by Jonathan Eberle | Apr 20, 2025 | Education, News
By Jonathan Eberle |
Arizona students will soon face new limits on cellphone and social media use during the school day under a law signed Monday by Governor Katie Hobbs. The bill, HB 2484, passed with bipartisan support and aims to reduce digital distractions in public and charter school classrooms across the state.
The legislation, sponsored by Representative Beverly Pingerelli (R-LD28), requires school districts and charter schools to adopt policies that restrict student access to personal wireless devices and social media platforms during instructional hours. Exceptions are provided for emergency communication, medical needs, and teacher-approved academic use.
“Education requires attention, and attention is exactly what today’s students are being robbed of by addictive devices and endless scrolling,” Pingerelli said in a statement. “Arizona classrooms are for learning, not TikTok. Teachers can finally reclaim their classrooms.”
The new law mandates that Arizona schools develop and enforce policies that limit or prohibit non-educational cellphone use during school hours; restrict access to social media platforms while on school premises; and provide exemptions for emergencies, health-related needs, or educational tools as determined by teachers.
Districts will have flexibility in crafting the specific guidelines, but they must meet the state’s minimum requirements. Supporters say the law empowers teachers, supports student focus, and responds to growing concerns among parents and educators about the impact of screen time on learning.
Arizona is the latest in a growing number of states considering restrictions on student cellphone use. Educators across the country have increasingly voiced concerns that smartphones, social media, and digital distractions are interfering with learning, fueling anxiety, and making classroom management more difficult.
Research has shown that heavy cellphone use in school correlates with lower academic performance, increased mental health concerns, and reduced attention spans. In response, some districts nationwide have independently instituted bans or restrictions—though results and enforcement vary.
Critics of such policies have occasionally raised concerns about student safety, parental access, and equitable enforcement. However, HB 2484 includes exceptions to ensure students can still reach caregivers in emergencies and access necessary medical technology.
The law aligns with the Arizona House Republican Majority Plan’s emphasis on academic focus, teacher support, and increased parental involvement in education. While the issue drew support across party lines, it also sparked debate about how best to balance technology in modern classrooms.
“Teachers shouldn’t have to compete with YouTube and Instagram to be heard,” Pingerelli said. “This law puts students’ education first.”
Arizona schools are expected to begin implementing the new policies in the upcoming academic year.
Jonathan Eberle is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Staff Reporter | Apr 19, 2025 | News
By Staff Reporter |
The Arizona Republican House Whip sided with Democratic lawmakers and Governor Katie Hobbs against the codification of a key emergency funding bill for disability services in the state.
Most House and Senate Republicans support removing over $100 million in emergency funding from the Housing Trust Fund and the Prescription Drug Rebate Fund and giving it to the Division of Developmental Disabilities (DD). Several Republican lawmakers along with their Democratic counterparts and Hobbs reject the legislation (House Bill 2945 and Senate Bill 1734). Democrats want to pull funding from the general fund instead.
Governor Hobbs issued a moratorium on all legislation until Republicans agreed to find another avenue for funding DD. Hobbs expressed gratitude for the existence of “bipartisan opposition” enabling Democrats to retain a negotiations foothold.
Hobbs called Republicans “extreme” and accused them of “political theater.”
Hobbs would be alluding to House Majority Whip Julie Willoughby. Willoughby joined Reps. Justin Olson and Jeff Weninger as the sole “no” votes on House Bill 2945 against majority Republican support within the House Appropriations Committee.
Willoughby introduced an amendment to House Bill 2945 that drew Democratic support. Willoughby said in her presentation of the amendment that she worked with Democrats to craft it.
Willougby’s amendment would have dropped the original bill’s requirement for the Arizona Healthcare Cost Containment System Administration (“Administration”) to obtain legislative approval via statute for any Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) renewal request or termination request for any waiver or waiver amendment. Willoughby said the legislative approval was overly burdensome and would require the legislature to convene for every waiver request, even for simple extensions.
It would have also eliminated the original intent to have the Administration submit a waiver amendment request to CMS to reduce parents as paid caregivers program care services per week per child limit to 20 hours. It would have limited the new federal money reporting requirements to only the Department of Economic Security (DES) and Access rather than all state agencies. Additionally, it would have not pulled $10 million from the Arizona Competes Fund but instead increased by $10 million the funding pulled from the Prescription Drug Rebate Fund.
