Tag: Katie Hobbs

After Abe Hamadeh Files New Pleading in Request for Retrial Alleging Hobbs Withheld Evidence, Judge Grants Oral Arguments

Rachel Alexander

Mohave County Superior Court Judge Lee Jantzen scheduled oral arguments for May 16 on whether Abe Hamadeh should get a new trial.

Jantzen dismissed his complaint challenging his loss to Kris Mayes for Arizona Attorney General in December. Jantzen’s ruling came shortly after Hamadeh filed an additional pleading to bolster his request, which accused then-Secretary of State Katie Hobbs of withholding evidence from him and cited new arguments due to the Arizona Supreme Court’s ruling in Kari Lake’s election contest.

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With Record Number of Rejected Legislation, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs Becoming Known as the ‘Veto Queen’

Rachel Alexander

New Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs is piling up vetoes of bills sent to her from the Republican-dominated Arizona Legislature. By Thursday, she had vetoed 37 bills this session, more than any other governor in Arizona’s history except Democrat Janet Napolitano. The progressive Phoenix New Times dubbed her the “Veto Queen.” 

The Kari Lake War Room Twitter account had a strong reaction to all of the vetoes. “.@katiehobbs is Arizona’s very own Ron Burgundy,” the account tweeted. “She’s wedded to the teleprompter and she’ll VETO anything that’s put in front of her. Even when it’s language that she herself (supposedly) wrote. She’s not even reading these bills. Hobbs isn’t a Governor. She’s a clown.”

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Hobbs Vetoes Bill Banning Lending Through ESG Lens

The Center Square

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs has vetoed a bill seeking to establish that the state requires banks and other financial institutions to use a “social credit score” when making lending decisions concerning customers.

In rejecting the measure proposed by Rep. Steve Montenegro, R-Goodyear, Hobbs countered the legislation does not define “social credit score,” adding that ambiguity played a role in her making the decision to veto the bill.

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Kari Lake Files New Motion, Claims Runbeck ‘Inserted’ Ballots

Rachel Alexander

After the Arizona Supreme Court remanded Kari Lake’s election contest back to the trial court to reconsider the signature verification problems and began considering sanctions against her, Lake responded with a new pleading. Lake filed a Petitioner’s Opposition to Motion for Sanctions and Cross-Motion for a Procedural Order for Leave to File a Motion for Reconsideration of the Denial of her Petition for Review on Wednesday in the Arizona Supreme Court.

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Bill to Ban Local Photo Enforcement Expected to Go to Governor Katie Hobbs Amidst Controversy

Rachel Alexander

SB 1234, sponsored by State Senator Wendy Rogers (R-Flagstaff), is likely to be sent to Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs within the next few days. The measure won approval by the State Senate and its consideration is underway in the State House. The bill would ban cities and towns from using photo enforcement to generate revenue from speeding and red-light tickets.

At the same time, the Arizona Campaign for Liberty (AZC4L) discovered that police officers in Scottsdale, Mesa, and Paradise Valley are not reviewing those tickets, which State Senator Sonny Borrelli (R-Lake Havasu) stated is required by a law he proposed that got signed into law in 2018.

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Arizona GOP Caucus Questions Gov. Hobbs After She Vetoes Energy Affordability Bill

Rachel Alexander

The Arizona Freedom Caucus (AFC) issued a statement on Tuesday critical of Governor Katie Hobbs’ veto of a bill that would have provided more energy choice. The group of conservative Arizona legislators accused Hobbs of being influenced by Arizona Public Service Co. (APS), the state’s largest electricity utility. APS was the largest donor to Hobbs’ inaugural festivities. 

“PAY TO PLAY?! @APSfyi, AZ’s largest electric utility company, donated $250K to @KatieHobbs in January,” the AFC tweeted. “Today @GovernorHobbs VETOED HB2440 which would’ve required the most affordable & reliable electric service be the priority. Hobbs just raised utility prices for everyone in AZ.”

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Arizona Boosts Mobile Home Eviction Payoffs Ahead of Mass Redevelopments

The Center Square

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs has quickly moved to turn into law a bill that offers assistance to valley mobile home residents facing eviction over the coming days so developers can build new units on the land they once called home.

