Arizona’s Democrat Governor and Republican Superintendent of Public Instruction continue to trade political volleys over the state’s Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program.
Last week, Governor Katie Hobbs transmitted a communication to the state’s schools chief, Tom Horne, “requesting detailed plans for protecting the personal data of Arizona students and families (after) the company responsible for the financial administration of the ESA program, ClassWallet, experienced a data breach that prompted the activation of the state Incident Response Team at the Arizona Department of Homeland Security. The Governor’s Office then tied the recent departure of “two high ranking ESA officials” to the issue, writing that in the aftermath of their sudden and unexpected resignations, there were now “concerns and questions about the administration of the ESA voucher program and the protection of student data.”
Arizona students and families deserve to know that proper measures are in place to protect their personal information. That's why I sent a letter to Superintendent Horne asking for answers regarding the recent ClassWallet information breach, and plans to protect Arizonans'… pic.twitter.com/PDTum1aNdy
— Governor Katie Hobbs (@GovernorHobbs) July 28, 2023
Hobbs issued a statement, saying, “It is my responsibility to ensure the safety and security of our state, our agencies, and our people. Arizona students and families deserve to know that proper measures are in place to protect their personal information.”
Christine Accurso, one of the former ESA officials referenced by Hobbs, quickly responded on Twitter, stating, “Governor Hobbs the same type of breach has happened on this platform in the past, even as late as last December. This has nothing to do with the resignations. You should review all of the investigations and contact the contract holder, the State Treasurer’s office.”
@GovernorHobbs The same type of breach has happened on this platform in the past, even as late as last December. This has nothing to do with the resignations. You should review all of the investigations and contact the contract holder, the State Treasurer 's office.@rizzole9https://t.co/3X2PtZhtyx
— Christine Accurso (@ArizonaCatholic) July 28, 2023
Horne, too, wasted little time in getting back to Hobbs. Mere hours after the governor sent her letter, the Arizona Department of Education first publicized a comment from ClassWallet’s CEO Jamie Rosenburg, who said, “The problem has been solved. It was a permission setting error. Once discovered, we took immediate action and corrected the permission setting. Additionally, we performed a database search and concluded no other users were affected. Therefore, this is an isolated incident to a single user.”
Then, less than two hours after the ClassWallet response, Horne released a letter he had forwarded to the governor with his responses to her queries. In that letter, Horne first addressed Hobbs’ connection of the breach with the departure of two of his aides, writing, “The first point to make is that the decision of Christine Accurso and her assistant, who came on to straighten out the mess caused by the previous administration, and when that was accomplished, left to go on to other things, has absolutely nothing to do with any reported data breach.”
Answering Hobbs’ question of “what steps is your administration taking to address any potential violations of State statutes relating to student data privacy,” Horne said, “The Department of Homeland Security in your own office is conducting an investigation. They met with officials in our office. Since the department of homeland security is part of your office, we would have thought you would have checked with them before writing your letter that is full of wild exaggerations.”
Arizona Treasurer Kimberly Yee also weighed in on the governor’s letter, informing constituents of the steps her office had taken once she learned of the incident. Yee wrote, “We have received verbal confirmation from Homeland Security that the breach did not originate from the vendor. We have also been provided assurances from Homeland Security that the vendor and my office have responded appropriately to the incident. Based on information received, we are not aware of any existing data breach and have confidence that the ESA platform is secure.”
Arizona Treasurer Kimberly Yee issued the following statement on the ESA cybersecurity incident that occurred earlier this month. pic.twitter.com/PJiipexjsN
— Office of the Arizona State Treasurer (@AZTreasury) July 28, 2023
Christine Jones, the Founder of Bigfork Tech, shared her insights into the matter, tweeting, “1. This isn’t a data breach. More like a data leak/unintentional disclosure. 2. Why is Gov involved? Superintendent is elected position-doesn’t report to Gov. 3. Former AZ AG Horne knows how to address this. 4. Kimberly Yee handles admin and oversight of ClassWallet.”
1. This isn’t a data breach. More like a data leak/unintentional disclosure. 2. Why is Gov involved? Superintendent is elected position-doesn’t report to Gov. 3. Former AZ AG Horne knows how to address this. 4. @KimberlyYeeAZ handles admin and oversight of ClassWallet.#smhhttps://t.co/UZ3jur1jme
A coalition of Arizona lawmakers are pushing back against the recent ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court on President Joe Biden’s student debt cancellation efforts.
Earlier in July, a group of Arizona Democrat legislators wrote a letter to President Biden, calling on his administration to “deliver its campaign promise to cancel student debt.”
“While members of the (SCOTUS) majority enjoy vacations paid for by billionaires, this ruling shows blatant disregard for 43 million American borrowers being crushed by student debt.” — letter to President @JoeBiden from @Aguilar4AZ & Dem lawmakers on student debt relief. 👇 pic.twitter.com/KCTl3h3Uwa
— Arizona House Democrats (@AZHouseDems) July 18, 2023
The legislators, led by Representative Cesar Aguilar, expressed their collective outrage over the Supreme Court opinion in June, which overturned the president’s student debt cancellation plans. They wrote, “While members of the Court’s majority enjoy vacations paid for by billionaires, this ruling shows blatant disregard and disrespect for the 43 million American borrowers being crushed by student debt and desperate for relief.”
