
9 minute read
Jewish freshmen are figuring out the state House
When Gov. Katie Hobbs was inaugurated in January, it was the first time in more than a decade for a Democrat to have the top job in Arizona. Although the Republicans still have the majority in both legislative chambers, her election reshuffled the political calculus in the state.
A lot of the day-to-day in politics, however, doesn’t change that much.
Advertisement
For example, fresh-faced freshmen legislators come into office every two years looking to learn the ropes. They have to get a grasp on procedural rules, meet new people and build the kind of relationships they hope will pay off down the line.

This year, there are three Jewish State House freshmen, Democrats Rep. Seth Blattman (LD-9) and Rep. Consuelo Hernandez (LD21) and Republican Rep. Alexander Kolodin (LD-3). Their transition into office thus far has gone pretty smoothly, they all told Jewish News.
Hernandez had a bit of a head start, given that her sister, Rep. Alma Hernandez (LD-20), has served in the State House since 2018 and her brother, Daniel Hernandez, is a former representative.

“I’m grateful to have my siblings who I can lean on,” she told Jewish News. “They’re so busy, though, and I can’t ask them everything.”
She said her father taught his children they have to figure things out on their own, so that’s what she’s doing.
One valuable lesson her siblings taught her is the importance of bipartisanship and finding common said Jon Meyers, director of ADDPC.
“Our hope is to create and promote opportunities for people to be embraced, become part of the community and find equitable opportunities wherever they might live,” he said.
Meyers first came to know Stern through her mother, Amy Silverman, who read her personal essays about raising a daughter with Down syndrome on KJZZ, National Public Radio’s Phoenix affiliate station.

Meyers was so captivated by the essays that he reached out to Silverman, and the two became friends.
That’s how Stern first learned of the open council seat, but there’s no doubt she earned her position, Meyers said.
To become a council member, Stern had to apply and demonstrate that she had something valuable to contribute, he said.
“She’s on the council because she deserves to be on the council,” he said. Stern is creating a life and career as a member of her community, which makes her a great addition.
Stern graduated from McClintock High School in Tempe last year and now attends Glendale Community College, with a focus on dance. She is a regular performer at Detour Company Theatre, a Scottsdale theatre company for adults with intellectual, developmental and physical disabilities.
In fact, when Stern attended her first council meeting in January, she couldn’t wait to tell people of her involvement with Detour and share information about its upcoming shows.
“There’s no question that she is going to thrive,” Meyers said. “She’s very gregarious and passionate about the things that matter to her.”
Stern looks forward to sharing insights about her Judaism with her fellow council members and speaking out for her rights and beliefs.
She already has some practice at advocating for herself.
“One time, I was in class and someone called me the R-word and I told him not to. The teacher was in the hallway and another student repeated the word,” she said. Rather than letting the situation go, she told her theater teacher, who was able to intervene.
“If someone has a disability, saying the R-word is like saying the F-word,” Stern said.
While performing in the musical “Hairspray,” she had another occasion to tangle with the offensive word, which appears in the script.
“That’s really bad and my friend said it on stage. I was not OK with that, so I went to the director and told her it was a bad word for people with disabilities, but she wouldn’t take it out,” Stern said.
She let her mother know about the conflict and they were able to convince the director of the need to remove the word from the script.
“My friend Al was next to me when I told the director and he gave me the biggest hug ever and said that he loved me so much,” Stern said. Sadly, Al died in a car crash on Oct. 24, 2021.
“That was hard; it’s very hard to get emotions out and I was very, very upset,” she said.
On the recent anniversary of his death, Stern made a cake and took it to the crash site.
“I don’t know how I did it without crying. I’m so proud of myself,” she said.
Amy Hummell, executive director of Gesher Disability Resources, agreed that Stern is a good fit for ADDPC because of her ability to self-advocate.
Hummell co-hosted a book event with Meyers a few years ago for “My
1948 2023 YEARS
12701 N. Scottsdale
PUBLISHER Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Phoenix
GENERAL MANAGER Rich Solomon | 602.639.5861 rsolomon@jewishaz.com
MANAGING EDITOR
Mala Blomquist | 602.639.5855 mblomquist@jewishaz.com
STAFF WRITER Shannon Levitt | 602.639.5854 slevitt@jewishaz.com
ADVERTISING SALES CONSULTANT
Jodi Lipson | 602.639.5866 jlipson@jewishaz.com
SUBSCRIPTIONS 602.870.9470 x 1 subscriptions@jewishaz.com
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Ebony Brown | 410.902.2333 ads_phoenixjn@midatlanticmedia.com
Heart
Can’t Even Believe It:
A Story of Science, Love and Down Syndrome,” Silverman’s book about her daughter. When Gesher’s speakers’ bureau, Damon Brooks & Associates, was asked to find a speaker about Down syndrome for an event this spring, Hummell first asked Silverman to speak, thinking Stern might be too young.
They decided instead that Stern should tell her own story; it’s a real bonus that she is not afraid of public speaking.
“It’s not the same when someone tries to tell a person’s story for them,” Hummell said.
Additionally, helping people with disabilities find jobs was one of the reasons for acquiring the bureau. Unemployment in the disability community is upwards of 75% and of that percentage, 75% are ready, willing and able to work — but haven’t been given the opportunity, Hummell said.
“People have it in them to speak up but don’t know how, and often they’re not cheered on. Sophie has family support
OFFICE HOURS 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Thursday 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Friday
DEADLINES
EDITORIAL: Noon, Tuesday 9 days prior to publication