House Appropriations Chair Steve Livingston said he liked some aspects of Willoughby’s amendment, but suggested it would be better suited for consideration in a Committee of the Whole (COW) amendment.
In Willoughby’s closing explanation of her “no” vote on House Bill 2945, Willoughby said she would continue to fight for the Democrat-supported changes in her amendment and apologized extensively for the bill.
“People have continuously asked me to not move this amendment. What hill do you die on? And I choose you as my hill to die on,” said Willoughby. “I’m sorry this is happening to you. With my whole heart I’m sorry.”
Willoughby said she opposed the bill as against her pro-life beliefs as a Republican.
“I’m pro-life, and I’m pro-life through the entire spectrum of life, from the moment of conception until the last breath you take, and this is my moment to help support you in a way I haven’t had to before,” said Willoughby.
The House Appropriations Committee rejected Willougby’s amendment during its hearing on Tuesday.
Supporters of Willoughby’s olive branch to Democrats sent flowers to the lawmaker.
Where Willoughby sought compromise, other Arizona House Republican leaders took Hobbs to task for her administration’s management of DD that ultimately led to its budget shortfall. House Speaker Steve Montenegro said Hobbs’ desired funding pathway would ensure “no oversight, no reforms, and no accountability” for DD administration.
“Governor Hobbs’ decision to hold every bill hostage because she didn’t get her way on a blank check is not leadership—it’s political blackmail,” said Montenegro. “She created this crisis by foolishly expanding the DD program without legislative approval or funding in place, and now she’s throwing a tantrum because the Legislature is doing the responsible thing: funding services while putting guardrails in place to keep the program from collapsing.”
Without approval of emergency funding by the end of this month, DD won’t be able to pay caregivers and services will cease.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Matthew Holloway | Apr 19, 2025 | Education, News
By Matthew Holloway |
An interjection by Arizona’s Democrat Attorney General Kris Mayes has led to the AG and Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne trading rhetorical fire after Phoenix’s Kyrene School District voted to adopt a “Staff Social Emotional Wellness Policy.” That policy appears to run afoul of guidance from the U.S. Department of Education, risking the withholding of $1.5 million in federal funding.
In a statement reported by The Center Square, Mayes said that Horne has no legal basis for what she described as him threatening the districts.
“Rather than do his job and ensure that funds appropriated by Congress and the Legislature reach Arizona schools — as the law requires — Superintendent Horne is choosing to engage in ideological nonsense at the expense of students and teachers,” she said.
She added that the districts should, “ignore baseless, politicized threats from the State Superintendent’s office, which has no legitimate role whatsoever in blocking the distribution of these federal funds.”
In a post to X, Horne stated: “On DEI, AG Mayes is wrong and risks $770 million Ignoring federal guidance is not optional.”
In a stern response to Mayes, Horne issued a statement, “I spent four years as Attorney General, and I follow the law strictly. The Arizona Department of Education has been responsible for distributing both federal and state education dollars to the schools for many decades and we must do so in accordance with the law. The U.S. Department of Education has issued guidance that requires my department to certify that all public districts and charters that take federal money use those funds according to that guidance, and that cannot be ignored. If I did, we would risk losing nearly $770 million in total federal funding to all public schools. That is obviously unacceptable, but the Attorney General is either unconcerned or unaware of that catastrophic scenario.”
The Arizona Department of Education (AZED) said in a press release, “Attorney General Kris Mayes is wrong in claiming that the Arizona Department of Education has no legal authority to withhold federal funds to districts and charters that fail to comply with new guidance regarding Diversity Equity and Inclusion programs, according to Superintendent Tom Horne.”
The department added that on April 3rd and again on April 9th, AZED through its Grants Management System, issued notice to all public districts and charters in Arizona on the guidance from the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) and an attestation that the guidance will be followed.
“Under the guidance, districts and charters have until April 24th to certify compliance. Failure to do so will require the state – as the fiscal agent – to put a hold on federal dollars. To date, approximately 350 districts and charters out of 658 have certified compliance.”