In their letter, the lawmakers included information about Arizonans who were in line to benefit from the president’s debt cancellation scheme that was thwarted by the nation’s high court, stating, “Nearly 900,000 Arizonans stood to benefit from your Student Loan Cancelation Plan – 12.4 percent of our state’s population. The average student loan debt in Arizona is $33,396. Your Student Loan Cancellation Plan could cancel $10,000 for those making less than $125,000 and up to $20,000 for those who are Pell Grant Recipients. Arizona has the 15th highest number of borrowers in the country and would have seen a significant financial release and economic impact.”
The Democrats warned of the consequences that could come with the Court’s decision, adding, “Without relief Arizonans will have less money in their pockets to pay for bills, goods and services strained by inflation. Less consumer spending reduces economic growth and moves the American Dream further out of reach for millions. … We urge you to act as swiftly as possible so Arizonans still recovering financially due to the pandemic can get back on their feet.”
On the last day of its recent term, the U.S. Supreme Court released its opinion in Biden v. Nebraska, striking down the president’s student loan cancellation program. Chief Justice John Roberts authored the opinion, and he was joined by Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett.
The majority opinion stated that “the ‘economic and political significance’ of the Secretary’s action is staggering by any measure. Practically every student borrower benefits, regardless of circumstances. A budget model issued by the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania estimates that the program will cost taxpayers ‘between $469 billion and $569 billion,’ depending on the total number of borrowers ultimately covered.”
At that time, freshman Republican Representative Austin Smith reacted, “Cancelling student loan debt is and always will be an irresponsible and brainless ‘policy’ proposal. It deserved this fiery death at SCOTUS. Do not take astronomically large loans for a career with a salary you will never be able to pay off.”
Cancelling student loan debt is and always will be an irresponsible and brainless “policy” proposal. It deserved this fiery death at SCOTUS.
Do not take out astronomically large loans for a career with a salary you will never be able to pay off.
Two Arizona Republican legislators are raising concerns over a draft of the new Elections Procedures Manual (EPM) from Secretary of State Adrian Fontes.
On July 18, Representatives Jacqueline Parker, the Chairwoman of the Arizona House Committee on Municipal Oversight & Elections, and Alexander Kolodin, the Committee’s Vice Chair, transmitted a letter to Secretary Fontes, highlighting certain issues with the initial copy of the EPM that they had seen from his office.
MOE Committee is also pouring through the EPM with a fine toothed comb. There are many violations of statute so far. pic.twitter.com/ktD9F9mSNe
— Rep. Jacqueline Parker (@electjacqparker) July 19, 2023
The lawmakers were grateful that Fontes allowed them to see his draft, and they expressed optimism that “with legislative guidance, the 2023 EPM will not meet the same fate as the 2021 EPM, and that Arizonans will be assured that all drafts, including the final draft presented to the Governor and Attorney General, are legally consistent with Arizona election law.” They called the 2021 saga “both unprecedented and unacceptable,” writing, “Your predecessor’s failure to issue a lawful EPM ultimately led a court to decide that the 2019 EPM was in effect for Arizona’s 2022 elections, rather than an updated, legally compliant 2021 EPM.”
— Rep. Alexander Kolodin (@realAlexKolodin) July 19, 2023
In their letter to Secretary Fontes, Parker and Kolodin identified eight possible violations of Arizona statutes in four chapters of the draft EPM:
– Chapter 1: Early Voting
o “Part I, page 5 moves ‘date of birth’ from required information to additional information that may be provided by a voter to receive an early ballot.”
o “Part I, page 3 allows the County Recorder to send a requested early ballot ‘after 5:00pm the 11th day preceding the election if the County Recorder has sufficient time to do so.”
o “Part I, page 16 requires the County Recorder or officer in charge of elections to supply printed instructions that ‘provide the voter instructions on how to make their intent clear if they inadvertently mark the target area for a candidate or ballot measure.’”
o “Part I, page 18 includes the exclusion of an established Ballot Replacement Center.”
– Chapter 2: Ballot-by-Mail Elections
o “Part I, page 31 refers to ‘precinct with 300 or less registered voters.’”
– Chapter 7: Pre-Election Procedures
o “Part II, page 34 allows the officer in charge of elections to allocate specified duties to any board member as deemed appropriate, including ‘taking appropriate measures to preserve order, prevent voter intimidation, and manage voter lines.’”
– Chapter 8: Election Day Operations
o “Part III, page 8 adds additional examples ‘potentially intimidating conduct’ that supersedes statutory law.”
o “Part III, page 19 adds language that prohibits a challenger from speaking to a challenged voter to ‘prevent harassment and intimidation of the challenger voter.’”
