Earlier this month, Gov. Katie Hobbs sent a letter to Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne, rebuking him for the implementation of a risk-based auditing approach to approving Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program reimbursements. A few days later, Horne responded by suggesting that Hobbs “should start reading what she signs.”
In a statement, Horne reminded the Democrat governor that the process the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) is now employing is explicitly called for under a bill she signed into law herself. He notes further that Hobbs is also directly responsible for creating the situation that necessitated the change when she signed a bill permitting private school tuition to be paid under reimbursement rather than the previous third-party vendor.
The move has come as a backlog of reimbursement requests for the ESA program has exceeded 85,000. The Department of Education, unable to utilize third party provider Class Wallet, which was previously the procedure, will now automatically approve the requests up to $2,000 and then audit them after the fact.
12.9.2024
All ESA payments under $2,000 will be automatically processed and undergo risk-based auditing. Just announced at the AZ state board meeting by Supt. Horne.
In the initial letter to Horne, Hobbs pointed to recent indictments and allegations of fraud and abuse of the ESA program and claimed that the implementation of the risk-based auditing approach “is a complete dereliction of the ADE’s responsibility to ensure the appropriate use of public funds.”
Horne replied in a statement saying:
“The method we are instituting, known as risk-based auditing, is specifically provided for in the budget statute that the Governor signed last session. Maybe she should start reading what she signs.
Equally startling, is that she herself created the problem we are trying to solve by signing a bill to permit private school tuition to be paid under the reimbursement method, rather than going through our vendor, Class Wallet, which was previously required. This played a major role in increasing the delays and reimbursements from 30 days a year ago to over 100 days now.
The Governor played a major role in creating a problem that we now must solve by using a method provided for in a Bill that she signed.
Part of the problem appears to be that staff in the Governor’s office are slow learners.”
In a press release, Horne referred to Arizona Law under A.R.S. 15-2403 (B), which explicitly permits this method stating, “The department, in consultation with the office of the auditor general, shall develop risk-based auditing procedures for audits conducted pursuant to this subsection.”
The Superintendent also stressed the accountability of the program saying, “The ESA program is among the most accountable programs in the State. It’s responsible for demonstrating accountability through reporting that is required by statute, rules, and ad hoc requests from seven government agencies and bodies, including: Governor’s Office; Legislative Leadership; Joint Legislative Budget Committee; Attorney General’s Office (multiple units); Auditor General’s Office (multiple divisions); State Board of Education and the State Ombudsman.”
As previously reported by AZ Free News, Hobbs was recently fact-checked by Citizens For Free Enterprise, who publicly criticized her for attacking the ESA program. The group stated, “FACT CHECK: Arizona’s universal school choice program is a model of accountability, transparency, and security, according to CSI Institute Arizona. The over 83,000 Arizona families using ESAs just want the best for their children – and Katie Hobbs should stop attacking them.”
FACT CHECK: Arizona’s universal school choice program is a model of accountability, transparency, and security, according to @CSInstituteAZ. The over 83,000 Arizona families using ESAs just want the best for their children — and Katie Hobbs should stop attacking them. https://t.co/Law8wrNwSEpic.twitter.com/ZA1KiLdFYl
According to a new report from Mixbook, the Christmas light displays of three Arizona cities have been voted among the most popular in the nation. The three cities enjoying the honor are Lake Havasu City, Prescott, and Glendale.
Christmas displays from New York, California, and Hawaii dominated the top ten in the survey, which covered 3,000 families nationwide. Arizona’s three cities ranked 53rd, 110th, and 119th respectively.
Lake Havasu City’s 29th Annual Festival of Lights will see over 500,000 lights set aglow the beautiful London Bridge over the Bridgewater Channel. The city’s website states that families can stroll the walkway beneath the British 19th-century stone-arched bridge, which dates to 1831 and spanned the Thames River for 136 years. Boaters can also enjoy the spectacle from on the water.
This isn't just another light display –– this is the 29th Annual Festival of Lights with over a half-million of these little beauties illuminating the Bridgwater Channel all season long! Join us for a holiday experience you won’t soon forget! #golakehavasu#letsdohavasupic.twitter.com/sJH2CVEuoj
With Prescott designated as Arizona’s Christmas City by Governor Rose Mofford in 1989, the territorial capital has become a nexus for Christmas celebrations both before and after the lighting ceremony. Events run all the way up to a fireworks spectacular on December 31st at 7 p.m. According to Mixbook, “The Courthouse Plaza, adorned with a million lights, becomes the heart of this nostalgic Christmas experience.”
