Recall effort launched against Rep. John Kavanagh

Will Rep. John Kavanagh be recalled for making Arizona the "Show me your genitals state" with his silly SB 1432 which makes it a crime to use the wrong restroom???

Sadly Arizona is already the "Show me you papers state" with our racist SB 1070 law which required brown skinned folks to show police their papers to prove they are not illegals.

Source

Recall effort launched against Rep. John Kavanagh

By Mary Jo Pitzl The Republic | azcentral.com Mon Mar 25, 2013 10:01 PM

Rep. John Kavanagh, the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, is the latest target of a recall effort launched against high-profile state politicians.

A committee called Raise the Bar Arizona filed paperwork on Monday for a recall election, citing what it called Kavanagh’s hypocrisy on pledging to reduce the size of government while introducing legislation that would extend government’s reach. Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, dismissed it as misguided political harassment.

“He’s not limiting government; he’s extending it into bathrooms,” said Ray Ceo Jr., co-chairman of the newly formed committee.

Ceo was referring to Kavanagh’s introduction last week at the Legislature of a bill that would impose a disorderly-conduct charge on anyone who uses a public bathroom, dressing room or locker room if the gender designation on the facility doesn’t match the gender on the individual’s birth certificate.

Kavanagh, a four-term lawmaker, said recall organizers apparently aren’t aware of the changes he’s proposed to the bill, which will get a committee hearing Wednesday. The changes would remove the criminal penalties for bathroom use, but would bar local governments from enacting ordinances that would punish business owners if they deny bathroom use to a transgendered person.

Ceo said the committee’s problems with Kavanagh’s conduct go beyond the bathroom issue. The committee is critical of Kavanagh’s support of a bill that would defund the Arizona Students Association by taking away a fee that has benefited the group. Ceo’s co-chairman, Brianna Pantilione, is treasurer of the student group, which sued the Arizona Board of Regents for free-speech violations when the board suspended the group’s access to the student fee.

“Representative John Kavanagh has spent his time in office unconstitutionally attacking specific groups such as students rather than fulfilling his campaign promises to limit government and use taxpayer’s money effectively,” Raise the Bar said in a press release.

Ceo, a librarian and Valley native who’s also active within the gay community, said he’s tired of seeing Arizona being a “laughing stock” nationally.

The committee will need the valid signatures of 16,920 voters in Kavanagh’s northeast Valley district for a recall election.

Kavanagh said the recall would be a waste of time and money. “If they succeed, they’ll recall me five months before my primary,” he said.

The earliest a recall election could be staged is March 2014; the GOP primary for the Legislature is in August. Although term limited in the House, Kavanagh is eying a state Senate seat.

“It’s not politically wise,” he said, adding that it appears people are increasingly using the recall process as a way to harass elected officials, rather than to make a sincere effort to oust them.

“It gives new meaning to March madness,” he quipped.

The Raise the Bar committee is the latest recall effort; earlier this month, a group of central-Phoenix Republicans filed a committee to recall House Minority Leader Chad Campbell, D-Phoenix.

A committee seeking to recall Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio conceded it has fallen far short of the money needed to mount an effective countywide effort. Organizers vowed to press on.