Democratic Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed the bill that would have strengthened the rights of homeowners who want to evict tenants from their properties, despite it being bipartisan and a wave of squatting cases continuing to terrorize homeowners across the nation.
SB 1129 would have allowed a homeowner who had a squatter invading their home and claiming an illegal right to live on it to ask law enforcement to remove him immediately.
The police, if they had acted on the owner’s affidavit immediately, could have evicted someone.
Hobbs, however, vetoed the measure in a letter he sent to the President of the State Senate on Tuesday.
Hobbs wrote: “Today, I vetoed Senate Bill 1229.” “This bill does not take advantage of existing legal mechanisms.” “It also fails to respect the rights of lawful renters and minimizes unintended consequences, such as those for victims of domestic abuse.”
She didn’t elaborate on her reasoning.
Wendy Rogers, a state senator, drafted the bill. She criticized Hobbs’ decision as the latest of many vetoes by the governor.
Rogers, in a press release, questioned whether Hobbs even read the bill.
Rogers stated that criminals were planning to steal homes that weren’t theirs. This poses a danger to homeowners and violates their rights to private property.
Rogers stated that “despite our trespassing law, it can be difficult to prove someone is illegally occupying the home. This can lead to a long legal battle.”
Rogers stated that in hearings, homeowners testified that they felt violated by the severe damage to their property and high repair costs. Florida and Georgia already have laws that strengthen homeowners’ rights.
State Senator Justine Wadsack told reporters that she had personally seen a squatter in a house when the realtor was showing a customer.
Wadsack stated, “It was an incredibly terrifying threat to me, my clients, and the homeowners.” “When I called the cops, they told me there wasn’t much they could do. It’s a pity Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed another bipartisan piece of legislation that was common sense.”
Hobbs vetoed 10 bills on Tuesday. She has now rejected 52 bills in this legislative session. Last year she issued a record-breaking 143 vetos, beating former Governor. Janet Napolitano set a record for vetoes in 2005 with 58.
Tucson.com reported that Hobbs vetoed two other bills: one that defined who could shower with whom at public schools, and another that required enhanced sentences for multiple cases of “organized retail fraud.”
Hobbs was criticized for the way she handled the midterm elections in 2022 and her gubernatorial campaign, where she ran for governor. She also vetoed 2 bills related to the election. Hobbs was elected to office in January of 2023 after she won the gubernatorial race against Kari Lake. Lake never admitted her defeat by more than 17,000 votes and challenged the results repeatedly in court.
She vetoed two bills: one that would have prohibited students from other states from voting during elections in Arizona, and another that would allow candidates for federal offices to send an official to observe the ballot counting process. Tucson.com reports that this is only available to political parties.
Hobbs signed 12 new measures. These included allowing political signs to be displayed 71 days before an election (up from 45) and allowing off-duty officers to work on private traffic control duties to have red and green lights on their vehicles.
Hobbs vetoed last month a Republican-sponsored law that would have allowed police to arrest illegal aliens, claiming the legislation was antiimmigrant and probably unconstitutional.
The Arizona Border Invasion Act would have made anyone who illegally crossed the border in any place other than at a legal port of entry a misdemeanor.
