Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,
Thank you for entrusting me with your seat in the Arizona State Senate. For the next two years, I am committed to working diligently to promote your interests and the protection of Arizona’s larger interests. I am writing to you to tell you how I plan to approach the agenda you have laid before me. But first, I want to explain that I have been given a great deal of responsibility with my committee assignments.
Those assignments include:
– Chairman of Federalism & Lands Committee, which includes intersections between the two spheres of government, federal and state, and how we interact with a healthy tension between the two. This committee also includes pursuing the disposal of unappropriated lands held by the federal government that rightfully belongs to the State of Arizona.
– Chairman of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee, which is responsible for working with the Auditor General to audit state agencies and political subdivisions and how responsibly they steward taxpayer funds to accomplish what the legislature has approved as their mission and intent.
– Member of the Appropriations Committee, which oversees the appropriation of taxpayer funds to address specific priorities that require funding, which include education, public safety, the courts, transportation infrastructure, and care for those who lack the means to care for themselves.
– Member of the Elections and Government Oversight Committee, which will address election process reform to move Arizona election law toward greater security, transparency, and integrity. The Committee will also provide oversight that may manifest with a mission resembling the federal DOGE. The legislation you have asked me to introduce is wide-ranging, but election processes and law remain a high priority. What I will introduce on your behalf covers matters requiring significant research and development. I appreciate the input that many of you have given me over the last few months to help craft these bills. They do not yet have bill numbers because they will be introduced on January 6th, 2025.
Elections:
Folder 489… Establishes a requirement that vote tabulation machines meet DoD-level cybersecurity standards. While I prefer hand-counting paper ballots at the precinct level, not all my colleagues do. If the machines cannot guarantee stand-alone security, they will be prohibited from use in Arizona if the bill passes.
Folder 502… Establishes a qualified workforce pool for counting ballots by hand by making poll work an alternative to jury duty. Election officials across the state have claimed they cannot find enough people to work the polls if we go hand counting. This is how several nations across the pond staff their elections.
Folder 505… Establishes an auditable supply chain for ballots with currency-grade watermarks, which we do not currently have. Such ballots will provide proof positive that a ballot is a legitimate ballot in the state of Arizona and not shipped in from out of state, outside of the audit trail.
Folder 549… Requires counties to provide a cast vote record (CVR) as part of the official canvass and makes the record a document that must be provided upon request through a Public Records Request.
Folder 550… Establishes that voter registration rolls are public record and must be provided upon request through a Public Records Request. This bill, if adopted, will aid voter roll maintenance and cleanup.
Folder 551… Establishes a prohibition on the use of gift cards to fund political campaigns. Because gift cards are not linked to a contributor, they can be used to circumvent campaign finance regulations and facilitate money laundering.
Folder 684… Establishes a prohibition of foreign donors and their money in political campaigns to promote or oppose citizen initiatives. It is currently illegal for foreign donors to give to candidates; it should be even more so concerning public policy votes that should be Arizona residents only since the foreign donors will not have to live under the policy positions they currently fund.
Folder 766… Reorients elections for propositions, referrals, and judicial officers to odd years. This will streamline the system and help to reduce the size of the even-year ballots. In 2024, some ballots were three pages.
Folder 557… Ends the practice of “retention elections” and restores the accountability of judges to the people. If adopted, judicial officers (judges) would have to campaign and stand up to scrutiny for their performance in front of the people, which they do not have to do today.
Federalism & Lands:
Folder 501… Restricts land sales to foreign agents, entities, and governments, including friend and foe, to protect state sovereignty and national security with required legislative approval. Think of the Senator Mine Complex.
Folder 555… Prohibits federal officers from enforcing state statutes and local ordinances on federally controlled land to harass landowners and visitors on public lands.
Folder 556… Reinforces the federal constitutional requirement that the Legislature approve all sales and transfers of Arizona land back to the federal government. This bill adds structure and process for the consideration of such a land transfer and whether it properly falls under the “Enclave Clause.”
Accountability:
Folder 630… Deals with state officer compensation: under the status quo, state officers, including the governor, secretary of state, attorney general, and legislators, get paid a set amount regardless of whether their policy decisions and execution of the laws improve the financial well-being of all Arizonans. Under this plan, state officers would be paid based on the increase or decrease in a family of four’s median home income (MHI). When public policy negatively affects the MHI, and it falls, the state officer compensation falls in proportion. If public policy improves the MHI, state officers would see an increase in pay. This bill introduces private sector “risk and reward” motivation for state officers to promote agendas beneficial to all constituents.
Folder 713… Address the need for voter approval of significant increases in taxation for higher education funding. This bill, if passed, would require a vote of the people to increase taxation for education beyond 12th grade when the increase is greater than 0.1% of the existing tax levy.
Folder 835… Adds cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and XRP to the list of “legal tender species.” In Arizona, legal tender species include Federal Reserve Notes, gold and silver coins, and gold and silver bullion. This is important because, in Arizona, the exchange of legal tender species does not trigger a taxable event.
Folder XX1… Adds performance audit responsibilities to the Office of the Auditor General. Currently, the Auditor General is only authorized to conduct financial audits, which do not provide a complete picture of how state agencies, political subdivisions, and other recipients of state taxpayer funding are acting relative to the terms and conditions related to receiving taxpayer funding.
Appropriations:
Folder 552… Would establish a grant for an emergency services communication redundancy project that is built on the Star Link backbone and is isolated from the Ericsson Telecom systems.
Folder XX2… Would fund a criminal information intelligence analysis coordination center dedicated to intelligence collection, analysis, synthesis, and dissemination of real-time actionable counter-cartel information dedicated to interdiction of human and controlled substance trafficking.
Folder XX3… Reiteration of the appropriations bill to fund repairs, rejuvenation, and improvements to the Prescott Rodeo Grounds that is currently in litigation over a question of the gift clause. The reiteration will contain performance milestones and operate similarly to the builders’ draw schedule for major projects. It is likely that the original sum of $15.3 Million will be returned to the General Fund, and a new appropriation will be necessary. The funds will remain with the State Treasurer for the property owner, The City of Prescott, to draw on for project completion.
Senate Constituent Outreach Office:
We are currently negotiating a space and hosting agreement to open a constituent outreach office for you to have a closer connection to the Legislature. Once opened, we will have space to host a secure state computer that you can use to log in to establish a Request to Speak identity. This is an important feature of our state government hearing process. You will be able to provide comments on bills that interest you. The Senate holds hearings and conducts business Monday through Thursday. I plan to be in the office on Fridays to meet with the constituents.
In conclusion, the legislative seat you have elected me to occupy for a short time is yours, not mine. It is a place for me to do your business, not mine. I welcome you to visit your office in Phoenix and perhaps even take a photo in your office chair, but I urge you to make an appointment so I won’t miss you. It may sound like I am making a big deal about the office being yours, but that sums up my view of governance. I work for you. Consequently, it truly is your office; I am just a transitory magistrate awaiting your directions.
Best regards,
Mark Finchem