Gov. Katie Hobbs hung four “Progress” Pride flags from the governor’s office on the first day of Pride Month.
The Progress Pride Flag is an expansion of the traditional rainbow Pride flag: it includes light pink, light blue, and white to represent transgender individuals, and black and brown to represent people of color.
Hobbs said that LGBTQ+-identifying individuals brought “light and energy” to the state.
“I will continue to work alongside you until we have an Arizona where everyone, no matter who they are or who they love, has the safety, freedom, and opportunity to truly live their authentic lives,” said Hobbs.
Kicking off pride month leaving no room for doubt that in Arizona, we celebrate the light and energy the LGBTQ+ community brings to our state. I will continue to work alongside you until we have an Arizona where everyone, no matter who they are or who they love, has the safety,… pic.twitter.com/2ImKMEKkF3
— Governor Katie Hobbs (@GovernorHobbs) June 2, 2023
Pride Month can be traced back to the first Pride marches held in late June, 1970 on the one-year anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall Uprising, or Stonewall Riots, in Manhattan, New York. The uprising consisted of six days of riots in response to a police raid on a gay bar in Manhattan, New York. At that time, states widely prohibited homosexual relations. Activists commemorated the week-long riots with marches in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco.
In Hobbs’ campaign platform, the governor promised to enact anti-discrimination policies that explicitly banned LGBTQ+ discrimination in housing, education, adoption, foster care, insurance, public accommodations, and credit procurement. Hobbs also promised to ban law enforcement profiling based on gender identity and sexual orientation.
Hobbs’ first executive order prohibited gender identity discrimination in state employment and contracts.
In a March event with One N Ten, a pro-LGBTQ+ advocacy organization, Hobbs served as the honorary chair. The governor pledged her allegiance to LGBTQ+ individuals.
“It’s been a long time coming to have an ally for the LGBTQ+ community in our state’s highest office. So let me say this loudly, clearly, and unequivocally: with me as Governor, you have one,” stated Hobbs.
I’m honored to be the Honorary Chair of this year’s @1n10 Fresh Brunch, celebrating 30 years of their impactful work in our community.
It’s been a long time coming to have an ally for the LGBTQ+ community in our state’s highest office. So let me say this loudly, clearly, and… pic.twitter.com/NZLoGWUrqX
One N Ten advances LGBTQ+ ideology in both minors and young adults, ages 11-24. They offered a peer support program to gender transitioning patients from Phoenix Children’s Hospital.
In April, Hobbs vetoed SB 1005, which prohibited a court from granting attorney fees, expenses, or damages to a governmental entity or official concerning a parent’s lawsuit alleging that the entity or official interfered with their right to direct the upbringing, education, health care, or mental health of their child.
Hobbs stated in her veto letter that the bill didn’t protect parental rights but rather removes the consequence for frivolous lawsuits. The governor chastised Republican legislators to “turn down the temperature and rhetoric” to produce solutions.
“Across the country and here in Arizona, schools and teachers have been maligned by bad actors who spread baseless theories, seeking to create conflict with teachers, school boards, and administrators,” said Hobbs. “Parents, acting in good-faith concern for their children, are often caught up in the middle of these conflicts.”
This wasn’t the first year that Hobbs used her state office to display LGBTQ+ paraphernalia. Last year while secretary of state, Hobbs’ administration hung a Pride Flag and waved a transgender flag from their office balcony.
On Wednesday, the city of Phoenix gave up its water rights for $60 million in federal funding that may be used for infrastructure. The city cited the historic drought as necessary for its forfeiture.
The trade is a deal offered by the Biden administration to those with Colorado River rights: voluntarily forfeit their water allotment, and in return receive millions of taxpayer dollars. It’s a deal that Tucson also took up last week.
Phoenix forfeited 150,000 acre-feet of its water in Lake Mead over the next three years, in exchange for $400 per acre-foot.
The Biden administration financed the arrangement through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) enacted last year and in 2021, respectively. A combined $15.4 billion from the IRA and BIL were designated for combating drought.
