U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced a $25 million federal investment to build a sterile fly dispersal facility in Arizona. She made the announcement during a visit to the Douglas Port of Entry with Reps. Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ-06), Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05), and Eli Crane (R-AZ-02) ahead of the planned resumption of livestock imports from Mexico.
Rollins toured the port’s livestock inspection facilities Wednesday with Ciscomani, Biggs, Crane, and Arizona Department of Agriculture Director Paul Brierley. The Department of Agriculture plans to reopen the Douglas crossing to cattle imports on Aug. 24 as the first stage of a phased reopening of southern livestock ports.
During the visit, Rollins announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) would invest $25 million toward establishing a sterile fly dispersal facility in Arizona as part of the federal response to New World screwworm.
“Protecting American agriculture begins with protecting our borders and ensuring we have the strongest animal health safeguards anywhere in the world,” Rollins said. “The Douglas Port of Entry will reopen only because USDA has implemented one of the most rigorous livestock inspection protocols in history, giving us confidence we can safely resume this critical trade while ensuring cattle crossing the border are free from New World screwworm.”
As part of USDA’s phased reopening of 3 southern cattle ports for livestock trade, USDA will reopen the Douglas, AZ, port, which borders Sonora on Aug. 24, 2026. Every animal entering the U.S. through these ports will undergo a full USDA inspection to ensure it is free of any… pic.twitter.com/5k1HtOZSAU
— New World Screwworm Rapid Response (@Screwworm_RR) July 29, 2026
Ciscomani said Arizona livestock producers and agricultural leaders had pressed the department to establish a sterile fly facility in the state.
“Local agriculture leaders and I have been fighting to deliver this sterile fly dispersal facility because Arizona’s livestock industry cannot afford to wait on the New World screwworm threat,” Ciscomani said. “This $25 million investment is the direct result of that work, and I’m grateful to Secretary Rollins for listening to Arizona’s producers and delivering on it.”
Big things are happening in Douglas, AZ! 🐕🦺🐾🦺
As @USDA_APHIS prepares to deploy the New World screwworm detector dogs to the Douglas, AZ port of entry, we are fired up to support the mission — and have modified the cattle chutes to give these canine heroes the best possible… pic.twitter.com/OtmDqpXJLu
— New World Screwworm Rapid Response (@Screwworm_RR) July 30, 2026
The Douglas crossing was selected as the first port to reopen because the USDA considers Sonora among the Mexican states presenting the lowest screwworm risk, citing its animal-health inspection system and distance from the areas of southern Mexico where most cases are concentrated. The department said the closest active case to the Douglas port was approximately 325 miles away as of July 22.
The reopening remains contingent on Mexico’s compliance with a joint federal action plan and continuing USDA risk assessments. Following an evaluation of operations in Douglas, the department will consider reopening livestock crossings at Santa Teresa and Columbus, New Mexico.
Every animal imported through Douglas will receive multiple veterinary examinations, including an inspection by USDA veterinarians before entering the United States. Animals that fail to satisfy federal import requirements will be denied entry, and the discovery of New World screwworm would immediately halt imports through the port.
The USDA described the Arizona dispersal center as a proposed facility and said it would work with state officials to determine its specific location and operating plan in the Douglas area. The department said construction could be completed in as little as several months, depending on the selected site and available infrastructure.
Cochise County officials have proposed placing the center at Bisbee-Douglas International Airport, about eight miles from Douglas. The county has promoted the airport as a potential site because of its proximity to the border, transportation infrastructure, available land, and location in a less-populated area.
A previous USDA sterile fly facility operated near Douglas from 1963 until 1983. The former facility was located at Douglas Municipal Airport, approximately two miles from downtown.
Biggs led a June letter to Rollins urging the USDA to include Arizona in its long-term screwworm prevention and response strategy. The letter was signed by Crane, Ciscomani, and Reps. Paul Gosar (R-AZ-09) and Abraham Hamadeh (R-AZ-08) and identified the historic Douglas sterile fly facility site as a strategically valuable location for future production capacity.
