Senate Bill 1542 (previously SB 1612) would have prohibited any instructor in a public K-12 school or institution of higher education from “advocating one side of a social, political or cultural issue that is a matter of partisan controversy” while in their official duties. After students and faculty testified, spoke out to the media and worked with their administrators to stop the bill, it died in the Senate.

Though SB 1542 is not endorsed by David Horowitz and other national proponents of restrictions on academic freedom, it was inspired by their legislation and proposals in other states. The Arizona bill, however, went a step further and would have directly regulated classroom content, prohibiting any teaching that could appear to advocate for a controversial view.