“Today, I signed HB 2381 into law,” Hobbs posted to Twitter. “Mobile home residents are our neighbors, and deserve adequate compensation when they are forced to leave their homes behind. By increasing resources available through AZHousing, we are taking immediate action to support through families.”

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Katie Hobbs’ Press Secretary Resigns After Tweet Threatening Violence Against Those Critical of Promoting Transgenderism

Rachel Alexander

Democratic Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs’ press secretary Josselyn Berry resigned Tuesday evening after outrage over a now-deleted tweet threatening to use violence against those who disagree with promoting transgenderism. Coming less than 12 hours after a transgender fatally shot students and staff at a Christian elementary school she used to attend in Tennessee, the Arizona Freedom Caucus led the call for her to resign.

Berry, who has a history of partisan offensive tweets, tweeted, “Us when we see transphobes,” captioning a photo of a woman with a determined look pointing two guns. The photo is from the movie “Gloria,” featuring the late actress Gena Rowlands. In the 1980 movie, the character Gloria shoots and kills gangsters. 

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Lawmakers Furious at Governor Katie Hobbs for Cutting Border Strike Force with Crime Surging on the Border

Rachel Alexander

Democratic Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs announced shortly after entering office in January that she would eliminate the Border Strike Force (BSF) that former Governor Doug Ducey created in 2015, sparking outrage from Republican lawmakers concerned about rising crime and violence related to Arizona’s porous border with Mexico. Hobbs said as part of her budget, she would reroute the funding for the BSF elsewhere.

“In the same manner that Joe Biden has destroyed our country with his welcomed support for the prolonged lawlessness and drug crisis along our southern border, Katie Hobbs is destroying Arizona in three short months since taking office by her reckless dismantling of the Border Strike Task Force,” Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ-09) told Fox News. “Countless more people will die from Hobbs’ open border policies.”

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Arizona State Senator Says He Hasn’t Received ‘Necessary Responses’ from Democrats to Work on State Budget

Neil Jones

Arizona State Senator John Kavanaugh (R-Fountain Hills), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, told The Arizona Sun Times Friday that attempts to work with Democrats on a state budget have not received necessary responses.

“This year, nobody is going to be able to claim that we shut them out,” Kavanaugh said in a phone interview.

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New ‘Late Exit’ Poll Finds Eight Percent More Arizona Voters Said They Voted for Lake over Hobbs

Rachel Alexander

Rasmussen Reports and College Republicans United issued the results of a type of “late exit” poll on Friday, revealing that likely Arizona voters said they voted for former Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake over Governor Katie Hobbs 51 percent to 43 percent.

Also, the poll found these likely Arizona voters voted for Abe Hamadeh and Mark Finchem over their Democratic opponents who won those respective state races. 

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Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne Announces ‘Empowerment Hotline’ to Report CRT in Schools

Neil Jones

Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne announced Thursday that he is launching the “Empowerment Hotline” (EH) so constituents can call in reports of students receiving alleged inappropriate teachings in the classrooms.

“I promised to establish this hotline so that anyone could report the teaching of inappropriate lessons that rob students of precious minutes of instruction time in core academic subjects such as reading, math, science, history and the arts. That promise is being kept,” Horne said.

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As Arizona Looks to Defund Border Security, Cartels Move Smuggling Efforts West

The Center Square

Since Gov. Katie Hobbs was sworn into office in January, the number of foreign nationals illegally entering Arizona has increased primarily in the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Tucson Sector. And as several factors, including Texas expanding border security efforts, are resulting in illegal border crossings increasing further west, law enforcement officials say Arizona can expect greater numbers.

Arizona’s 378 miles of shared border with Mexico is patrolled by agents in two CBP sectors of Tucson and Yuma. Last month, agents in both sectors combined apprehended 36,296 foreign nationals, up from 33,193 in January.

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Governor Katie Hobbs Set to Veto Anti-Critical Race Theory Bill

Neil Jones

A bill from State Sen. J.D. Mesnard (R-Chandler) aimed at preventing Critical Race Theory from being taught in state classrooms made its way to Governor Katie Hobbs’s desk Monday. However, Josslyn Berry, a spokesperson for Hobbs, told The Arizona Sun Times that is as far as the bill would get.

