Arizona Senate GOP debuts intergovernmental committee to investigate COVID-19 mitigations
Apr 28, 2023, 2:00 PM | Updated: 2:59 pm
PHOENIX — Arizona Republican lawmakers have established an intergovernmental committee to examine federal, state and local efforts to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic, fallout from such measures, and to identify any possible legal remedies against individuals or entities where appropriate.
The Novel Coronavirus Southwestern Intergovernmental Committee includes members from both the state house and senate as well as members of the U.S. House of Representatives. It is the only similar intergovernmental committee initiated by the state legislature.
The Novel Coronavirus Southwestern Intergovernmental Committee will convene May 25 and 26 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Senate Hearing room 1, 1700 W. Washington St., Phoenix.
Additional committee hearings are possible.
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Sitting on the committee is Arizona Sen. Janae Shamp, state Sen. T.J. Shope, Arizona State Rep. Steve Montenegro, and U.S. Reps. Paul Gosar, Andy Biggs and Eli Crane.
Shamp will be chairman and Shope vice chairman. Both senators currently lead the Arizona Senate Health & Human Services Committee.
Shamp, Shope, Gosar, Biggs and Crane were appointed to the committee by Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen. Montenegro was appointed by Arizona Speaker of the House Ben Toma.
According to the Arizona Senate GOP, the committee will evaluate protocols and overall public health guidance, funding incentives for health care facilities, injustices committed against families, businesses, workers and industries, potential preventative protections that may have been able to safeguard Arizona citizens against harms committed, and anything else deemed relevant to the pandemic.
This committee will then produce a report that will be submitted to both the Senate President and the Speaker of the House before the end of 2024.
“I lost my job as a perioperative nurse because I refused to take the experimental vaccine that we now know has produced serious side effects in a number of otherwise healthy individuals. We’ve witnessed lives and livelihoods lost for no other reason than the mismanagement of COVID-19, and we are determined to hold those accountable for the injustices experienced,” said Senator Shamp.
