The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Arizona Pac announced its endorsement of Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen in the race for Arizona Attorney General. The group cited Petersen’s record of supporting small businesses and advocating for policies aimed at economic growth.
“Warren Petersen is a consistent champion of Arizona’s small businesses,” stated NFIB State Director Chad Heinrich. “He brings a rare combination of real-world business experience and proven legislative leadership as Senate President. That combination of Main Street experience and executive-level policymaking is exactly what Arizona needs in an Attorney General.”
Heinrich noted that small businesses play a significant role in Arizona’s economy, creating the majority of new jobs in the state and employing more than four out of every ten workers. He said Petersen’s policy positions align closely with the priorities of Arizona’s small business community.
The endorsement comes as the Republican primary for Attorney General continues to take shape ahead of early voting, which begins June 24.
Primary Election Day is scheduled for July 21.
🚨 NFIB ENDORSES!
“Warren Petersen is a consistent champion of Arizona’s small businesses,” NFIB State Director Chad Heinrich said. “He brings a rare combination of real-world business experience and proven legislative leadership as Senate President. That combination of Main… https://t.co/wh3ii6UE8Q
According to the survey of 816 likely Arizona GOP primary voters, Petersen holds a lead over fellow Republican candidate Rodney Glassman.
The poll found Petersen receiving 35% support compared to Glassman’s 19%, while 46% of respondents remained undecided.
The poll’s support breakdown categorized voters as definite, probable, or leaning supporters. Petersen’s 35% total included 20% definite supporters, 10% probable supporters, and 5% leaning supporters.
Glassman’s 19% consisted of 5% definite supporters, 8% probable supporters, and 6% leaning supporters.
Petersen’s campaign has also accumulated more than 50 endorsements from elected officials, organizations, and political leaders. Supporters include law enforcement organizations and officials at the city, county, and state levels, attorney generals from around the country, Arizona legislators, members of Congress, county supervisors, and multiple PACs.
Earlier this week, the NFIB Arizona PAC also announced endorsements of 48 legislative candidates whom the organization identified as supportive of small-business priorities.
NFIB officials noted that small business owners and their employees traditionally participate in elections at high rates and often encourage family members, friends, and colleagues to vote, The organization’s endorsements are based on candidates’ positions and voting records on issues affecting small businesses.
Ethan Faverino is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
Arizona lawmakers have approved legislation sponsored by Senator Hildy Angius (R-LD30) aimed at strengthening care for individuals living with serious mental illness while improving public safety and long-term stability across the state.
Senate Bill 1630, the Seriously Mentally Ill Enhanced Residential Treatment Pilot Program, passed the Arizona Senate by a bipartisan vote of 28-1 and cleared the House on a 42-13 vote. The legislation was transmitted to Governor Katie Hobbs on June 12.
The bill establishes a three-year pilot program designed to provide enhanced residential treatment options for adults with severe and persistent mental illness who require a higher level of care than traditional outpatient services can provide.
The program seeks to address a longstanding gap in Arizona’s behavioral health system by offering structured support to individuals at risk of repeated psychiatric crises, hospitalization, incarceration, and homelessness.
Under the legislation, the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) would administer the pilot program, subject to approval by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The program would initially serve up to 60 eligible participants statewide, with the possibility of future expansion if data demonstrates reduced utilization of high-cost services and overall cost savings.
🚨FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Senator Angius Advances Bipartisan Health Care Reform Legislation to the Governor
“For too long, Arizona has lacked adequate options for some of our most vulnerable seriously mentally ill individuals who need more support than traditional outpatient services can provide but do not belong cycling endlessly between emergency rooms, jails, homelessness, and crisis facilities,” stated Senator Angius. “These are often individuals whose conditions have become so severe that they cannot safely care for themselves, maintain stable housing, manage complex medications, or consistently participate in treatment without significant support.”
The legislation creates a new category of licensed facilities known as Enhanced Residential Treatment Facilities. These facilities would provide behavioral health treatment, health-related services, and around-the-clock structured support for individuals who have been determined to be seriously mentally ill under Arizona law.
Services available through the facilities would include continuous supervision, medication administration and monitoring, crisis intervention, case management, treatment planning, social skills development, budgeting assistance, and other support services designed to help residents maintain stability and improve long-term outcomes.