“I can confirm we’ll be vetoing this one [Senate Bill (SB) 1305],” Berry said via email.

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Arizona Free Enterprise Club Sues State over Early Ballot Signature Verification Process

Neil Jones

The Arizona Free Enterprise Club filed a lawsuit against the state Monday, alleging that the early ballot signature verification process outlined in the Elections Procedures Manual (EPM) violates state law.

“The signature presented on an early ballot affidavit is the fulcrum on which the integrity of that ballot pivots; it is the only means by which the county recorder can verify that a person casting an early ballot by mail is, in fact, a duly qualified elector,” according to the lawsuit. “And given the centrality of early ballots to elections in this state, signature verification is also foundational to the overall integrity of Arizona’s elections.”

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Center for Arizona Policy Celebrates Passage of Anti-Infanticide Bill in Arizona Senate

Neil Jones

Center for Arizona Policy (CAP) released a statement Monday from President Cathi Herrod, who praised the work of State Sen. Janae Shamp (R-Surprise) for sponsoring the “born alive” bill, which protects all babies born alive in the state.

“The Senate’s passage of SB 1600 along party lines tells you everything you need to know about which lawmakers refuse to draw the line before infanticide. The bill ends the inhumane practice known as “slow code,” in which healthcare professionals withhold medical care to babies not expected to live long in order to hasten their death,” Herrod said. “I am grateful for Senator Shamp’s courage in sponsoring this important bill.”

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Explosive Testimony at Senate Elections and House Municipal Oversight & Elections Joint Meeting Accuses Hobbs, Fontes, Runbeck, and Judges of Racketeering

Rachel Alexander

The Arizona Legislature’s Senate Elections Committee and House Municipal Oversight & Elections Committee held a joint hearing on Thursday featuring testimony from several people involved in researching the voter disenfranchisement that occurred in 2020 and 2022. The testimony by Arizona forensic investigator Jacqueline Breger accused multiple statewide and county officials, including Governor Katie Hobbs and Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, of racketeering connected to the Sinaloa Cartel. Democrats on those committees refused to attend the hearing.

Breger said she has been working with a law firm investigating multistate racketeering and corruption, but in the process discovered election fraud as well. She said neither she nor the attorney she works for are very political; he didn’t vote in the last two elections and she is a registered independent. While investigating racketeering involving the Sinaloa Cartel, their team accidentally discovered election fraud, she said, including finding that Maricopa County’s database is being infiltrated from the outside. “The Maricopa County database has absolutely no integrity whatsoever,” she declared. “Racketeering enterprises are inextricably intertwined with election fraud.”

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Arizona State Senator Calls Out Katie Hobbs After Forced Resignation of Department of Child Safety Director Nominee

Neil Jones

Arizona State Sen. Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Director Nominations (CDN), announced Wednesday that Hobbs’s choice to lead the Arizona Department of Child Safety (DCS), Matthew Stewart, was allegedly forced to resign following questionable behavior.

“It’s disgraceful that Katie Hobbs either did not conduct a thorough review of Mr. Stewart prior to offering him the position as DCS Director, or she thought she could sweep his history under the rug. This agency is tasked with protecting vulnerable children. While Katie Hobbs openly touted skin-color as her seemingly only priority in the search for the next potential DCS Director, it might have also been a good idea to look at experience and qualifications too,” said Hoffman.

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State Rep. David Livingston Sends Follow-Up Letter to Hobbs Regarding Inauguration Funds, Answers Lead to More Questions

Neil Jones

Arizona State Rep. David Livingston (R-Peoria) sent another letter to Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) Wednesday demanding more answers regarding where she is placing funds for 2023 inauguration events. While Livingston did receive answers to his first letter, he said those have only led to more questions.

“Those records have not alleviated my concerns regarding your administration’s solicitation of inaugural funds. Instead, they have prompted new concerns and this supplemental request for more information,” Livingston wrote.

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Arizona State Representative Celebrates Bipartisan Passage of Voter Signature Verification Bill

Neil Jones

The Arizona House of Representatives passed a new house bill (HB) Wednesday clarifying the early ballot envelope voter signature verification standards. This bill came from State Representative Alexander Kolodin (R-Scottsdale), who celebrated the bill passing with bipartisan support.

