Arizona has the highest inflation rate in the country — making this state the number one victim of President Joe Biden’s inflation crisis.
The Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale area suffers from 13 percent inflation, according to the latest Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Tuesday. Nationwide inflation rate sits just over 8 percent.
According to recent polling, the inflation and border crises are of equal importance to Arizona voters.
Top issue for Arizona voters? Border security now tied with inflation. Both winning issues for Rs, but also sign that the worst of the economic malaise behind Biden. pic.twitter.com/KfBz0hHI38
Arizona Free Enterprise Club (AZFEC) President Scot Mussi told AZ Free News that the Biden administration has only worsened the economic woes of Arizonans. Mussi warned that consumers would continue to cut back on major purchases, and business owners would freeze expansions and hiring. He also pointed out that any reductions in inflation weren’t due to the Biden administration’s actions, but instead consumers cutting back.
“It’s pretty clear that the decision makers in Washington want to make this situation worse,” said Mussi. “The recession will continue to linger on until policy makers get serious about runaway spending.”
While Arizonans and the rest of America were taking in the federal government’s latest inflation report on Tuesday, President Joe Biden was celebrating the controversial Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
Tune in as I deliver remarks celebrating the Inflation Reduction Act and how it demonstrates government working for the American people. https://t.co/ZDwRFPcDdT
Biden didn’t address how the latest inflation data reflected historic highs. Rather, the president asserted that the effects of inflation were improving, and that the state of the economy should come as good news for Americans.
Today’s data show progress in fighting inflation. This month, prices overall were essentially flat, gas prices were down, and wages were up – that's good news for American families.
My plan is showing we can lower costs, create jobs, and bring manufacturing back to America.
However, not all within Biden’s party agreed that the IRA and other recent actions by the president are wins. In an interview this week, Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) refused to affirm that Biden is doing a good job as president. Congressman Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05) assessed that Kelly treaded carefully due to Biden’s unpopularity among voters.
.@RepAndyBiggsAZ: Mark Kelly "knows that Biden is on the ballot this November and Biden is on the ballot and in Arizona, Biden is incredibly unpopular." @RobFinnertyUSA
Mick McGuire, former Arizona National Guard general and failed senate candidate, told “The Conservative Circus” on Tuesday that Kelly was just as guilty as Biden for failing Arizonans with worsening inflation.
Mussi asserted that the IRA wasn’t anything to celebrate, calling it the “Inflation Destruction Act.” He explained that the IRA wouldn’t reduce inflation. Mussi noted that the government hasn’t even distributed all of the stimulus funds from the American Rescue Plan.
“We haven’t even finished rolling out the Biden COVID recovery act: the $1.9 trillion spending palooza. There’s no discipline right now, and there’s really no end in sight,” said Mussi. “Right now, we’ve hit what would be the definition of a recession. Even if you wanted to use the Biden administration’s viewpoint, at best you could say we’re in a bad state of stagflation. There’s absolutely no growth.”
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Phoenix’s first-ever public health advisor, Nicole Dupuis-Witt, was one of the leaders behind Canada’s totalitarian COVID-19 response. Dupuis-Witt assisted with the enforcement of business and church closures, as well as mask and vaccine mandates.
Prior to coming to Arizona, Dupuis-Witt was a leader in one of Canada’s public health departments: the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit (WECHU). Dupuis-Witt, while serving the Canadian government, went by the surname “Dupuis” only.
When Dupuis-Witt became CEO of WECHU last summer, their Board of Health Chair, Gary McNamara, credited Dupuis-Witt as integral to the Canadian government’s COVID-19 response. Dupuis-Witt assisted former WECHU CEO Theresa Marentette and former WECHU medical officer of health Wajid Ahmed to execute their COVID-19 response.
“[Dupuis-Witt] has been an instrumental help and right hand to … Theresa and Dr. Ahmed during the last 14 or 15 months in serving the community on the pandemic.”
Both Marentette and Ahmed were behind the forced closures of businesses and churches throughout the pandemic, mask mandates through 2021, and then the push for mandatory vaccinations.
