Steven B. Yarbrough (born August 26, 1947) is an American politician. A

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, he was the president of the

Arizona Senate The Arizona State Senate is part of the Arizona Legislature, the state legislature of the US state of Arizona. The Senate consists of 30 members each representing an average of 219,859 constituents (2009 figures). Members serve two-year terms w ...

, and represented District 17 from January 14, 2013 to January 14, 2019. Yarbrough served in the

Arizona State Legislature The Arizona State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Arizona. It is a bicameral legislature that consists of a lower house, the House of Representatives, and an upper house, the Senate. Composed of 90 legislators, the s ...

from January 2003 until January 2011 in the

Arizona House of Representatives The Arizona State House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arizona Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Arizona. The upper house is the Senate. The House convenes in the legislative chambers at the Arizona State C ...

District 21 seat, then in the Arizona Senate in the District 21 seat from January 10, 2011 until January 14, 2013 for his first term in the Senate. This District was renumbered from 21 to 17 in 2012, although it remained substantially the same geographically.

Private school tuition tax credit programs

Yarbrough has sponsored the majority of Arizona legislation expanding programs to redirect state income tax liability to tax credits that can be applied toward tuition scholarships for students attending private elementary and secondary schools ( scholarship tax credits). Yarbrough is also the director of one of the largest of those programs, the Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization, from which Yarbrough (the chairman of the AZ Senate Ethics Committee) also receives administration fees, processing fees, and rent.

Education

Yarbrough earned his BS in

business administration Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...

and

finance Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...

from

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

and his JD from the Arizona State University College of Law (now the

Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law The Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law (ASU Law) is one of the professional graduate schools at Arizona State University in Phoenix, Arizona. The school is located in the Beus Center for Law and Society on ASU's downtown Phoenix campus. The law ...

Arizona senate

Elections

* 2012 Redistricted to District 17, and with incumbent Republican Senator

Jay Tibshraeny Jay Tibshraeny ( , born in 1954) is an American politician. A former senator in the Arizona Senate, he has been the Justice of Peace since 2019. He previously served as the mayor of Chandler, Arizona from 1994 through 2002, and once more from 20 ...

leaving the Legislature, Yarbrough was unopposed for the Senate August 28, 2012 Republican Primary, winning with 17,615 votes, and won the November 6, 2012 General election with 48,581 votes against Democratic nominee Bill Gates. * 2002 When incumbent Republican Representatives Marilyn Jarrett ran for Arizona Senate and Dean Cooley left the Legislature leaving both District 21 seats open, Yarbrough ran in the three-way September 10, 2002 Republican Primary, placing first with 7,672 votes; in the November 5, 2002 General election, Yarbrough took the first seat with 24,824 votes and fellow Republican nominee Warde Nichols took the second seat ahead of Democratic nominee Ken Moore. * 2004 Yarbrough and Representative Nichols were challenged in the three-way September 7, 2004 Republican Primary; Yarbrough placed first with 10,579 votes and Representative Nichols placed second; they were unopposed for the November 2, 2004 General election, where Yarbrough took the first seat with 50,125 votes and Representative Nichols took the second seat. * 2006 Yarbrough and Representative Nichols were challenged in the three-way September 12, 2006 Republican Primary; Yarbrough placed first with 9,160 votes and Representative Nichols placed second; in the three-way November 7, 2006 General election, Yarbrough took the first seat with 34,703 votes and Representative Nichols took the second seat ahead of Democratic nominee Phil Hettmansperger. * 2008 Yarbrough, Representative Nichols, and their 2006 Democratic challenger Phil Hettmansperger were unopposed for their September 2, 2008 primaries, setting up a rematch; Yarbrough and Representative Nichols won the November 2, 2010 General election, where Yarbrough took the first seat with 56,980 votes and Representative Nichols took the second seat ahead of Hettmansperger. Nichols left after the term, having served alongside Yarbrough from 2003 until 2011. * 2010 When Republican Senator

retired and left the Senate District 21 seat open, Yarbrough was unopposed for both the August 24, 2010 Republican Primary, winning with 24,033 votes, and the November 2, 2010 General election, winning with 54,339 votes.

Tenure

Yarbrough proposed Arizona SB 1062. It was one of several similar bills in U.S. state legislatures allowing individuals to refuse service based on religion, with some bills specifically protecting religious disapproval of

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

. The bill was passed by the

-controlled state legislature and vetoed by Republican Governor

Jan Brewer Janice Kay Brewer (''née'' Drinkwine, formerly Warren; born September 26, 1944) is an American politician and author who was the 22nd governor of Arizona from 2009 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party, Brewer is the fourth woman (and was ...

on February 26, 2014.

References

External links

Official page
at the

*
Profile
on Arizona Voter Guide
Campaign website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yarbrough, Steve 21st-century American politicians Republican Party Arizona state senators Living people Republican Party members of the Arizona House of Representatives People from Chandler, Arizona Place of birth missing (living people) Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law alumni W. P. Carey School of Business alumni 1947 births