“This goes to show that when you offer reasonable and necessary solutions to problems, you can reach consensus on real solutions for the people of Arizona. We Republicans are willing to do that and yesterday, we found out that there are some Democrats that are willing to do that as well,” Kolodin said.

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Hobbs Revokes $210 Million in COVID-19 Relief Grants Awarded by Ducey

Rachel Alexander

Since becoming the governor of Arizona, Democrat Katie Hobbs has started undoing some of the work done by her predecessor Doug Ducey. This past week, Hobbs blocked $210 million in COVID-19 relief grants Ducey had awarded to businesses.

Hobbs’ administration said Ducey gave 19 grants to 16 businesses during his last three days in office; on Dec. 30-Jan. 1. Her aides claim he violated state procurement law, which requires competitive bids in order to award money. Those requirements were waived during COVID-19 through December 29 by the Arizona Department of Administration. After Ducey’s emergency declaration ended in March 2022, the waiver was extended twice. 

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Arizona Court of Appeals Sides with Katie Hobbs in Election Challenge

Neil Jones

The Arizona Court of Appeals officially sided with Go. Katie Hobbs (D) in the ongoing election challenge filed by Republican Kari Lake. However, Lake has already said this is not the end and that the Arizona Supreme Court is her next destination.

“BREAKING: I told you we would take this case all the way to the Arizona Supreme Court, and that’s exactly what we are going to do. Buckle up, America,” Lake tweeted.

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Arizona Senate Majority Caucus Warns of Government Shutdown If Gov. Katie Hobbs Vetoes the Newley Passed Budget

Neil Jones

The Arizona State House and Senate have officially passed a “skinny budget” to continue funding state agencies. The ball now falls in Gov. Katie Hobbs’s (D) court to sign or veto the budget, and the Senate Majority Caucus said it expects Hobbs to “do the right thing.”

“We [the caucus] believe it would be quite foolish for Governor Hobbs to veto this budget. We are proceeding under the assumption that she will do the right thing. If she does veto this budget, then she will be responsible for a government shutdown,” Caucus spokeswoman Kim Quintero told The Arizona Sun Times via email.

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State Representative David Livingston Seeks Further Transparency from Gov. Katie Hobbs on Inauguration Funds

Neil Jones

Arizona State Representative David Livingston (R-Peoria) sent letters Monday to Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) and her campaign manager Nicole DeMont seeking further transparency regarding the funds Hobbs received for her inauguration events.

“To that end, I have serious concerns relating to the procurement of funds that appear to have been solicited and donated for the purpose of sponsoring Inauguration events hosted at the Capitol in early January,” Livingston wrote. “It is my understanding that you or your campaign manager publically disclosed some of the donors and the amounts of their donations several weeks ago, but this disclosure is incomplete.”

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The Goldwater Institute Refutes Claims from Katie Hobbs that the Universal ESA Program Will ‘Bankrupt’ Arizona

Neil Jones

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) spoke with Shannon Bream of Fox News for an interview Sunday, where she spoke about her opinions of the State’s Universal Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program. Hobbs is an open opponent of the program and told Bream that the program would “bankrupt our state” if allowed to continue; however, the Arizona-based Goldwater Institute (GI), a proponent of the program, said this is far from the truth.

“This claim is completely detached from objective reality,” said GI Director of Education Policy Matt Beienburg in a statement emailed to The Arizona Sun Times. “The ESA expansion makes up less than 2% of what is spent on Arizona public school students each year, is dwarfed by the hundreds of millions of dollars of extra funding added to public schools this year alone by state lawmakers, and provides students an education at thousands of dollars less per child than it would cost to educate them in the public school system.” 

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Arizona Governor Candidate Kari Lake Tells Iowa Republicans to Demand Presidential Candidates Put America and Election Integrity First

M.D. Kittle

Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake made her second stop in her two-day trip to Iowa with a message to conservatives in the kick-off caucus state: Back candidates who put America and election integrity first. 

