Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) rejected a bill on Thursday that would have barred transgender students in the state from being able to use school restrooms that correspond with their gender — one of over 100 bills the governor has vetoed since taking office earlier this year.
The proposal would have required schools to create single-occupancy restrooms for transgender kids or forced them to use school employees’ restrooms. The bill also would have forbidden teachers and staff from using the correct pronouns for transgender students without first obtaining permission from parents or guardians to do so — effectively forcing some trans kids to choose between coming out to their parents or answering to pronouns that don’t correspond with their gender identity.
Hobbs has vetoed around 111 bills since she was inaugurated earlier this year, including a number of far right bills seeking to limit the rights of LGBTQ youth in the state. (Since Hobbs narrowly defeated Republican opponent Kari Lake in the 2022 gubernatorial race last fall, Lake has claimed, without evidence, that the race’s outcome was the result of fraud.)
In a message accompanying the recent veto, Hobbs promised to block any other bills that reach her desk that would hurt trans kids.
“I will veto every bill that aims to attack and harm children,” she said, lauding “the young students who spoke out against this bill.”
“I promise to always be an ally,” Hobbs added. “Thank you for your courage and leadership.”
Other bills that Hobbs has recently vetoed include:
- Senate Bill 1413, which would have forced cities to tear down homeless encampments and to charge unhoused people with criminal trespassing;
- Senate Bill 1265, which would have barred ranked choice voting anywhere in the state, in spite of the fact that the system is not currently used anywhere in Arizona; and
- Senate Bill 1146, which would have forbidden the state from investing in companies that donate to organizations that “promote” abortions for minors.
Recent polling suggests that Arizonans are happy with the direction that Hobbs has taken the governor’s office. A poll conducted in March, for instance, shows that Hobbs has a plurality of support, with 43 percent of state residents approving of her job performance and only 30 percent disapproving.
The OH Predictive Insights poll did not include a question on the state legislature’s overall popularity, but Republican insiders are already viewing Hobbs’s popularity as a sign that GOP lawmakers should stop prioritizing culture war issues and election conspiracy theories.
“I’ve been telling Republicans that talk to us down at the legislature, if they continue in the manner they’re currently behaving, they will be a minority at the end of ’24,” said Republican political consultant Chuck Coughlin.