A series of public safety reforms will go into effect after Gov. Katie Hobbs signed them into law over the past week.
State Sen. Kevin Payne (R-LD27), chairman of the Senate Public Safety Committee, sponsored the bills. Payne’s press release announcing the reforms said the state’s approach to public safety should be proactive, not just reactive.
“Public safety is about more than responding after a crime has occurred,” said Payne. “It’s about stopping criminal organizations before they victimize more people and making sure the men and women who protect our communities have the support they need to do their jobs.”
The bills in this bipartisan public safety reform package — Senate Bills 1215, 1400, 1452, and 1493 — represent changes to cargo theft investigations and prosecutions, wellness and crisis response for first responder employees, and workers’ compensation claims for cancer-stricken firefighters.
SB 1215 represented a fix to something Payne called a “drafting error” in the state’s presumptive cancer law which enabled challenges to workers’ compensation claims filed by first responders diagnosed with certain cancers contracted while in the line of duty.
Workers’ compensation providers have reportedly denied claims based on what critics of the original legislation called a “punctuation problem” with missing commas that created ambiguous meaning and purportedly allowed providers to reject certain claims.
These latest legislative fixes are retroactive to July 1, 2021.
“Firefighters put their lives on the line for complete strangers every day,” said Payne. “When they develop cancer linked to years of service, they shouldn’t have to fight insurance companies over a misplaced comma in state law.”
SB 1400 permits first responder entities to establish wellness and crisis response programs for those employees exposed to traumatic events in the line of duty. Programs would offer employees access to certain resources including counseling, peer support, and crisis intervention services. Part of that legislation, Payne noted, created confidentiality protections for participating employees’ communications.
“Our firefighters, police officers, dispatchers, and public safety professionals witness things most people will never experience,” said Payne. “Too often, the culture of these professions tells them to carry those burdens alone.”
SB 1452 creates the Cargo Theft Task Force under the attorney general, dedicated specifically to investigating and prosecuting organized cargo theft operations: the theft, diversion, embezzlement, unlawful taking, or fraudulent acquisition of cargo or freight.
The bill requires the attorney general to invite federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to participate in the task force.
Task force membership will include one full-time prosecutor, one full-time paralegal, one full-time support staff member, six investigators, and any additional law enforcement personnel designated by the attorney general.
In addition to their investigatory duties, the task force will be required to meet regularly to review investigations and intelligence and share case updates, and to coordinate with local, state, or federal law enforcement on case referrals and the latest developments in the illicit cargo theft industry.
The attorney general will be required to submit an annual report on the task force’s activities, intelligence gathered, and any recommendations for legislative or policy action.
“Organized cargo theft has become a sophisticated criminal enterprise that impacts far more than warehouses and trucking companies,” said Payne. When criminals steal products moving through the supply chain, Arizona families ultimately pay the price at the checkout counter.”
SB1493 would require employers of wrongfully terminated law enforcement officers to cover any appeal costs and fees.
“When an officer is wrongly terminated and later proven right, justice shouldn’t stop at reinstatement,” said Payne. “No one should have to drain their savings or jeopardize their family’s financial future simply to clear their name.”
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
Andrew Costanzo, a Republican candidate for the 7th legislative district, still believes public education is key to Arizona’s future. But Costanzo says Arizona has serious need for reform — and that’s why public schools continue to decline.
Costanzo has proposed remedying low student proficiency rates by increasing school choice competition, mirroring Mississippi law, and implementing merit-based bonuses for educators.
He has also proposed growing the state’s universal school choice program by allowing property taxes to follow the child rather than according to the geographical predeterminations that fund school districts.
Costanzo is also very much against the proposed ballot initiative to end universal school choice. He said opportunity for educational freedom should be afforded to all, regardless of economic status. He also said educators would benefit from greater competition because they would be marketable on merit.
“How will these children reach their full potential as adults if they can’t read? We’re causing them a lifetime of pain,” said Costanzo in an interview last month. “The schools need something that benefits all businesses, and that’s competition.”
Costanzo also proposed enacting legislation similar to Mississippi’s Literacy-Based Promotion Act in Arizona, which policy experts have credited with a dramatic turnaround in student outcomes.
The lifelong Republican, who operates a family business near Payson, views freedom as the result of individuals taking on personal responsibilities and risks.
“Security, which is typically imagined, requires minimal personal responsibility and risk,” stated Costanzo’s website. “The alleged security is always provided at the loss of freedom.”
Beyond those philosophical takes on political matters, Costanzo presented a platform heavy on reducing government regulations through serious bureaucratic downsizing and greater deference to local governments, while increasing election security measures, resisting increased gun restrictions and abortion freedoms, retaining protections for law enforcement, and rolling back renewable energies.
Costanzo said in an interview last month that the legislature must “economically strangle” cartels and further scrutinize state agencies to recover what he says are sizable amounts of taxpayer funds being lost.
“It is so evident that there is waste, fraud, and abuse [in Arizona],” said Costanzo.
Costanzo’s platform also addressed at length the ongoing consequences of mass illegal immigration.
