With heatwave temperatures here in Arizona this weekend, lots of folks are outside swimming in a pool this weekend, so make sure to keep your eyes on all the youngsters out there.
Many years ago, while working in the Senate at the Arizona Legislature for the Senate Democratic Leadership in 1990, I helped work on the legislation that ultimately became Arizona’s pool fence safety law. This law was an attempt to make things safer for kids, by requiring fence barriers or door looks to prevent easy pool access to unattended children.
Senate Bill 1275 was the number, if I remember correctly. Working for the lead sponsor of the bill, I helped meet with various stakeholder groups ranging from first responders and municipalities to property owners and industry related representatives, including technical experts. I helped draft various amendments to the initial legislation as it went through the legislative process.
A little tidbit of insider history never reported before — on the last night of the legislative session, the Senate rules Attorney was going to hold up the bill and it would have failed and the legislation was about to die, because there were questions about which version was the correct version that all stakeholders had agreed to.
My boss at the time, Eddie Sissons, called me up to the Senate rules office at about 2:30 a.m. in the morning. She brought me to tell him which version was the one that everyone had agreed upon, and Eddie vouched for me saying that if Vince said this is the final agreed one, then this is the one! (And it was.)
The Senate Rules Attorney looked at Eddie first … and then looked over at me for a long moment — I was young and had barely graduated from college — and he nodded his head and agreed to give the go-ahead and let the bill go forward into the final batch of bills that were being voted on late that night in the waning hours of the Session, in the wee hours of the early morning. It passed and became Arizona law.
The law is mentioned in the book Arizona Laws 101, the 101 laws that every Arizona resident NEEDS to know.
I am proud to have worked on this safety measure. 🌵🇺🇸
~ Vince Rabago
