A series of new laws taking effect are anticipated to raise Arizona’s economic competitiveness.
The Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry (Arizona Chamber) highlighted six new laws as giving the state a beneficial boost in economic performance against other states.
These laws aim to make it feasible for international headquarters to build on-site workforce housing and support services (Senate Bill 1543), permit utilities to refinance infrastructure investments through securitization (House Bill 2679), allow Chase Field renovations without increasing taxes (House Bill 2704), make it feasible for advanced air mobility systems such as drone deliveries and air taxis (Senate Bill 1307), require utilities and public power entities to implement wildfire mitigation plans (House Bill 2201), and bars foreign entities from funding lawsuits while limiting outside funding to third-party litigation (Senate Bill 1215).
Dozens of states are working together to create a uniform approach to allowing advanced air mobility, along with the Federal Aviation Administration. Over 30 states are members of the Advanced Air Mobility Multistate Collaborative (AAMMC), formed in 2023 with eight to 10 member states. Arizona is member to the organization leading AAMMC, the National Association of State Aviation Officials.
In addition to raising awareness of the new laws it backs, the Arizona Chamber also releases public reports of failed bills it believed would harm the state’s economy. The chamber announced their 2025 report is forthcoming.
Arizona Chamber President and CEO Danny Seiden stated that the six featured laws would retain corporate interest in the state by implementing necessary reforms and new pathways to growth.
“As these laws take effect, Arizona employers can count on policies that reflect their priorities,” said Seiden. “From keeping vital economic drivers in Arizona, to passing commonsense energy reforms that will deliver long-term stability and affordability, to supporting global companies, these are the kinds of policies that keep Arizona competitive and attractive for investment.”
The legislature also passed other laws anticipated to boost the economy, some of which Governor Katie Hobbs also approved from the Republican-controlled legislature despite a historic veto record (nearly 200 bills this year, compared to her previous historic record of over 140 in 2023).
One such law promises to further protect Arizona from regulatory capture by monopoly-controlled utilities (House Bill 2518). The legislation prohibits Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) members from accepting employment with the utilities under their regulation. Not all ACC members were pleased with the legislation, namely ACC Chairman Kevin Thompson.
TOTALLY UNCALLED FOR
AZ Corporation Commission member Kevin Thompson’s personal attacks against Rep. Justin Olson are totally unprofessional
Arizonans have become accustomed to childish meltdowns like this from Katie Hobbs
Chair Thompson was the subject of an ethics claim filed by the Energy Policy Institute earlier this year, as first reported by the Arizona Republic. The institute alleged a conflict of interest regarding the relationship between Thompson’s consulting firm and utilities.
Another law will ensure construction crews may work in the early morning hours in the summers by prohibiting municipalities and counties from enacting or enforcing noise ordinances, rules, or regulations prohibiting general construction activities during certain summertime hours (Senate Bill 1182).
And another law requires municipalities to give affected businesses at least 60 days’ notice before voting on tax increases (House Bill 2119).
The legislature also chose to sunset the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program rather than renew. Critics of the program blame lax policies and procedures for the Department of Housing’s loss of around $2 million to a wire fraud scam in 2023.
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The Arizona Court of Appeals declined to accept Attorney General Kris Mayes’ appeal to prosecute President Donald Trump’s 2020 electors.
The appeals court order said in a brief ruling that, based on its “discretion,” it would not overturn a superior court ruling requiring Mayes to again secure an indictment from a grand jury.
This determination comes just four months after the Maricopa County Superior Court remanded Mayes’ case back to the grand jury.
The judge found that Mayes violated due process when seeking felony indictments for conspiracy, fraud, and forgery against 11 Trump electors.
According to the ruling, Mayes’ failure to give the grand jury a document critical to the electors’ defense, the Electoral Count Act of 1887 (ECA), before securing the indictment deprived the 2020 electors of due process. The ruling meant, effectively, that Mayes had to redo her entire case.
The 2020 electors argued they acted lawfully and in good faith under the ECA.
The attorney general attempted to justify withholding the full text of the ECA from the grand jury by citing the inclusion of “relevant portions” dispersed through memorandums, an interview, a letter, and an article from CNN. The judge declined to accept that select passages of the ECA contextualized in disparate works were equal to the document in its unabridged entirety.
“A prosecutor has a duty to instruct the grand jury on all the law applicable to the facts of the case,” stated the judge. “Due process compels the prosecutor to make a fair and impartial presentation to the grand jury. … Because the State failed to provide the ECA to the grand jury, the Court finds that the defendants were denied a substantial procedural right as guaranteed by Arizona law.”
In order to prosecute the 2020 electors, the superior court ruled, Mayes would have to disclose the full ECA to a grand jury before securing an indictment.
Arizona GOP Chairwoman Gina Swoboda said Mayes is unfit for office due to her focus on lawfare against political opponents distracting from criminal prosecutions.
“Arizona families deserve an Attorney General who prosecutes criminals, not political opponents,” said Swoboda. “Five years later, Kris Mayes is still fixated on 2020 while violent crime, fentanyl trafficking, and border chaos threaten our communities every single day. This obsession is not justice — it’s politics.”
