Governor Katie Hobbs hired a new press secretary of a migrant background, disrupting her hiring cap in the process.
Hobbs hired Liliana Soto, who immigrated from Sonora, Mexico, to Lompoc, California, at the age of 17, pregnant, and with her then-boyfriend, her child’s father.
Soto said she ran away to the U.S. out of the fear of shame she felt her teenage pregnancy posed, according to a 2021 interview with Palabra.
Soto’s father was also of a migrant background: he was an illegal Guatemalan immigrant living in Mexico, according to Soto’s 2021 “TEDxScottsdaleWomen” talk.
Soto came to Arizona after the birth of her daughter, where she would attend Arizona State University’s journalism school.
Hobbs announced a hiring cap, referenced by some as a freeze, in April after reporting broke in February that she expanded her office staff by 40 percent, or 40 employees. These hires came at an additional cost of about $4 million, though the state faces a $1.7 billion deficit.
As part of the hiring cap, the governor ordered department heads to strategize a $1.2 billion spending cut for the current and future budgets.
“Please note that these cuts will need to be realistic, feasible, and agencies should expect that most items on your list will be reasonably proposed as part of this year’s budget negotiation,” read the letter.
Hobbs denied the hiring restriction was a “freeze,” telling reporters that it was more of a “cap” since agencies were allowed to fill open positions already funded within the budget. Hobbs also clarified later that certain agencies such as the Department of Public Safety would be exempt.
Did @KatieHobbs's office not get their own memo about the hiring freeze?
February: An investigation reveals that Hobbs grew her personal staff by 40% at a $4M cost to taxpayers
Prior to breaking the governor’s hiring freeze, Soto was a University of Arizona assistant journalism professor working as a public affairs specialist for the Mayo Clinic and a freelance journalist.
For several years, Soto was also an ABC15 reporter implementing DEI initiatives like bilingual reporting and fostering inclusive environments, the former of which was considered an unprecedented effort and earned the station an Emmy. Soto’s employment with ABC15 also overlapped with the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, during which time she was tasked with combating COVID-19 misinformation.
Last August, Soto had her border reporting class shoot and produce the documentary series “Beyond the Wall” focusing on the illegal immigrants who died crossing the desert in their attempt to get to the U.S. The focus of the series hinged around the questions: “Does the American Dream exist, if it ever did at all? How can we honor the identity of those who so often go forgotten?”
Soto’s hire comes amid public condemnation from Hobbs and top Democrats regarding a bill that would enable law enforcement to arrest illegal immigrants, HCR 2060.
As I’ve said time and time again: HCR2060 will hurt Arizona businesses, send jobs out of state, make it more difficult for law enforcement to do their jobs, and bust the state’s budget. It will not secure our border.
— Governor Katie Hobbs (@GovernorHobbs) June 4, 2024
Hobbs’ last press secretary, Josselyn Berry, resigned last year at Hobbs’ request after advocating for shooting “transphobes” hours after the Covenant School Shooting in Nashville, Tennessee.
Several months after resigning, Berry returned to her former employer, the dark money nonprofit Progress Now.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
With House Speaker Ben Toma, a congressional candidate, leading the expedition, House Republicans visited the border to assess the crisis for which they say Democrat leaders are to blame.
Toma questioned why, three years into an ever-worsening problem, President Joe Biden and even Governor Katie Hobbs had focused their efforts on derailing solutions. According to Toma and the other Republicans, his bill, HCR 2060, is one of those latest solutions opposed by the likes of Hobbs and Biden.
“Arizonans need to ask Democrats like President Joe Biden and Governor Katie Hobbs why they are fighting to keep America’s border wide open,” said Toma. “It’s unsafe, it’s unsecure, it’s un-American, and it’s indefensible.”
