopa County, as HB 2735’s primary sponsor. 

Before Gutierrez’s statement, Hobbs hinted she favored the bill, saying “it sounds exactly like what I’m already calling for,” in a February interview with KJZZ.  And Grantham framed this statement as approval from the governor during the bill’s first Senate hearing in March.

Like previous votes on the proposal, the bill’s approval followed party lines with all Republicans voting in favor and all but three Democrats voting against. Here’s a breakdown of the votes:

• Sen. Shawnna Bolick (R, District 2) – Aye
• Sen. Wendy Rogers (R, District 7) – Aye
• Sen. Justine Wadsack (R, District 17) – Aye
• Sen. Anthony Kern (R, District 27) – Aye
• Sen. Flavio Bravo (D, District 26) – Nay
• Sen. Denise Epstein (D, District 12) – Nay
• Sen. Anna Hernandez (D, District 24) – Not Voting
• Sen. Lela Alston (D, District 24) – Not Voting
• Sen. Ken Bennett (R, District 1) – Aye
• Sen. Sonny Borrelli (R, District 30) – Aye
• Sen. Eva Burch (D, District 9) – Nay
• Sen. Frank Carroll (R, District 28) – Aye
• Sen. Eva Diaz (D, District 22) – Nay
• Sen. David Farnsworth (R, District 16) – Aye
• Sen. Brian Fernandez (D, District 4) – Not Voting
• Sen. Rosanna Gabaldón (D, District 2) – Nay
• Sen. Sally Ann Gonzales (D, District 3) – Nay
• Sen. David Gowan (R, District 19) – Aye
• Sen. Theresa Hatathlie (D, District 6) – Nay
• Sen. Jake Hoffman (R, District 15) – Aye
• Sen. John Kavanagh (R, District 3) – Aye
• Sen. Sine Kerr (R, District 13) – Aye
• Sen. Christine Marsh (D, District 28) – Nay
• Sen. Juan Medez (D, District 26) – Nay
• Sen. J.D. Mesnard (R, District 17) – Aye
• Sen. Catherine Miranda (D, District 27) – Nay
• Sen. Janae Shamp (R, District 29) – Aye
• Sen. T.J. Shope (R, District 16) – Aye
• Sen. Priya Sundareshan (D, District 18) – Nay
• Sen. Warren Petersen (R, District 12) – Aye

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Arizona Senate passes bill that limits shared governance; heads to Gov. Hobbs’ desk

