Kevin Volk Op-Ed: The Legislature is Mimicking Congress – and Not in a Good Way

Kevin Volk Special to the Arizona Daily Star Mar 4, 2026

We’re in the middle of the Arizona state legislative session in Phoenix, and the resemblances to Congress in Washington, D.C., are becoming undeniable.

Last week, we started voting on Wednesday, at 10 a.m. and stayed on the floor of the State House overnight, until 5 a.m. on Thursday morning. In the course of roughly 19 hours, we voted on about 200 bills in a row.

It may sound familiar – we often hear about Congress voting past midnight or staying up all night. This is not a good development. It gives members less time to read bills, talk to our constituents, consult with experts, and make the best decisions possible.

But this is not the only way our current Legislature, where Republicans control both chambers, is mimicking our current Congress, where Republicans control both chambers.

Hyper-partisan? Check. Last year, only 10 of the 429 bills that Republican legislative leadership allowed to go through the State House and State Senate were sponsored by Democratic legislators. That’s 2.3% of total bills. And this is in a Legislature where 44% of members are Democrats, duly elected by their constituents.

Unproductive? Check. Out of those 429 bills, only 255 were signed into law. The other 174 were vetoed by the Governor. In almost every case, these were ideologically driven bills with little or no bipartisan outreach, where the veto was expected from the get-go.

Declaring recess before the job is done? Check. We saw recently how the U.S. House went on recess for 54 days — not only stopping legislative work, but preventing Adelita Grijalva from being sworn in and denying Southern Arizona full congressional representation. Last year, state Republican leadership did the same thing — two recesses in the State Senate, and three in the State House. We missed about 30 working days.

Not wanting to negotiate the budget? Check. In Congress, they constantly fail to pass a real budget, and instead pass “Continuing Resolutions” over and over to buy little chunks of time. Last session, current Republican leadership delayed and delayed, ultimately proposing to pass a temporary budget to “meet” the deadline and then come back and try again. Passing what would have effectively been a Continuing Resolution would have been a troubling precedent.

Focusing on ideological posturing instead of policy? Check. I lost count of the partisan, non-binding resolutions that we voted on last week, most of which were not specifically about Arizona. That’s on top of the bills that have been previously vetoed, the party-line bills, and the pork-barrel bills. Meanwhile, issues like child care — a major cost of living concern for Arizona families — receive zero time on the calendar.

While I have pride in our American system of self-government, and appreciate the vital role Congress has as a co-equal branch, I am disgusted by the partisanship, dysfunction, and lack of responsiveness to America’s most pressing challenges that we see in Washington, D.C.

State legislatures are not free from politics, but many states are able to clear the very low bar that Congress sets. I try to do my part – I will engage with anyone to come up with solutions, and work across the aisle at every opportunity. Like most Arizonans, I just want us to get stuff done — especially at a time when Arizonans are struggling with the cost of living and other pressing challenges that we should be tackling head-on.

So it gives me no joy to say that today, unlike in previous times, the Republican leadership currently in charge in Phoenix is making our Legislature look a lot like Congress.

That’s bad news for the institution, for the state, and for Arizonans.

The good news? In America, the world’s longest-running democracy, we always have an opportunity to change who’s in charge.