ADVERTISING: 11 a.m., Friday 3 days prior to publication
Jaime Roberts, Publisher | 2013-2016
Florence Newmark Eckstein, Publisher | 1981-2013
Cecil Newmark, Publisher | 1961-1981
Pearl Newmark, Editor | 1961-1981
M.B. Goldman, Jr., Founder | 1948-1961
PROUD MEMBER OF which gives her confidence and then she can support others, which is why she’s such a good representative on the council.”
Meyers said finding self-advocates to be on the council can be challenging, which is why he and others are excited to see what Stern does now that she’s a member.
“She clearly has the drive to become
JEWISH FRESHMEN
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 ground, she said.
The freshmen already have a bit of common ground due to their religion, and along with Alma Hernandez, there are now four Jews in the State House. Though they represent different parties, they have been in contact and even floated the idea of an unofficial Jewish caucus or possibly a ‘Jewish Day’ at the capitol.
In 2020, Blattman campaigned for the House seat he eventually won in 2022. During that campaign, one of his political signs was vandalized with a swastika. Kolodin reached out to him to lend support, and told him despite being on different ends of the political spectrum, “‘as a Jewish person, I find this reprehensible,’ and I greatly appreciated that,” Blattman said.
“We started to build a relationship, and I’m hoping to work with him on legislation. As Jewish people and Jewish legislators, we do have a bond,” he said.
Through her siblings, Hernandez already knows a few Republican legislators who are still in the chamber. Now she’s able to say hello to them at the capitol, which has eased her entry.
“It’s really helpful in relationship building, and that doesn’t happen overnight,” she said.
While in office, legislators are expected to keep the jobs they had when they were elected, even though they are often at the capitol for long hours while the Legislature is in session.
Blattman owns a furniture manufacturing business in Phoenix, and he is learning to balance what he owes his constituents with his business.

