ACT NOW! Oppose House Bill 2103

Update: HB 2103 is a consolidated anti-union bill that is flying through the legislature. The bill will require that each association member reaffirm in writing every year their desire to have association dues taken out of their paychecks. This is another attempt to weaken all public employee unions. No business entity is required to have their stockholders perform such an action so why are unions being singled out? We ask you to contact all the house members to vote against the bill. A sample letter you can use is below.

AHPA needs you! Act now!

House members:

Eddie Ableser – eableser@azleg.gov, Lela Alston – lalston@azleg.gov, Ben Arredondo – barrendondo@azleg.gov, Cecil Ash – cash@azleg.gov, Brenda Barton – bbarton@azleg.gov, Kate Brophy McGee – kbrophymcgee@azleg.gov, Chad Campbell – chcampbell@azleg.gov, Heather Carter – hcarter@azleg.gov, Tom Chabin – tchabin@azleg.gov, Steve Court – scourt@azleg.gov, Chester Crandell – ccrandell@azleg.gov, Jeff Dial – jdial@azleg.gov, Karen Fann – kfann@azleg.gov, Steve Farley – sfarley@azleg.gov, Eddie Farnsworth – efarnsworth@azleg.gov, John Fillmore – jfillmore@azleg.gov, Tom Forese – tforese@azleg.gov, Ruben Gallego – rgallego@azleg.gov, Sally Ann Gonzales – sgonzales@azleg.gov, Doris Goodale – dgoodale@azleg.gov, David Gowan – dgowan@azleg.gov, Rick Gray – rgray@azleg.gov, Albert Hale – ahale@azleg.gov, Jack Harper – jharper@azleg.gov, Matt Heinz – mheinz@azleg.gov, Katie Hobbs – khobbs@azleg.gov, Russ Jones – rjones@azleg.gov, Peggy Judd – pjudd@azleg.gov, John Kavanagh – jkavanagh@azleg.gov, Debbie Lesko – dlesko@azleg.gov, Phil Lovas – plovas@azleg.gov, Debbie McCune Davis – ddavis@azleg.gov, Nancy McLain – nmclain@azleg.gov, J.D. Mesnard – jmesnard@azleg.gov, Eric Meyer – emeyer@azleg.gov, Catherine Miranda – cmiranda@azleg.gov, Steve Montenegro – smontenegro@azleg.gov, Justin Olson – jolson@azleg.gov, Lynne Pancrazi – lpancrazi@azleg.gov, Daniel Patterson – dpatterson@azleg.gov, Justin Pierce – jpierce@azleg.gov, Frank Pratt – fpratt@azleg.gov, Terri Proud – tproud@azleg.gov, Martin Quezada – mquezada@azleg.gov, Amanda Reeve – areeve@azleg.gov, Bob Robson – brobson@azleg.gov, Macario Saldate – msaldate@azleg.gov, Carl Seel – cseel@azleg.gov, David Burnell Smith – dsmith@azleg.gov, David Stevens – dstevens@azleg.gov, Andy Tobin – atobin@azleg.gov, Anna Tovar – atovar@azleg.gov, Michelle Ugenti – mugenti@azleg.gov, Steve Urie – surie@azleg.gov, Ted Vogt – tvogt@azleg.gov, Jim Weiers – jweiers@azleg.gov, Jerry Weiers – jpweiers@azleg.gov, Bruce Wheeler – bwheeler@azleg.gov, Vic Williams – vwilliams@azleg.gov, Kimberly Yee – kyee@azleg.gov

SUGGESTION FOR LETTER (FOR CURRENT EMPLOYEES) TO SEND TO LEGISLATORS:

(Insert DATE)

Dear Representative ____________________,

I am a dedicated employee of the Department of Public Safety. I have served the public for ___ (# of years) as a ____________ (job title[s]). My job has required me to _________ (description of duties). Law enforcement is a specialized profession that few qualify and are entrusted to perform. Therefore, I strongly oppose House Bill 2103. The generalized bill do not address the specific needs for those who provide police services.