by Carolina Cuellar, AZ Luminaria
June 14, 2024

<h1>Arizona Senate passes bill that limits shared governance; heads to Gov. Hobbs’ desk</h1> <p class="byline">by Carolina Cuellar, AZ Luminaria <br />June 14, 2024</p> <p>A bill that limits faculty participation in decision making is on its way to the governor’s desk.&nbsp;</p> <p>The Arizona Senate passed the bill Wednesday, House Bill 2735, that weakens language around shared governance — the collaboration in decision making between faculty, staff and students with highest level university leaders —&nbsp; at the state’s public universities.&nbsp;</p> <p>Next, the bill will head to Gov. Katie Hobbs’ desk where she will either sign it into law or veto it. Hobbs’ office told Arizona Luminaria that they “don't comment on bills that are on the governor's desk” but that she will take action within five days.</p> <div class="wp-block-group has-background" style="background-color:#ffb64730"> </div> <p>Leila Hudson, the chair of the faculty senate at the University of Arizona and an associate professor of Middle Eastern and North African Studies, sent a response to the vote in an email to UA faculty Wednesday.</p> <p>“The news of the vote came as a surprise to most of us and appears to be part of the sine die bill cleanup that comes as part of the adjournment of the session as state budget negotiations come to closure. A couple of state Senators spoke passionately and effectively against the bill,” she wrote.</p> <p>Previously, State Rep. Nancy Gutierrez, a Democrat representing District 18 in Tucson, said the bill was likely dead during a University of Arizona <a href="https://azluminaria.org/2024/04/25/ua-faculty-meet-to-demand-layoff-delays-lawmaker-offers-reassurance-on-shared-governance-threat/">all-faculty meeting in April</a>.</p> <p>“The governor adamantly spoke out against this and it has been stalled in the Senate since March,” she said at the meeting. “Nothing’s done dead until sine die. But I want to tell you that that is good news.”</p> <p>Gutierrez also said the governor and the other state university presidents, not including UA President Robert Robbins, were against the bill and that its passing was improbable.</p> <p>The proposal swaps the faculty, administration and regents’ current shared participation in governance for a vague “consult” role by faculty. Specifically, revisions strike language from Arizona laws that empower faculty members of each university through their “elected faculty representatives” to “participate in” the governance of their respective universities.&nbsp;</p> <p>The bill originated in the House with State Rep. Travis Grantham, a Republican representing District 14 in Maricopa County, as HB 2735’s primary sponsor.&nbsp;</p> <p>Before Gutierrez’s statement, Hobbs hinted she favored the bill, saying “it sounds exactly like what I’m already calling for,” <a href="https://www.kjzz.org/2024-02-23/content-1872150-arizona-lawmakers-divided-over-support-embattled-university-arizona-president">in a February interview with KJZZ</a>.&nbsp; And Grantham framed this statement as approval from the governor during the bill’s first Senate hearing in March.</p> <p>Like previous votes on the proposal, the bill’s approval followed party lines with all Republicans voting in favor and all but three Democrats voting against. Here’s a breakdown of the votes:</p> <ul> <li>Sen. Shawnna Bolick (R, District 2) – Aye</li> <li>Sen. Wendy Rogers (R, District 7) – Aye</li> <li>Sen. Justine Wadsack (R, District 17) – Aye</li> <li>Sen. Anthony Kern (R, District 27) – Aye</li> <li>Sen. Flavio Bravo (D, District 26) – Nay</li> <li>Sen. Denise Epstein (D, District 12) – Nay</li> <li>Sen. Anna Hernandez (D, District 24) – Not Voting</li> <li>Sen. Lela Alston (D, District 24) – Not Voting</li> <li>Sen. Ken Bennett (R, District 1) – Aye</li> <li>Sen. Sonny Borrelli (R, District 30) – Aye</li> <li>Sen. Eva Burch (D, District 9) – Nay</li> <li>Sen. Frank Carroll (R, District 28) – Aye</li> <li>Sen. Eva Diaz (D, District 22) – Nay</li> <li>Sen. David Farnsworth (R, District 16) – Aye</li> <li>Sen. Brian Fernandez (D, District 4) – Not Voting</li> <li>Sen. Rosanna Gabaldón (D, District 2) – Nay</li> <li>Sen. Sally Ann Gonzales (D, District 3) – Nay</li> <li>Sen. David Gowan (R, District 19) – Aye</li> <li>Sen. Theresa Hatathlie (D, District 6) – Nay</li> <li>Sen. Jake Hoffman (R, District 15) – Aye</li> <li>Sen. John Kavanagh (R, District 3) – Aye</li> <li>Sen. Sine Kerr (R, District 13) – Aye</li> <li>Sen. Christine Marsh (D, District 28) – Nay</li> <li>Sen. Juan Medez (D, District 26) – Nay</li> <li>Sen. J.D. Mesnard (R, District 17) – Aye</li> <li>Sen. Catherine Miranda (D, District 27) – Nay</li> <li>Sen. Janae Shamp (R, District 29) – Aye</li> <li>Sen. T.J. Shope (R, District 16) – Aye</li> <li>Sen. Priya Sundareshan (D, District 18) – Nay</li> <li>Sen. Warren Petersen (R, District 12) – Aye</li> </ul> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://azluminaria.org/2024/06/14/arizona-senate-passes-bill-that-limits-shared-governance-heads-to-gov-hobbs-desk/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://azluminaria.org&quot;&gt;AZ Luminaria&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/azluminaria.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/cropped-L-square-Primary.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://azluminaria.org/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=24397&amp;amp;ga4=291628854&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://azluminaria.org/2024/06/14/arizona-senate-passes-bill-that-limits-shared-governance-heads-to-gov-hobbs-desk/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/azluminaria.org/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;</p> Copy to Clipboard

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