A spokesman for Mayes would not say to reporters whether they would appeal to the state supreme court. However, Mayes’ communications director, Richie Taylor, rejected Swoboda’s accusation in a statement.
“This case has never been about anything other than preserving democracy and upholding the rule of law,’’ said Taylor. “Pretending it’s politically motivated is just a convenient way for the GOP chair to distract from the facts of the case.’’
This statement was among the first public comments issued by Taylor since deleting his social media accounts after his online commentary emerged on Turning Point USA founder and CEO Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
Tyler Bowyer, the CEO of Turning Point Action (the political action arm of TPUSA) and indicted elector in Mayes’ case, expressed relief at Monday’s ruling and scorn for Mayes’ continued expenditure of public funding on this case.
“Another huge loss for the radical AG who has wasted millions of AZ taxpayer dollars!” posted Bowyer on X.
While I have been in Minnesota for the Charlie Kirk Tour— I got news from my attorneys that our successful remand that was being challenged by the AG in court of appeals has been firmly declined
Another huge loss for the radical AG who has wasted millions of AZ taxpayer dollars! https://t.co/RSlX3Myeea
New campaign signs appearing in the Chandler area are claiming a ballot amendment would keep term limits — but it actually rolls them back.
The signs advocate for the passage of Proposition 410 this November with phrasing that includes “Keep Term Limits.” In reality, the passage of Proposition 410 would amend the city of Chandler’s charter to expand term limits.
Under the proposition, individuals may serve 16 consecutive years — eight years as a council member, eight years as the mayor — before triggering a four-year waiting period.
The proposition seeks to clear away confusion resulting from myriad interpretations of current term limits within the city charter, namely one interpretation which declares that the present charter’s provision for two consecutive term limits on the council applies to the council members and the mayor together.
Additionally, the proposition clarifies that individuals elected to be mayor or elected to the council would be limited to two consecutive terms with a waiting period of four years after those terms. Again, nonconsecutive terms wouldn’t trigger the four-year waiting period.
The four-year waiting period can be waived, however, by the council to fill any vacancies on the council including for the office of the mayor.
The city charter amendment on the November ballot stands to benefit at least one council member: Councilman Matt Orlando, who filed a statement of interest to run for mayor in next year’s election. Orlando is serving his second consecutive term on the council. Under the one interpretation of the current charter, Orlando would not be eligible to run for mayor in 2026.
The council introduced the proposition following challenges to the interpretation of term limits within the current language of the charter, which puts limits on a “consecutive combination” of terms served as mayor and on the council.
“No person shall be eligible to be elected to the office of councilmember for more than two consecutive terms, or to the office of mayor for more than two consecutive terms or to more than a consecutive combination of the same,” states the current charter. “A person elected to two consecutive terms as a councilmember or two consecutive terms as mayor or a combination of the same as above set forth shall not be eligible to hold either office again until four years have elapsed.”
A lawsuit over the current charter language prompted Mayor Kevin Hartke to cease his 2026 campaign for a council seat.
“The City Council desires to propose amendments to the City Charter to clarify certain ambiguities in the Charter regarding the term limits for councilmembers and mayor,” stated the resolution passed earlier this year.
Hartke faced a lawsuit from a former opponent, Ruth Jones, who ran against him in 2022. Jones contended in her lawsuit, filed in May, that the city charter’s term limits invalidated Hartke’s election in 2022. Hartke served on the city council for nine years, twice as vice mayor. Under the one interpretation mentioned above, Hartke would not have qualified to serve as mayor.
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Arizona State University (ASU) received $115 million to establish a new school of conservation with a globalist drive.
The millions from the Rob Walton Foundation, a sustainability nonprofit, launched the Rob Walton School of Conservation Futures on Monday within the newly renamed Rob Walton College of Global Futures.
The new school will focus on global conservation science and workforce development. Though its main operations will be out of Tempe, the school emphasizes hands-on, real-world experience within “hubs” in “conservation critical” locations including Hawai’i.
Its namesake, Rob Walton, is the eldest son of Walmart founder Sam Walton. He formerly chaired the company from 1992 to 2015 before retiring from the board last year and is heir to the Walmart fortune.
Walton said in a statement accompanying the announcement that globalist policies were necessary for conservation.
“Nature doesn’t recognize borders,” said Walton. “To protect ecosystems, we need international cooperation, innovative leadership, and a skilled workforce.”
Peter Schlosser, ASU vice president and vice provost of Global Futures, said the goal of the school is “transforming” conservation academia to yield globalist conservative outcomes.
Conservation International, a Virginia-based environmental nonprofit and one of the top beneficiaries of funding from Walton’s nonprofit, also assisted in the creation of the new school. Its chairman emeritus and founding CEO, Peter Seligmann, said globalism is the best approach for conservation.
“Solving the planet’s greatest conservation challenges requires the wisdom, innovation and leadership of people from all corners of the world,” said Seligmann.
Seligmann is a consistent donor for Democratic candidates. He sat on the the left-wing Council of Foreign Relations think tank, and served on former President Bill Clinton’s board of Enterprise for America.
