PHOENIX (AP) - An activist group whose members were cut off from testifying at a Senate hearing on a proposal that would ask voters to enshrine Arizona’s “sanctuary city” ban in the state constitution has filed an ethics complaint against the committee’s chairman.
Living United for Change in Arizona says in the complaint filed Tuesday that Republican Sen. Eddie Farnsworth failed to allow open testimony at last week’s meeting and wants him reprimanded. They also complained that he called state police to remove members of the group known as LUCHA from the meeting.
Farnsworth acted after the group’s contract lobbyist called the measure backed by Republican Gov. Doug Ducey “a return to the racism, divisiveness and hate of SB1070.”
Farnsworth said that statement was out of bounds because it criticized the motives of the GOP lawmakers backing the measure.
SB1070 is a 2010 Arizona law designed to crack down on illegal immigration. Its passage led to boycotts and legal challenges that ended with many provisions being thrown out. However, key portions remain in force, including a ban on cities adopting policies barring cooperation with federal immigration agents.
Senate President Karen Fann defended Farnsworth on Tuesday, saying he runs fair hearings but insists that those testifying not disrespect either lawmakers or the institution. She noted testimony was limited at the morning hearing because of a planned 11 a.m. House ceremony.
She also accused LUCHA members of possibly staging the disruption, noting the group brought their own video camera to record what transpired.
“It was very apparent at that time that there was more going on than people wanting to talk, that maybe this was done purposely to disrupt the meeting,” said Fann, who was watching the hearing on television from her office. “We had to call in uniformed officers. And we had members and other people in the audience that were feeling unsafe at that point. They were not sure what these people were going to do.”
In its complaint, LUCHA said it was Farnsworth who broke the Senate’s rules on open hearings.
“By cutting off testimony with only two members of the public speaking, Sen. Farnsworth failed to uphold his duty of making this meeting open to the public, a practice that is crucial to our democracy,” the complaint said.
The Senate Ethics Committee is not bound to take any action on the complaint.
Last week’s hearing dust-up continued over to the House Election Committee Tuesday, where Republican Chairwoman Kelly Townsend warned the public that she had state police officers on hand and would eject anyone who didn’t follow her rules or personally accused lawmakers of improper motives.
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