by Matthew Holloway | Dec 31, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
Arizona manufacturing and business groups can claim a policy win in Washington, D.C., after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a major federal permitting reform bill they had urged Congress to advance.
On December 18, the House approved the Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development (SPEED) Act, H.R. 4776, in a 221–196 vote. The legislation is designed to streamline environmental reviews and speed federal permitting for large energy infrastructure projects, data centers, factories, and other major developments.
The bill, sponsored by House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman (R–AR) and Rep. Jared Golden (D–ME), amends the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to shorten review timelines, clarify when NEPA applies, and limit how long lawsuits can delay projects. A committee summary says the measure is intended to “modernize NEPA,” reduce permitting backlogs, and curb what supporters describe as “abusive litigation” that has slowed infrastructure and energy projects nationwide.
In a press release on the day of the vote, Westerman called the SPEED Act’s passage “a win for America” and urged the Senate to move quickly. The committee noted that more than 375 organizations nationwide backed the bill.
The House vote followed a coordinated push by national and Arizona manufacturing advocates in early December, when congressional leaders signaled they would take up permitting reform over a two-week stretch.
In a December 10 article, Chamber Business News reported that the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and Arizona business groups were urging Congress to act on what NAM branded the “12 Days of Permitting Reform.” NAM called on lawmakers to move several bills — including the PERMIT Act and the SPEED Act — to simplify federal reviews and shorten timelines for major infrastructure, energy, and industrial projects.
NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons said at the time that Congress had an opportunity “over the next 12 days to demonstrate strong, bipartisan momentum on comprehensive permitting reform,” and encouraged policymakers to make it easier and more cost-efficient for manufacturers to advance job-creating projects.
For Arizona, business leaders framed the debate as directly tied to the state’s ability to keep pace with growth in sectors such as power generation, semiconductor fabrication, aerospace and defense manufacturing, and AI-driven data centers, all of which depend on predictable federal approvals.
Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry President and CEO Danny Seiden said modernizing federal permitting is critical for Arizona’s economic future, arguing that “manufacturers can’t meet demand, onshore supply chains, or power new AI and data-center growth without a permitting system that works.”
“Arizona’s economy depends on major projects moving on predictable timelines. Congress should advance the PERMIT Act and the SPEED Act so companies can build the infrastructure and capacity our economy requires,” Seiden added.
Grace Appelbe, executive director of the Arizona Manufacturers Council, told Chamber Business News that long, unpredictable federal reviews create significant challenges for small and mid-sized manufacturers trying to expand, upgrade equipment, or bring new technologies online, and said reforms could lower costs and improve Arizona’s competitiveness for new investment.
The House Natural Resources Committee describes the SPEED Act as a structural update to NEPA’s review process. Key provisions include:
- Shorter, defined timelines for environmental reviews on major federal actions.
- Clearer triggers for NEPA, by defining “major federal action” more narrowly.
- Streamlined documentation, intended to reduce the length and complexity of NEPA analysis.
- Limits on litigation, including a 150-day window for filing NEPA challenges, to reduce long-running court delays.
External reporting has noted that industry groups, such as energy and infrastructure advocates, welcomed the bill as the first significant federal permitting reform effort since NEPA was enacted in 1969, while environmental organizations have urged the Senate to reject or significantly revise the measure, warning that looser standards could weaken environmental protections and public participation.
With House passage secured, the SPEED Act now moves to the U.S. Senate, where lawmakers in both parties are working on broader permitting legislation and have signaled potential changes to the House bill, Axios reports.
Arizona manufacturers and business groups, which spent early December calling for action on the SPEED Act and related measures, are expected to continue pressing for a final package that delivers the permitting certainty they say is needed for long-term investment and for meeting the state’s projected load and infrastructure demands.
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 | Dec 29, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
Arizona Congressman Abe Hamadeh (R-AZ08) has joined Florida Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL07) in introducing federal legislation aimed at prioritizing American firms for defense-related professional services contracts. The legislation, titled the Securing American Firms & Expertise in Services (SAFE Services) Act, introduced as H.R. 6882, would require the Department of Defense to give preference to U.S.-based companies when awarding contracts for professional services connected to national security.