Eligibility for the pilot program would be limited to Arizona adults who have been designated as seriously mentally ill and meet specific clinical and financial requirements. Priority would be given to individuals experiencing the most significant challenges, including those under court-ordered treatment, those under legal guardianship due to psychiatric incapacity, individuals recently released from correctional or behavioral health facilities individuals experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness, and those with repeated psychiatric hospitalizations or crisis episodes.
The legislation also requires comprehensive service planning, annual medical necessity reviews, stakeholder input during implementation, and annual reporting to state leaders on outcomes such as housing stability, hospitalization rates, crisis service utilization, emergency department visits, jail involvement, and fiscal impacts.
Providers would be required to document behavioral interventions and develop transition and discharge plans before releasing participants from treatment, helping prevent individuals from being discharged into unstable or unsafe situations.
If approved by Governor Hobbs, the pilot program would take effect for three years following federal approval, with enrollment beginning no later than one year after federal authorization is granted.
“SB 1630 creates a pathway for enhanced residential treatment that focuses on stability, accountability, and longterm recovery,” said Angius. “Just as importantly, it helps prevent dangerous situations where individuals experiencing severe psychiatric crises are released back into the community without the structure and services necessary to protect themselves and those around them. This legislation is about compassion, public safety, and finally addressing a gap in Arizona’s behavioral health system that families, caregivers, law enforcement, and providers have been struggling with for years.”
Ethan Faverino is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
Congressman Abe Hamadeh (R-AZ-08) has introduced two new pieces of legislation aimed at strengthening America’s commitment to recovering U.S. citizens abroad and ensuring military equipment is properly secured during overseas withdrawals.
The measures, the No American Left Behind Act and the No Equipment Left Behind Act of 2026, were recently approved as amendments to the Fiscal Year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) by unanimous voice vote in the House Armed Services Committee.
The legislation is expected to be considered by the full House in late June.
The No American Left Behind Act seeks to establish a formal “No American Left Behind Doctrine” to guide future U.S. policy and planning regarding Americans detained or stranded overseas.
The legislation was inspired in part by the release of American citizen Dennis Coyle from Taliban custody earlier this year and Congressman Hamadeh’s ongoing efforts to recover the remains of Arizona humanitarian worker Kayla Mueller from Syria.
Congressman Hamadeh said the legislation is designed to improve coordination among federal agencies involved in hostage recovery and citizen repatriation efforts. The bill calls for reviews of collaboration between the Department of War, the Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell, and other government partners to strengthen whole-of-government response.
Hamadeh has made the recovery of Kayla Mueller a central focus of his congressional service. Mueller, a humanitarian aide worker from Prescott, Arizona, was abducted by terrorists in Syria in 2013 after leaving Doctors Without Borders hospital in Aleppo.
Before taking office, Hamadeh pledged to work toward returning Mueller’s remains to her family. When he was sworn into Congress in January 2025, he honored Mueller’s memory by using her family’s Bible during his oath-of-office ceremony, attended by her parents.
That effort continued in August 2025 when Hamadeh made a trip from Jerusalem to Damascus to meet with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani. According to the congressman’s office, the discussions focused on ongoing efforts to bring Americans home and advance “Peace Through Strength” foreign policy agenda.
The legislation also draws from Hamadeh’s efforts to secure the release of Dennis Coyle. Coyle was detained by the Taliban in Afganistan in January 2025 and held in solitary confinement without charge or due process. Hamadeh publicly called for Coyle’s immediate release in February and Coyle was freed the following month.
“The bottom line is clear: the United States is finally making real progress in bringing Americans home,” stated Congressman Hamadeh. “This bill locks in those efforts — strong, coordinated, and enduring. Every American abroad must know that their country will never stop fighting for them. No exceptions. America First means no American left behind.”
The second proposal, the No Equipment Left Behind Act of 2026, addresses concerns stemming from the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 and previous incidents in Iraq where American-funded military equipment was captured by hostile forces following the collapse of partner governments and security forces.
According to the Department of War findings cited in the legislation, at least $7.1 billion worth of U.S.-funded military equipment was left behind following the Afghanistan withdrawal. The report also found that the Taliban gained access to approximately $57.6 million in U.S. government funds and captured thousand of U.S.-provided vehicles and military assets after Afghan security forces collapsed.
The legislation further references similar events in Iraq in 2014 when ISIS seized large quantities of U.S.-provided military equipment, including hundreds of armored vehicles that were later weaponized against coalition and partner forces.
Hamadeh’s bill would establish enhanced reporting requirements, risk assessments, and accountability measures intended to ensure military assets are properly tracked, secured, transferred, or destroyed during future military withdrawals.
