State Rep. Stephanie Stahl Hamilton (D-AZ-10) stole Bibles from the Arizona State Capitol, per security footage of the lawmaker.
Stahl Hamilton would hide the Bibles underneath furniture cushions and fridges. This came to light after members noticed the Bibles missing from the members-only lounge, beginning at the start of this year. House personnel placed hidden cameras in the members lounge to discover what happened.
Stahl Hamilton placed the Bibles in bizarre places, buried deep in furniture and in the community refrigerator. pic.twitter.com/gbd9NAmdjc
Security footage showed Stahl Hamilton swiping a Bible off a table from the members-only lounge. Stahl Hamilton claims to be an “ordained minister” with the Presbyterian denomination.
This is the weirdest story at the Capitol. Rep Hamilton-Stahl(D) is an ordained "minister" who hates Bibles. She regularly steals the Bibles out of the Lounge & hides them under chairs, in the frig, beneath cushions etc. If only the Bible had something to say about stealing… https://t.co/86IdF8LySb
— Az State Rep. Justin Heap (@azjustinheap) April 26, 2023
AZ Family first caught wind of Stahl Hamilton’s Bible swiping. They confronted her, on camera, after Stahl-Hamilton hung up on the phone with them. Stahl Hamilton initially insisted that she wasn’t aware of the accusations against her.
“I don’t want to talk to you,” said Stahl Hamilton. “Who said anything about hiding Bibles?”
When AZ Family reporter David Caltabiano informed Stahl Hamilton that there was security footage of her swiping the Bible, Stahl Hamilton turned away from where she was headed and retreated to the private entrance from which she’d come.
Before Rep. Stephanie Stahl Hamilton called it 'playful', we called her — she hung up on me, then we met her with a camera, this is the explanation we got: pic.twitter.com/DuEZEaoGV1
— Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona (@ppazaction) November 22, 2022
Stahl Hamilton has also backed laws advocating for LGBTQ+ lifestyles and ideologies for children and adults.
I will always oppose policies that create barriers and stumbling blocks for our children https://t.co/0wTTjH9Uov
— Rep. Stephanie Stahl Hamilton (@stahlhamilton) February 9, 2022
Most of Stahl Hamilton’s career prior to the legislature purportedly concerned Christian ministry. Stahl Hamilton received an undergraduate degree in Christian education prior to receiving a seminary degree. Stahl Hamilton then worked as the director of Christian Education and Youth Ministry for the Flagstaff Federated Community Church, before working as another youth ministry director at St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church.
The 2005 case Van Orden v. Perrydispelled misconceptions about the presence of Christian text on government property as a violation of the separation between church and state. In the case, a citizen claimed that the Texas State Capitol grounds couldn’t contain a monument bearing the Bible’s Ten Commandments. The Supreme Court disagreed in a 5-4 decision.
Chief Justice William Rehnquist cited from Zorach v. Clauson in his opinion for the court:
“‘[W]e find no constitutional requirement which makes it necessary for government to be hostile to religion and to throw its weight against efforts to widen the effective scope of religious influence,’” quoted Rehnquist.
Justice Stephen Breyer wrote similarly in a concurring opinion:
“The Establishment Clause does not compel the government to purge from the public sphere all that in any way partakes of the religious,” wrote Breyer. “Such absolutism is not only inconsistent with our national traditions… but would also tend to promote the kind of social conflict the Establishment Clause seeks to avoid.”
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
On Wednesday, the 56th Arizona Legislature filed an Emergency Application to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan for a Vacatur of the Stay Pending Appeal Issued Sua Sponte by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, involving the Biden Administration’s 2021 COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal employees and contractors. Last week, the Ninth Circuit Court “reversed the district court’s order granting a permanent injunction and dissolved the President’s ‘Contractor Mandate’ Executive Order requiring federal contractors who worked on or in connection with federal government projects to be vaccinated against COVID-19.” The Legislature’s application seeks to reinstate that injunction, arguing that “because the Federal Respondents did not request a stay below, the Ninth Circuit overreached when it disturbed the status quo and stayed the district court’s injunction sua sponte.”
