Bob Thorpe (politician)
| Bob Thorpe | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Arizona House of Representatives from the 6th[1] district | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 14, 2013 Serving with Brenda Barton | |
| Personal details | |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Republican |
| Website | thorpe4az |
Bob Thorpe[2] is an American politician and a Republican member of the Arizona House of Representatives representing District 6 since January 14, 2013. Thorpe refers to himself as a "Reagan Constitutional Fiscal Conservative."
Elections
- 2012 Thorpe was one of two candidates winning the August 28, 2012 Republican Primary with 14,280 votes,[3] and won the first seat in the four-way November 6, 2012 General election with 42,675 votes.
- 2014 Thorpe easily won reelection by a 16 percent margin.
Introduced legislation
Thorpe introduced legislation that challenges federal authority and upholds states rights.[4] In 2014, Thorpe introduced and later amended a bill that would scale back the Mexican Grey Wolf program in Arizona.[4] He also introduced legislation asserting that ADEQ should be in charge of PM-10 standards, not the EPA.[4]
In 2014, Thorpe also supported Senate bill SB1093, which would have required federal law enforcement and other agencies doing business in an Arizona county to register with and present a warrant to the county sheriff. The law sought to affirm that county sheriffs are the chief constitutional law enforcement authority within a state.
In 2015 Thorpe was appointed to be the Chairman of the House Government and Higher Education committee. The bills that Thorpe introduced included HB2432 which would make Arizona the 23rd state to recognize a First Responder's Day, HB2433 which would provide Good Samaritan legal protection for search and rescue volunteers, HB2364 which would help reduce costs and regulations on state universities, HB2178 which would ban powdered alcohol sales and consumption, HB2566 which would require measures to ensure that state computer data is secure, HB2366 which would provide short-term loans to small fire districts while waiting for late Federal reimbursements, and HB2176 which would demand that the federal government begin disposing of the 31 million acres of Arizona lands that it controls (41 percent of all Arizona lands.)
The Federal government only pays Arizona $35 million in PILT for the 31 million acres of Arizona lands that it controls, only about $1.13 per acre annually, which harms cities and counties, like Gila, where only 4 percent of the land is held by private taxpayers. It is extremely difficult for city and county governments to provide the services needed by their citizens (i.e., schools, roads, first responders, etc.) when the Federal government controls the majority of the land and does not pay taxes. Only 17.7 percent of Arizona lands are in private hands.
State sovereignty
Thorpe says he hopes to see legislation in 2015 that would "assert the primacy of county sheriffs in enforcing the law in their counties".
Thorpe's web page says that "Arizona sheriffs need to arrest federal agents whenever they harm the sovereign rights of our citizen's [sic], especially concerning land, water and the right to earn a living."[5]
References
- ↑ "Bob Thorpe". Phoenix, Arizona: Arizona State Legislature. Retrieved December 20, 2013.
- ↑ "Bob Thorpe's Biography". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved December 20, 2013.
- ↑ "State of Arizona Official Canvass 2012 Primary Election August 28, 2012" (PDF). Phoenix, Arizona: Secretary of State of Arizona. p. 8. Retrieved December 20, 2013.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Betz, Eric (1 March 2014). "Bob Thorpe trims wolf proposal". Arizona Daily Sun. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
State Rep. Bob Thorpe, R-Flagstaff, amended a bill he introduced that would scale back the Mexican Grey Wolf program within Arizona ... Thorpe has introduced other legislation that challenges federal supremacy and upholds states rights. The Flagstaff state representative introduced legislation that would assert Arizona’s right to have its ADEQ oversee air and water quality standards, not the EPA.
- ↑ "Some of the Issues that Face Arizona". Committee to elect Robert J. Thorpe. Archived from the original on 15 May 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
During Arizona's Centennial, after becoming a state 100-years ago, it is high time that the federal government honor it's [sic] commitment to Arizona and its citizens by fulfilling all of the requirements of the 1911 Enabling Act, and give us back our sovereignty over Arizona land, air, water and mineral rights, just like all the other states that joined the union during the 18th and 19th centuries. In outrageous cases, such as where the U.S. Forest Service recently blocked the city of Tombstone from repairing its water wells that have been in use for over 130 years, Arizona sheriffs need to arrest federal agents whenever they harm the sovereign rights of our citizen's [sic], especially concerning land, water and the right to earn a living. There's an old saying: 'Arizonians don't fight over whiskey... we fight over water!'
External links
| |||||||||||||||||||