The two Representatives also requested that “future drafts of the EPM contain statutory references for each provision to provide county officials with the statutory source of each EPM provision.” Parker and Kolodin pointed out two sections in the draft EPM where there were no statutory references – as examples to illustrate their issue.
As they concluded their letter to the state’s elections chief, the legislators commented that they “are looking forward to seeing these provisions addressed prior to the EPM’s submittal to the Governor and the Attorney General on October 1, 2023.” They promised to communicate in a timely manner with the Secretary’s Office “about any other concerns that might arise,” and they asked for a written response to their letter by July 25.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
A former state legislator is seeking to return to the Arizona House of Representatives.
On Thursday, former Representative Jeff Weninger sent out an email announcing that he was “back in the fight,” telling those on his email list that he was “excited to announce that I’m running for State Representative in the new Legislative District 13.”
Weninger served in the state house for four terms before running for Arizona Treasurer in the Republican primary in 2022. He also was a member of the Chandler City Council for eight years.
Constituents of this legislative district are currently served in the state house by Representatives Jennifer Pawlik (a Democrat) and Julie Willoughby (a Republican). Willoughby was selected by the Maricopa Board of Supervisors to fill a vacated seat earlier this legislative session. On May 2, Pawlik announced that she would not be seeking reelection. The Democrat wrote that “it’s time to take my leadership and service in a new direction and to open the door for new candidates to run in this district.”
In his email, Weninger shared that, over the past year, he had moved his son to college, helped his daughter begin her high school journey, spent more time with his business, and invested in his community. He noted that “things are going really well” for him – but “unfortunately not every Arizonan feels the same way.” The former lawmaker stated that “inflation and prices are climbing, energy costs are higher than ever, and parents are struggling with decisions on the best educational environment for their kids.”
He went on to boost his track record with his prior service in the state house, highlighting that he “fought to lower your taxes, keep our cost of living affordable, support our first responders, and make Arizona one of the most business-friendly states in the country.”
Just last month, Weninger engaged Democrat Senator Mitzi Epstein on Twitter over the issue of the food municipal tax repeal, which was vetoed by Governor Hobbs after passing through the Republican-controlled Legislature in the spring. Weninger posted: “Sen. Epstein…. In your tweet you said “And NOT another regressive sales tax causing the middle class to pay for everything – again!” How do you square that with your opposition to eliminating tax on food? (essential item to live)”
Sen. Epstein. Maybe you can address what @johninphx said. In your tweet you said "And NOT another regressive sales tax causing the middle class to pay for everything – again!" How do you square that with your opposition to eliminating tax on food ? (essential item to live)
After Epstein replied to his query with her worry that the elimination of the food tax would result in “less funding for after-school childcare,” Weninger responded, “Why not just let those folks who need after school care just keep more of their money from food taxes? Also Schools and Boys & Girls Club & ICAN provide after school care in Chandler & they do a wonderful job.”
He later added another comment to the discussion, saying, “I don’t really hear an argument against it. It is just the same parlor tricks of telling people that by letting them keep their money it somehow takes something away from them.”
It is a serious response. We are talking about tax on food. I don’t really hear an argument against it. It is just the same parlor tricks of telling people that by letting them keep their money it somehow takes something away from them.
A Phoenix-area airport is celebrating a historic year of operations in the Valley of the Sun.
Last week, Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport announced that it had “set a new record for commercial passenger activity – its busiest year ever.”
Gateway Airport noted that almost two million (1,917,911) passengers were welcomed in Fiscal Year 2023 – 5.6% above the number of passengers in Fiscal Year 2022.
The Chairman of the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport Authority Board of Directors, Apache Junction Mayor Chip Wilson, praised the news from the airport, saying, “The growth of Gateway Airport over the past few years has been phenomenal. The Airport’s continued growth is providing tremendous economic benefit for the entire greater Phoenix region. We look forward to welcoming even more sun-seeking visitors through the Airport this year.”
J. Brian O’Neill, A.A.E. Executive Director/CEO of Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport Authority, also contributed a statement to the announcement, thanking everyone who had made this historic year possible for his airport: “More and more air travelers are discovering the value and convenience of using Gateway Airport. The Airport would like to thank its airline partners, airport tenants, and our passengers for helping make FY23 a record year.”
According to Gateway Airport, it recently “opened several new food and beverage concessions to provide more options for the growing number of air travelers choosing the Airport.” Also, “the Airport is currently constructing a 5-Gate, 30,000 sq. ft. terminal addition and an enclosed pedestrian walkway connecting the airline ticket counters to the TSA Screening Checkpoint.”
Earlier this year, Gateway Airport announced that it welcomed 1,890,684 passengers in 2022, which was its best year ever (6.5% over its previously high number in 2019). Gilbert Mayor Brigette Peterson said at the time, “More and more Arizona residents, along with out-of-state, sun-loving travelers are choosing Gateway Airport for their flight needs because of its exceptional value and convenience.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