The federal payments for water allocation forfeitures is part of the newly-established Lower Colorado Basin System Conservation and Efficiency Program (LC Conservation Program).
Additional options for cities and states include shorter agreements of water forfeitures for less funding: one year for $330 an acre-foot, or two years for $365 an acre-foot.
Mayor Kate Gallego characterized the trade as one of their moves chalking up a big win for sustainability, alongside an Active Transportation Plan to prioritize transit alternatives such as bicycles, fully electric or liquified natural gas-based buses, and an increase in trees planted.
Gallego shared that the city would apply for another federal grant to expand the number of electric vehicle chargers throughout the city.
Today was a big day for sustainability in Phoenix! 🧵
1⃣ #PHX continues to lead the way to conserve water & combat drought. We voted today to leave up to 150K acre-feet of water in Lake Mead over the next three years, furthering our commitment to protect the Colorado River.
Phoenix and Tucson follow in the tracks of Gov. Katie Hobbs, who joined California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo to collectively forfeit three million acre-feet of water rights over the next three years. That plan, the Lower Basin Plan, equates to $1.2 billion in federal funding altogether.
Joining with California and Nevada, I just announced a new plan to conserve the Colorado River and protect Arizona’s water resources.
— Governor Katie Hobbs (@GovernorHobbs) May 22, 2023
The LC Conservation Program by the Department of the Interior (DOI) has three stages altogether, or “components.” The tradeoff of acre-feet for federal infrastructure funding makes up the first component.
At present, the second component effectively offers a blank check to entities with effective proposals for water conservation and efficiency projects. The application window closed in November.
Similarly, the third component requests proposals for long-term conservation. Proposals for this program component are currently open according to the DOI website.
Senior White House and DOI officials traveled to Arizona and the rest of the lower basin states in April to arrange deals for water conservation efforts.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs is again facing stiff opposition to one of her nominees for leadership with a state agency.
On Wednesday, the Senate Committee on Director Nominations voted to reject Martín Quezada’s appointment to the Arizona Registrar of Contractors.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE- ‘Sanity over Chaos’: Senate Republicans Recommend to Reject Hobbs' Appointment of Unqualified Extremist with Racist Past to Lead ROC ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/r7QsS32mGH
The committee’s action now puts Quezada’s nomination in jeopardy with the full Senate expected to take up the recommendation in the coming days.
During the hearing, former legislator Adam Kwasman, who appeared to be in attendance, tweeted his strong opposition to Quezada’s confirmation, writing, “The Arizona Senate must soundly reject the nomination of Martín Quezada as the director of the RoC. He has demonstrated, in his political career a consistent, radical anti-Jewish viewpoint. He is one of this state’s BDS leaders. Such bigotry has no place in any administration.”
The Arizona Senate must soundly reject the nomination of Martín Quezada as the director of the RoC. He has demonstrated, in his political career a consistent, radical anti-Jewish viewpoint. He is one of this state’s BDS leaders. Such bigotry has no place in any administration. pic.twitter.com/pZ3yBNfZjZ
After the conclusion of the hearing, the panel’s three Republicans shared their thoughts in a press release transmitted by the Senate Republican Caucus. Chairman Jake Hoffman stated, “Mr. Quezada has a history at the Arizona Legislature of spreading antisemitism, which prompted the Israel Heritage Foundation to send Katie Hobbs a letter calling for his termination as ROC Director. What’s equally disturbing are his continual, on-the-record comments made while serving as a legislator regarding hiring and firing practices. According to Mr. Quezada, qualifications for a job are determined by skin color, gender, religion and political affiliation. This is not a philosophy any state agency should ever adopt. The fact that Katie Hobbs is turning a blind eye to this is certainly more indicative of ‘chaos’ and not the ‘sanity’ she promised after taking office.”
