by Terri Jo Neff | Sep 6, 2022 | News
By Terri Jo Neff |
The U.S. Census Bureau recently announced it wants the public to share ideas and comments about how the 2030 Census can be improved. The deadline for responding is Nov. 15, according to a Federal Register Notice.
The Census Bureau is in the early stages of planning the next decennial census, which includes “doing a deep dive on 2020 Census Data Quality,” the announcement states.
This is of particular interest in Arizona, where the Census Bureau estimated earlier this year that Hispanics and Native Americans were undercounted. The undercount in population is believed by many census observers to have cost Arizona a 10th seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
By late 2024, the agency expects to outline its initial operational design for the 2030 Census, followed by refining procedures and putting technology and other infrastructure in place for the national count in April 2030.
As part of the planning efforts, the public is invited to comment on how the Census Bureau can improve the public’s census experience. Particular attention will be paid to suggestions on how to better reach and count historically undercounted people.
“Public input is needed now so it can inform the Census Bureau’s decisions on the initial operational design, along with the findings of dozens of research projects underway,” according to the announcement.
Particular attention will be paid to more effectively reaching mobile populations as well as people living in informal, complex living arrangements. Planners are also interested in suggestions related to technology that can make responding to the census more user-friendly and enhance the efforts of census takers.
Census officials are also interested in better understanding additional data sources (administrative records or other data sources) and methods that could increase census operational efficiency and effectiveness and improve data quality, as well as tools and messaging that should be used to reach out to each household.
Another area for suggestions and comments involves how the Census Bureau can increase census access for people with disabilities, as well as improving support for the public in responding online, by phone, by mail, in English, or in another language.
Comments can be made via email to DCMD.2030.Research@census.gov or by going online to the 2030 Census webpage.
Decennial census data is confidential under federal law for 72 years to protect respondents’ privacy. Data collected from the first census in 1790 through 1950 is available for free at most public libraries or from several pay-to-view online services.
Records of the 1960 to 2020 censuses can only be obtained by the person named in the record (or their heir) by submitting a required form.
by Terri Jo Neff | Sep 5, 2022 | Economy, News
By Terri Jo Neff |
Financial eyes are focused on data recently released by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Arizona showing August had the highest number of new filings this year, while also being the first month of 2022 to have more new filings than the same month in 2021.
Bankruptcy filings are considered a lagging indicators of financial stress and economic health, and the number of new filings goes up and down from month to month. However, billions of dollars from various federal stimulus programs have ebbed in 2022, meaning no more Paycheck Protection Program, no CARES stimulus checks to individuals, and the end of the federal foreclosure moratorium.
Some Arizona families and businesses may no longer have a lifeboat, according to commercial debt collection company ABC/Aemga.
“Companies that have struggled throughout the pandemic, but were kept afloat by stimulus money and generous lenders, may face trouble during the rest of 2022 and into 2023 once those funds run out, as the Fed continues to tighten its ultra-loose monetary policy by reducing asset holdings and raising the Fed Funds Rate target, and credit conditions start to tighten,” the company warns.
Sectors such as retail, construction, health care, and certain manufacturers adversely affected by higher raw material and labor costs remain particularly vulnerable, while travel, hospitality, commercial real estate, consumer goods, entertainment, midstream oil and gas, and power and other energy infrastructure also face pressure and uncertainty, according to ABC/Amega.
For the first eight months this year, there were 5,879 new filings statewide, down from 6,765 for the same period in 2021. Slightly more than 12 percent of this year’s new cases were filed pro se, or without legal representation.
If the August pace continues for the rest of 2022 the total filings for the year in Arizona will come close to last year’s total of 9,353. By comparison, there were 12,903 filings in Arizona in 2020 and 16,237 in 2019.
The majority of new cases filed in the state as of Aug. 31 this year were under Chapter 7 (4,803) followed distantly by Chapter 13 (1,029) and Chapter 11 (46). There has also been a lone Chapter 12 filing.
While households and businesses in Maricopa, Pima, and Pinal counties lead in filings of as Aug. 31 at 3,887, 896, 439 respectively, Yavapai and Mohave counties have similar totals at 151 and 146 respectively.
The three border counties of Cochise, Santa Cruz, and Yuma have 80, 42, and 106, respectively. Meanwhile, Apache (4), Coconino (29), Gila (28), Graham (17), Greenlee (3), LaPaz (7), and Navajo (44) represent less than 2.3 percent of all filings in the state as of Aug. 31.
by Terri Jo Neff | Sep 4, 2022 | Education, News
By Terri Jo Neff |
The Arizona Attorney General’s Office has been called on to take immediate action to prevent public school districts from using taxpayer funds in an effort to reduce how many of the state’s K-12 students are eligible for up to $7,000 for educational expenses.