Senate President Warren Petersen issued the following statement to announce the filing spearheaded by him and House of Representatives Speaker Ben Toma: “We will not allow President Biden to blatantly undermine the will of the Arizona State Legislature in the protections we’ve provided for our citizens to prevent a COVID-19 vaccine mandate from dictating employment opportunities. The Biden Administration has made it clear that they are against any Americans who push back against this vaccine and will abuse their powers in order to force compliance as a stipulation of doing business with the federal government. Arizona will not tolerate this gross government overreach and intrusion of individual liberties. The Legislature’s intervention in this lawsuit against President Biden is critical in protecting the sovereignty of our state and the rights of all Arizonans.”
The case began as Brnovich v Biden, when former Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich filed the first lawsuit in the nation against the president’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates. At the time, Brnovich said that “the federal government cannot force people to get the COVID-19 vaccine,” and that “the Biden Administration is once again flouting our laws and precedents to push their radical agenda.” Brnovich’s suit was heard before U.S. District Court Judge Michael Liburdi, who later, in February 2022, issued a permanent injunction against the president’s mandate for federal contractors.
The Legislature’s application makes the case that this mandate is an abuse of President Biden’s authority, writing, “The Contractor Mandate is an unprecedented claim of presidential authority. Before September 2021, the federal government had never mandated vaccinations for the domestic civilian populace. Even as smallpox, polio, and influenza spread throughout the country, vaccine mandates were always viewed as an exercise of the general police power to be exercised by duly elected state legislatures and subdivisions of the States. See generally Zucht v. King, 260 U.S. 174, 176 (1922). Throughout those crises and the COVID-19 pandemic, even Congress with the full authority of Article I—has never mandated vaccination for anyone other than government personnel serving overseas or the military.”
The Arizona Senate Democrats Caucus quickly made it clear that its members were not supportive of this action taken by the Republican leaders, tweeting: “ARIZONA: The @AZSenateGOP changed the Senate rules in January 2023 to ensure that “The President is authorized to bring or assert in any forum on behalf of the Senate any claim or right arising out of any injury to the Senate’s powers or duties under the constitution or laws of this state.” Senate Democrats DO NOT support this & were not consulted about this frivolous use of state funds to take shots are our federal government. The COVID-19 vaccine is safe and saved countless American lives. This is wasteful and could have severe consequences.”
🚨 ARIZONA: The @AZSenateGOP changed the Senate rules in January 2023 to ensure that "The President is authorized to bring or assert in any forum on behalf of the Senate any claim or right arising out of any injury to the Senate's powers or duties under the constitution or laws… https://t.co/7PBGdfRMel
— Arizona Senate Democrats (@AZSenateDems) April 26, 2023
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
A controversial veto from Arizona’s Democrat Governor failed to garner the necessary votes for an attempted override from the state legislature.
On Tuesday, the Arizona House voted on the question of whether to override Governor Katie Hobbs’ veto of HB 2509, which was originally sponsored by Representative Travis Grantham. The proposal dealt with the sale and preparation of cottage food – and was coined as the Tamale Bill after the increased exposure due to the governor’s action.
The veto override failed to pass by five votes with a vote of 35-23, with one member not voting (Representative Shah) and one seat vacant.
Earlier this session, HB 2509 garnered 52 votes when it first passed the Arizona House, and 26 votes in the Senate, which amended the bill and sent it back to the House. The bill then obtained final clearance from the House with 45 votes before being transmitted to the Governor’s Office.
After the vote, Senator T.J. Shope released a statement, expressing his disappointment in the inability of the House to do its part to override the veto, saying, “Sadly, the men and women making an honest living by selling homemade foods, like tamales, will continue to be criminalized for doing so because of @GovernorHobbs vetoing HB2509 and a majority of Democrats who previously voted for the bill, refusing to override her veto in the House. I’m proud of the five Democrats who joined all 30 @AZHouseGOP members in the veto override attempt. What can be said of the others who originally voted YES on the bill and then chose to be cowards in the face of pressure from the Governor? As my mom & nana would say, ¡Qué vergüenza!”
Sadly, the men and women making an honest living by selling homemade foods, like tamales, will continue to be criminalized for doing so because of @GovernorHobbs vetoing HB2509 and a majority of Democrats who previously voted for the bill, refusing to override her veto in the… pic.twitter.com/MniN0UO29B
The bill’s sponsor, Grantham, told AZ Free News, “It’s sad to see Democrats pick special interests and the Governor over their constituents. The vote was 52-8 one week ago and today the veto override failed. We only needed 40 votes. I’m heartbroken for the cottage food preparers who aren’t going to be allowed to exercise their basic freedoms because of partisan politics being played by this Democrat governor and her supporters in the house.”