New World screwworm is a parasitic fly whose larvae feed on the living tissue of warm-blooded animals, causing severe wounds that can become fatal. The pest can affect livestock, pets, wildlife, and, in rare cases, people. The USDA confirmed the first animal case in the current U.S. outbreak in a Zavala County, Texas, calf on June 3. Additional cases have since been confirmed in Texas and New Mexico, while Arizona has reported no confirmed cases.
The United States eradicated New World screwworm in 1966 through the sterile insect technique. The method releases sterilized male flies into affected areas. Female screwworm flies that mate with sterile males produce no offspring, reducing the wild population over successive generations.
The USDA said federal and state personnel have maintained trapping operations near Douglas during the past year. Nearly 1,000 captured flies were submitted for scientific testing, and none were identified as New World screwworm.
State Rep. Lupe Diaz (R-LD19), chairman of the Arizona House Land, Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee, also attended the event and praised the federal investment and reopening plan.
“The port reopening demonstrates that we can protect American agriculture while responsibly restoring commerce through this vital trade corridor,” Diaz said. “USDA’s science-based approach includes multiple layers of inspection and strict federal oversight.”
✅Rep. Lupe Diaz Joins U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins for Douglas Port Reopening and Sterile Fly Center Announcement
"The new sterile fly distribution center at Bisbee-Douglas International Airport is another major step forward. It will serve Arizona, New Mexico,… pic.twitter.com/ebiGbaOoc3
— Arizona House Republicans (@AZHouseGOP) July 30, 2026
Arizona’s fiscal year 2027 budget allows the state Department of Agriculture to use up to $250,000 from the Commercial Feed Trust Fund for two full-time-equivalent positions. One is designated for expenses associated with the screwworm response. The department may conduct border inspections as part of that response if the border opens for live cattle imports, and the state veterinarian may oversee the response. The second position is designated for expenses involving foreign animal diseases or pests, USDA program diseases, zoonotic diseases, and other emerging animal-disease responses.
“The new sterile fly distribution center at Bisbee-Douglas International Airport is another major step forward,” Diaz said. “It will serve Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and California, giving western states a critical regional resource to combat the New World screwworm and protect our livestock industry.”
Republican Rep. Juan Ciscomani’s (R-AZ06) reelection campaign released a new advertisement Tuesday targeting Democratic challenger JoAnna Mendoza. The ad links Mendoza to Tucson Mayor Regina Romero and highlights Mendoza’s past comments about reallocating police funding.
The advertisement, titled “Radical Allies,” accuses Mendoza and Romero of sharing an approach to policing, taxation, and homelessness that Ciscomani’s campaign says has harmed Tucson. The spot concludes by warning of “fewer police officers,” “more dangerous streets,” and “the same failed radical policies.”
“JoAnna Mendoza has a clear record of undermining support for and trust in local law enforcement – just listen to her in her own words,” Ciscomani said.
Sharing the advertisement in a post to X, Ciscomani wrote, “JoAnna Mendoza is endorsed by Tucson’s Failed, Unpopular Mayor Regina Romero for AZ06.” He added, “ Under Romero’s failed leadership: Police officers and firefighters stretched thin, Homelessness and crime are rampant, Business owners left to pick up the mess.”
🚨RADICAL POLICIES. RADICAL ALLIES.🚨
JoAnna Mendoza is endorsed by Tucson’s Failed, Unpopular Mayor Regina Romero for AZ06.
Under Romero's failed leadership: ❌Police officers and firefighters stretched thin ❌Homelessness and crime are rampant ❌Business owners left to… pic.twitter.com/FwRy7thZBz
Ciscomani said residents of Arizona’s Sixth Congressional District deserve elected officials who prioritize public safety and provide law enforcement agencies with the personnel and equipment needed to protect their communities.
The advertisement describes Romero as a Mendoza ally and cites her endorsement of the Democrat nominee. Romero publicly endorsed Mendoza in July 2020, when Mendoza was running for the Arizona Senate in Legislative District 11.