“I think everyone down here (at the capitol) is making sacrifices so that they can do a job that they believe in,” he told Jewish News.
Kolodin, who calls himself
“unapologetically hard right,” told Jewish News that he wasn’t surprised to find the government to be “as dysfunctional as I imagined it would be.”
He believes there are a lot of talented conservatives in the Legislature that he’s excited to serve with and is optimistic he can be a part of “accomplishing good things and stopping the bad things.”
All three freshmen have introduced legislation.
Blattman’s first bill addressed restoring someone who is a standout, regardless if she has a disability,” Meyers said. “I don’t think she looks at herself as someone with Down syndrome; she looks at herself as a dancer and a sister and a daughter and a friend — someone who is living an incredible life.” the Permanent Early Voting List and “putting the ‘permanent’ back in the permanent early voter list,” he said.
Stern knows exactly what she’s going to do with her time on the council.
Hernandez introduced two bills regarding railroads. One limits the length of trains allowed to pass through rural areas. The other requires an annual inspection for trains. Currently, there are no regulations in the state around train inspections and the number of crew on board.
Both bills deal with safety issues for employees and the public. She shares many of the same policy goals as her fellow Democrats but also wants to focus on the issues that can garner agreement.
“They’re not exciting bills but they impact my district,” she said.
She is close to introducing a bill to access funding for 24/7, on-call OB-GYN critical care in the more rural part of her district. With her background in global health, this issue is close to her heart and something that should be done on a bipartisan basis, she said.
“It’s very black and white, and at the end of the day people want to be able to see women and babies have access to care,” she said.
Kolodin, an attorney, is introducing a bill allowing juries to apply community values in considering the guilt or innocence of people on trial.
“Juries should be able to decide if the law is unreasonable,” he said. “I’m optimistic to get it into a committee — fingers crossed — but people should get that this is common sense.”
The North Valley Young Republicans already named Kolodin as one of the top 10 legislators for January. He is also making news for sponsoring HCR 2018, which proposes breaking Maricopa County up into four separate counties. Kolodin’s resolution refers the plan to the November 2024 ballot.
As a Republican, Kolodin has an advantage in getting his bills heard, while the two Democrats, Blattman and Hernandez, have to contend with the fact that they’re in the minority party, which adds a hurdle for their own legislation.
Once they’ve introduced a bill, the majority party (the Republicans) decides whether it will be assigned to a committee and the committee chairman might put it on the agenda for the whole committee to hear. If it is voted on and passed by the committee, it goes to the entire chamber to be voted on and passed. Only then
“I’m going to tell everyone that people should stand up for one another.” JN does the Senate get a crack at it.
February is Jewish Disability Awareness, Acceptance and Inclusion Month. To learn more about Gesher Disability Resources, visit gesherdr.org and to learn more about Arizona Developmental Disabilities Planning Council, visit addpc.az.gov.

Blattman, who represents a very competitive district and spent most of his campaign talking to Republicans, is heartened by the interpersonal relationships between the two parties he’s witnessed so far.
“We do get along on a personal level,” said Blattman. “Building those interpersonal relationships is important if you want to get things done in the legislature.”
Hernandez agreed.
“Normal people don’t care about that kind of partisan politics. I’m willing to talk to anyone if they’re willing to talk to me because, at the end of the day, I have to go back to my district and they want to know I’m trying to get something done for them.”
Legislating is more than introducing bills. On Wednesday, Jan. 25, the House Ways and Means Committee considered HB2501, which allows a pregnant person to claim their unborn fetus as a dependent. Because of the implications for fetal personhood, Blattman, who sits on the committee, received many emails from people who wanted to weigh in.
“Getting those emails and calls and seeing the names of the members of the public who are for, who are against, who are neutral and reading their comments so we know what people in our district think, we take it heavily into account when voting,” he said.
Kolodin, meanwhile, receives calls and messages every day about the water controversy unfolding in Rio Verde Foothills, which is in his district. The area is near Scottsdale city limits but falls outside its boundaries as an unincorporated area of Maricopa County.
On Jan. 1, Scottsdale cut off Rio Verde’s access to its standpipe at Jomax and Pima roads, which private haulers had long used to provide water to Rio Verde Foothills residents.
Residents filed a lawsuit asking for an injunction so Scottsdale would temporarily have to provide water to the haulers, saying they were in crisis.
“People aren’t showering and this is not OK,” Kolodin said.
On Jan. 24, a judge ruled against Rio Verde, saying this wasn’t an issue for the courts but for the government, which means Kolodin and the Legislature at large will continue to focus on this issue. JN