House Republicans visited the U.S. border near Yuma early Monday to observe illegal human traffic and its federal facilitation. Speaker @RepBenToma issued the following statement afterward:
“Arizonans need to ask Democrats like President Joe Biden and Governor Katie Hobbs why… pic.twitter.com/JBZxW1l3E5
— Arizona House Republicans (@AZHouseGOP) June 3, 2024
The Senate passed HCR 2060 last month; it now needs final House consideration before it can appear on the ballot. The bill would make it statutorily unlawful for all border crossings outside lawful ports of entry. Law enforcement would only have probable cause for arrest of an illegal immigrant should a law enforcement officer witness the illegal crossing, technology records the illegal crossing, or any such other constitutionally sufficient indicator of probable cause exist.
The bill would mean more power to the state to handle its borders. Currently, the courts only recognize the federal government as having the authority to detain illegal immigrants.
Governor Hobbs called the bill a “stunt” for “cheap political points,” a job killer that would “demonize” communities and make the job of law enforcement more difficult.
The Senate’s vote to pass HCR2060 is a stunt to score cheap political points. This ballot referral will kill jobs, demonize our communities, and make it harder for law enforcement to keep us safe. I urge the House to do the right thing and oppose this measure.
— Governor Katie Hobbs (@GovernorHobbs) May 23, 2024
The statute would only apply proactively, not retroactively. The nearly 7.9 million illegal immigrants encountered along the southern border since Biden took office (not counting the “gotaways,” or the witnessed but not encountered) would be safe from arrest under the law.
The statute would also define unlawful presence in the country as applying to those who were paroled pursuant to a programmatic grant of parole, such as those created under notice-and-comment rulemaking, and those who were required to be detained under the federal Immigration and Nationality Act but were instead paroled into the country.
Those guilty of illegal entry would earn a class one misdemeanor, elevated to a class six felony should that illegal immigrant have been previously convicted of illegal entry.
Rather than convict or adjudicate an illegal immigrant for illegal entry, HCR 2060 would allow a court to dismiss the charge and instead issue an order to the immigrant to return to the foreign nation from which they entered or attempted to enter the U.S., or the immigrant’s nation of origin. This would only be an option for the court should the illegal immigrant agree to the order, have no prior convictions of illegal entry, have no prior charges of another class one misdemeanor or felony, and have no criminal database hits indicating that they’re a threat to national security.
Early this morning, I went to the southern border with my Republican colleagues to see for ourselves what was happening. At 3am, we came across 35 illegal immigrants from Columbia and Paraguay that were being processed by border patrol.
If the illegal immigrant refuses to comply with their order to return to a foreign nation, they are guilty of a class four felony.
HCR 2060 also branches out into other threats posed by the open border: fentanyl sales. The statute would establish a new crime: “sale of lethal fentanyl,” applying to adults who knowingly transport a narcotic drug for sale containing fentanyl that causes the death of another. The penalty for lethal fentanyl sale would be a class two felony, with all sentencing increased by five years. A presumptive sentence would be 10 years instead of five, a minimum sentence would be nine years instead of four, and a maximum sentence would be 15 years instead of 10.
Even if the Arizona legislature passes HCR 2060 and voters approve it as well, the statute pertaining to illegal immigration wouldn’t go into effect until similar laws — namely that which was passed last year by Texas (SB 4) — have gone into effect for at least 60 days.
The bill is scheduled to go before the House Caucus on Tuesday.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
Peoria Unified School District (PUSD) has approved an application for expansion of federally-funded mental health clinics to seven schools. Board member Heather Rooks was the sole “no” vote on the measure.
The funds are part of a five-year award with the Mental Health Service Professionals (MHSP) Demonstration Grant through the Department of Education (ED).
PUSD was one of 27 school districts nationwide to receive MHSP grant funding originally in 2019. Through that grant, expiring at the end of September, PUSD has maintained three social work field instructors. This new round of funding will maintain and expand the mental health services to those schools without them.