“First of all, you know who I’m supporting for president,” Lake told some 250 people at a standing-room-only rally at the District Venue in Ankeny, Des Moines’ largest suburb. 

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Arizona Senate Committee on Director Nominations Rejects Hobbs’ ‘Extreme’ Choice to Lead the Department of Health

Rachel Alexander

The newly formed Arizona Senate Committee on Director Nominations held a hearing Thursday to consider whether to accept Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs’ nominee for director of the Arizona Department of Health Services, Dr. Theresa Cullen. Chaired by Sen. Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek), who characterized Cullen as “extreme,” the committee interviewed the former director of the Pima County Department of Public Health then voted down party lines, 3-2, to stop her nomination from going forward to the whole Senate for a vote.

Cullen tried to repeatedly distance herself from the Pima County Supervisors’ decisions regarding COVID-19. At one point, Cullen said she did not attend their meetings. But Hoffman pulled up a photo of her at one of the meetings. While she was sworn to tell the truth at the hearing, the legislature generally does not take action when speakers perjure themselves. 

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Republican Legislators Oppose Participation in Katie Hobbs’s Election Task Force Nominations

Neil Jones

Arizona State Senate President Warren Petersen (R-Mesa) and House Speaker (R-Peoria) sent a letter to Governor Katie Hobbs Monday, outlining their concerns with the Elections Task Force (ETF) created through Executive Order 2023-03.

“We agree that election reform is necessary. But we question whether your unilateral decision to appoint a task force and direct it to address this subject of paramount and statewide importance is an appropriate exercise of your authority,” according to the letter.

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Abe Hamadeh Continues Efforts for a New Trial as Kris Mayes Again Requests Sanctions

Neil Jones

Republican Abe Hamadeh is continuing his attempt at a new trial in his election challenge, alleging he was denied due process during his first court appearance.

“Judges, not executive branch nor election officials, are the arbiters of justice. After all, if this — the closest statewide office election in Arizona history — is not worth an exacting review, whatever could be,” Hamadeh tweeted. “Without honest and transparent elections, nothing else matters.”

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State Sen. Janae Shamp Seeks to Allow Employees to Opt-Out of Vaccine Mandates in any Situation

Neil Jones

One of Arizona’s newest State Senators, Janae Shamp (R-Suprise), has a bill headed to the Senate Health & Human Services committee Tuesday that would require employees in the state to have the opportunity to opt out of a vaccine mandate. Shamp, a former operating room nurse, said this bill would be significant for health care professionals.

“It’s sickening that many healthcare workers, like myself, lost our jobs because we refused to take the jab,” said Senator Shamp. “The COVID-19 vaccine has not been on the market long enough to determine if there is a correlation between its ingredients and medical issues a number of patients are now experiencing after getting the shot. We already have a dire shortage of medical professionals within Arizona, and these mandates have only exacerbated the crisis.”

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State Sen. Jake Hoffman to Lead New Senate Committee on Director Nominations

Neil Jones

State Senate President Warren Petersen (R-Mesa) announced Thursday that there would be a new bipartisan Director Nominations Committee in the Senate to make decisions regarding Governor Katie Hobbs’s Executive Appointments.

“Agency directors have a tremendous responsibility to administer necessary government functions as directed by state law, without attempting to legislate from the executive branch or expanding the reach of big government,” said State Sen. Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek), who is appointed to lead the new committee.

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Republican Arizona State Legislature Moves Forward with Proposed Continuation Budget Despite Democrat Backlash

Neil Jones

Republican Arizona state legislators of the House and Senate are moving forward with their previously proposed continuation budget, referred to as a “skinny budget,” which members call the financially responsible move to ensure state entities are funded and continue without issue.

“This is a budget that recognizes the political and economic realities in our state right now. It’s a responsible plan based on the budget funding approved last session with bipartisan support. It fully funds our state’s obligations and ensures that essential functions of state government will continue without interruption,” said State Representative David Livingston (R-Peoria).

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Packed Crowd Attends Kari Lake Rally Exposing Voter Disenfranchisement in Maricopa County

Rachel Alexander

At a standing-room-only event Sunday, Kari Lake signaled she is not giving up her legal battle to install her as the rightful Arizona governor instead of Democrat Katie Hobbs. Lake held a Save Arizona rally at Orange Tree Golf Club in Scottsdale with over a thousand in attendance, assuring her supporters she intended to fight until the “victorious end.” The mainstream media recently ran stories claiming Lake was switching her focus to running against Senator Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ).