The Goldwater Institute worked earlier this year to expand eligibility for Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program from roughly 11,000 K-12 students to all of the estimated 1.1 million students. Gov. Doug Ducey signed the legislation in July and it takes effect later this month.
However, Democrats and special interest groups, including union organizations, have pledged to stop universal ESAs from becoming a reality. And Arizona’s public school districts appear poised to violate state law to do so, according to Scott Day Freeman, a Senior Attorney for the Goldwater Institute’s Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation.
“Arizonans would rightly be appalled to learn that school districts will be using taxpayer resources to have district employees participate in an event clearly geared toward a political objective: undoing Arizona’s innovative, new universal school-choice program,” Freeman wrote on Aug. 31 to Michael S. Catlett, the Chief Counsel of Special Litigation for Attorney General Mark Brnovich.
In the letter, Freeman outlines the Goldwater Institute’s concern that many of the state’s school districts are poised to use taxpayer dollars to send representatives to a politically motivated meeting later this week at which attendees will be encouraged to help overturn Arizona’s new ESA opportunity.
“Arizona Revised Statute Section 15-511 prohibits school districts from spending or using district school resources to influence the outcomes of elections, including the support or opposition of ballot measures,” Freeman wrote. “But school districts are doing precisely that, and the Attorney General is statutorily empowered to stop it.”
Freeman notes numerous public school district employees plan to attend a “Law Conference” presented by the Arizona School Boards Association at the J.W. Marriott Camelback Inn in Paradise Valley on Sept. 7 through 9 that will include programming by Friends of the ASBA, a 501(c)(4) organization opposed to school choice.
Friends of the ASBA, Freeman wrote Catlett, “will be working at the conference to gather signatures on a petition to overturn the universal school choice reform via ballot referendum.” He added that the ASBA “has brought its political advocacy to a fine point in its upcoming Law Conference.”
The Goldwater Institute is asking the Arizona Attorney General’s Office (AGO) to immediately investigate and “take all appropriate legal action to enforce Arizona’s law prohibiting school districts from using public recourses to support a ballot measure seeking to invalidate Arizona’s universal ESA program,” Freeman wrote.
The authority of the AGO to act is provided in ARS 15-511 “but only if your office acts promptly,” he added.
In a follow-up public statement, Freeman said the Goldwater Institute is dedicated to exposing the plans of entrenched interests in education to use hard-earned taxpayer dollars to deprive parents of the educational freedom provided by ESAs.
“All Arizona families should be free to make educational choices for their children without having the government work against them by rigidly defending a status quo that protects bureaucrats and government unions,” he stated.
by Terri Jo Neff | Sep 3, 2022 | News
By Terri Jo Neff |
What happens when retaining an attorney is not an option during a divorce, bankruptcy, or other non-criminal type of legal matter? In Arizona, one option is to work with a legal document preparer who is certified under rules adopted by the Arizona Supreme Court.
Legal document preparers may provide general legal information—such as what form is needed and which deadlines apply—but may not give legal advice. All individuals and businesses offering such a service without the supervision of an attorney in good standing with the State Bar of Arizona must satisfactorily pass a Legal Document Preparer Program.
Several attorneys told AZ Free News they regularly refer people to a legal document preparer for matters that don’t necessarily need an attorney, such as an uncontested divorce without children. A legal document preparer is also much better than going it alone when affording an attorney is not an option, they say.
“It’s certainly something attorneys don’t want to publicize, but we would certainly rather see someone have the professional services of a document preparer than try to go it alone in court,” one attorney explained.
There are now dozens of legal document preparers throughout Arizona, all of whom must be certified under rules set forth by the Arizona Supreme Court. Some preparers work for themselves but most are employed by a business which also must be approved by the Court.
One of those is AZ Legal Documents by JoJo, owned and operated by Georgiana “JoJo” Aguilar, who began working in Cochise County as a paralegal in 2004. She later opened her own company and is certified as the company’s designated principal. This means she is responsible for every document that leaves the office even if one of her employees prepares it.
AZ Legal Documents by JoJo specializes in family law matters, including divorce and legal separation, child custody and child support, guardianships, and wills. Aguilar also offers services for bankruptcy, real estate, and several other non-criminal matters. Those areas of law have frequent rules changes, requiring Aguilar and her staff like all certified legal document preparers to undergo continuing education each year.
“We are able to ensure our customers have the correct form or forms needed for their situation,” she said. “We also have the experience to know what the Court needs to have with the form, which can save customers time and money.”
Another legal document preparer business is East Valley Legal which is owned by Chelsea Woodworth, who is a member of the Board of Nonlawyer Legal Service Providers.