The 2019 MHSP grant funded partnerships with the internship pipelines in Northern Arizona University, Grand Canyon University, and Arizona State University; social work intern field instructors; training for school social workers and school mental health counselors; conference attendance; training school social worker interns (totalling 83); training for teachers, staff, and administrators; purchasing of skill building materials and resources; and parental resources. All of these would be funded through the 2024 grant to a greater degree to include those schools without MHSP resources.
The district’s seven schools, which represent 24 percent of the student population, that don’t have direct mental health services are: Cactus High School, Liberty High School, Oakwood Elementary School, Sunset Heights Elementary School, Frontier Elementary School, and Vistancia Elementary School.
Across these schools, the district reported in its grant narrative draft elementary students exhibiting greater instances of self-harming behaviors, suicidal ideation, anxiety, depression, aggression, bullying, cyberbullying, poor relationship skills, and poor conflict resolution skills. High school students were reportedly exhibiting similar behaviors, including a handful of suicides and attempted suicides in the last school year.
In that school year, the district reported just over 1,200 “crises events” that required intervention: suicide risks, child abuse or neglect, or severe emotional distress.
The district has about 34,700 students across 43 schools, with about 47 percent qualifying for free or reduced lunch. PUSD is the fourth-largest district in the state.
Public comment against the measure expressed concerns about student safety, such as data mining and “lab rat” handling of the students. Some wondered why the district would offer such a private service that they considered to be a parental responsibility.
A supporter of the measure, Vanessa Goolsby with the Peoria Education Association, said that it was the social workers that prevented the “bad things” from happening to children.
The board defended the expansion of social workers as a much-needed resource.
Melissa Ewing said that concerned community members were confusing the mental health services provided by schools and the medical community. Ewing said the former isn’t comprehensive, in that the district doesn’t staff doctors, provide diagnoses, or prescribe medications.
Ewing stressed that social work intervention doesn’t occur without parental consent, and that the data supports social work intervention as effective in improving academic performance.
David Sandoval said the expansion of services was needed due to the rise in mental health issues.
Board member Bill Sorensen said that the social workers have done good work for children in need beyond mental health services.
Rooks expressed concern that the district was taking on mental health cases instead of referring families to outside providers, and contested that some diagnoses must be happening for the district to be able to report identifying certain behavioral problems.
Rooks said that State Representative Beverly Pingerelli, a former board member, described the initial MHSP grant from 2019 as part of a much smaller initiative that, she says, has grown way out of proportion. She also contested the claim that the social workers operate under parental permission, noting that one parent’s son had been pulled numerous times from classes to discuss his mental health with a social worker — without parental consent — despite undergoing outside treatment arranged by his parents.
President Becky Proudfit said that she trusted the district social workers to provide healthy and safe services to students, and that her own children have benefited from them.
Watch the PUSD discussion of the MHSP grant here:
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
GOP Senate candidates Kari Lake and Mark Lamb traded barbs this week over their views of one another’s handling of the 2022 election.
Lake and Lamb confronted one another during an online forum hosted by the Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC) Action last week. The panel was not meant as a debate — Lake recently refused to do a formal debate with her primary opponent — but it ultimately turned into one.
Lamb accused Lake of “surrendering to the establishment,” and that her lack of public service experience made her unsuitable for office.
“It’s easy to talk about it if you’ve never served, it’s another thing to actually do it,” said Lamb. “I’ve actually had to make hard decisions. I’ve been in there when we’ve had to stand up against COVID and say we’re not doing the lockdowns, we’re not doing the mask mandates, we’re not doing the vaccines.”
Lake accused Lamb of cowardice for not using his law enforcement authority to pressure a change of outcome in the 2022 election, where she lost her gubernatorial race to Governor Katie Hobbs. Lake further claimed that law enforcement leaders submitted proof of election fraud to Lamb.
“I took every hit fighting for security in our elections. Sheriffs had the ability to fight, and the sheriff in Pinal County cowered, and he’s a total coward when it comes to election integrity,” said Lake.