Lake focused her entire speech on election fraud. “They thought they could steal it and we would just go away,” she said to thunderous applause. “We had the greatest candidates in the country here in Arizona. We were running against some of the worst candidates in the history of Arizona. It didn’t matter if they rolled out brain-dead candidates,” she said, alluding to election fraud ensuring the Democrats’ victories. “The fix was in. They knew they didn’t have to campaign.”

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Arizona Freedom Caucus Takes Stand on Lifting School Spending Limit: Only If it Comes with Reforms

Neil Jones
Students on the floor in the classroom, listening to the teacher read

The Arizona Freedom Caucus (AFC) announced it would take a stand against lifting the highly contested aggregate expenditure limit (AEL), which puts a cap on public school spending unless it comes with systemic reform.

“Fiscal responsibility is a foundational tenant of good governance, and the legislature has a fiduciary duty to our constituents to ensure that their tax dollars are spent as efficiently and responsibly as possible. Unfortunately, despite years of record high education funding from legislative Republicans, government-run school districts continue to increase class sizes, strip teachers of critically needed classroom resources, and force feed a far-left worldview on children,” according to the AFC.

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Kari Lake Files Reply Brief with Arizona Court of Appeals in Election Contest Lawsuit

Rachel Alexander

Kari Lake’s election lawsuit contesting her loss to Democrat Katie Hobbs in the gubernatorial race is at the Arizona Court of Appeals after being dismissed by the trial court judge. Lake filed a reply on Tuesday to the responses from defendants Maricopa County and then-Secretary of State Hobbs.

The reply brief began, “Defendants ignore the trial court’s holdings, misstate the law, misstate material facts, and — unable to get their stories straight — contradict each other.” 

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New Bill from Rep. Rachel Jones Would Bar an Arizona Secretary of State from Certifying Their Own Election

Neil Jones

One of Arizona’s newest Republican State Representatives, Rachel Jones (R-Tucson), introduced a new bill that would prevent a Secretary of State from certifying an election in which they participated.

“So, I think it is pretty clear what the intent of this bill is. It is basically saying if a current Secretary of State is running for another office, such as happened in the 2022 election with Katie Hobbs running for governor, this is just getting rid of any potential conflicts of interests with that individual,” Jones said while introducing her bill to the House Municipal Oversight and Elections Committee.

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State Representative Announces Hearing to Discuss Arizona Public School Spending Limitation

Neil Jones

Newly Elected State Rep. Matt Gress (R-Maricopa), Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Budgetary Funding Formulas, announced a hearing for Thursday to review the public school spending cap created by the aggregate expenditure limit (AEL).

“The purpose of this committee hearing is to ensure the record investments we’ve made in K-12 education over the last eight years are effectively and responsibly spent so that we can properly invest in our state’s future leaders,” said Gress.

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Arizona Senate Republicans Introduce Tax Cut Bills for Groceries and Rent Payments

Neil Jones

State Senate Republicans have introduced two bills that target Arizona’s grocery and rental taxes to give local families a financial break. Kim Quintero, the spokeswoman for the Senate Republican Caucus, told The Arizona Sun Times that it would be unwise for Governor Katie Hobbs (D) to veto bills like these should they pass the legislature.

“It would not be wise of the Governor to veto the food tax bill, as this will provide immediate inflation relief to those living paycheck to paycheck, and it’s something that resonates with a large portion of her voter base,” Quintero said via email.

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State Representatives Seek Answers from Arizona Secretary of State over Elections Manual Concerns

Neil Jones

Arizona State Reps. Jacqueline Parker (R-Mesa) and Alexander Kolodin (R-Maricopa) sent an inquiry to new Secretary of State Adrian Fontes (D), asking if he seeks to remedy errors in the state’s Elections Procedures Manual (EPM).