“JoAnna has demonstrated her lifelong commitment to serving our country and the people of Arizona,” Romero said during the 2020 campaign.
Mendoza thanked Romero for the endorsement and said she had helped with Romero’s successful 2019 campaign to become Tucson’s first female and Latina mayor.
The Ciscomani campaign’s release did not identify a separate endorsement issued by Romero during the current congressional race. Romero is not listed on Mendoza’s current campaign endorsement page, which includes Democrat Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego, Attorney General Kris Mayes, former Rep. Gabby Giffords, and several other elected officials and organizations.
Later Tuesday, Romero explicitly endorsed Mendoza in a post responding to Ciscomani, “@JuanCiscomani has failed Tucsonans. He voted to remove SNAP & Medicare benefits from children & seniors to give his billionaire buddies tax breaks. We need leadership that is more interested in results than theatrics. That is why we must retire Juan & elect @Mendoza4AZ.”
@JuanCiscomani has failed Tucsonans. He voted to remove SNAP & Medicare benefits from children & seniors to give his billionaire buddies tax breaks. We need leadership that is more interested in results than theatrics. That is why we must retire Juan & elect @Mendoza4AZ
Romero referred to Medicare in the post. Congressional Budget Office analyses of the reconciliation law identified Medicaid and SNAP as the principal benefit programs affected by reductions in federal spending.
Romero and Mendoza appeared together in February during a Tucson panel on gun violence with Giffords and Tucson Unified School District Governing Board member Natalie Luna Rose.
The new advertisement also draws from comments Mendoza made during a 2020 town hall hosted by the Arizona Clean Elections Commission and the Arizona Capitol Times amid nationwide protests and disputes over police funding.
“I support the reallocation of funding to programs that would allow people to live their best lives,” Mendoza said when asked whether she supported defunding police, according to a report from Fox News.
Mendoza identified social services, housing, public education, health care, economic stability, and environmental safety among the programs she believed should receive funding.
The Ciscomani campaign also cited Mendoza’s statement that police reform represented “one aspect of the systemic racism” present in the United States. The campaign characterized her support for reallocating funding as an endorsement of the movement to defund police departments.
Mendoza has rejected that characterization. Her campaign told Fox News that she supports providing police with additional resources, including training and body cameras, and said she has repeatedly opposed defunding law enforcement.
“I do not support defunding the police,” Mendoza said during another virtual event in 2020. “Police officers are being asked to do too much.”
Mendoza reiterated that position in an opinion article in the Arizona Daily Star in March 2026 that was republished be her campaign.
“The answer is not to defund law enforcement—it’s to fund law enforcement with intention,” Mendoza wrote.
She called for additional training, body cameras, clear identification, and oversight while expressing support for police officers, Border Patrol personnel, and immigration agents who lawfully perform their duties.
Ciscomani’s campaign also highlighted federal funding the congressman has supported for local public safety agencies. His congressional office said he obtained $4.2 million in Community Project Funding to replace aging Tucson Police Department vehicles.
A January spending package included $809,687 for replacement radios for the Sahuarita Police Department. Ciscomani has also sponsored legislation intended to establish coordination centers where federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies could conduct joint operations.
Ciscomani and Mendoza advanced to the Nov. 3 general election after running without opposition in their respective July 21 primaries. Ciscomani has represented the district since 2023 and won reelection in 2024 with 50.0 percent of the vote, defeating Democrat Kirsten Engel by 10,822 votes.
Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers endorsed Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen for attorney general Tuesday. The endorsement adds another Republican state attorney general to the growing coalition supporting Petersen’s challenge to Democrat Attorney General Kris Mayes.
Petersen secured the Republican nomination after defeating attorney Rodney Glassman in Arizona’s primary. He will face Mayes in the Nov. 3 general election.
“Arizona needs an Attorney General who is committed to the rule of law and standing with law enforcement,” Hilgers said in a statement released by Petersen’s campaign. “Unfortunately, Arizona’s liberal Attorney General has sold out to radical special interests.”