Senate President Pro Tempore T.J. Shope added, “The ROC can ultimately make or break the livelihoods of contractors within our state, so it’s important to choose a leader who supports entrepreneurs in their quest to serve our citizens responsibly and honorably. Unfortunately, during his tenure in the Legislature, Mr. Quezada developed a track record of voting against small businesses 82% of the time, according to data released from NFIB. We can’t in good faith sign off on a director who has a history of voting against the community in which he’s tasked with serving.”
And Senate Majority Whip Sine Kerr said, “Some of the more disappointing moments from today’s committee highlighted Mr. Quezada’s baseless and hateful accusations against Republicans as a whole. The ROC Director must be able to work with contractors of all races, genders, religions and political affiliations for the betterment of our state. Unfortunately, Mr. Quezada’s extremist views should automatically disqualify him from serving in this role. I would also argue that any politician who states they don’t believe they need to keep promises made to their constituents is not someone to be trusted in any capacity.”
Hobbs nominated Quezada on January 23, writing, “I have full confidence that the expertise represented in this group of leaders will bring us closer to an Arizona that works for everyone. These directors will rise to both the challenges and opportunities in their departments and in our state.”
From directly supporting local communities to ensuring a strong and safe infrastructure, these departments play a critical role in the everyday lives of all Arizonans.
The Senate Committee on Director Nominations was formed by Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen earlier in the year and was “tasked with gathering information and evaluating qualifications on the governor’s executive appointments in order to recommend a course of action for the Senate to take on each individual.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
Gov. Katie Hobbs selected her former legislative colleague and longtime lobbyist, Chad Campbell, as her replacement chief of staff. The appointment comes less than a week after the resignation of Hobbs’ longtime right-hand woman, Allie Bones: first as assistant secretary of state and, until recently, chief of staff.
Campbell formerly served as the House Minority Leader for the Democrats for four years of his eight-year tenure as a state representative from 2007 to 2015. For four years, Campbell and Hobbs represented the same district; Hobbs took over as minority leader for Campbell in 2015.
Campbell’s legacy includes passing the 2013 Medicaid expansion under former Gov. Jan Brewer, and lobbying for the 2020 legalization of marijuana through Proposition 207.
Campbell served on both of Hobbs’ transition teams, first as secretary of state and then governor this past year. He will assume his position on June 5.
Last year, Campbell co-founded Lumen Strategies Arizona alongside Stacy Pearson, known for assisting in the 2016 defeat of former Sheriff Joe Arpaio and the 2020 legalization of marijuana. Prior to that, Campbell served as an executive for two different consultancy firms: Strategies 360 and Resolute Consulting.
Campbell proved his political acumen as recently as the last election, after he predicted the failure of Maricopa County Attorney candidate Julie Gunnigle’s campaign, describing it as resembling the “worst” he’d seen over the last 30 years. Campbell made the remarks in a video call with other Democratic leaders.
“[Gunnigle’s campaign] reminds me of that: not knowing the audience, not knowing the issues that matter to a lot of voters,” stated Campbell. “And I will say this: the vast majority of Democrats that I know all believe that there needs to be reforms in law enforcement, we believe there needs to be more accountability. But almost everybody I talk to, nobody wants to defund the police, everybody knows we need more public safety resources, which will actually make more accountability.”
Hobbs’ recently departed chief of staff, Bones, resigned last week. Bones was the latest in a rapid series of turnovers in Hobbs’ administration.
Bones’ resignation reflected a pattern from Hobbs’ last female predecessor, Jan Brewer, whose first chief of staff also departed within a year. However, both of former Gov. Doug Ducey’s chiefs of staff lasted years.
How long do AZ governor’s 1st COS last?: Brewer: Less than a year. Ducey: 4 years Hobbs: 5 months Brewer & Hobbs’ 1st chiefs, no legislative experience & both served as Assistant Secretary of State prior to governor’s office. Ducey’s 1st chief, a former House Speaker. https://t.co/JXPUGhsHCD
Bones resignation also followed months of unsuccessful nominations to outfit Hobbs’ cabinet. On Wednesday, the Senate Committee on Director Nominations rejected the Registrar of Contractors nominee, former State Sen. Martin Quezada.
