Month: March 2023

State Legislators Say Ranked Choice Voting Will Only Cause Problems If Implemented in Arizona

Neil Jones
Woman voting at booth

The Arizona Freedom Caucus (AFC) released a statement Tuesday, allowing several members to speak out against Ranked Choice Voting (RVC) in Arizona and promote two bills that would prohibit it in the state.

“RCV may not always result in the candidate with the most first-choice votes winning the election,” said AFC Member Senator Anthony Kern (R-Glendale). “I am aware that there are groups in Arizona advocating for RCV, but this will only lead to chaos, and we must ensure that our constituents have easy and fair access to the ballot box.”

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Minnesota Considers Bill That Provides Free School Meals to All Students

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Minnesota is poised to become just the third state in the nation to provide free school meals for all students. But it will come at a taxpayer cost of about $200 million a year, regardless of whether a family has any trouble at all paying for their kids’ breakfast and lunch — which amounts to about $6 a day.

On Tuesday four Republicans joined 34 DFLers as the Minnesota Senate voted 38-26 to pass a universal school meals bill that Gov. Tim Walz has said he’ll sign when it reaches his desk. Last month the House passed the bill by a 70-54 vote. No Republicans in the House supported the measure.

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Republican Judge Megan Shanahan Announces Bid for Ohio Supreme Court Seat

Hannah Poling

Republican Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Megan Shanahan has announced her bid for a seat on the Ohio Supreme Court in 2024. Shanahan is the first to announce her candidacy.

According to Shanahan, she is running for an Ohio Supreme Court Seat because she understands the proper role of the judiciary “interpreting the law, not legislating from the bench.”

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Business-Aligned Democratic Allies Prevail in Phoenix City Council Election

The Center Square

Democrat Kevin Robinson will replace Republican Phoenix City Councilman Sal DiCiccio in District 6, and Democrat Kesha Hodge Washington unseated incumbent Councilman Carlos Garcia following a runoff election on Tuesday.

Republican Sam Stone, who was up against former police officer Robinson, quickly conceded after seeing the results at his election night party in north Phoenix. Stone worked for DiCiccio and gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake.

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Pennsylvania House Appropriations Republican: Projected Shapiro Deficits Too Large

Bradley Vasoli

Unlike his fellow Democrat and predecessor Tom Wolf, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro hasn’t asked for tax increases as part of his first budget request. But the ranking Republican on the state House Appropriations Committee said on Wednesday that tax hikes likely await Pennsylvanians in a few years if lawmakers don’t pare back Shapiro’s spending proposal. 

“We are facing massive structural deficits,” Representative Seth Grove (R-York) told reporters at the GOP Appropriations Committee Office in Harrisburg. “It’s something that is on our minds here in the General Assembly.”

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Tucson Man Heads Behind Bars After Attempting to Smuggle Fentanyl into Arizona

Neil Jones

The Arizona District of the Department of Justice announced Tuesday that Tucson resident Jose Antonio Cota, 33, has been sentenced to jail time for attempting to smuggle fentanyl into the state.

“Cota pleaded guilty to one count of Possession with Intent to Distribute Fentanyl in April 2022,” according to the release from the DOJ. “In August 2020, Cota was a passenger in a commercial shuttle van when it stopped for a routine immigration inspection at a Border Patrol checkpoint near Amado, Arizona.”

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Cleveland City Council Urges Congress to Pass Ohio U.S. Senators’ Federal Rail Safety Act

Hannah Poling

Cleveland aimed to encourage increased rail safety in response to the February disaster of the East Palestine train derailment, particularly because the train that derailed also passed through the city.

Cleveland City Council Member Jenny Spencer sponsored a railroad safety resolution on Monday urging Congress to pass U.S. Senate Bill (SB) 576, the Federal Rail Safety Act of 2023, introduced in Congress by U.S. Senators JD Vance (R-OH) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH).