Hilgers cited Petersen’s record as Senate president, including his work on legislation affecting families, women’s sports, public safety, and the cost of living.
“I’m supporting Warren Petersen because he is a proven, experienced leader who has fought to protect families and women’s sports as Arizona’s Senate President, lower the cost of living, and keep our neighborhoods safe,” Hilgers said. “He’s the right person with the best temperament for the job. Please join me in supporting Warren Petersen for Arizona Attorney General.”
Hilgers became Nebraska’s 33rd attorney general in 2022 after spending six years in the Nebraska Legislature, including two years as speaker. He previously practiced law for more than 15 years and founded a litigation firm.
Petersen thanked Hilgers for the endorsement and said he expected to work alongside him if elected.
“I’m grateful for the trust and support of Attorney General Hilgers,” Petersen said. “He knows that Arizona cannot afford another four years of the radical leadership and politics imported to the Attorney General’s Office by Kris Mayes.”
Petersen accused Mayes of using the office to target law enforcement and political opponents.
“Under her direction, Arizona has succumbed to the California and New York-style tactics of attacking law enforcement and persecuting political opponents,” Petersen said. “Arizonans deserve better; the hard-working men and women of this state want an Attorney General who fights for their interests, not special interests. I look forward to joining General Hilgers come January.”
Petersen has served in the Arizona Legislature since 2012 and represents Legislative District 14, which covers Gilbert and portions of Queen Creek. His legislative roles have included House majority leader, chairman of the Senate Commerce and Judiciary committees and president of the Senate.
Hilgers joins Utah Attorney General Derek Brown, Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador, West Virginia Attorney General J.B. McCuskey, and Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita among the Republican attorneys general supporting Petersen.
Petersen has also received endorsements from the Arizona Fraternal Order of Police, Arizona Police Association, Arizona State Troopers Association, Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Arizona, and Phoenix Police Sergeants and Lieutenants Association.
The Arizona Fraternal Order of Police represents more than 9,000 law enforcement professionals across the state, while the Arizona Police Association describes itself as a statewide coalition representing law enforcement, corrections, detention, and probation officers.
Other law enforcement endorsements announced by the campaign include Yavapai County Sheriff David Rhodes, Pinal County Sheriff Ross Teeple, Gila County Attorney Brad Beauchamp, Pinal County Attorney Brad Miller, Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith, former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, and retired Border Patrol agent Art Del Cueto.
The campaign said Petersen is the first challenger to a sitting Arizona attorney general to receive endorsements from the state’s five largest police organizations. That claim could not be independently confirmed through publicly available historical endorsement records.
Petersen has made law enforcement support and criticism of Mayes central themes of his campaign. His campaign website lists enforcing existing laws, supporting law enforcement, and restoring trust in the Attorney General’s Office among his stated priorities.
Rep. Eli Crane’s (R-AZ02) legislation to expedite reconstruction at the Grand Canyon’s North Rim received its first Senate hearing last week week as the Department of the Interior endorsed the House-passed measure and requested expanded small-contract authority.
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks considered H.R. 5729, the North Rim Restoration Act, during a legislative hearing on Tuesday. Crane introduced the bill last October after the Dragon Bravo Fire damaged the North Rim and destroyed the historic Grand Canyon Lodge.
“Last July, the Dragon Bravo Fire dealt a serious setback to Northern Arizona, inflicting harm on park staff, gateway communities, and local businesses,” Crane said. “In response, I’m grateful to have collaborated with key stakeholders on a federal response that will help rebuild this iconic destination.”
Crane thanked Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Mike Lee (R-Utah) for placing the bill before the panel and said he hoped Congress would complete work on the measure.
In a post to X, Crane wrote, “This marked the first significant Senate action on the bill since it unanimously passed the House in March. I’m hopeful we can get this across the finish line.”
On Tuesday, @EnergyGOP held a legislative hearing on the North Rim Restoration Act of 2025.
This marked the first significant Senate action on the bill since it unanimously passed the House in March.