He described opposition to the present government handling of the illegal immigration crisis. According to Costanzo, the status quo victimizes both the illegal aliens and Americans. Illegal aliens face exploitation due to their vulnerable status as noncitizens, while Americans face the burdens of increased crime and strained public resources.
“Illegal aliens are often exploited financially, physically, or sexually. These people become part of an underclass of humans, a new form of slavery,” said Costanzo. “Whomever the victim, law enforcement resources must be implemented, the legal system is burdened, and incarcerations are applied. All paid for by the American taxpayer. […] [And t]he children of illegal aliens only put more pressure on an already failing [public school] system. Children who do not speak English must receive additional attention and resources, depriving the same from American students.”
Costanzo has been involved with the Arizona Republican Party, Gila County Republican Committee, Maricopa County Republican Committee, and Arizona Law Enforcement Emerald Society. He served as a precinct committeeman as well as a chairman, first vice chairman, and secretary for his legislative district.
This year marks Costanzo’s second time running for this office. He failed to secure the nomination in the 2024 Republican primary, which proved to be more crowded than this year’s primary: six candidates fought for two seats.
The 7th legislative district has fewer contenders in the Republican primary this time around.
State Rep. Walt Blackman is running to retain his seat, the other vacated by the April resignation of former lawmaker David Marshall. Three candidates are fighting for that spot vacated by a would-be incumbent: Costanzo and fellow 2024 primary candidate, Barby Ingle, and former state representative David Cook.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
The town of Gilbert’s vice mayor is one of the biggest individual donors to an effort to end universal school choice in the state.
Councilman Charles “Chuck” Bongiovanni was one of a small number to provide funding to Protect Education, Accountability Now (PEAN), the political action committee behind a ballot initiative to limit access to the Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program.
A majority of PEAN’s funds have come from national and local teachers’ unions: the D.C.-based National Education Association gave $2.5 million, and the Arizona Education Association gave $10,000.
As of this report, only three others donated more to PEAN than Bongiovanni: former PetSmart CEO Phil Francis and his wife, former Valleywise Health Foundation board member Nita Francis, donated $25,000; and a retired Avondale computer software author and frequent donor to Democrats, Roxton Baker, donated $1,000.
Bongiovanni donated $500 to the cause. Excluding Bongiovanni and the other top three individual donors, the median of total donations from individual donors reported so far — about 100 in total — was about $20.
After Bongiovanni, the next-highest donation was in the amount of $250 from Linda Thor, at-large member of the Maricopa County Community College District Governing Board.
Bongiovanni has also laid claim to being the largest donor for the LD14 Democrats, though he has donated to some Republicans.
Bongiovanni, who is running for reelection to the council, is the CEO of Majestic Residences: claimed as the second-largest franchised residential assisted living provider in the country and the largest in its main state of operations, North Carolina.
Bongiovanni’s reelection platform focused on the likelihood of increasing costs to residents in order to address aging infrastructure, which he defined as water, sewer, and road.
However, Bongiovanni has taken a less strict approach to defining infrastructure for the purposes of justifying increased costs and taxes.
In October 2024, Bongiovanni and other council members voted to raise sales taxes on all goods and services sold in Gilbert. The tax raise was controversial beyond the increased financial burden to property owners and businesses: it earned the nickname “the pickleball tax” because the revenue would go to projects not traditionally defined as critical infrastructure, but so defined by the council, like pickleball courts, splash pads, a ropes course, and a statement bridge.
The Goldwater Institute sued the town over the tax in December 2024. The lawsuit accused the council of pushing an illegal tax hike on services. That lawsuit is still active.
What’s more, just last year, the town council approved its third water rate hike since 2024.
The backlash incited the ire of some Gilbert residents, and even one man who was arrested for threatening violence against council members in retaliation over the rate increase.
Bongiovanni also took credit for establishing the town’s hiring of a police officer dedicated to preventing teen violence, and the establishment of the Dementia-Friendly City Program.
In the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce candidate forum in April, Bongiovanni proposed expanding the size of town government to expedite the town’s turnaround times, specifically citing the permitting department.
Bongiovanni didn’t look to accomplish that this year. In the fiscal year 2027 budget passed earlier this month, Bongiovanni and the council approved $2.7 billion representing a commitment to maintenance of present operations, not expansion.
Bongiovanni also hinted at inviting a greater corporate presence into Gilbert, though he declined to elaborate on which entities he has been courting.
“I’m also looking for Disneyland — I don’t mean Disneyland itself, I’m looking for a big project,” said Bongiovanni. “[S]ome very huge projects that bring in, like, $200 million into our tax base. That’s all we’re going to need forever.”
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
Gov. Katie Hobbs rejected legislation that would have imposed an accountability-based intervention system for expectant mothers who abuse substances.
Arizona does not currently punish expectant mothers for drinking alcohol or using drugs.
Lawmakers who passed the bill, SB 1476, said it would have protected children from the harmful consequences of mothers who drink alcohol or use drugs while pregnant.
The bill would have classified those adverse behaviors as child neglect, a class six felony. Expectant mothers would then have several options before them: face legal consequences, or undergo alcohol or drug treatment.
