Republican and Democratic legislators held a bipartisan press conference last week responding to legislative Democrats and Katie Hobbs and opposing Hobbs’ veto of the “tamale bill.”
GOP State Rep. Travis Grantham’s HB2509, dubbed “the tamale bill,” which was passed with a supermajority in both chambers, would help support entrepreneurship and small business, namely in Arizona’s Hispanic community.
However, not even the Democrats have power in the legislature under radical leftist tyrant Katie Hobbs.
As The Gateway Pundit reported, questionably elected Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs recently vetoed the bipartisan bill that would ease restrictions on street vendors selling homemade food goods or “cottage food products” and received the support of over two-thirds of the Arizona Legislature.
The Gateway Pundit reported that Arizona’s partisan Democrats turned their backs on the Hispanic community and sided with racist Katie Hobbs defending her veto.
Senator Anna Hernandez called the proposed bill an “insincere charade.” She further claimed that “racist” Republicans are using the Hispanic community “as a pawn in their long game” despite the bill receiving bipartisan support from many Hispanic Democrats and Republicans.
This is a shocking way to describe the proponents of this bill, considering that Democrat Katie Hobbs has a history of discriminatory firing against a black employee, participation in a “slave day” tradition, and could not even say one good thing about Hispanics when asked in a forum on the campaign trail. The Democrats then refused to answer The Gateway Pundit correspondent Jordan Conradson’s questions relating to their racism comments and Katie Hobbs’s racism.
Additionally, when Katie Hobbs vetoed this HB2509, she sent a letter to Speaker Ben Toma suggesting that home kitchens in this dominantly Hispanic industry are more susceptible to “rodent or insect outbreaks.” This led many to speculate that Katie Hobbs was referring to Arizona’s Hispanic community as unsanitary. Rep. Alma Hernandez said the veto letter was “offensive, and I would be glad to put up my Nana’s kitchen or my mom’s kitchen up against anyone’s kitchen.” She continued, “I have not heard of one single case or one person dying from eating tamales or tortillas from someone that sold them in my district.”
GOP Rep. Alexander Kolodin tweeted that the letter “plays right into the racist stereotype of Latinos as dirty and unsanitary.” He continued, “It is disrespectful and should be overriden.”
Hobbs’ veto plays right into the racist stereotype of Latinos as dirty and unsanitary. It is disrespectful and should be overriden. El partido Republicano está contigo! https://t.co/ST7vQUozuj
— Rep. Alexander Kolodin (@realAlexKolodin) April 20, 2023
Because of the feckless Democrats who sided with Katie Hobbs against their communities and small business owners, the veto override failed last week.
Republican and Democrat State Legislators also held a press conference last Tuesday, speaking out against Hobbs and her Democratic loyalists for refusing to support the veto override.
Kari Lake War Room called Rep. Alma Hernandez’s opposition to Katie Hobbs “refreshing.”
This is refreshing.
Democrat State Representative Alma Hernandez calls out @AZSenateDems for their outrageous & partisan refusal to override @katiehobbs‘s inexplicable veto of HB 2509 (The Tamale Bill).
These petty political games are hurting Arizonans. pic.twitter.com/Az24G0yY52
— Kari Lake War Room (@KariLakeWarRoom) April 22, 2023
The National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators voted last week to support the override effort and released a statement calling Hobbs out. “the Governor had an opportunity to support the Hispanic community and personal freedom that should be accessible to everyone,” read the statement by the national group.
GOP State Rep. Teresa Martinez shared on Twitter,
We must support Latino and all future entrepreneurs! Let’s not penalize people for trying selling their home goods! Please join us and help free the tamales!
We must support Latino and all future entrepreneurs!
Let’s not penalize people for trying selling their home goods!
Please join us and help free the tamales! https://t.co/o1zQui5jiv— Teresa Martinez (@TMartinez4AZ) April 24, 2023
The Gateway Pundit correspondent Jordan Conradson asked these legislators about the accusations of racism by their partisan colleagues, and the responses were gold!
Conradson: We heard in the last hour, your colleagues who were speaking against this bill spoke a lot about racism, and they were blaming the Republicans even though this is a bipartisan bill. They were saying that it doesn’t do enough for the Hispanic community. Representative Hernandez, I saw a tweet from you saying that the veto by Hobbs goes against your community. Can you speak more about that and whether race played a role in this decision?
Rep. Alma Hernandez: Absolutely. I just want to start off by saying, I’m hearing from colleagues that this has turned into a race war. Absolutely not. Every single one of us from the Democratic side who is here are Latinas. And I think it’s really important for me to push back on that because that is not the narrative that any of us have tried to push here. We’re saying, we’re standing up for our community because I don’t forget where I came from. My mother sold cakes when my father got ill so that we could be where we are today. And I’m very proud of that. So, as someone who has not forgotten my community and where I was born and raised, and where I come from, I will push against that. The National Hispanic Caucus of state legislators is a nonpartisan group. They came out and said, we have legislators all throughout the country who have introduced the same legislation. This is not about race, but I will say that seeing the veto letter that included the line; it would have been okay with me if it didn’t include a line saying rodent-infested and insect-infested homes. That is offensive, and I would be glad to put up my nana’s kitchen or my mom’s kitchen up against anyone’s kitchen. And another thing: in our community, I have not heard of one single case or one person dying from eating tamales or tortillas from someone that sold them in my district. I would be happy to get that data if anyone can provide it. But this is not about race. This is simply pointing out that the people who benefit the most are from my community.
Rep. Teresa Martinez: And I’d like to address that racism question. I am a Latina woman, a Republican, and yet I get called a racist all the time by some of my colleagues on the left. I find it offensive and horribly, horribly, horribly destructive to the conversation. That’s the first thing they say to Republicans if they don’t agree, “oh, you’re racist.” I am not racist. I am a proud Hispanic woman. And I love the idea that other brown Hispanic women and men have the opportunity to sell their home goods and start small and work up big so that they can have shops. This is going to help the Latino community, and when somebody doesn’t have a valid argument, that’s the first thing they say: you’re racist. I assure you, I am not a racist. I am not quiet and I will always defend my culture and the people who want to be better than what they are and start from the beginning. We are not going to have the heavy thumb of government on them anymore!
MAAP Real Talk’s George Nemeh: What are you going to do for the next other bills that we have on the agenda that are just as important as the tamale?
Rep. Leo Biasucci: Look, my thought is there’s always been talking about like, why are we overriding this bill? Why haven’t we done it on other bills? This is the first time I’ve been in this position as the majority leader, and I think it is important that everybody understands that we are a separate branch of the government, right? The legislature is a separate branch, and we have something that is overwhelmingly bipartisan. There’s no reason why we as a legislature shouldn’t override those bills that are vetoed. In this situation, the governor should have reached out, recognized that she made a mistake, and said, “Look, I welcome the override. You guys, obviously on both sides of the aisle agree with this bill. It’s an important bill for our people, for our citizens, for our voters. And let’s go ahead, I made a mistake. Go ahead and make an override happen; I support you.” Instead, she doubled down. And that is why I think we’re so frustrated, I think why people that are in this industry are so frustrated to say look, we’ve voiced our concerns. We’re not okay with what you just did. A strong governor would have said I made a mistake, right? We all make mistakes. It happens every day to all of us. The question is, when do you admit to that mistake? And when do you say look, I was wrong, let’s fix this? I’m hoping she has an hour to make that decision and change the narrative. Let’s hope that happens.
Watch the entire press conference below:
