Legislative update: Republicans discuss senior homelessness and hiding Bibles

It’s Wednesday which means it’s time for the weekly legislative update, where we hear from lawmakers on the latest activity at the state capitol. This week, it’s the Republicans turn. State Senator Steve Kaiser joins Arizona Horizon host Ted Simons to discuss the latest news including video footage of a Democratic lawmaker, Stephanie Stahl Hamilton, hiding Bibles in the state house lounge.

“We’re not afraid of religion; we embrace religion as Arizonans,” said Kaiser. “When you look at the video, she’s sneaking around, putting Bibles under seat cushions where people are then sitting on them, putting them in refrigerators…it’s very disorderly.”

Kaiser says Hamilton’s behavior comes at an interesting time because only a few weeks ago, the same lawmaker filed an ethics complaint of disorderly conduct against a fellow member. Kaiser considers Hamilton’s behavior to be “very disrespectful to Christian religion.”

Hamilton has since apologized for her actions.

Kaiser is working on several bills to address Arizona’s housing crisis. House Bill 2536 mandates rezoning for cities over 25,000 residents for the creation of single room dwellings. Some municipalities do not support this endeavor, but Kaiser is a strong proponent.

“We keep the zoning process in place and ask the cities to get it done in 180 days; originally we had 90 days,” Kaiser said. “The single room occupancy is an answer for our senior population. We’re amending that to be 55 plus, because seniors are our fastest growing homeless population.”

Kaiser added that municipalities would have oversight in these projects.