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Prescott Republican Rep. Quang Nguyen managed to get his proposal to send the issue to voters out of the House earlier this month on a bipartisan 37-20 vote. That sent it to the Senate.

There, Senate President Warren Petersen assigned the bill to the Public Safety Committee, chaired by Sen. Kevin Payne, a Peoria Republican.

But Payne did not place it on his committee agenda for a hearing last week, nor for the meeting set for this Wednesday.

And this is the last week for Senate committees to hear measures that were approved by the House. Payne’s decision not to let his committee hear the bill means it is dead because it cannot get to the full Senate for consideration.

Payne told Capitol Media Services there’s a good reason he blocked a hearing. There aren’t enough votes for the measure in his seven-member committee, he said Tuesday.

He acknowledged that he’s among the bill’s opponents.

“It’s in our constitution,’’ said Payne. “They put it in there for a reason.’’

He was referring to a provision, often incorrectly referred to as “immunity,’’ saying state lawmakers are “privileged from arrest’’ during the time the Legislature is in session and for 15 days ahead of that.

There are exceptions in cases of treason, felonies and breach of the peace. Those would have remained under Nguyen’s proposal.

But his measure would have added another exception: all traffic violations.

His proposal came on the heels of three high-profile cases in which state lawmakers were stopped by police but escaped being cited because of the provision. There is a decades-long history of other legislators claiming privilege from being ticketed.

Strictly speaking, the privilege does not immunize lawmakers from citations or arrest. Police departments remain free to issue the tickets after the end of the session. But there is a mixed record of actual follow-up by police.

Nguyen said the privilege, to the extent it was ever necessary, has outlived its usefulness.

Not Payne. “I believe in it,’’ he said.

“I don’t think that a few bad actors should take it out for everyone,� Payne said of eliminating the privilege.

It wouldn’t be lawmakers ultimately making the decision. All Nguyen’s measure would have done is put the question on the 2026 ballot.

Asked if voters shouldn’t get the last word, Payne responded, “I suppose they could. But not this year.’’

Nguyen told Capitol Media Services he is not giving up. He said another bid could occur next session.

He also said he hopes no incidents happen before it goes to voters.

“You know, it is only a matter of time before a legislator will run over a child on a bicycle,’’ Nguyen said, noting the number of current and former lawmakers who not only exceeded the posted speed limit but were driving at least 20 miles an hour over it, which is a crime.

Petersen said he didn’t put the House-passed measure into Payne’s committee with the goal of killing it.

“I support the bill,’’ said the Gilbert Republican, who also is running in 2026 for attorney general.

Payne, for his part, said his opposition is not based on any personal experience. He said he has never tried to get out of a citation by citing privilege.

The little-known provision came into focus last year when Justine Wadsack, then a state senator, told a ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ police officer she could not be cited for speeding because of her immunity.

Police, who said they clocked her driving 71 mph in a 35-mph zone on Speedway, then served her with the citation after the end of the legislative session. Wadsack ended up getting the ticket dismissed by going to traffic school.

More recently, Republican Sen. Mark Finchem told a police officer in his new hometown of Prescott he could not be cited for speeding. Still unresolved is whether police will ticket him after the session is over.

And Republican Sen. Jake Hoffman was not ticketed for driving 24 miles over the speed limit on a freeway after a trooper recognized him as a legislator. There is no evidence Hoffman claimed immunity; DPS has decided it won’t issue a new citation when the session ends.

Payne isn’t alone in his opposition.

During House debate, ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Republican Rep. Rachel Keshel said stripping lawmakers of the privilege could result in a governor — not necessarily this one — sending out state police to stop lawmakers from reaching the Capitol to cast an important vote. That drew a strong reaction from Nguyen.

“That is an insult to law enforcement to say that you’re nothing more than a tool that the governor will be able to use you to interfere with the democratic process,’’ he said.