In February, Hobbs faced the retraction of two nominees: Dr. Theresa Cullen as director of Arizona Department of Health Services, and Matthew Stewart as director of the Department of Child Services.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
The city of Tucson traded its water rights in return for $44 million in federal funding that will help pay for infrastructure.
The federal government agreed to pay the city $400 for every acre-foot of water conserved — the city traded away 110,000 acre-feet through 2025.
The city struck the deal with the federal government through provisions within last year’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The White House announced in April that it would use $15.4 billion from the IRA and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to combat drought. $4 billion of IRA funding was designated specifically for water management and conservation efforts in the Colorado River Basin.
Mayor Regina Romero said the trade qualified Tucson as the “standard in water conservation.”
#Tucson is setting the standard in water conservation. Under my leadership and the Council, the City of Tucson has signed an agreement with @usbr to voluntarily reduce our #water allocation from the #ColoradoRiver. https://t.co/WWgYY8PeMP
In order to receive the $400 per acre-foot in funding, Tucson signed onto a three-year agreement for conservation. This agreement made up the first component of the federal funding opportunity through the newly-established Lower Colorado Basin System Conservation and Efficiency Program (LC Conservation Program).
Other options for funding included a one-year agreement for $330 per acre-foot and a two-year agreement for $365 per acre-foot.
Earlier this month, Gov. Katie Hobbs joined California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo in a pact to conserve three million acre-feet over the next three years. That totals $1.2 billion in federal funding.
This consensus proposal is a step in the right direction when it comes to taking urgent action to protect the #ColoradoRiver system; however, I ask all parties to immediately shift their focus to the future of the Colorado River post 2026.
The second component of the program consists of proposals for additional water conservation and efficiency projects, which the Department of the Interior (DOI) disclosed could involve “a variety of pricing options.” Proposals for this program component closed last November.
The third program component concerns proposals for “long-term system efficiency improvements” that would result in a “multi-year system conservation.” Proposals for this program component are currently open according to the DOI website, though former DOI public communications indicated that this component was scheduled to close earlier this year.
The DOI issued a letter last week in an attempt to spur interest in participation with the third program component.
The DOI noted that successful conservation efforts would include results in quantifiable, verifiable water savings in Lake Mead based on consumptive use reduction and recent history of use; addition of new water to the applicant’s water supply, enabling a consumptive use reduction of Colorado River water; submission from a Colorado River water delivery contract, entitlement holders, or Central Arizona Project water delivery contractor subcontract holders, including partnerships with those entities; demonstration of viability for full implementation, including by demonstrating financial and technical capability of the entity for initial implementation and long-term operations, maintenance, and replacement; and provision of monitoring to ensure the proposed benefits to the system are realized.
Recipients of the DOI’s encouragement-to-apply letter included the Arizona Department of Water Resources, the Arizona Game and Fish Department, the Arizona State Land Department, the Central Arizona Water Conservation District, EPCOR Water Arizona, and the University of Arizona.
Senior White House and DOI officials traveled to Arizona — as well as California, Colorado, and Nevada — to broker deals for water conservation efforts in April.
As part of the deal, the Biden administration set aside $233 million for the Gila River Indian Community, $36 million for Coachella Valley conservation, $20 million for four small surface water storage and groundwater storage projects in California and Utah, and over $54 million to repair aging water delivery infrastructure such as the Imperial Dam.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Northern Arizona University (NAU) admitted that it purposefully admitted more Hispanic students in order to receive more federal funding.
The Department of Education (ED) rewards higher education institutions for having a certain racial makeup within their student population, called a “Hispanic-Serving Institution.”
In order to achieve HSI status, colleges or universities must have Hispanic students making up at least 25 percent of their full-time equivalent student population, as well as a significant number of students requiring needs-based financial aid.
NAU President José Luis Cruz Rivera said accomplishment of their HSI designation in 2020 was intentional in an interview last week with Diverse Issues in Higher Education.