Both supporters and opponents of the override held dueling press conferences outside of the House chamber earlier in the day in an attempt to control the narrative over the fate of the bill. The Arizona Senate Republican Caucus tweeted, “Men and women making an honest living by selling homemade foods, like tamales, should not be criminalized for doing so. This bipartisan group of lawmakers is calling on their colleagues to override Hobbs veto of HB2509 today, which passed out of both chambers with supermajority support. Any Democrats who change their vote today are doing so to save Hobbs from embarrassment, and not because they want to do the right thing for their constituents.”
Men and women making an honest living by selling homemade foods, like tamales, should not be criminalized for doing so. This bipartisan group of lawmakers is calling on their colleagues to override Hobbs veto of HB2509 today, which passed out of both chambers with supermajority… pic.twitter.com/yrSVldCYZ3
And the Arizona Senate Democrats Caucus sent out a tweet to highlight its press conference in opposition to the override: “HAPPENING NOW: Senator @ahernandezfor24 stands with Legislative Democrats to give Arizonans real solutions. “The individuals currently pushing this surface level narrative don’t care about the families making tamales or traditions that my community hold close to the heart. If they did, they would have backed policy made IN Arizona FOR Arizona.”
🚨HAPPENING NOW: Senator @ahernandezfor24 stands with Legislative Democrats to give Arizonans real solutions.
“The individuals currently pushing this surface level narrative don't care about the families making tamales or traditions that my community hold close to the heart. If… pic.twitter.com/ORBd6WweTa
— Arizona Senate Democrats (@AZSenateDems) April 25, 2023
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
Attorney general candidate Abe Hamadeh claims that over 8,000 votes weren’t counted in the 2022 election. The 8,000 votes in question were cast as provisional ballots.
“Arizona, I’m still fighting for you and the integrity of our elections,” said Hamadeh.
🚨!NEW AD!🚨
Did you know there are more than 8,000 votes from the 2022 election that haven’t been counted?
The race for Attorney General is separated by only 280 votes.
Arizona, I’m still fighting for you and the integrity of our elections.
Hamadeh also directed Arizona voters to his advocacy website to review the “lost” votes from the 2022 election. One of the disenfranchised voters featured on the site was a veteran, Howard, whose vote was denied to him after government workers erroneously reported him as having moved counties. Despite Howard offering election officials proof of residence on Election Day, he was denied the right to vote.
In part due to mass day-of voting machine failures, provisional ballots increased in this past election. Hamadeh has also claimed that a significant number of lawfully registered voters were denied their right to vote.
With that increase of provisional ballots, rejection rates also increased in several counties.
Santa Cruz County’s rejections increased from one out of the 117 provisional ballots cast to 83 out of the 139 provisional ballots cast.
Pima County’s rejection rate doubled.
Pinal County’s rejection rate increased from 59 to 63 percent. That was despite having a comparable number of provisional ballots cast in 2020 and 2022.
Yavapai County more than doubled its rejection of provisional ballots based on non-registration this past election in comparison to 2020. That was despite voter turnout declining significantly.
The vote gap between Hamadeh and the current attorney general, Kris Mayes, sits at 280 votes. Hamadeh received a hearing in the Mohave County Superior Court next month, on May 16.
Hamadeh announced his appeal of the election results in January, following discovery of hundreds of votes in the recount.
As AZ Free News reported last week, a review of uncounted provisional ballots make a compelling case for Hamadeh. According to Hamadeh, over 250 voters have issued affidavits from allegedly disenfranchised voters. Hamadeh estimated that over 1,000 voters’ registration were wrongly canceled due to government missteps, a calculation separate from the 8,000 provisional ballots.
Hamadeh claimed his team found 750 high-propensity voters whose registrations were canceled. Of those 750, only 176 showed up to vote last November.
Big deal In Arizona. GOP AG candidate @AbrahamHamadeh is not alleging election fraud. He simply wants all the votes counted. That proposition should unite all Americans. We need AZ’s terrific Fmr Gov & my friend @DougDucey to weigh in. https://t.co/Cq5rSd7xZ5
There were also 269 voters who checked in on Election Day with mail-in ballots, but never had their vote counted. Hamadeh reported that many of those voters reported to his team that their votes weren’t counted. In those cases, check-ins reflect votes cast in the county’s system. The 269 voters were disproportionately Republican and independent: 149 were Republicans, 53 were Democrats, and 67 were “other.”
