by Matthew Holloway | Oct 9, 2025 | Must Read, News
By Matthew Holloway |
On Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) clashed with Arizona Democratic Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego in a heated Capitol hallway exchange over the ongoing government shutdown and the delayed swearing-in of Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ-07).
While shutdown disputes are routine, the controversy over Grijalva’s seating is not. The late Rep. Raúl Grijalva’s daughter’s election victory won’t be certified until October 14th, but this seemed lost on Sens. Kelly and Gallego.
Speaker Johnson addressed the non-issue briefly after the Senators joined Grijalva in accusing him of making “excuses.”
Johnson told them, “We’re happy that she got elected. She’s filling her father’s seat, that’s fantastic.” But he clarified, “We have a long tradition here and a process of how we administer the oath to a member. …We’re going to do that as soon as we get back to work, but we need the lights turned back on, so we encourage both of you to go open the government.”
Rep.-elect Grijalva has been posting videos to social media accusing Johnson of making “excuses” for not seating her. She has claimed that “Southern Arizona still does not have a voice in Washington” and asked her soon-to-be constituents to pressure the Speaker into opening the House just to swear her in. This comes despite a release from Arizona Secretary of State and fellow Democrat Adrian Fontes on September 23rd, which reiterated that County Canvases were due October 9th and Statewide canvass is scheduled for October 14th.
Grijalva, Kelly, and Gallego have alleged that Johnson is refusing to swear her in to prevent a vote on releasing files related to the Jeffrey Epstein case with Gallego claiming, “You guys just don’t want her to be on the Epstein discharge petition. …This is an excuse so that she doesn’t sign onto that,” according to the Washington Examiner.
Johnson was direct in rebutting him, saying, “That’s totally absurd. You guys are experts at red herrings and distractions,” using the same phrase he did to describe Democrats’ Medicaid-related talking points. “There’s nothing to do with Epstein,” he added.
Turning to reporters, the Speaker dismissed the Democrats’ accusations as “a publicity stunt” and added that he is not “blocking her.”
Referring to the matter again as “distraction” and a “red herring” speaking to News Nation on Wednesday, Johnson was dismissive and said, “This has absolutely nothing to do about Epstein, this is a scheduling matter. As soon as the Democrats vote to reopen the government, we’ll get back to the regular order and session of Congress and that’ll be, I’m sure, among our first orders of business is to administer the oath to the newly elected representative.”
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 Matthew Holloway | Oct 8, 2025 | Education, Must Read, News
By Matthew Holloway |
A new report on Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) from the Common Sense Institute (CSI) shows a robust jump in ESA enrollment of nearly 15,000 students since last year.
According to the detailed report, the school choice program has reached a milestone with 92,362 students enrolled as of September 15, 2025. Projections indicate that ESA numbers will reach 103,000 this fiscal year.
The report from CSI is released on a quarterly basis to address “a lack of reliable and consistent data about who is using the program and how.” CSI noted, “Applying scrutiny to hundreds of thousands of individual transactions on an almost real-time basis has made the program vulnerable to exaggeration, misinformation, and mischaracterization. No comparable program is subject to this kind of examination.”
The quarterly findings indicate the program is maturing from an initial stage of rapid growth to a more steady-state. Universal eligibility, rolled out in 2022, has fueled the fire, but the real story now is “switchers”—57% of new enrollees ditching public schools for tailored options like private academies, therapies, or homeschooling setups. The report underscores how shrinking school-age cohorts (down 20,241 since 2021) aren’t slowing the momentum.
Glenn Farley, Director of Policy & Research at CSI and the report’s author, explained, “Arizona’s ESA program is reaching a point of steady participation. The rapid expansion is behind us, and future growth will be shaped more by broader demographic trends and the choices families make across an increasingly competitive K–12 landscape.”
The key questions that CSI seeks to address include the ultimate cost of the program at full expansion, the steady-state count of how many people are using the ESA program, its ultimate extent, the demographic characteristics of its users, and the efficiency and good operation of the program.
CSI found that total ESA costs are on track to reach $1.0369 billion in FY 2026, with an average award of $10,349 per student. Notably, 88% of funds have already been spent, the highest percentage ever recorded. Administrative approval rates are at a peak of 88.8%, and reimbursements are processed in just 13 days on average, with a whopping 455,142 orders handled in the last quarter alone.
As far as budgetary impact is concerned, a common complaint from opponents like Governor Katie Hobbs, the CSI projects that “state K–12 Basic State Aid costs will exceed appropriations by $35 million in FY 2026, due largely to higher ESA participation and lower-than-expected district enrollment.”
The report also offers a firm, authoritative rebuke to allegations that the program is most used by “the wealthy.”
“Nearly 57% of ESA recipients live in ZIP Codes with a median family income of between $75,000 and $150,000 – up slightly since our last report. A quarter of ESA users may be lower-income, 13% reside in rural areas, and nearly 20% are estimated to be nonwhite,” the report states.
Farley concluded the CSI report’s findings, writing, “Administrative reform throughout 2025 by the Department of Education has improved various high-level metrics: the Department is approving purchases faster and at greater volume and embracing its statutory authority (risk-based auditing, Handbook language noting use-tests for technology purchases and not limiting the purchases directly, etc.). However, the ESA environment often remains narrative rather than fact driven. We remind users: ESA enrollment costs are offset by reduced enrollment in other K-12 programs; ESA misuse rates are lower than comparable programs; ESA growth is slowing and increasingly driven by students switching from traditional public options.”
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 Matthew Holloway | Oct 7, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
Six Arizona GOP House members—Reps. Andy Biggs, Juan Ciscomani, Eli Crane, Paul Gosar, Abe Hamadeh, and David Schweikert—urged Democratic Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego in a letter to “do the right thing” by backing H.R. 5371, a clean continuing resolution to reopen the government.