“Recent Arizona court decisions give us serious concerns about the lawfulness of former Secretary Hobbs’ 2019 EPM and 2021 draft EPM. Arizona law purports to authorize the EPM to achieve and maintain the maximum degree of correctness, impartiality, uniformity and efficiency in voting procedures throughout the state. But we question whether these mandates have been followed. We hope Secretary Fontes more fully evaluates where the prior Secretary overstepped her bounds and look forward to hearing how those errors will be corrected,” Reps. Parker and Kolodin said in a joint statement.

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State Senator T.J. Shope Says Legislature will ‘Hold the Line’ on Hobbs’s Proposed Budget

Neil Jones

Following the unveiling of Gov. Katie Hobbs’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Executive Budget, State Sen. T.J. Shope (R-Florance) stated it was a budget he, and his GOP colleagues in the state legislature, would not support.

“My colleagues in the Senate GOP will not support this budget and its declaration of war on parents. We will not support taxpayer funded scholarship programs for non-citizens. We will not support a repeal of the Border Strike Force at a time when the scourge of fentanyl plagues our people,” Shope tweeted. “We are united and we will hold the line for the Arizona we love.”

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Arizona Republican Legislature Announce Plan to Establish a Continuation Budget for 2023-24

Neil Jones

With both the Arizona State Senate and House under Republican control, leadership from both branches announced Thursday that one of their priorities to kick off the new session is to create a continuation budget for 2023 and 2024.

“In order to continue state programs without fear of an irresponsible fiscal cliff, the Legislature seeks to provide certainty that at a minimum, we have a fiscal year 2023-2024 budget in place,” according to a joint statement from the State House Republican Leadership team. “We intend to build on last session’s successes and craft a budget that continues to champion fiscal responsibility, funding for key services, and relief for Arizonans.”

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Arizona Governor’s Rocky Start: Oath Laugh, Inaugural Donation Questions, and Speech Walkout

Just the News

Newly inaugurated Arizona Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs is off to a rocky start, following a giggling bout at her swearing-in, questions surrounding inauguration donations, and a walkout during her first speech to the state Legislature by lawmakers who are planning to sue her.

Hobbs was sworn in on Jan. 2 in a brief ceremony off-limits to reporters, according to the Arizona Republic. A media pool photographer was present, and the ceremony was livestreamed. A public ceremony was later held on Thursday last week.

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Arizona Court of Appeals to Expedites Kari Lake’s Election Challenge Appeal

Neil Jones

The Arizona Court of Appeals has set a date of February 1st for conferencing on Kari Lake’s lawsuit attempting to overturn the results of the 2022 General election.

“Our appeal is scheduled to be heard before the court on February 1st. Do not underestimate @KariLake’s desire to get justice for the people of Arizona. It doesn’t matter how long it takes. She will see this through,” tweeted the Lake campaign.

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Arizona Freedom Caucus Vows to File Litigation Against Gov. Katie Hobbs for Alleged Illegal Executive Orders

Neil Jones

PHOENIX, Arizona – Monday marked the opening day for the 56th Legislative Session, but before getting down to business, the Arizona Freedom Caucus (AFC) and a group of Republican Legislators from the House and Senate met with the press to state they would be filing a lawsuit against Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D).

“It’s become a modern phenomenon for Executive Branches across the country to try and legislate via executive order. We saw it with Barack Obama. We see it now with Joe Biden. And now, seemingly, Katie Hobbs, she also believes that she has the ability to legislate with the power of the pen, attempting to create law that simply does not exist,” said State Sen. Jake Hoffman (Queen Creek).

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Arizona Senate President May Investigate Katie Hobbs for Requiring Donors to Contribute $250k to Dark Money Group

Rachel Alexander

Arizona’s new Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs is facing criticism for secrecy surrounding the amounts of money that donors contributed to her inauguration events, which previous governors have disclosed in the past. It’s also been revealed that Hobbs asked the donors to contribute a quarter of a million dollars, with no explanation where the money is going. Arizona Senate President Pro Tempore T.J. Shope (R-Coolidge) said he may conduct an investigation.

“I would think it might be something we would look into,” Shope told AZ Family. “We should have the right to know as a citizen what kind of contributions they’re getting.” State Senator John Kavanaugh (R-Fountain Hills) said he agreed. 

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