Wishing you an enchanting holiday from Arizona's official Christmas City. 🎄✨
In the Valley of the Sun, Glendale Glitters is “an exquisite arrangement of lights, complimented by beautiful interactive features and picture-perfect holiday displays,” according to the city’s website. Although the kickoff and parade have come and gone, the beautiful lights will remain on display until January 1st from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. The city encourages folks to enjoy some local holiday shopping and treats as they stroll through Downtown Glendale, taking in the magical lights and features.
We're having ourselves a merry little Christmas in Glendale! 🎄✨ What a sparkling start to #GlendaleGlitters! 🎅❤️🎉 Thank you to everyone that came out to celebrate. Come soak in the magic and make memories — the glow lasts until the New Year! 🎄💫 #GlendaleAZpic.twitter.com/2mwSXyjUUN
— Glendale, Arizona Economic Development (@GrowGlendale) December 16, 2024
A spokesman for Mixbook said in a statement, “As the holiday season approaches, these incredible light displays remind us of the magic that comes from bringing communities together. Whether it’s a neighborhood effort, a citywide festival, or a creative masterpiece, these displays capture the spirit of the season and give us all a reason to celebrate.”
According to a recent letter from the Goldwater Institute, Governor Katie Hobbs’ administration has imposed a regime of regulation that has ground the development of new home construction in the fast-growing areas of Maricopa County to a halt. Now, the organization is challenging the validity of the newly established rules.
A press release this week from Goldwater stated that the action conducted by the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR), which lacks the approval of the Arizona legislature or a formal regulatory approval process, is “driving up housing costs for all Arizonans and threatens to stifle economic growth in our state.”
Goldwater went on to characterize the ADWR’s move as “one of the most significant bureaucratic overreaches in Arizona’s history.” In its letter to the agency, it urged leaders to reverse course.
Bureaucrats under AZ @GovernorHobbs have enacted a rule stopping new home construction in Maricopa County’s fastest-growing, affordable areas.
Jon Riches, Goldwater’s Vice President for Litigation, explained in his letter:
“ADWR has imposed two AMA-Wide rules that have prevented HBACA (Home Builders Association of Central Arizona) members from obtaining Certificates of Assured Water Supply. The first of these invalid rules provides that, if groundwater modeling predicts that a well may not be able to fully satisfy projected demand in any location within the Phoenix AMA Model domain within the next 100 years, then there is no groundwater available throughout the entire model domain (‘AMAWide Unmet Demand Rule’). The second invalid rule provides that if modeling predicts that depth-to-water will exceed 1,000 feet in any location within the Phoenix AMA in the next 100 years, then there is no physical availability of water anywhere within the Phoenix AMA model domain (‘AMA-Wide Depth-to-Water Rule’).”
Goldwater noted that the AMA-Wide Unmet Demand Rule doesn’t exist under Arizona law and was not adopted through the legal rulemaking process. It argued that under previous rulings in Arizona courts, the policies are “rules” and are legally subject to Administrative Procedure Act’s (“APA”) rulemaking process. Specifically, it cites “an agency policy as a rule subject to the Administrative Procedures Act’s rulemaking process as one that ‘is generally applicable, and … implements, interprets or prescribes law or policy, or describes the procedure or practice requirements of an agency.’”
Furthermore, the rule was reportedly created under what Goldwater refers to as a “flawed concept,” the eponymous “unmet demand,” which establishes that if a groundwater shortage is projected by models at any location within a given management area, then zero groundwater across that area will be considered available for any use.
“The model further compounds this issue by arbitrarily placing wells throughout the management area that do not move over the course of 100 years, far in excess of the life expectancy of most wells,” Goldwater writes.
”If water in a hypothetical well is projected to dip below a certain depth in the East Valley, the agency declares a water shortage for developments in entirely unrelated areas like the West Valley.”
In the release, the Goldwater Institute expressed concern that the Hobbs administration took this action unilaterally, effectively defying both the legislative and judicial branches of the Arizona government in what amounts to a massive overreach of her executive authority.
Congressman David Schweikert (R-AZ-01) offered his fellow Congress members a gift in his weekly speech on Thursday. The former Arizona State Treasurer and nation’s de facto accountant presented solutions to the problems “that directly contribute to rising costs and decreasing wages in America.” In a press release last week, Schweikert shared video of his speech in which he points out the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for November reflected a 2.7 percent price increase from November of last year, indicating continuing inflation while wages continue to stagnate.
The Arizona Republican stressed the need for Congress to pursue a modernized immigration approach based on talent and merit in 2025, which promotes both productivity and wage growth while simultaneously offsetting declining birth rates and population decline.
Schweikert explained, “Here’s the reality: if the president is looking at you in the camera, and telling you [we have] the best economy ever—that’s not factual—but why don’t you feel it? It’s because much of America is poorer today than the day President Biden took office. If you live in the Phoenix-Scottsdale area—my home—if you don’t make 27 percent more today than the day President Biden took office, you are poorer.