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Stacey Abrams Joins Dark Money-Backed Group Looking to Crack Down on Gas Stoves

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by Bronson Winslow   Two-time failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams is joining an environmental advocacy group that is looking to crack down on gas stoves, according to the group’s website. Abrams will be joining Rewiring America, a group that aims to electrify homes and appliances and suggests gas stoves can lead to asthma and air pollution, as a senior counsel to implement a “national awareness campaign” that pushes America towards a reliance on electric energy, according to a Rewiring America press release. The left-of-center advocacy group, which works to minimize the use of oil and natural gas, is sponsored by the Windward Fund, a nonprofit managed by liberal “dark money” consulting firm Arabella Advisors. “Rewiring America anchors our work in how the decisions we make around the kitchen table about the machines we use can save us money, make our homes and communities healthier, and reduce climate-harming emissions,” Rewiring America co-founder and CEO Ari Matusiak said in the release. “Stacey Abrams’ career of public service has hit all these themes and more. She’s a brilliant and visionary organizer who will accelerate our work and expand the audience for the benefits of electrification — the most equity-centered climate strategy we have.” Abrams will work to assist the…

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Pentagon’s ‘Strategic Management Plan’ Devotes Roughly One Out of Every Six Pages to Diversity, Climate Change

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Nearly one of every six pages of a document detailing the Pentagon’s management strategy are devoted to combating climate change and fulfilling Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives.

The Strategic Management Plan for 2022 to 2026, released Tuesday, covers 124 pages and underscores the actions the Department of Defense (DOD) is taking to fulfill the Biden administration’s broader national defense strategy. It lays out high-level, long term goals and steps the department will take to accomplish those objectives and overcome anticipated challenges, as well as performance metrics for so-called Agency Priority Goals (APGs) that include climate and diversity targets.

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Commentary: DeSantis Charms GOP by Condemning ‘Leaks’ and ‘Palace Intrigue’

RealClearWire

On its face, there wasn’t anything unusual about the email that landed last week in the press office of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

“Background interview request from the Washington Post,” read the subject line that summarized the industry-standard process whereby information is shared with reporters under pre-negotiated terms, usually anonymity. When sanctioned by a politician or their team, it is called “going on background” to shape and broaden a story with additional facts and contexts but without direct attribution. When not sanctioned, well, then that is just called leaking.

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Foreign Actors Suspected in Hack of D.C. Obamacare Exchange, Theft of House Members’ Personal Data

Just the News

A malign foreign actor could be behind the theft of personally identifiable information of hundreds of House members and staff in the hack of an Obamacare health insurance exchange in the nation’s capital, according to the chair of the House Administration Committee.

Lawmakers and their staff were notified a few days ago by the House chief administrative officer of the hack of the D.C. Health Link exchange.

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Left-Wing Mobs Shatter Windows, Assault Police Officer Outside Conservative Campus Speaker Event

Admin

Vandals protesting Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk during his speech at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis), Tuesday night shattered windows and assaulted individuals outside the venue, according to videos posted to Twitter.

Kirk was invited to UC Davis by the TPUSA chapter as part of his Live Free tour, which features stops at eight universities across the country during the spring 2023 semester, according to the TPUSA website. Protesters dressed in black to rally outside the venue and can be seen on video breaking windows after security secured the doors and assaulting individuals outside the venue.

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Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton Proposes Next Step for Tennessee in Possibly Rejecting Federal Education Funds

TC Weber

Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) has laid out the next step required for Tennessee to possibly reject federal education dollars in the future. On Monday, he filed legislation (add an attachment here) that would create an 11-member task force, helmed by  Tennessee Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn, to study the process required for the state to forego federal funding.

The proposed committee would begin meeting monthly in August and would be expected to deliver a strategic plan to Governor Lee and the General Assembly by December 1. The legislation further requires that Commissioner Schwinn, in her role as chair, notify the US Department of Education by August 31 and advise them on Tennessee’s intent to explore the possibility of Tennessee rejecting federal funding.

