by Daniel Stefanski | Feb 9, 2025 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
One of Arizona’s most powerful lawmakers was in Washington, D.C., this week to attend a significant event at the White House.
On Wednesday, Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen attended an event at the White House, where President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order to keep men out of women’s sports.
The executive order stated that, “In recent years, many educational institutions and athletic associations have allowed men to compete in women’s sports. This is demeaning, unfair, and dangerous to women and girls, and denies women and girls the equal opportunity to participate and excel in competitive sports.”
President Trump’s order went on to mandate that, “It is the policy of the United States to rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities, which results in the endangerment, humiliation, and silencing of women and girls and deprives them of privacy. It shall also be the policy of the United States to oppose male competitive participation in women’s sports more broadly, as a matter of safety, fairness, dignity, and truth.”
Petersen has been instrumental in leading legal efforts to defend Arizona’s Save Women’s Sports Act in 2022. After a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled to sustain an injunction against this law, Petersen and other Arizona officials appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States to request a hearing at the nation’s high court. The state is still awaiting the Supreme Court’s decision on whether to accept cert on the case.
In a statement previewing his appearance at the White House, Petersen said, “The war against women and girls is now taking a dramatic turn for the better, and sanity is being reinstated. This is exactly the common sense that Arizona and America voted for. Thanks to President Trump, American girls can once again pursue their dreams. No longer will athletic titles be stolen from them by males. An overwhelming 70% of Americans agree on this issue, which is a key reason why approval ratings of Democrat elected officials are at an all time low.”
Petersen added, “I’m proud to join President Trump today in Washington D.C. for this historic moment. He is going to make girls’ sports great again, and I know that he will never stop fighting for us.”
According to a recent poll from Gallup, 69 percent of Americans believe that transgender athletes “should only be allowed to play on sports teams that match their birth gender.” This number was a seven percent increase in public perception over two years.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | Feb 8, 2025 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
A key proposal to better support Arizona State law enforcement officers passed its first legislative hurdle.
On Monday, the Arizona House Committee on Public Safety & Law Enforcement approved HB 2386 to “establish a pay parity system for Department of Public Safety (DPS) Troopers, ensuring their compensation is competitive with Arizona’s largest county and municipal law enforcement agencies. According to the release issued by the Arizona House Republicans, this bill would “strengthen recruitment and retention efforts, helping DPS attract and retain top-tier law enforcement personnel to protect Arizonans.”
State Representative David Marshall, who sponsored the proposal, issued a statement on the passage of his bill, saying, “Our Troopers put their lives on the line every day to keep our highways safe, combat drug trafficking, and take violent criminal off the streets. HB 2386 ensures they are paid fairly and competitively, just like their counterparts in county and municipal agencies. It’s common sense – Arizona can’t afford to lose highly trained law enforcement officers due to pay disparities.”
Marshall added, “This bill is about standing with our Troopers and making sure they have the support they need to do their jobs effectively. If we’re serious about protecting public safety, then we need to be serious about taking care of those who serve and protect us.”
In the House Committee on Public Safety & Law Enforcement, HB 2386 sailed through with an overwhelmingly 13-0 bipartisan vote. Two Democrats voted “present” on the legislation.
The bill “requires DPS to annually establish pay benchmarks based on the salaries and benefits of law enforcement agencies in Arizona’s three largest counties.” Information from the Arizona House of Representatives reveals that “by utilizing exisiting funds in the Parity Compensation Fund, the legislation provides a structured and responsible approach to maintaining competitive DPS salaries without additional strain on the state’s general fund.”
On the Arizona Legislature’s Request to Speak system, representatives from the Arizona State Troopers Association, Fraternal Order of Police (Arizona State Lodge), and the Arizona Police Association signed in to support the bill. A representative from Arizona National Organization for Women signed in to oppose the proposal.
HB 2386 now awaits an up-or-down vote from the full body in the Arizona House of Representatives.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | Feb 7, 2025 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
A powerful Arizona legislator is continuing to shine the light on the governor’s reported shenanigans with the state’s finances.
Earlier this week, Arizona State Senator T.J. Shope introduced SB 1612 “to hold the Executive Branch accountable and prevent any future conflicts of interest from arising within the state procurement process” by “remov[ing] an exemption allowing the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) to create their own procurement code.” The bill would also “prohibit an agency and state employees from destroying notes and documents created during a request for proposal (RFP) [and] require anyone responding to a state issued RFP or applying for a state administered grant to disclose any donations made to the Governor and campaign affiliates.”
Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen is a cosponsor of the legislation.
The need for this bill, according to Shope’s press release, became heightened after “an administrative law judge concluded AHCCCS improperly awarded contracts for healthcare services for 26,000 elderly and physically disabled individuals enrolled in the Arizona Long Term Care System…based on several factors, including violations of statutes and rules by AHCCCS, prejudice, a lack of transparency, contract awards based on best interests of the agency and not the state, an arbitrary and flawed ranking system of bid proposals, as well as deceptive criteria provided by AHCCS to health care companies on the evaluations of their bid proposals.”