The legislation would allow the National Park Service to use emergency acquisition procedures without requiring a presidential emergency or disaster declaration. Those procedures include increased micro-purchase thresholds, simplified acquisition thresholds and other contracting flexibilities under federal acquisition regulations.
The authority would cover forest management and restoration, planning and reconstruction of damaged structures, improvements to park grounds and other recovery work within areas of Grand Canyon National Park affected by the Dragon Bravo Fire.
The House-passed version would also permit the Interior Secretary to award limited noncompetitive recovery contracts to the concessioner operating at the North Rim. The secretary would first have to determine in writing that the concessioner is uniquely positioned to perform the work and that noncompetitive procurement is necessary for public safety, resource protection, or continuity of essential services.
Eligible projects would include employee housing, water and wastewater systems, power and communications infrastructure, lodging, food service, retail operations, transportation facilities, and maintenance buildings. The bill states that recovery contracts would remain separate from the concessioner’s existing agreement and would not extend or amend that concession contract.
The emergency authority would expire seven years after enactment or when the Interior Secretary determines that recovery work is complete. The National Park Service would have to report to four congressional committees every 180 days after it begins using the authority.
The reports would identify anticipated and actual costs, overruns, contractors, possible conflicts of interest, detected waste or fraud, projects completed below expected cost, and estimated completion dates.
Charles Cuvelier, associate director for visitor and resource protection at the National Park Service, told senators that the Interior Department supports the bill.
“This authority will enable the agency to move more efficiently on time-sensitive repair and reconstruction activities,” Cuvelier said in his written testimony.
Cuvelier said North Rim recovery requires coordination across damaged utilities, employee housing, and visitor facilities. The department asked the subcommittee to consider temporarily increasing several additional small-dollar procurement thresholds so the Park Service could issue minor construction and service contracts more efficiently.
The House passed H.R. 5729 on March 16 with no member objecting. The bill’s House cosponsors include Arizona Reps. Andy Biggs (R-AZ05), Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ06), Paul Gosar (R-AZ09), and Abe Hamadeh (R-AZ08), along with Reps. Celeste Maloy (R-UT02) and Tom Tiffany (R-WI07).
The Senate panel also considered S. 3785, the North Rim and Kaibab National Forest Restoration Act, introduced in February by Arizona Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego with Sen. Mark Kelly as an original cosponsor.
That proposal would extend similar emergency contracting authority to both the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service for areas affected by the Dragon Bravo and White Sage fires. It would cover Grand Canyon National Park and the Kaibab National Forest, require tribal and local participation in recovery planning, and direct federal officials to prioritize tribal and local businesses when practicable. Its authority would last five years or until recovery is complete.
The lightning-caused Dragon Bravo Fire began July 4, 2025, and burned 149,399 acres across the Kaibab Plateau, including 71,129 acres managed by Grand Canyon National Park. The fire destroyed 114 buildings and outbuildings, including the Grand Canyon Lodge, 80 guest cabins, and 24 buildings in the National Park Service headquarters historic district.
The National Park Service reopened the North Rim for the 2026 season in May. All paved park roads and the full North Kaibab Trail reopened, with the trail open to foot traffic, and the North Rim Campground reopened June 1. Overnight lodging remains unavailable on the North Rim while reconstruction continues.
H.R. 5729 remains before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. The committee would have to advance the legislation before it could receive a vote by the full Senate.
“With this week’s activity in the Senate, we are getting closer to delivering much-needed relief to those impacted by this destructive fire,” Crane said.
Six Phoenix-area hospitals received federal warning notices or requests for corrective action plans over compliance with hospital price transparency requirements, according to a report released by the health care watchdog group Hospital Watch.
The facilities named were Banner Gateway Medical Center, BH Newco Hospital LLC, College Medical Center Phoenix, Phoenix Specialty Hospital, Quail Run Behavioral Health, and Valley Hospital.
BH Newco Hospital operates as Via Linda Behavioral Hospital in Scottsdale. Banner Gateway Medical Center is located in Gilbert, while the remaining facilities serve patients in Phoenix.