Mills stated, “American tax dollars should strengthen American companies and protect American security,” adding that the SAFE Services Act is designed to close what he described as a procurement gap that allows foreign firms to obtain sensitive defense-adjacent contracts. The legislation would not apply to manufacturing contracts but would focus exclusively on professional and advisory services.
Hamadeh, who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, said in a statement, “The people in my district elected me to put America first. That means supporting American workers and revitalizing American industry. It’s why I prioritized Arizona military communities and our local manufacturers in my amendments to the defense bill.”
“This legislation by Rep. Mills helps codify that spirit. It requires the Department of War to prioritize American companies during the procurement of professional services,” Hamadeh added. “The economic and national security implications alone should demand a preference for American companies, but this bill will ensure it is more than a suggestion.”
Under the proposal, affected contracts would include services such as engineering and architecture, design and environmental consulting, financial consulting, program management, and legal support, as well as “other expert services as defined under the Federal Acquisition (Regulation),” all areas that lawmakers say are increasingly being outsourced to foreign-owned firms.
According to information cited by the bill’s sponsors, more than $1 billion in Department of Defense professional services contracts were awarded to 616 foreign-owned companies during fiscal year 2024, “despite the availability of thousands of qualified American firms capable of performing the same work.”
Referencing the Buy American Act and the Berry Amendment, which legally require the Department of Defense to prioritize domestically produced goods, the release stated, “No comparable preference currently exists for defense professional services,” adding that the SAFE Services Act: “addresses this oversight by requiring the Department of War to prioritize American companies when procuring professional services essential to military readiness and infrastructure.”
The bill has been referred to the House Committee on Armed Services.
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 | Dec 23, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
Members of the 11th Air Task Force (ATF) returned home to Arizona on Dec. 17, 2025, concluding the unit’s first deployment in support of operations and integration efforts in the Indo-Pacific region, just in time for Christmas.
Christmas came early for families, friends, and members of the 355th Wing as Airmen arrived at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base after a nearly six-month deployment to the Pacific, including missions in Saipan, the Republic of Korea, and Guam, according to the U.S. Air Force.
The 11th ATF was the first U.S. Air Force (USAF) task force activated and deployed under a broader effort to create more agile, mission-ready Air Task Force units as part of force modernization and operational flexibility. Airmen from multiple bases comprised the task force, though those assigned to Davis-Monthan were among the last to return home.
Upon arrival in Arizona, Davis-Monthan leadership, base support personnel, fellow Airmen, family members, and friends greeted the returning service members. During the welcome home events, Airmen reunited with loved ones and were recognized for successfully completing the extended deployment.
Col. Brett Cassidy, commander of the 11th ATF, said the deployment challenged Airmen to embrace mission-ready concepts and demonstrated the unit’s capability to adapt and succeed amid dynamic mission requirements. The task force’s early return also allowed many Airmen to spend the holiday season with their families.
“The 11th ATF team performed exceptionally throughout this entire deployment,” Cassidy said in the USAF release.
“Our mission changed while we were out here, and that’s actually a good thing, because it allowed us to demonstrate our ability to adjust on the fly. That’s not typically something we get to see on deployment. It was phenomenal watching the Airmen adjust as the mission changed to achieve success. The biggest lesson from this time was that if you set up the team with the proper authorities and capabilities, and you let them train as a team so they come together and understand one another, they’re incredibly capable of getting after dynamic missions. We saw that out here, and it was a huge success for the Air Force.”
Established in July 2024 as one of six task forces across the Air Force, the 11th ATF was activated to provide rapidly deployable, integrated forces capable of contingency response and mission generation. Its inaugural deployment was billed as a milestone in testing the task force model, which emphasizes cohesive unit training and operational employment.
The return of the 11th Air Task Force highlights the evolving structure of U.S. Air Force deployments. It underscores Davis-Monthan AFB’s role as a key hub in Arizona for agile force generation and global operations.
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 | Dec 21, 2025 | Economy, News
By Matthew Holloway |
U.S. consumer price inflation slowed more than expected in November, with the latest official data showing a notable drop in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and core inflation. This key measure strips out food and energy costs, according to an update released Thursday by the Joint Economic Committee (JEC).