The current board of directors includes Walton, GAP chairman Robert Fisher, former chairman and CEO of Northrop Grumman Corporation Wes Bush, Hollywood actor Harrison Ford, Hollywood actresses Sabrina Elba and Shailene Woodley, Apple founder Jeff Bezos’ brother Mark Bezos, actress Heather Thompson’s daughter and Nest CEO Kristina Brittenham, former Columbia president Ivan Duque, Apple vice president and former President Barack Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lisa Jackson, fashion designer Stella McCartney, and Mars confectionary heiress Valerie Mars.
Past boards of directors included Walton as well as billionaire and Apple heiress Laurene Powell Jobs.
Walton has been heavily involved with ASU for several years. Walton co-chairs ASU’s Global Institute of Sustainability and co-founded the Rob and Melani Walton Center for Planetary Health in 2022. The latter is a research facility housed at the Tempe campus.
The research facility focuses on sustainability research concerning food, water, and energy. It houses the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory, the Global Institute of Sustainability, the Rob and Melani Walton Sustainability Solutions Service (founded 2012), the College of Global Futures, the School of Sustainability, and the Institute of Human Origins.
The Rob Walton Foundation (RWF, also called the “Rob and Melani Walton Foundation”) uses its tens of millions each year to support large-scale conservation efforts, primarily in Africa. Supported projects include the African Parks, Conservation International, Blue Nature Alliance, and Legacy Landscapes Fund.
The new school named after Walton at ASU will be led by a chair, and include three professorships to supply research and education as well as full and partial scholarships through the Rob Walton Scholars Fund. On one section of the newly launched site on “expanding educational access,” the school indicates it will structure its admissions around diversity.
The page also includes an “indigenous cultures acknowledgment” recognizing prior inhabitation of the land by dozens of Native American tribes.
The school offers both undergraduate and graduate programs.
Three classes announced for the spring within the school cover an introduction to conservation taught by Sharon Hall (president’s professor in the School of Life Sciences), and two biocultural conservation field expeditions in California taught by Melissa Nelson (indigenous sustainability professor).
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Community members are questioning delays in Deer Valley Unified School District (DVUSD) releases of public records.
Tiffany Hawkins, a former board candidate and parent in the district, reported DVUSD “buried” about 3,000 emails in a public records request. Hawkins accused DVUSD officials of doing so to hide staff usage of school resources and time for electioneering.
DVUSD disgustingly buried 3k emails in a public records request to hide staff shamelessly hijacking school resources and time for election rigging, petition peddling, and political endorsements, flouting AZ law with reckless abandon! Taxpayers demand justice! @GoldwaterInstpic.twitter.com/Pvn6E2RSWB
DVUSD officials have previously faced accusations by parents of electioneering on school grounds. DVUSD Superintendent Curtis Finch was accused of doing so by placing political flyers on cars at school football games.
DVUSD is currently up for a budget override on the ballot this November. The 15 percent maintenance and operations (M&O) will cover approximately nine percent of all salaries, maintain maximum class sizes, pay for support services staff like counselors and nurses, and continue certain student programs such as free full-day kindergarten. This election is mail-in only.
Reporting from the Arizona Auditor General found that DVUSD spends more money on administrative costs in comparison to peer districts, ranking it as “high,” and noted that transportation spending per mile and per rider was “very high.” The report also noted that enrollments have declined steadily.
The auditor general also noted that the average teacher salary was over $2,000 less than the state average — even with the average teachers having over 12 years of experience. The district did apply its additional state monies intended to increase teacher salaries by 20 percent from the 2017 base fiscal year, which raised salaries by 35 percent.
Finch has blamed the state’s school choice program for their financial woes, manifesting as teachers struggling to come up with the funds for basic school supplies.
“Arizona has the most unusual (education) system in the nation. We have zero accountability,” said Finch in an interview with 12 News last week.
Hawkins also alleged that DVUSD denied 41 percent of her public records requests, along with withholding about 37,000 pages.
Arizona Women of Action (AZWOA), an affiliate of Hawkins, reported additional issues with public records requests being fulfilled in an untimely and incomplete manner.
AZWOA reported missing over 142,000 pages, collectively across multiple requests, and delays in responses taking anywhere from 100 to over 300 days.
A community member in Deer Valley Unified School District (@DVUSD) is exposing major delays and withholdings in public records requests, questioning compliance with Arizona’s public records law, which requires timely fulfillment.
DVUSD governing board member Kimberly Fisher said she has experienced “many games played” concerning public records retrieval. Fisher alleged “most” others wouldn’t speak up for “fear” of Superintendent Curtis Finch and his wife.
“Some excess redaction, some missing that suddenly show up, some taking over a year to receive, some they made me come in and scan myself if I wanted to see them only to find they already had them electronically,” said Fisher.
I, as an elected Governing Board member have had many games played with public records. Some excessive redaction, some missing that suddenly show up, some taking over a year to receive, some they made me come in and scan myself if I wanted to see them only to find they already…
Hawkins said she filed a complaint alleging “discrimination and retaliation.” The board dismissed the complaint.
Earlier this year, parents expressed concerns with DVUSD compliance with President Donald Trump’s orders to end Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) teachings and programs.
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