Senator Kavanagh talks to the Fountain Hill Times about the budget, his texting while driving bill and protecting the honor of the American flag.

"The Arizona State Legislature has returned to the capitol this week to begin its new session for the year.

Among the returning legislators is Senator John Kavanagh of Fountain Hills, who begins his second term in the State Senate. Kavanagh says he has a lot on his plate for this year.

The main bill that Kavanagh will be working on is legislation to prevent what he calls the abuse of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.“There is a small group of lawyers who are filing a large number of lawsuits over minor infractions of the law,” Kavanagh said. “They are asking for settlements and extorting hundreds of thousands of dollars from small businesses.”

Kavanagh said the situation came to his attention when he learned that small hotel operators were being sued because they did not have a handicap lift on their swimming pools. He said they would pay the settlement rather than enter an expensive legal fight. “In many cases these violations are extremely minor – measurements off by fractions of inches,” Kavanagh said.After working with the governor’s office, Kavanagh said he is proposing a solution that allows the business a time frame, 30 to 60 days, to correct any violations in a complaint before a lawsuit can be filed.

Kavanagh said he is also introducing a bill that will increase the penalty for stealing an American Flag on display. He said now such a theft is a misdemeanor, and his bill would change it to a Class 6 felony."

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