As of March 21, the mask mandate will be lifted. However, in public spaces masks are still necessary: ✈️For 14 days after returning from travel outside of Canada 😷 For 10 days after exposure to a household member who has COVID-19 symptoms or has tested positive pic.twitter.com/YUcvLsjMgH
Under Dupuis-Witt’s CEO tenure, WECHU pushed all organizations to require the COVID-19 vaccine. Last September, WECHU issued vaccine mandates for children 12 and older attending community sports and fitness facilities.
In April, WECHU released “A Realistic Plan to Live with COVID-19,” which promised Canadians that they would never experience pre-pandemic normalcy again. The plan issued predictions that future outbreaks of infectious diseases would be met with mask mandates, social distancing, indoors capacity limits, and restaurant closures.
“Learning to live with COVID-19 does not mean that we’re going back to the way things were before the pandemic. If there is one thing we know now, this disease is unpredictable,” asserted WECHU.
Dupuis-Witt’s leadership over WECHU was consistent with actions undertaken by fellow former WECHU leaders Marentette and Ahmed.
Throughout 2020, Marentette led the charge on forcing businesses to close. Her COVID-19 response struck fear of reprisal into locals’ hearts. One restaurant owner, Wade Griffith, shared his worry with reporters in September that a small group of people dancing on a patio would cause mass forced shutdowns all over again.
“The fear is if people don’t behave and don’t keep their patrons behaved that the city or the provincial government will reverse it and all of us will be punished, not just one venue but all of us and that’s something none of us want to see because we can’t survive it again,” said Griffith. “It’s so scary that they’re going to close us again, the fear is out there right now in the community that we’re going to go backwards, we’re going into winter.”
Over the past year, Ahmed attempted to implement vaccine passports to limit unvaccinated Canadians’ public movements. Last August, he told reporters that the unvaccinated were to blame for the spread of COVID-19.
“We can call it the pandemic of the unvaccinated,” said Ahmed. “We’ve got a pretty significant number of unvaccinated people and unfortunately, many of these unvaccinated people are engaged in very high risk activities.”
Dupuis-Witt assumes her position as Phoenix’s public health advisor next month.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
The latest Phoenix Police Department (PPD) data indicates that violent crime has increased while property crimes have decreased from last year.
There was an average increase of over 2 percent for violent crimes, and 3 percent decrease for property crimes. Below are the overall crimes year to date, comparing last January to July to this January to July.
According to separate PPD data, there’s also been a decrease in bias crimes from last year. Last January through August, there were 116 crimes motivated by bias. This year, there have only been 13 in total from January through March.
The drop in bias-motivated crimes has been consistent since 2020, when there was a peak of 204 bias-motivated crimes that year. The greatest number of bias-motivated crimes occurred in 2017, reaching a total of 230.
The rise in crime accompanies PPD’s staffing shortages. On Wednesday, the Phoenix City Council discussed the PPD’s efforts to increase hiring. PPD affirmed that they continue to experience net losses: more officers retiring or resigning than being hired.
Currently, PPD has about 2,600 sworn field positions, 80 in academy, 1,000 working and patrolling officers, 20 in training, and 80 in transitional duty assignment. Current retirements and resignations this year are just under 200. Last year, there were 275 retirements and resignations.
However, PPD Assistant Chief of Police Bryan Chapman said that PPD expected to see a turnaround in the near future.
“If you look at a year ago in terms of where we are today, we are in a much better position. Next year we’ll be back to some normalized numbers or an even better position than where we are,” Chapman.
Officer shortage last year resulted in PPD not responding to certain 911 calls.
Watch the Phoenix City Council policy meeting on public safety and justice below:
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
The mayors of Mesa, Phoenix, Tempe, and Tucson signed onto a letter Tuesday asking the Senate leaders to codify gay marriage through the Respect for Marriage Act.
The mayors declared that codifying the act affirmed the rights and freedoms of gay couples.