“The American people should never again be forced to watch billions of dollars in military equipment fall into the hands of our enemies,” added Hamadeh. “We’re still haunted by the shameful images of the Biden Administration’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan — weapons scattered across the battlefield, abandoned to terrorists and our adversaries. Those failures exposed dangerous gaps in leadership, accountability, and planning. Our service members and taxpayers deserve far better — and with this bill, we’re ensuring it never happens again.”
Ethan Faverino is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
Arizona has signed into law a new measure that significantly increases penalties for individuals who pay or agree to pay for prostitution, targeting the demand side of prostitution and sex trafficking by elevating these offenses to felonies with mandatory jail time. The law also directs dedicated funding toward support services for victims of sexual trafficking.
House Bill 2720, sponsored by Rep. Selina Bliss (R-LD1), passed both chambers of the Legislature with bipartisan support and has been signed into law. The measure targets individuals who “offer to pay, agree to pay, or pay a monetary fee or other valuable consideration for engaging in sexual conduct with another person,” classifying such acts as a Class 6 felony under revisions to A.R.S. § 13-3214.
The law imposes mandatory minimum jail sentences: 15 consecutive days for a first time offense, 30 days for a second, and 60 days for a third, with no eligibility for probation or suspended sentences until the full term is served. Repeat offenders with three or more prior violations face Class 4 felony charges and at least 180 consecutive days in jail.
“Arizona is going after the demand that fuels prostitution and sex trafficking,” stated Rep. Bliss. “This is a victory for families, neighborhoods, and victims who deserve a path out. The people paying for sex are funding an industry that traffickers exploit, and communities across Arizona are left to deal with the crime, abuse, and damage that follow.”
In addition, convicted offenders must pay a non-waivable $200 assessment. These funds will be transmitted to the state’s Anti-Human Trafficking Grant Fund and used exclusively to provide services to victims of sexual trafficking.
HB 2720 also strengthens protections for survivors by requiring courts to seal records of prostitution convictions that are later vacated upon determination that the individual was a victim of sex trafficking. This provision aims to remove barriers to employment, housing, and recovery for those exiting exploitation.
“This law holds offenders accountable, puts money directly toward helping victims recover, and puts every person who pays for sex in Arizona on notice: you can face jail time, a felony record, and the consequences that come with it,” added Rep. Bliss.
Ethan Faverino is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
Legislation sponsored by Sen. David Gowan (R-LD19) that would significantly change how photo radar violations are enforced in Arizona has cleared the Legislature and now awaits the governor’s decision.
Senate Bill 1624, which was transmitted to the Governor last week, seeks to limit financial penalties associated with most photo radar violations while preventing those citations from affecting a driver’s insurance rates or driving privileges.
Under the legislation, individuals found responsible for a civil traffic violation resulting from a photo enforcement system would face a maximum civil penalty of $75. The cap would apply to most photo radar violations but would not affect existing penalties for red-light violations or school-crossing violations. Of the penalty collected, $15 would be directed to Arizona’s Peace Officer Training Equipment Fund.
“Arizonans are tired of being treated like an ATM by photo radar systems,” stated Senator Gowan. “For years, these cameras have generated frustration because they often feel more focused on collecting revenue than improving public safety. A photo radar ticket should not carry the same consequences as an interaction with a law enforcement officer who can evaluate the circumstances, exercise judgment, and make a real determination about what occurred.”
The bill also contains several provisions designed to limit the long-term consequences of automated traffic enforcement citations. State agencies would be prohibited from considering qualifying photo radar violations when determining whether a driver’s license should be suspended or revoked.
Courts would be barred from transmitting records of those violations to the Arizona Department of Transportation, and insurance companies would be prohibited from using the violations to establish rates, determine insurability, cancel coverage, or refuse policy renewals.
“SB 1624 restores some common sense to the system by limiting excessive penalties and preventing these automated citations from being used to raise insurance rates or jeopardize a person’s driving privileges,” added Gowan. “This bill protects drivers from unfair consequences while maintaining accountability for legitimate traffic violations. Arizona families deserve a system that is fair, reasonable, and focused on safety—not one that treats every camera flash as an opportunity to extract more money from hardworking taxpayers.”
If signed into law, SB 1624 would establish a statewide framework limiting the use of photo radar citations in insurance and licensing decisions while maintaining existing enforcement standards for red-light and school-zone violations.
Ethan Faverino is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