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As Losses Mounted, Silicon Valley Bank Doubled Down on Woke Investments and Left-Wing Rhetoric

Just the News

Long before its epic collapse, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) was a darling of the left. It allied in cash and manpower with a liberal nonprofit run by California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s wife and fully embraced the environmental, social and governance (ESG) platform now being banned in some red states, while celebrating its executives’ involvement in the LGBTQ+ movement.

As SVB’s investment failures mounted, the bank doubled down on its ideological commitments by pledging $5 billion in new green tech outlays, despite signs of rising interest rates negatively impacting that sector. Some institutional investors also began to raise concerns about the overall balance sheet.

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Illegal Migrant Apprehensions Drop as Biden Ushers in Trump-Era Policies: Report

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Illegal migrant apprehensions dropped in February as the Biden administration brought back Trump-era immigration policies, CBS News reported Tuesday, citing internal federal data.

Border Patrol recorded approximately 130,000 illegal migrant apprehensions in February, marking the continuation of a two-year low that began in January, according to CBS News. President Joe Biden expanded in January the Trump administration’s use of Title 42 to expel illegal migrants from Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti and Nicaragua.

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Treasury Department Agrees to Hand over Hunter Biden Files

The Center Square

The House Oversight Committee said Tuesday that the U.S. Treasury Department is providing the investigatory committee with access to Hunter Biden’s Suspicious Activity Reports after months of delay.

The revelation is the latest chapter in the committee’s ongoing investigation into the president’s son and his associates. The lawmakers concerned with the issue argue the president could be compromised if foreign sources have knowledge of his or his son’s alleged wrongdoing.

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Tennessee Toll Lane, Road-Funding Bill Advances in Senate Committee

The Center Square

A bill to add toll lanes and fund future highway and road improvements in Tennessee passed a key Senate committee Tuesday.

The Tennessee Transportation Modernization Act passed the Finance, Ways and Means Committee with a 10-1 vote and will head to the full Senate after it goes through the Senate Calendar Committee. The House Finance, Ways and Means Committee is set to hear the companion House bill Wednesday.

Senate Bill 273 will open the door for toll lanes operated by private companies to build new lanes on the state’s highways and install tolling on those lanes. Sen. Becky Massey, R-Knoxville, presented the bill and said terms on the toll lanes will be negotiated, giving an example of an 80% to 20% split of road construction costs with a private company paying the larger portion and then getting the first dollars that come in from tolls.

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Hazardous Dioxin Chemicals Were Produced During the East Palestine Burn ‘It’s Not a Question of Maybe,’ Chemist Says

Hannah Poling

Although the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), ordered rail company Norfolk Southern to test for dioxins following the catastrophic February 3rd train derailment, and says that East Palestine suggests a “low probability” of dioxin contamination a retired chemist told The Ohio Star that dioxins “were produced” during the burn “it’s not a question of maybe.”

The EPA has maintained there is a “low probability” that dioxins were released from the derailment based on its sampling for “indicator chemicals” that it says would signal the presence of dioxins in East Palestine.

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10 More Charged in Feeding Our Future Case, Still More to Come

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U.S. Attorney Andy Luger announced charges against 10 additional Minnesotans in the $250 million Feeding Our Future scandal Monday, bringing the total number of defendants to 60.

One of the new defendants, Sharon Ross, was the executive director of a nonprofit called House of Refuge Twin Cities. According to an October Fox 9 report, DFL Sen. Sandy Pappas from St. Paul personally intervened to help Ross’ nonprofit receive funding through Feeding Our Future in the spring of 2021.

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Pennsylvania Emergency Director Says Rail Companies Have ‘Broad Latitude’ to Handle Derailments

Bradley Vasoli

Alongside fellow lawmakers at the Darlington Fire Company on Tuesday, Pennsylvania state Representative Eric Nelson (R-Greensburg) asked Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency Acting Director Randy Padfield who has final say over what to do with a wrecked train carrying toxic chemicals: the rail company or state government? 