Woodworth, who also owns a legal paraprofessional firm called Chelsea Legal PLC. in Mesa, worked as a Crime Victim Advocate, an Undercover Private Investigator, and for the Department of Homeland Security prior to entering the legal field in 2013. She is a Legal Paraprofessional with endorsements in Limited Jurisdiction Civil and Family Law, a Certified Legal Document Preparer, and an Advanced Certified Paralegal.
The experience Woodworth brings to the field is one reason she is a member of the Board of Nonlawyer Legal Service Providers.
The Board of Nonlawyer Legal Service Providers next meets Sept. 26 at the Arizona Supreme Court at 1501 W. Washington Street in Phoenix. The public may join the virtual meeting or attend in person.
by Terri Jo Neff | Sep 1, 2022 | Economy, News
By Terri Jo Neff |
A Sierra Vista-based company which started with just one government contract in 2017 has been named to Inc. Magazine’s 5000 fastest growing private companies in America, ranking in the top five in Arizona and number 158 nationwide with more than 3,200 percent growth the last three years.
Nemean Solutions provides a variety of services to the U.S. military, as well as state and federal agencies in support of America’s Defense, Intelligence, and Aerospace sectors. It ranks #5 of the 154 honorees based in Arizona, with those companies accounting for $18.5 billion in total revenue and more than 12,000 jobs, according to the magazine.
The company’s three-year growth also ranked #4 of the 120 businesses nationwide in the Government Services industry to make the 5,000 list in 2022. They far outpaced their Arizona competitors MO Studio (ranked 2,088) and Vector Solutions (ranked 4,743).
Nemean Solutions was founded by Craig Mount and Simon Ortiz in Mount’s kitchen in Sierra Vista with plans to offer intelligence contracting at the U.S. Army’s Fort Huachuca. Today it employs nearly 80 full-timers and dozens of part-timers as a certified SBA 8a Native Hawaiian-Owned and veteran-operated company.
Mount, a former Sierra Vista city councilmember, told AZ Free News he and Ortiz started the company with $5,000. It then took six months for the two former U.S. Army members to get all the clearances necessary to work at secured military installations before receiving about $80,000 in contracts.
Two year later, Nemean Solutions had its SBA 8a certification which allows the company to receive sole source service contracts of up to $100 million per award. Today, Mount serves as president and Ortiz as CEO of the company which could end the year with more than $8 million in revenue.
“We want to thank our partners at Ho’okahua Hawaiian Foundation, our fantastic mentors at Trideum Corporation, our amazing banking team at Bank of America -Chris Patty, Christa Williams and Edward Spenceley- for putting the fuel into the machine, the ever patient Kelly McBride and her outstanding team at Global Dynamic Consulting, Inc. keeping the wheels on, and all our amazing industry teaming partners,” Mount said.
But most of all, he acknowledged “the Pride of Nemean” as he calls the company’s “incredible employees and their families who dedicate their professional time, energy, talent and experience to deliver Unbreakable Values and Superior Solutions to our nation’s military in fourteen states.”
Ortiz also gave credit to two Sierra Vista business development experts for their support over the years with Nemean Solutions’ growth.
“Mark Schmidt and his team at the Cochise College Small Business Development Center have been amazing in championing for Sierra Vista’s small business community and for us at Nemean,” Ortiz told AZ Free News. “Also, we would be remiss in not giving credit to Mignonne Hollis of the Arizona Regional Economic Development Foundation for helping us establish our headquarters in Sierra Vista.”
Nemean Solutions is a key Cybersecurity services provider for U.S. Army 7th Signal Command (Theater), U.S. Army NETCOM, U.S. Army CSLA, and the U.S. Air Force, offering Risk Management Framework support services and Cyber Electromagnetic Activities Subject Matter Support and Emerging Threat for U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force commands.
It also employs expert Administrative and Project Management Professionals to support critical missions for the U.S. Army including the Intelligence Center or Excellence, U.S. Army Mission Command Center of Excellence, and Army Research Office.
Other Nemean Solutions employees are experts in Military Support, Military Intelligence and Intelligence Operations Support, providing critical mission support for the U.S. Army Intelligence Center of Excellence, U.S. Army Maneuver Center of Excellence, U.S. Army Fires Center of Excellence, U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence, and U.S. Naval Special Warfare Command.
And the company currently provides vital Information Technology Services for U.S. Army CECOM, U.S. Army NETCOM, and the U.S. Navy through a leadership team which has over a decade of Department of Defense Joint Live, Virtual, and Constructive Modeling & Simulation and Experimentation Support.
In addition to the recent recognition by INC. Magazine, Nemean Solutions was the recipient of the 2022 SBA Arizona Small Business Development Center’s Success Award, the 2021 and 2020 HIRE VETS Platinum Medallion awards from the U.S. Department of Labor, and the 2021 SBA SBDC Arizona Veteran-Owned Congressional Business Economic Impact Success Story.