“America’s cities are the bastions of equality, opportunity, and progress. We cannot risk that couples in LGBTQ or interracial marriages could be denied the right to legal protections that other couples take for granted,” read the letter.
U.S. Conference of Mayors LGBTQ Alliance Chair @MayorToddGloria and a bipartisan group of 160+ mayors from across the country sent a letter to Senate leaders this morning urging the passage of the Respect for Marriage Act before the October recess: https://t.co/9sHAHhQxHDpic.twitter.com/BgjTXpWt1s
If passed, the Respect for Marriage Act would prohibit states from denying the validity of gay marriages. It would also empower the Department of Justice (DOJ) to act against those who would deny the validity of gay marriages.
The act cites the 2013 and 2015 Supreme Court decisions, United States v. Windsor and Obergefell v. Hodges, to support its case for modifying the traditional definition of marriage.
The act also issues an explicit protection for interracial marriages.
The House passed the act in July, 267 to 157. All of Arizona’s Republican representatives voted against the act, while all the Democrats voted for it.
In all, 47 Republican representatives helped pass the act. The Senate needs the support of at least 10 Republicans to pass it on their end.
A coalition of Senate Republicans are working to add an amendment protecting religious liberties.
NEW: The audio Ron Johnson DOESN'T want you to hear!
Newly-obtained audio features Ron Johnson admitting he claimed to support the marriage equality bill to get people "off his back," but says he actually opposes it.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), however, hasn’t stated whether he supports the act. During a press conference on Tuesday, McConnell wouldn’t speculate on Senate Republicans’ support for the act.
“If the Senate Majority Leader decides to bring [the act] up, we’ll see where the votes are,” said McConnell.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell continues to decline to take a position on the Respect for Marriage Act, which would codify federal recognition of states’ same-sex and interracial marriages. pic.twitter.com/VwxK1f61Uj
Also on Tuesday, a coalition of over 2,000 church and ministry leaders issued a letter asking the Senate to reject the act.
TODAY: ADF sends letter to U.S. senators on behalf of over 2,000 church and ministry leaders asking them to firmly oppose the misnamed "Respect for Marriage Act."https://t.co/5viDY7qLSw
The city factors minimum wage based on cost of living in addition to inflation. In 2016, Flagstaff voters approved Proposition 414, a measure raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour last year and ensuring annual adjustments for inflation and cost of living every year thereafter. The city’s minimum wage must be at least $2 above the state’s minimum wage.
Prop 414 also ensures that hourly tipped minimum wage will be the same as hourly minimum wage by 2026.
It’s anticipated that the state will increase minimum wage to $13.85 an hour, just over a $1 increase from the current $12.80 minimum wage.
Despite criticism that the minimum wage would exacerbate unemployment, Deasy shared in March that unemployment rates have halved since 2016.
Flagstaff’s Minimum wage and Unemployment rate
Dec. 2016: $8.05 / 6.4% Dec. 2021: $15 / 3.7%
When exactly was min wage going to kill jobs again?
— Flagstaff Mayor Paul Deasy (@MayorDeasy) March 8, 2022
Those unemployment rates may reflect the hiring and growth of big box and chain stores, in turn masking the suffering of small businesses.
Several small businesses were vocal about experiencing the brunt of Flagstaff’s minimum wage increases. About a month before the pandemic occurred, small business owners reported that they’d resorted to reducing their number of employees and their hours of operation.
The Flagstaff City Council has also considered a minimum wage increase for its city employees. They haven’t voted on an increase yet.
Pending Council’s vote, Flagstaff’s minimum wage for city employees will be $16.60/hr starting in July.
Come work with us cool kids 😊
— Flagstaff Mayor Paul Deasy (@MayorDeasy) April 22, 2022
Deasy has petitioned the council to increase city employees’ minimum wage, initially asking for $17 an hour but settling for slightly less, $16.60 an hour.
I asked staff to assess the financial impact of a $17 minimum wage for City of Flagstaff employees at today’s budget retreat.