At the hearing of the Pennsylvania House Bipartisan Policy Committee, Nelson said he wanted to know whether Pennsylvania emergency and environmental officials could decide whether to approve or quash plans to incinerate a certain number of rail cars on such a train if it crashed in the Keystone State.

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Commentary: Leftist Groups Tapping $1 Billion to Vastly Expand the Private Financing of Public Elections

RealClearWire

Democrats and their progressive allies are vastly expanding their unprecedented efforts, begun in 2020, to use private money to influence and run public elections.  

Supported by groups with more than $1 billion at their disposal, according to public records, these partisan groups are working with state and local boards to influence functions that have long been the domain of government or political parties.

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Florida Audit Shows Issues with Charter School Management and Transparency

The Center Square

A recent Florida audit of the state’s charter school administration still shows a lack of oversight and business dealings that could be seen as conflicts of interest.

The Florida Auditor General recently released a follow-up report into the day-to-day management and transparency of charter schools in the Sunshine State and there were several issues that still needed to be addressed.

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Virginians to Offer Feedback on History Standards

The Center Square

The Virginia Board of Education this week is beginning a series of public hearings on the most recent draft of the state’s history and social science standards – the latest step in a process to revise the state’s history standards, versions of which have faced criticism in recent months.

The first of six public hearings on the state’s new history and social science standards will take place Monday at 7pm in Williamsburg. Throughout this week and early next week, officials will host a slate of hearings in Mount Vernon, Charlottesville, Roanoke, Abingdon and Farmville. 

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Pennsylvania Readies to Send Out $62 Million for Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

The Center Square

As Pennsylvania officials discuss an electric vehicle fee to replace the gas tax, federal funds are available to build out the EV charging infrastructure in the commonwealth.

On Monday, PennDOT announced its first round of funding will open on March 27 and close May 5 for EV stations across Pennsylvania. The money will flow through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure grant program, with $25 million available for fiscal year 2022 and $37 million for fiscal year 2023, according to a news release.

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Connecticut Parents Battle Bill to Mandate Comprehensive Sex Ed in Government Schools

Susan Berry, PhD

Gender ideology and activities asking students about their favorite sex acts will be considered “age appropriate” in all Connecticut government schools if a bill mandating Comprehensive Sex Education is passed by the state legislature and signed into law, pro-family activists say.

Senate Bill 1 would mandate “comprehensive sex education that is age and developmentally appropriate and includes, but is not limited to, instruction about affirmative consent,” and would require the Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) to recommend the curriculum for such “education.”

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Ohio U.S. Senator JD Vance Demands Biden Administration and EPA Remove Toxic Waste from East Palestine

Hannah Poling

On Monday, U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) pushed the Biden administration and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to transport dangerous waste to authorized facilities after seeing a pile of toxic waste in East Palestine, Ohio.

Vance visited the waste site after giving testimony at a March 9th U.S Senate railroad safety hearing regarding how the waste was still in East Palestine weeks after a railway catastrophe caused dangerous chemicals to contaminate the community.

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Arizona State Representative Calls on Governor Hobbs to Improve Arizona-Mexico Commission to Optimize National Trade

Neil Jones

Arizona State House announced Monday that Rep. David Cook (R-Globe) is attempting to work with Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) to improve the Arizona-Mexico Commission (AMC) and the state’s foreign trade capabilities.

“As we continue to build on a global economy, we look at strengthening partnerships with Mexico and Arizona to better our regions for the world markets in the 4th Industrial Revolution of the 21st Century,” Cook wrote in a letter to Hobbs. “It is our common interest to further promote our close friendship with Mexico and its states and to adapt to current global paradigm shifts.”