In the letter, the congressmen told Sens. Kelly and Gallego, “Every single one of us voted for this seven-week, clean continuing resolution when it passed the U.S. House of Representatives on September 19th. This same kind of resolution, with no partisan extraneous policy riders, has garnered bipartisan support routinely in the past.” They also stated that the funding levels called for are precisely those that both Kelly and Gallego have supported in the past.
The congressmen explained, “Our goal in passing this bill was quite simple: keep the government open and functioning for all those who depend on it for a paycheck, and the critical services that our federal government provides. Our state is home to ten military installations, over 34,000 federal civilian employees, approximately 20,000 active-duty service members, over 450,000 veterans, and countless additional federal entities.
“Senate Democrats, yourselves included, are making unrelated policy demands that have nothing to do with government funding. It is far past time to stop holding Arizonans hostage and to put the American people first. Our constituents demand that you stop playing political games with their livelihoods.”
Ciscomani wrote via X, “Arizona’s House Republicans are united — and we’re calling on Arizona’s Senators Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego to stop playing politics and prioritize Arizonans.”
In a statement on Monday, Rep. Crane added, “Last month, the House of Representatives passed a funding extension to prevent a government shutdown. Unfortunately, Senators Kelly and Gallego have repeatedly voted against this approach. A prolonged shutdown harms Arizonans, with many federal employees furloughed or working without pay. I urge our senators to back this sensible measure and help end the government shutdown.”
Hamadeh’s office also offered a statement in support via X writing, “Congressman Hamadeh is proud to stand with his Arizona Congressional Republican colleagues in demanding that Kelly and Gallego start putting Arizonans’ interests over Chuck Schumer’s.”
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 Matthew Holloway | Oct 6, 2025 | Education, News
By Matthew Holloway |
The Arizona Department of Education (ADE) announced on Thursday that it has entered a multi-year partnership with The Jed Foundation (JED) to expand the state’s training options for school mental health professionals. According to the ADE, JED is a resource that “protects emotional health and prevents suicide among teens and young adults nationwide.”
The ADE and JED shared that nearly 1 in 4 high school students in Arizona report seriously considering a suicide attempt every year, with 1 in 10 attempting.
Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne said in a press release, “Across student age groups, suicide is one of the leading causes of death. It is imperative that our mental health professionals are provided with the latest information to help recognize and the best practices to respond to the warning signs that may help families avert these devastating tragedies.”
The initiative with JED will provide school mental health professionals with “an evidence-informed suicide prevention training course,” according to the ADE. The initiative was designed based on Arizona’s policies, staffing structures, and cultural and educational contexts, the Jed Foundation stated.
“School-based mental health supports are critical to student well-being, stronger academic outcomes, and preparing young people for the workforce and future opportunities,” Dr. Tony Walker, senior vice president of school programs and consulting at JED, said in a statement. “We’re proud to partner with ADE and help to ensure Arizona’s school-based mental health professionals are prepared and confident to identify warning signs, act quickly in a crisis, and connect students to the right support so they can thrive in school and in life.”
According to JED, the two-hour training course, entitled “Suicide Prevention for Arizona School Mental Health Professionals,” will train attendees to:
- Identify signs of self-injury and crisis, including signs of suicidal thoughts or intense emotional distress.
- Understand the role of suicide risk screening in a comprehensive prevention approach and learn how to administer screening tools.
- Take action when a student is in crisis by engaging the support team, ensuring immediate safety, and documenting and following school protocols (or helping to establish protocols, when needed).
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 Matthew Holloway | Oct 5, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
An investigative report released last week revealed that Arizona’s Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs accepted a campaign donation from Pin Ni, a Chinese Communist Party member and board director at major automotive parts maker Wanxiang Group.
According to the report, the donation appears to have been made after Hobbs vetoed one piece of legislation that would have pushed Chinese influence out of Arizona’s prominent healthcare and research base and another piece of legilslation that would have banned the Chinese Government from owning land in the state.
Michael Lucci, founder of State Armor, a national security group, told the Washington Examiner in a statement Tuesday, “State Armor respectfully calls upon Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs to partner with the Arizona legislature to oppose America’s adversaries instead of opposing the legislature’s attempts to protect Arizona from Communist China.”
He added, “In the last two years, Governor Hobbs has vetoed more legislation to protect her state from the CCP than any other governor in the country, including common-sense legislation to protect Arizona land and Arizonan genetic information from China’s military. So it is disappointing but not shocking to see Gov. Hobbs takes political money from CCP-tied billionaires.”
As previously reported by AZ Free News, Hobbs has already fallen under heavy criticism from Republican lawmakers following her veto of HB 2542, which would have blocked corporations with ties to the People’s Republic of China from securing contracts with the State of Arizona. She also vetoed SB 1109, a bill that would have specifically targeted Chinese purchases of land in Arizona, but approved Senate Bill 1082, which applied restrictions on land purchases to China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.
Lucci urged Hobbs to return the funds and enact further legislation to protect Arizona from Beijing’s influence writing, “No amount of political contributions is worth selling out the great state of Arizona to the CCP. Governor Hobbs should send the CCP-tied money back to its source and instead enact a range of executive orders and legislative solutions to protect our state from America’s enemies.”
The timing of the allegations against Hobbs, coupled with the entry of a third Republican, Congressman David Schweikert, into the 2026 gubernatorial race could prove a serious challenge for the already embattled Democrat.
Recent polling shows Congressman Andy Biggs as the clear frontrunner in the Arizona Republican gubernatorial primary over Schweikert and businesswoman Karrin Taylor Robson.
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.