Having someone telling you, ‘Oh, the economy is great,’ and yet, you’re having trouble paying for things… The reason we made this board, functionally, for you to maintain your purchasing power. If you are an average American in my district, these numbers are substantially higher because I am from a district with some of the highest inflation in America. If you are not making $1,115 more a month—because that’s what you have to be [making] from four years ago—your purchasing power… you’re poorer.
And I think that’s the reason that voters turned and said, ‘Okay, I see these Democrats running lots of ads saying crazy things,’ but yet, it turns out the voters are actually really smart. They would look at their checking account. They’d look at the cost of their kids’ clothes. They’d look at the grocery store and try to figure out why in the last week of the month they were losing their minds under stress.”
WATCH:
The congressman stressed the incoherence of current immigration policy, which invites foreign nationals into the U.S., educates them in our institutions, and then ships them back to their home countries rather than encouraging skilled legal immigrants to become citizens. In the release, Schweikert notes, “When wages go up, we actually take in more tax receipts and then begins the cascade event of changing society and the economy for the future and the better.”
Regarding reforming the tax code to favor research and development and immigration laws to favor talent-based immigration, he posited, “One of our economists is trying to model what would happen if you said we’re going to do expensing of research and development because we know that pops economic growth. But if you also did talent-based immigration at the same time, you may get a multiplier effect. This is thinking like an economist. This is what we have to do to get ourselves out of this hole.”
Republican Congressman-elect Abe Hamadeh shared an announcement on Monday that he will serve on two of the House of Representative’s most military-centric committees: the House Armed Services Committee and the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. These appointments will essentially allow the retired Army Reserve Captain & Intelligence Officer to act on matters impacting service members at all stages of their careers—from new recruits to retired veterans.
In a post to X, Hamadeh wrote, “Proud to join my colleagues on the House Committee on Armed Services and the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. Together with President Trump we will make our warfighters the most powerful force and treat our veterans with the respect they’ve earned.”
Proud to join my colleagues on the House Committee on Armed Services and the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.
Together with President Trump we will make our warfighters the most powerful force and treat our veterans with the respect they’ve earned. pic.twitter.com/CiEUm32ayM
According to Politico’s Connor O’Brien, alongside Hamadeh, the House GOP Steering Committee selected seven new members for the Armed Services Committee including Reps. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI), Mark Messmer (R-IN), John McGuire (R-VA), Derek Schmidt (R-KS), Pat Harrigan (R-NC), and Jeff Crank (R-CO).
Per a person familiar, the House GOP Steering Committee selected 7 new members for the Armed Services Committee on Monday: Derrick Van Orden Mark Messmer John McGuire Derek Schmidt Pat Harrigan Abe Hamadeh Jeff Crank
Responding to the announcement, Arizona Senator Wendy Rogers wrote, “These are the TWO BEST COMMITTEES for Abe to do Arizona and our country GOOD!”
Two days before, Hamadeh congratulated President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming Presidential Envoy for Special Missions Richard Allen Grenell in a post to X writing, “Congratulations to @RichardGrenell, President Trump’s Envoy for Special Missions! Ric has been a loyal supporter and fighter for President Trump and will lead the America First agenda around the world.” The congressman’s new committee roles could result in significant overlap and coordination with Grenell.
Congratulations to @RichardGrenell, President Trump’s Envoy for Special Missions!
Ric has been a loyal supporter and fighter for President Trump and will lead the America First agenda around the world. 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/nfUPvOiYJq
Hamadeh, the son of Syrian immigrants, commented on the recent collapse of Bashar Al Assad’s government advising that as the Trump administration considers multi-lateral responses to the successful rebellion, the Turkish government must step up.
He told Fox News, “As we evaluate Turkey’s recent airstrikes on Syrian Kurds and reports of Hamas operatives in Turkey, it’s clear that our alliances must be anchored in mutual respect and shared goals. For decades, Turkey has been a strategic partner, but hosting groups like Hamas without clear steps toward dismantling their operations undermines that relationship. Turkey must seize this opportunity to demonstrate it is committed to fighting terror, not enabling it.”
“Some people in the Syrian opposition say that they want to normalize relations with Israel. Now if that's the case. That is going to be a huge seismic shift to have a country that has been at war with Israel for so long normalize ties with Israel.“
In an interview with James T. Harris on 550 KFYI, he observed the potential for normalization of relations between the new Syria and Israel after decades of war. “Some people in the Syrian opposition say that they want to normalize relations with Israel. Now if that’s the case, that is going to be a huge seismic shift to have a country that has been at war with Israel for so long normalize ties with Israel,“ he told Harris.