“NAU applied for classification and then appointed key leadership to ensure we serve our Hispanic students well,” said Cruz Rivera. “It’s not just about meeting the number threshold, but rather about really carrying out our mission and supporting the success of our students.”
Hispanics aren’t the only racial group that NAU has prioritized. NAU pledged free tuition to Native Americans in November. In March 2021, NAU launched multiple initiatives totaling $1.3 million to increase the number of both Native American and Hispanic science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) graduates.
Following their HSI classification, NAU began to prioritize Hispanic students through their strategic plan, NAU 2025 – Elevating Excellence. These prioritizations include Hispanic-specific retention strategies concerning financial aid, mental health services, and community building; hiring and retention strategies to attract more Hispanic faculty; and faculty training to better understand Hispanic students.
HSI federal programming was reestablished in 2021 through an executive order by President Joe Biden: the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence and Economic Opportunity for Hispanics (Initiative). The concept originated in 1990 under former President George H.W. Bush, but fell out of use in subsequent administrations until Biden was elected.
As part of the initiative, Biden established the Advisory Commission on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Hispanics. The commission convened in its inaugural meeting earlier this month.
Included in the 21-member commission are three Arizonans. One of them is NAU’s program director and teacher for its Arizona K12 Center, Juliana Urutubey.
Urutubey was named the 2021 National Teacher of the Year and the 2019 Chicanos por La Causa Esperanza Latina Teaching Award while working as an educator in Las Vegas, Nevada. Urutubey recently relocated to Phoenix and joined NAU’s Arizona Teacher Residency.
Chicanos por La Causa has been intertwined with several major controversial events in recent years, including a federal pandemic loan fraud investigation; membership with the Aspen Institute, the liberal think tank that played a major role in the cover-up of investigative reporting on Hunter Biden’s laptop; and funding to pass propositions outlawing debt collection efforts and awarding in-state college tuition rates to illegal immigrants.
Another Arizonan on the commission is Anna Maria Chávez: President and CEO of the Arizona Community Foundation. Chávez was formerly the CEO of Girl Scouts of the USA; director of intergovernmental affairs, urban relations and community development/military affairs advisor, and deputy chief of staff for former Gov. Janet Napolitano; and several Clinton administration positions, including legal counsel for the Federal Highway Administration, attorney advisor in the Office of the Counsel to the President, senior policy advisor to former Secretary of Transportation Rodney Slater and SBA Administrator Aida Alvaraz.
Chávez has also served as Executive Vice President and Chief Growth Officer for the National Council on Aging; in June 2020, she became the executive director and CEO of the National School Boards Association (NSBA) and currently serves as an ex-officio director on its Board of Directors; in 2021, Chávez was appointed as the inaugural chief impact officer of Encantos and president of their online presence. Encantos investors include Kapor Capital, Steve Case’s Revolution Rise of the Rest Fund, Chelsea Clinton’s Metrodora Capital, and L’ATTITUDE Ventures.
The third is Teresa Leyba Ruiz, who became the senior vice president and chief advocacy and programs officer for Education Forward Arizona (EFA) in April. Ruiz formerly served as the president of Glendale Community College (GCC), part of the Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD), having worked in various leadership roles with GCC for over a decade. Ruiz also participated in the Aspen Institute’s 2018-19 Presidential Fellows Program (as mentioned earlier in this article, the Aspen Institute played a major role in covering up the Biden laptop scandal).
EFA received millions from AmeriCorps, the Arizona Department of Education, and Helios Education Foundation in recent years. They also received funding from a wide swath of major entities, including MCCCD and NAU: Alliance Bank of Arizona, Arizona State University, Bank of America, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, Maricopa County, the Salt River Project, State Farm, University of Arizona, and Wells Fargo. Leaders from a number of these entities serve on EFA’s board of directors.
Per their agenda, the commission discussed ways they could advance educational equity in K-12 and higher education using Biden’s budget, reviewed federal data on Hispanics, and discussed means of strengthening career pathways for Hispanic advancement.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