In a statement accompanying the announcement of his bill, Senator Shope said, “The Hobbs Administration has a track record of engaging in questionable and unethical practices where favoritism is given, using taxpayer dollars, to those who are close to or have provided benefits to the Governor, her cabinet, and her allies. This legislation should help address these scandals and prevent future unfair advantages from being provided. Arizonans expect their elected officials to make decisions based on what’s best for the state and its citizens; not what’s best for their own personal agendas and political bank accounts.”
Last year, The Arizona Republic broke a story about the Arizona Department of Child Safety “approv[ing] what amounts to a nearly 60% increase in the rate that Sunshine Residential Homes Inc. charges to care for a child for a day.” The alleged action to approve the rate increase for the one organization was made while “DCS has denied pay increases to home operators and cut loose 16 providers during the contract renewal process.” The Republic also asserted that “no other standard group home provider was approved for any rate increase during Hobbs’ tenure.”
After the story ran in the Republic, Shope sent a letter on June 5 to both Attorney General Kris Mayes and Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell, asking both officials to “examine the facts surrounding the Department of Child Safety’s alleged decision to approve a nearly 60% rate increase for Sunshine Residential Homes and determine if conduct by any of the involved parties warrants a criminal or civil investigation.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | Feb 7, 2025 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
A coalition of Arizona legislators are taking steps to improve the state’s wildfire mitigation efforts.
This week, State Representative Lupe Diaz, the Chairman of the House Committee on Land, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs, updated constituents on the progress of bills in the Arizona Legislature, which are meant “to protect lives, property, and communities from the growing threat of catastrophic wildfires.”
Those bills include:
- HB 2201, which was sponsored by Representative Griffin. The bill “requires utilities to develop and submit biennial Wildfire Mitigation Plans, which include clearing hazardous vegetation around power lines to prevent utility-caused wildfires.”
- HB 2219, which was sponsored by Representative Marshall; HB 2395, HB 2398, and HB 2400, which were sponsored by Representative Blackman; and HB 2694, which was sponsored by Representative Griffin. These bills “allocate funding for fire contingency planning and wildland firefighting efforts in Arizona’s high-risk areas.”
- HB 2456, which was sponsored by Representative Marshall. This bill would “establish fire incident management grants to assist districts across the state.”
- HB 2577, which was sponsored by Representative Griffin. The bill “cuts red tape to give the State Forester more flexibility to protect communities.”
- HB 2639, which was sponsored by Representative Griffin. This bill “extends the ‘healthy forest’ tax incentive to encourage responsible forest thinning and prevent catastrophic fires.”
In a statement, Representative Diaz said, “Public safety is more than law enforcement and border security – it means defending our communities from preventable disasters. Arizona has seen what happens when wildfires are mismanaged in places like California. We refuse to let that happen here. Our plan prioritizes proactive fire mitigation efforts, responsible forest management, and ensuring that Arizonans are protected when disaster strikes.”
Diaz added, “Preventing wildfires means enacting responsible management before disaster strikes. We are working with state agencies, local officials, and private utilities to get boots on the ground, clear hazardous areas, and stop wildfires before they start. This is what leadership looks like, and it’s exactly what Arizonans expect from us.”
Governor Katie Hobbs did not mention plans to address wildfire mitigation efforts in her State of the State address to the Arizona Legislature at the beginning of the 57th Regular Session last month. Chairman Diaz’s release highlights that the Democrat governor’s “proposed budget offers zero funding for hazardous vegetation removal or forest thinning despite recognizing that wildland fire costs have been ‘much higher in recent years’ due to neglected forest maintenance.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | Feb 6, 2025 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
Two Arizona lawmakers are seeking to terminate a state commission at the end of this year.
State Representative Quang Nguyen, a Republican, recently posted a statement in support of one of the proposals this year at the Arizona Legislature, writing, “Government should work for the people – not against them. HB 2702 will cut red tape, eliminate waste, and prevent fraud & abuse. Taxpayers deserve accountability, efficiency, and results. Let’s make government work smarter.”
This bill seeks to terminate the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission on December 31, 2025. This commission was created by the state legislature in 1982 and charged to “monitor the progress and implementation of new and continuing criminal justice legislation, facilitat[e] research among criminal justice agencies and help the legislature make data driven criminal justice policy.”
However, the bill states that “the current operations and practices of the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission have not aligned with and are contradictory to the legislative purposes underlying the legislature’s creation of the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission, jeopardizing the constitutional rights and civil liberties that every Arizonan deserves under the United States Constitution and Constitution of Arizona.”
Those operations and practices include, according to the legislation, “lobb[ying], using taxpayer money, for surveillance and data collection practices on citizens that have not committed any crimes… and lobb[ying] for the creation of a database targeting lawful concealed carry weapon permit holders.”
HB 2702 opines that “It is troubling that taxpayer dollars are being used for intrusive and ultra vires lobbying efforts. State resources cannot be diverted to lobbying activities that contradict both the legislature’s mission and the criminal justice system in Arizona. The misuse of state monies for lobbying activities burdens taxpayers and creates the potential for the expansion of government power that could further jeopardize individual liberties and freedoms. Such unchecked governmental oversight expands the power of the state and is a threat to freedom.”
The bill was sponsored by Representative Alexander Kolodin, also a Republican.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