Lamb speculated that Lake began calling him names because his assessment of her “touched a nerve.” The sheriff said that Lake was telling lies about his handling of mismanaged elections, clarifying that Pinal County fired those responsible for the underprinting of ballots, and established cameras and citizen monitors of drop boxes.
“Yes, we didn’t print enough ballots [in 2022] in Pinal County, and guess who didn’t complain about it because she won the primary? Kari didn’t. It didn’t matter to her until the general election,” said Lamb.
Lamb said that no one has been able to provide him with evidence of widespread fraud, but that he doubted President Joe Biden received as many votes as reported.
“I live in a world of evidence, what you can prove in court beyond a reasonable doubt,” said Lamb. “Any one of these people, including Kari, could’ve brought me the evidence that was actionable for me in court to do something about it.”
In a press release responding to Lake’s attacks, Lamb said Lake was a “bully” with a bold disrespect for the rule of law. Lamb disputed that Lake or any others presented to him any evidence indicating widespread material of fraud.
“Kari’s use of the word ‘coward’ is a slap in the face to every man and woman that upholds our laws and wears a badge and uniform,” said Lamb. “Her blatant disregard for the rule of law is not what Arizonans would expect someone running for the United States Senate to ever say, especially during what was supposed to be a civilized political discussion.”
Lamb added that Lake was lashing out at others for losing the election.
“I took an oath of office to support and defend the U.S. Constitution and uphold law and justice,” said Lamb. “I have to deal with facts, not opinions or feelings. I get it. Kari Lake is upset she lost her election. It’s time she takes some personal responsibility for losing an election she was supposed to win.”
The most recent polls show Lake trailing Democratic congressman Ruben Gallego in the race. Former President Donald Trump endorsed Lake.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
The state spends billions more on wealthy students who attend public schools than through the Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA), or universal school choice program, according to a new analysis of federal census data from the Goldwater Institute.
The study released earlier this month culminated data from the last five U.S. Census Bureau Household Pulse Surveys ranging from last year to this year assessing school enrollment types for K-12 children across various household incomes.
The Goldwater Institute found that together, the data revealed that nearly one-third of public school students came from households earning over $100,000, of which about half came from households earning over $150,000.
The study disclosed that the Census data, though aggregated, was limited as general approximations due to coming from sample sizes.
Over 80 percent of children from higher-income households enroll at taxpayer expense in Arizona public schools, at a much higher rate than the ESA funds. About 1.1 million students in all attend public schooling.
Goldwater estimated that the higher rate amounts to anywhere from $2 to $4 billion annually for children from households earning over $100,000, and anywhere from $1 to $2 billion for children from households earning over $150,000.
“[W]hen it comes to funding higher-income students in the public school, the state is being charged specifically for those students, whose collective presence in the public school system does add significant cost to the public school system: both variable and fixed costs, including the necessity to hire additional staff or construct or renovate for larger campuses,” read the report.
The minimum formula funding for one public school student is about $7,500 annually for a baseline. That number rises to $12,200 with the inclusion of other funds like district overrides, bonds, and school facilities funding. The minimum tops out at over $14,700 with the inclusion of federal funding.
By comparison, Goldwater reported that average ESA funds amount to about $7,400. These students also lose out on several sources of fixed and variable costs, such as the Classroom Site Fund, and those funds revert back to the public school system.
Overall, the institute estimated that it costs taxpayers 10 to 20 times more to educate students of wealthy families in public schools than it does for similarly-situated families in the ESA Program.
The Goldwater Institute issued the study on the heels of Governor Katie Hobbs’ January announcement of a budget plan to revoke ESA Program scholarships from nearly 50,000 students.
Aggregated data collected by Goldwater in the course of their research further suggested that about 20 percent of private schoolers came from households with an income under $50,000, while about 50 percent came from households with an income under $100,000.
As for homeschoolers, the institute found that nearly 60 percent of those students hailed from households with income levels under $100,000.
In addition to state and Census Bureau data, the report relied on research from the National Center for Education Statistics, Reason, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