The guidance from the DOE is as follows:
“Given the text of Title VI and the assurances you have already given, any violation of Title VI—including the use of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (“DEI”) programs to advantage one’s race over another—is impermissible. The use of certain DEI practices can violate federal law. The continued use of illegal DEI practices may subject the individual or entity using such practices to serious consequences, including:
- l . The use of the provisions of 42 U.S.C. 2000d-l to seek the ‘termination of or refusal to grant or to continue assistance under such program,’ eliminating federal funding for any SEA, LEA, or educational institution that engages in such conduct. [1]”
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
by AZ Free Enterprise Club | Apr 18, 2025 | Opinion
By the Arizona Free Enterprise Club |
This past November was a good time to be a Republican, especially here in Arizona. Not only did President Donald Trump win our state in a landslide victory, but Republicans expanded their majorities in both the Arizona House and Senate—despite being outspent in every single race.
While this turn of events shocked many in the corporate media who were convinced that Arizona was on its way from being a purple state to a blue state, we knew that voter registration trends told a different story.
Over the last couple of years, the gap between registered Republicans and Democrats in Arizona widened from 3.04% in 2020 to 4.03% in 2022. By April of last year, it had increased to 5.77%. And by November, it had expanded to 6.77%, a registration increase that proved decisive in President Trump’s overwhelming victory.
Now, 5 months removed from their electoral wipeout in November, there has been a lot of discussion about whether the Democrats’ political fortunes in Arizona would be reversing after their blowout loss to Trump.
Unfortunately for them, the latest voter registration numbers poured plenty of cold water on those dreams…
>>> CONTINUE READING >>>
by Matthew Holloway | Apr 18, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
Demonstrators supporting the Trump administration, Elon Musk, and Congressman Abe Hamadeh have lined the busy thoroughfare of Bell Road to peacefully counter-protest the “Indivisible” group, who have been holding an anti-Hamadeh, anti-Trump protest for the past two weeks.
The demonstrators, from several local Republican legislative districts, have turned out in growing numbers to support Hamadeh, Musk, and Trump. In a post to X, one user wrote, “Today’s support for Congressman Abe Hamadeh! We love the Happy Warrior!!!”
One of the demonstrators, Peggy Jacobs, sat for an interview with AZ Free News to explain her motivation to support the freshman Congressman.
“Well, we became aware of what was going on with the ‘indivisible’ group and there being a dislike of everything conservative, especially with Abe and Elon Musk. And we felt the need to share our feelings, which are much in the opposite realm of the protest group. So, we felt we should get out and counter that protest and share our beliefs that we appreciate Hamadeh, we appreciate Elon Musk, we appreciate what’s going on in Washington, D.C.”
Jacobs stated that the demonstration saw as many as 35 supporters from Legislative District 28 as well as a number from neighboring LD29 on Monday. She said they also saw as many as 40 from LD28 and several more from LD29 on Tuesday.
When asked if the demonstrations will continue, Jacobs replied, “If they’re going to be there, then we plan to be there.”
One of the organizers of the demonstration, Republican LD29 Chairwoman Lisa Everett, told AZ Free News that the demonstrations came about when she and others saw the protests against Hamadeh. “I said, ‘Oh no we can’t let that stand.’ And I organized some folks and yes we are out there every Monday. We get there a little before the other guys do, so we can get some prime real estate, and we hold our signs, and we have a great attitude. And… well I do my best to make sure that the two groups don’t mix because we don’t want anything ugly happening,” Everett said.
She continued, “And you know, when you get in large groups, you know things can happen. And so the leader of their side and I actually have spoken so everybody has agreed to try to keep the groups separate, but we both believe in the First Amendment so that’s why we are demonstrating.”
Everett added, “We support what is going on in our government now. You know, I made some signs for folks to carry that say ‘We voted for this,’ because we did! It’s very funny to me that the left walks around saying ‘No one voted for Elon Musk,’ and you know I can’t help myself. My response is, ‘No one voted for Anthony Fauci,’ so that’s my comeback to them because it’s a true statement.”
On support for Rep. Hamadeh in the district, Everett told AZ Free News, “The reality is Congressman Hamadeh supports President Trump, and President Trump ran on the whole concept of DOGE. We’re going to look at everything. And if you objectively look, many presidents, including Democrats, have talked about government waste and that we need to get to the bottom of it. And we need to clear things out. Sadly, there’s a lot of misinformation out there. I mean there are, bless their hearts, there are people that genuinely think that because of Elon Musk, they’re not going to get their Social Security anymore. And that’s just not the case. The reality is, the 200-year-old people are not going to get Social Security anymore. We support Abe Hamadeh because he’s a true patriot. He served our country well. Great, honest man, and he is truly living the American Dream which is amazing.”
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