Police work is an industry unlike anything in the private sector. Employees are asked to respond 24/7, often running into tragedy as others are fleeing from it. Because we handle sensitive information, testify in judicial matters and use lethal/less lethal force, my colleagues and I regularly are subjects of administrative and criminal investigations. Police associations, like the Arizona Highway Patrol Association (AHPA), provide an essential service to all Department of Public Safety (DPS) employees. AHPA’s primary function is to provide legal coverage to law enforcement officials. It is assistance that the state cannot provide in order to safeguard our families. DPS personnel should be equipped with the resources they need to help them to do their jobs. When almost 100% of DPS employees are in a police union, there is obviously a tremendous need for associations (like AHPA) to help us do their jobs and protect the public.

When Arizona and the nation are seeing record numbers of police deaths and assaults, I would like to see more investments into increased police resources, hiring and maintaining more officers, and added protection to their livelihood. Broadly attacking public safety employees is unproductive. Legislators should be protecting law enforcement, not working against them.

Please take this as a letter from a citizen, pleading to you that police employees should not have their rights limited further. Do also consider me as a law enforcement resource. Contact myself or AHPA before making broad decisions about an industry most people know little about.

As a taxpayer and constituent, I urge you to vote no on House bill 2103. Public safety is specialized industry that should not be generalized with other professions. I encourage you to keep the in integrity of police work by allowing law enforcement the resources they need.

Sincerely,

NAME

ADDRESS

PHONE NUMBER

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OLDER ANTI-UNION BILL INFORMATION: Senate Bills 1484, 1485, 1486 & 1487

Four bills were introduced specifically targeting all public employees and their representation. SB 1484 (http://www.azleg.gov/DocumentsForBill.asp?Bill_Number=1484&Session_Id=107), 1485 (http://www.azleg.gov/DocumentsForBill.asp?Bill_Number=1485&Session_Id=107), 1486 (http://www.azleg.gov/DocumentsForBill.asp?Bill_Number=1486&Session_Id=107) and 1487 (http://www.azleg.gov/DocumentsForBill.asp?Bill_Number=1487&Session_Id=107) are broad anti-union bills, generalizing that the law enforcement profession is comparable to the private sector. These bills do not recognize that police services require specialized needs. They impede your current rights and benefits, along with your constitutional privileges to freedom of speech, representation and association.

Have no doubt, these bills are the agenda of many elected Republicans and the Goldwater Institute in efforts to cripple unions. Unfortunately, police associations, like the Arizona Highway Patrol Association, are grouped into blanketed attacks on public employees. However, we provide an essential service to DPS employees. AHPA’s primary function is to provide legal coverage to law enforcement officials. Because regularly we handle sensitive information and use lethal/less lethal force, we are subjects of administrative and criminal investigations. Our organization provides members that legal assistance. When almost 100% of the department are in a police union, obviously there is a tremendous need for associations (like AHPA) to help employees do their jobs and protect the public.

Please consider sending these letters (below) or calling your legislator with these suggested talking points. Encourage your friends and family to assist us in preventing these anti-police senate bills from passing. You can forward on letters (below) to ask them for assistance. Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper. Have your voice heard!

AHPA encourages you to contact elected officials off-duty and from personal phones and email addresses.

READ CURRENT NEWS RELATED TO THE ATTACK ON ALL PUBLIC EMPLOYEES HERE

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COPY AND PASTE THESE EMAIL ADDRESSES WHEN SENDING A LETTER TO SENATE MEMBER:

paboud@azleg.gov, sallen@azleg.gov , fantenori@azleg.gov , nbarto@azleg.gov, abiggs@azleg.gov, jburges@azleg.gov, ocajerobedford@azleg.gov, rcrandall@azleg.gov, adriggs@azleg.gov, sgallardo@azleg.gov, rgould@azleg.gov, lgray@azleg.gov, ggriffin@azleg.gov, jjackson@azleg.gov, lklein@azleg.gov, llandrum@azleg.gov, jlewis@azleg.gov, llopez@azleg.gov, dlujan@azleg.gov, jmccomish@azleg.gov, amelvin@azleg.gov, rmeza@azleg.gov, rmurphy@azleg.gov, jnelson@azleg.gov, spierce@azleg.gov, mreagan@azleg.gov, dschapira@azleg.gov, dshooter@azleg.gov, stevesmith@azleg.gov, syarbrough@azleg.gov