The six Arizona facilities were among 519 hospitals nationwide that received letters from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) between April and early June, according to a national list obtained by the Associated Press.
The list included hospitals in every state except Alaska. Texas had the most facilities receiving letters with 42, followed by California with 38, and Indiana with 34.
The letters included warning notices and, in cases CMS considered more serious, requests for hospitals to submit formal corrective action plans. Hospitals that fail to address cited deficiencies can face civil monetary penalties that may reach approximately $2 million annually, depending on the size of the facility.
“Patients should not have to guess what a hospital visit is going to cost,” Hospital Watch spokesman Adam Buckalew said. “If hospitals are serious about affordability, they should start by following the basic transparency rules already on the books. Instead, too many major hospital systems are hiding prices, protecting inflated rates, and leaving families to deal with surprise bills they cannot afford.”
TODAY: @HouseCommerce is looking for solutions to increase price transparency across the healthcare industry. Any honest conversation about healthcare affordability must look at the #1 culprit preventing it: corporate hospital systems.
Federal hospital price transparency rules have been enforced since Jan. 1, 2021. Most hospitals are required to publish a comprehensive machine-readable file containing their gross charges, discounted cash prices, rates negotiated with individual insurers, and the highest and lowest negotiated prices for each service.
Hospitals must also provide a consumer-friendly display covering at least 300 services that patients can schedule in advance, or all such services if the hospital offers fewer than 300. The display must include plain-language descriptions and pricing information or be provided through an online cost-estimator tool.
CMS can issue a warning, require a corrective action plan, impose a civil monetary penalty, and publicly identify hospitals that remain out of compliance.
The public list of hospitals receiving letters does not by itself disclose the specific deficiency identified at each Phoenix-area facility or establish whether the issue has since been corrected. Hospitals elsewhere on the list have said their notices involved technical or formatting problems rather than missing price information.
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, for example, told the Associated Press that its notice concerned a date-field formatting issue that was corrected. Ascension said letters sent to several of its hospitals involved a minor technical error. CMS later accepted corrected documentation from some facilities.
A 2024 audit by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General found that 37 of 100 sampled hospitals failed to meet one or more federal transparency requirements. The office estimated that 46 percent of the 5,879 hospitals covered by the rule were not fully compliant at the time of the audit.
Hospital Watch said inaccessible or incomplete pricing information prevents patients, employers, and families from comparing costs before receiving care. The organization also called for greater federal enforcement and additional scrutiny of hospital consolidation in the Phoenix market.
“The hospital market in the Phoenix area is dominated by a handful of powerful systems,” Buckalew added. “When hospitals buy up competitors and face little real competition, patients lose. Prices go up, premiums rise, and families are left with medical bills they cannot afford.”
A January report from the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) identified Banner Health as the state’s largest hospital system with 18 hospitals, followed by Dignity Health and HonorHealth. AHCCCS listed Abrazo/Tenet among 11 hospital systems operating at least three facilities in Arizona.
Hospital Watch said private insurers and patients frequently pay hospitals approximately three times the rates paid by Medicare.
A nationwide RAND Corporation study found that employers and private insurers paid hospitals an average of 254 percent of Medicare rates for comparable services at the same facilities in 2022. Inpatient facility prices averaged 254 percent of Medicare rates, while outpatient hospital facility prices averaged 279 percent.
Hospital industry representatives have argued that commercial payments help cover costs that Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rates do not fully address. The American Hospital Association has also said most hospitals comply with federal requirements and has called for clearer, more standardized rules that produce information patients can readily use.
“We need real enforcement of hospital price transparency and stronger scrutiny of hospital consolidation,” Buckalew said. “Sunlight is the first step toward accountability. Patients and employers deserve to know what they are being charged, why prices are so high, and whether hospitals are giving them a fair deal.”
Hospital Watch launched in February as a project of Better Solutions for Healthcare. The group advocates for hospital price transparency, limits on facility fees and markups, and increased oversight of hospital consolidation.