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Ohio Governor DeWine Calls on U.S. EPA and Norfolk Southern to Authorize More Sites to Take East Palestine Contaminated Soil

Hannah Poling

The cleanup at the toxic train derailment site in East Palestine last month has stalled because Ohio is having problems locating sites to accept the 24,400 tons of excavated contaminated soil. According to Ohio Governor Mike DeWine’s office only 2,980 tons have actually been removed so far.

DeWine says that some states with sites that are certified to take in hazardous materials aren’t accepting the soil. He said that refusing the soil is unfair to the residents of East Palestine, which isn’t where it belongs.

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Arizona Christian University Alleges Religious Discrimination After Glendale School District Terminated Teacher Contract

Rachel Alexander

Washington Elementary School District No. 6 (WESD) in Glendale terminated the contract of Arizona Christian University (ACU) to provide student teachers last month, despite an ongoing teacher shortage, citing the religious tenets of the university as the reason. In response, The Alliance Defending Freedom filed a lawsuit on behalf of the ACU on March 9, demanding multiple types of damages, including punitive.

The suit alleges a violation of the Free Exercise clause of the First Amendment. It asserts that “Arizona Christian and its students do not share religious messages and beliefs within its student teacher programs with local public Schools.”

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Trump, Mastriano Well Ahead of Respective Potential Rivals in Pennsylvania

Bradley Vasoli

In the first public poll on Pennsylvania’s 2024 Republican Senate primary, State Senator Doug Mastriano (R-Gettysburg) has an 18-point lead against Dave McCormick.

The same survey shows former President Donald Trump besting Florida Governor Ron DeSantis by the same margin in the state’s GOP presidential contest. While only Trump has officially declared his candidacy, a robust movement for a DeSantis bid has long been afoot while both Mastriano and McCormick have strongly suggested they are considering a Senate run. 

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Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell Files Brief in Favor of Capital Punishment Opposed by Katie Hobbs

Neil Jones

Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell (R) filed an amicus curiae brief to the Arizona Supreme Court (ASC) Tuesday, stating her belief that Governor Katie Hobbs cannot refuse to execute death row inmate Aaron Gunches, 51.

“As County Attorney, I took an oath to uphold the US Constitution and the constitution and laws of the State of Arizona. These recognize that both the victim and the accused have rights. Our brief recognizes and supports the right of victims to a ‘prompt and final conclusion of the case,'” Mitchell said regarding the filing.

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Ohio Supreme Court Accepts Attorney General Yost’s Appeal in ‘Heartbeat’ Abortion Ban Case, Won’t Rule on Constitutional Question

Hannah Poling

The Ohio Supreme Court has formally accepted an appeal by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost in a case involving the state’s six-week abortion ban.

The court announced on Tuesday morning that it will only consider two of the three legal issues Yost asked the court to consider: whether he has the right to appeal a lower court’s decision to put the heartbeat law on hold and whether abortion clinics have “standing” or the legal authority to challenge the law in the first place.

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Pope Francis Says Celibacy for Catholic Priests Is ‘Temporary,’ Ban Could Be Reconsidered

Just the News

Pope Francis says the Catholic Church’s celibacy decree for unmarried men ordained as priests is a “temporary prescription” that could be reconsidered. 

“In the Western Church, celibacy is a temporary prescription,” Francis told the Argentinian outlet Infobae late last week, as translated. “I do not know if it is settled in one way or another.”

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Most Voters Concerned About Efforts to Expose Kids to Transgender Movement: Poll

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A majority of general election voters are worried about efforts to expose children to the transgender movement through avenues like school curriculums, social media and drag queen shows, according to a new Summit.org and McLaughlin and Associates poll.

About 41% of the 917 surveyed voters with an opinion on the issue reported being very concerned and angry about such efforts, while around 30% said they were somewhat concerned and upset, the poll‘s results showed. Roughly 71% of 826 respondents said they supported holding pharmaceutical companies and doctors legally liable for any harmful side effects that result if they promote puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for underage children seeking gender transition.

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