The headline Consumer Price Index (CPI-U), a broad measure of prices consumers pay for everyday goods and services, rose only 2.7% from November 2024 to November 2025, below the roughly 3.0% economists had expected. This marks one of the lowest readings in 2025, signaling a potential easing of inflationary pressures.
Core CPI, a measure that excludes volatile food and energy prices, also fell to 2.63% year-over-year, its lowest reading since March 2021.
Between September and November, the headline CPI increased modestly by 0.20%, while core inflation edged up by 0.16% over the same period, indicating that prices rose only slightly in recent months, even after volatility is adjusted for.
The data showed a mixed picture for specific sectors:
- Food price inflation was 2.65% year-over-year, a decline of roughly 0.46 percentage points from September.
- Energy price inflation rose 4.24% year-over-year, up about 1.39 percentage points from September.
Regionally, the Northeast saw the highest inflation rate between September and November at 3.1%, while the West and Midwest tied at 3.0%. The South recorded the lowest inflation at 2.2%, down from 2.7% in the September report.
In addition to prices, the JEC noted improvements in real wages during the most recent two-month period. Inflation-adjusted earnings for private nonfarm workers showed that weekly earnings rose 0.66% and hourly earnings rose 0.35%, suggesting that wage growth modestly outpaced price gains through November.
In a post to X on Thursday, the White House highlighted the slowed inflation and the pace of wage increases, writing, “President Trump is turning the economy around—pulling it back from the brink & setting the stage for a HISTORIC BOOM.”
Economists have cautioned that some of the recent inflation slowdown reflected in official figures may be affected by data collection challenges earlier this year. Independent reporting highlights that federal data gathering was disrupted by a prolonged government shutdown, which prevented the Bureau of Labor Statistics from compiling October CPI data and may have altered how price changes were measured, according to Reuters.
Nonetheless, both headline and core measures show inflation moving closer to longer-term targets, a development policymakers and markets will be watching closely as the Federal Reserve, Congress, and Trump Administration consider their next steps in 2026.
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 | Dec 20, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
Congressman Eli Crane (R-AZ-02) introduced legislation Thursday requiring the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to deliver annual terrorism threat assessments on the hostile use of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), citing the rapid spread of drone technology among foreign adversaries and terrorist organizations.
The bill, titled the Detecting and Evaluating Foreign Exploitation of Novel Drones (DEFEND) Act, would amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to strengthen congressional oversight of emerging UAS threats, according to a release from Crane’s office.
Crane’s bill would require DHS to evaluate drone-related risks to the United States, submit a classified annual report to Congress with an unclassified public annex, and provide a briefing within seven days of each report’s submission. The legislation is co-sponsored by members of the House Homeland Security Committee, including several subcommittee chairs.
In a post to X announcing the legislation, Crane wrote, “America must maintain a decisive tactical advantage over our adversaries.”
According to a release from Crane’s office, the measure is intended to help close an intelligence gap around drone threats and give Congress clearer insight into vulnerabilities in U.S. airspace.
Arizona has growing strategic exposure to unmanned aircraft system threats, given ongoing cartel drone activity along the state’s southern border; the presence of key military installations involved in UAS development and counter-UAS training, including Fort Huachuca, Yuma Proving Ground, Davis–Monthan Air Force Base, and Luke Air Force Base; and the state’s expanding commercial drone testing sector. Federal assessments in recent years have also warned that drones pose increasing risks to critical infrastructure sites, including energy, water, and transportation systems across the United States.
In the release announcing the legislation, Crane said Congress must act to close intelligence blind spots and “maintain tactical advantage over malign actors” seeking to exploit UAS capabilities, citing drone use in recent conflicts overseas.
“The DEFEND Act ensures Congress has the knowledge necessary to effectively allocate resources to defend our homeland. I encourage my colleagues to back this approach to close this intelligence blind spot,” he added.
Per congressional procedure, the bill will be referred to the House Committee on Homeland Security, where co-sponsors sit in leadership positions across the Committee’s oversight and cybersecurity panels.
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.
