This week, the Department of the Air Force announced much anticipated plans to move Close Air Support (CAS) and rescue missions, including A-10 Thunderbolt II and HH-60 Pave Hawk weapons schools and test squadrons, to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base beginning in fiscal year 2022.
The proposed plan would transfer rescue and attack missions, aircraft and personnel to Davis-Monthan AFB as part of the Air Force’s vision of making the base the Center of Excellence for CAS and rescue missions.
Moving the A-10 and HH-60 aircraft squadrons, one maintenance squadron and all the supporting personnel from Nellis AFB, Nevada will result in a small personnel increase at Davis-Monthan AFB.
The first phase of the proposed plan, released as part of the Department of the Air Force’s fiscal year 2022 budget request , is contingent on congressional approval of the retirement of 42 A-10 aircraft, 35 of which are at Davis-Monthan AFB. Retiring these aircraft will create the fiscal and manpower flexibility required to design and field the future force needed to meet combatant commander requirements. Retiring the older A-10s in 2022 would allow Davis-Monthan AFB to receive the new missions.
The A-10 Weapons Instructor Course and Test and Evaluation operations will transition in 2022. The HH-60 WIC, Test and combat-coded units to include the 88th Test and Evaluation Squadron, 66th Rescue Squadron, 58th Rescue Squadron, the 34th Weapons Squadron, and the 855th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron will move beginning in 2024.
The Air Force will complete the required environmental analysis before the moves.
The A-10 Thunderbolt Advanced Continuation Kitting wing replacement contract, which was awarded in August 2019, included the purchase of wings for 218 aircraft. The Air Force has invested $880 million in A-10 re-winging and avionics modernization efforts, enabling the fleet to fly well into the 2030s.
On Friday, Gov. Doug Ducey rescinded a series of executive orders issued during the coronavirus pandemic. The governor said the orders were no longer needed because the Legislature put them into law.
The governor said some of the orders would remain in place until legislation takes effect in 90 days. Those include orders preventing cities, towns and counties from issuing orders for businesses that are more stringent than those Ducey issues. Other orders ending after new legislation takes effect are ones barring universities from requiring COVID-19 vaccines or masks for unvaccinated students.
The governor ordered:
Effective July 1, 2021, the following Executive Orders related to the public health emergency will be rescinded:
Executive Order 2020-17 deferred requirements to renew state agency and board licenses that had an expiration date between March 1, 2020 and September 1, 2020 by six months from the expiration date, unless those requirements could be completed online. The timeframe for the deferrals lapsed on March 1, 2021.
Executive Order 2020-28 was enacted to address critical demand for nursing home and long-term care facility staff, allowing caregiver trainees to utilize on-the-job training to meet a certification program. This policy was codified through legislation in 2020.
Executive Order 2020-58 ensured cost-sharing requirements, such as co-pays and co-insurance, for the COVID-19 vaccine are waived. This policy was codified by congress through the CARES Act.
Executive Order 2021-04 required schools to return in-person, teacher-led instruction by March 15, 2020. In-person, teacher led instruction will continue to be required beyond the March 15, 2020 deadline.
Effective July 9, 2021, the following Executive Orders related to the public health emergency will be rescinded:
Executive Orders 2020-08 & 2020-53 extended standard driver licenses that originally expired between March 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020, in an effort to limit visits to the state Motor Vehicle division. An expiration deferral issued as a result of this order remains valid and in effect.
Executive Order 2020-20 allowed pharmacists to dispense emergency refills of maintenance medications for up to 180 days, minimizing unnecessary trips to the doctor. With legislation expanding availability of telemedicine, obtaining refills is now more accessible.
Executive Order 2020-25 allowed struggling Arizona restaurants to repackage and sell grocery items they have on hand, including items not normally packaged and labeled for resale. Arizona restaurants can now fully resume operations.
Effective September 29, 2021, the following Executive Orders related to the public health emergency will be rescinded upon enactment of legislation to codify the policies:
Executive Order 2020-12 was a proactive and administrative measure to ensure consistent mitigation guidance across the state, and prohibited any county, city or town to issue an order, rule or regulation that restricts or prohibits any essential service.
Executive Order 2021-05 lifted occupancy limits that were implemented due to COVID-19.
Executive Order 2021-06 transitioned COVID-19 mitigation requirements for businesses to recommendations.
Executive Order 2021-09 banned “vaccine passports” and prevented state and local governments from requiring Arizonans to provide their COVID-19 vaccination status to receive service or enter an area.
Executive Order 2021-10 rescinded orders related to K-12 health guidance.