Class six felonies may be modified as class one misdemeanors. This felony level is considered the least severe; punishments can range from probation or prison time from four months to nearly six years, depending on the total number of past felonies and the severity of the offense.
Hobbs dismissed the approach of the bill in her veto letter, arguing that punishments wouldn’t deter mothers from abusing substances while pregnant.
“Further criminalization will not yield safer pregnancies and births in Arizona,” said Hobbs. “I instead invite you to join me in efforts to expand access to substance use treatment.”
Sen. Shawnna Bolick (R-LD2), sponsor to SB 1476, said in a press release announcing the bill’s passage earlier this month that the legislation would enable the justice system to intervene on the child’s behalf and get the mother into drug or alcohol recovery programs.
“Every child deserves a safe and healthy start in life,” said Bolick. “When substance abuse harms a child before they’re even born, the law should recognize that reality while also encouraging mothers to seek treatment and recovery. This bill strikes an appropriate balance between accountability and compassion, with both the mother’s and child’s well-being remaining the top priority.”
The latest data cited by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported that, on average, about six out of every 1,000 newborns in the hospital are diagnosed with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), the clinical term for babies born with drug dependence. Per the CDC, NAS increased by over 80% from 2010 to 2017.
Arizona has one of the highest NAS rates in the nation. Out of every 1,000 hospitalizations of newborns, nine are diagnosed with NAS. NAS diagnoses have steadily increased in the state since 2009.
The latest reporting from the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) stated that 97% of babies diagnosed with NAS, Substance Exposed Newborns (SEN), or Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome (NOWS) received treatment services within 30 days of birth in the 2025 fiscal year.
During her first year in office, Hobbs vetoed legislation that would have required infants born alive during an abortion to receive medical interventions to preserve their life and health.
The governor said the bill impermissibly interfered with the relationship between the woman and her doctor, and a breach of her campaign promise to kill any bill perceived as interfering with abortion rights.
“It’s simply not the state’s role to make such difficult medical decisions for patients,” said Hobbs.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
Scottsdale leaders have accused senior executives with the weapons company behind the Taser, Axon Enterprises, of using a pay-to-play scheme to sway the outcome of the Scottsdale City Council election.
Scottsdale City Councilman Barry Graham, former Councilman Bob Littlefield, and former State Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita made the case for their complaint in a letter to the Axon Enterprise board of directors. All three are also running for council seats.
In a press release, Graham accused Axon’s senior executives of engaging in what appeared to be an attempt to influence the city council election. If their actions were what they appeared to be, said Graham, then that would raise troubling implications concerning corporate involvement in local elections.
The letter to Axon’s board claimed Axon executives funneled over $1.1 million into at least one political action committee their cohorts created — Arizonans for a Better Future — to defeat city council candidates opposed to a rezoning for their company’s headquarters campus.
These same cohorts created another political action committee earlier this month, Better Together, but total funds aren’t yet available since its first campaign finance report won’t be due until July 15.
Ballots for the city council election began to be mailed out on Wednesday.
This power struggle between Scottsdale leadership and Axon can be traced back to 2024, when a lame-duck majority of the Scottsdale City Council approved Axon’s petition to rezone 74 acres for apartments to serve its new headquarters. Scottsdale residents who objected to the rezoning formed the Taxpayers Against Awful Apartment Zoning Exemptions and successfully gathered more than 25,000 signatures for a ballot referendum.
However, before that election could occur, Axon headed off a potential voter rejection of their desired rezoning by convincing the legislature to pass SB 1543, dubbed the “Axon Bill.” The legislation prevents municipalities with populations between 200,000 to 500,000 from allowing residents to weigh in on certain land zoning measures pertaining to hoteling and housing.
The legislative workaround irked Scottsdale’s elected leaders, including key Scottsdale lawmakers who claimed they were left out of discussions on the bill. Mayor Lisa Borowsky accused Gov. Katie Hobbs and the legislature of “unconstitutional overreach” that would ultimately harm the Scottsdale community.
I am disappointed with the way the Axon Bill has played out, culminating with the Governor signing this awful legislation—-without any discussion with representatives of #Scottsdale, knowing the impact it will have exclusively on our communities.
These political action committees were characterized as coordinating entities engaged in “aggressive” political campaigns against Graham, Littlefield, and Ugenti-Rita, whom the letter said were the only three candidates that had supported all but Axon’s apartment component of their headquarters project.
“[T]he circumstantial evidence here is substantial and difficult to ignore. It suggests that senior executives of a major public corporation are attempting to remove local elected officials and candidates perceived as insufficiently supportive of the company’s development objectives,” stated the letter. “Scottsdale voters should decide who represents Scottsdale — not corporate executives, political consultants, or special interests with access to virtually unlimited financial resources.”
The complaint letter relayed that the political action committee was created and entirely funded by Axon leadership.
Axon lobbyist Chris Baker and Axon spokesman David Leibowitz formed the two political action committees. Arizonans for a Better Future received $500,000 from the Axon company itself, $500,000 from Axon CEO Rick Smith, $100,000 from Axon President Josh Isner, and $20,000 from Axon Chief Legal Officer Isaiah Fields.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