Executive Order 2021-15 ensured students of public higher education institutions cannot be mandated to take the COVID-19 vaccine or submit COVID-19 vaccination documents, and prohibited mandatory testing and mask usage for students.
The following will be repealed on a date determined by the Arizona Department of Health Services:
Executive Orders 2020-13, 2020-23, 2020-30, 2020-37, 2020-48, 2020-54, 2020-56, 2020-57, 2021-01, 2021-07, 2021-14, identified as Enhanced Surveillance Advisory Orders. The State Legislature provided authority to the Arizona Department of Health Services to continue requiring hospitals, testing laboratories and other health facilities to provide detailed information and data related to COVID-19.
They’re still trying to scare us. Apparently, some people in our country just don’t like seeing businesses reopen, people unmasked, and a return to normalcy. So, as the threat to COVID largely dwindles, it should come as no surprise that the media is now pushing a new threat: the Delta variant.
It will be interesting to see how state and local governments across the country respond to this so-called “latest threat.” As you’ll recall, it didn’t go so well the first time around with most seizing the opportunity to abuse emergency powers, even here in Arizona. And although Arizona’s COVID response puts it ahead of most other states in the country, there’s still work to be done.
Thankfully, our state lawmakers haven’t ignored the problem. And with various provisions in a series of Budget Reconciliation Bills, they have taken important steps to protect Arizona from more COVID mandates and government overreach.
On Thursday, the National Federation of Independent Business released its monthly Jobs Report, which found that Arizona is well-positioned to beat its neighbors to full economic recovery.
“Early legislative action this year to enact COVID-19 liability protection for businesses followed by recently adopted, historic tax reforms for income and property taxpayers will feed the flames of optimism and build confidence in business owners–leading to more investment, hiring and growth of small businesses in Arizona,” said Chad Heinrich, Arizona state director for National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). “While small-business owners remain in a struggle to fill open jobs, in Arizona our small businesses are seeing the support that comes from having a pro-small-business Legislature as our elected officials wrap up business at the State Capitol.”
According to NFIB’s report, 46% of small business owners reported job openings they could not fill in the current period, down two points from May but still above the 48-year historical average of 22%. Small business owners continue to struggle to find qualified workers for their open positions while raising compensation at a record high level.
A net 39% (seasonally adjusted) of owners reported raising compensation (up five points), a record high. A net 26% plan to raise compensation in the next three months (up four points), according to the report.
“In the busy summer season, many firms haven’t been able to hire enough workers to efficiently run their businesses, which has restricted sales and output,” said NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg. “In June, we saw a record high percent of owners raising compensation to help attract needed employees and job creation plans also remain at record highs. Owners are doing everything they can to get back to a full, productive staff.”
According to NFIB, “the Jobs Report is a national snapshot not broken down by state. The results were based on 592 respondents to the June survey of a random sample of NFIB’s member firms, surveyed through 6/28/2021.”
On Friday morning, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a landmark decision, struck down California’s demand that nonprofit advocacy groups turn over confidential information about their donors. The 6-3 ruling in Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta is considered a major victory for First Amendment advocates.
At issue was a dispute that began in 2014, when the Thomas More Law Center and the Americans for Prosperity Foundation went to federal court to challenge California’s rule.
“The case ends more than a decade of litigation that began when then-Attorney General Kamala Harris abruptly ended the practice that allowed nonprofits to turn in their annual reports with private information redacted, as a security measure. That had been allowed for many years, since if the Attorney General’s office ever actually needed such information, it could easily get it in many other ways—such as a subpoena or audit,” explains Timothy Sandefur of the Goldwater Institute in a blog post. “But in 2010, Harris ordered any nonprofit that collected money in California to hand over copies of their unredacted IRS paperwork. That information would be placed into a government database that Harris promised would be kept confidential. Of course, it wasn’t—a trial judge later found almost 2,000 instances in which Harris’s office allowed this information to be publicly circulated. (The Goldwater Institute received such a demand, but refused to disclose this information.)”
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion which reverses the 9th Circuit Court opinion.
In his blog post, Sandefur says the Court’s ruling “vindicates the privacy rights of millions of Americans who choose to contribute to nonprofit organizations that articulate the political, cultural, or religious values they hold dear. That choice is guaranteed by the First Amendment—yet many federal, state, and local officials continue to devote their powers to stripping donors of their privacy rights whenever they exercise that constitutional freedom. This is often done under the guise of “transparency,” but transparency is for government—privacy is for people. Today’s decision is a victory for the free speech rights of all Americans, whatever their ideological background—and we look forward to continuing the fight for freedom of speech and privacy at the federal, state, and local levels.”