Hamadeh has consistently claimed that his legal team’s findings would reveal that the government withheld evidence concerning the 2022 election.
“My legal team will expose the government’s withholding of evidence that undermined the rule of law,” said Hamadeh.
🚨BREAKING🚨
The Mohave County court has ordered Oral Arguments for our Motion for a New Trial on May 16.
My legal team will expose the government’s withholding of evidence that undermined the rule of law.
The state budget sits at $2.5 billion, an unanticipated increase, despite a leap in school choice enrollments.
Nearly 40,000 students have joined Arizona’s universal school choice program; 7,000 have joined this year alone. Prior to the Education Savings Account (ESA) Program extension to all students, there were just over 12,100 students enrolled. At present, there are over 51,800.
Yet, this addition of tens of thousands of students didn’t hurt the state budget; the surplus has only increased as ESA Program enrollment increased. The surplus hit $2.5 billion this month, where last June it was $1.1 billion.
The ESA Program has also reflected a cost-saving measure for the state. Each student in the ESA Program receives scholarship funds of about $7,000 — about half of what the average public school spends on each student. Based on current program participants, that means that these students originally cost the state $725 million on average while in public schools, whereas they cost just over $362 million within the ESA Program.
Following these latest figures, ADE opened up enrollment for the ESA Program for the 2023-24 school year.
Arizona’s first in the nation ESA program is officially open for the 2023-2024 school year! Every child deserves a quality education no matter their zip code, and ESAs allow parents from any income level to choose what is best for them! #InParentsWeTrusthttps://t.co/mEm56eKYd7
— Arizona Department of Education (@azedschools) April 17, 2023
Gov. Katie Hobbs has rejected the cost-saving argument of the ESA Program. Shortly after taking office, Hobbs proposed rolling back the ESA Program, making the argument that universal school choice would bleed the state of $1.5 billion over the next decade. Yet, the Arizona public school system takes about $15 billion annually, or $150 billion over the next decade.
The Goldwater Institute, a public policy think tank who pointed out this disparity in an analysis defending universal school choice, argued that Hobbs’ arguments of frugality weren’t intellectually honest.
“To argue that taxpayers can afford the latter, but somehow not the former, defies basic common sense,” stated the organization.
We have a constitutional responsibility to fund our public schools. If we continue down the current path, we will not be able to fulfill that responsibility. That's why my budget called for a rollback of the ESA program to ensure Arizona has a sustainable https://t.co/JnVBGtxuvl…
The state legislature also increased public school funding by $600 million for this year. Anti-school choice activists continue to claim that the schools don’t receive adequate funding.
🔥 States across the nation are rejecting ESA voucher scams 👏 AZ's catastrophic rollout of universal ESA vouchers has become a cautionary tale — and in many states, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are waking up ⏰ #AZVouchersHurt#AZVoucherWatchpic.twitter.com/awhwjIdC21
The Common Sense Institute found that the state saved $500 million annually after about 31,000 students exited the public school system from 2019 and following the COVID-19 pandemic. They also projected an $8 million end-of-year surplus based on enrollment trends.
According to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC) report issued last week, base revenue growth is projected at nearly nine percent – a nearly two percent increase from January’s forecast, or $750 million.
JLBC noted that this year’s fiscal growth rate reflected a 64 percent increase in corporate income tax collections, much higher than the 10 percent increase in the federal collections. Additionally, individual income tax refunds increased by 54 percent.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
As the Republican-led Arizona Legislature and Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs inch closer toward a deadline for the next budget, one state lawmaker is setting the record straight on the status of negotiations.
On Monday, Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen issued a press release, outlining the budget negotiations saga throughout this legislative session.
Petersen began with the passage of the budget by Senate Republicans on February 1: “Back on February 1, Senate Republicans passed a budget proposal that would have provided certainty to our citizens and state agencies. The budget maintained current funding levels and operations in state government to assure schools would remain open, health services would continue, roads would be maintained, public safety would be funded, and so forth. Every Democrat voted against the proposal. Subsequently, on February 16, the Governor called it a “do nothing budget” and vetoed the plan. The fact of the matter is the budget did a lot. Included in this budget was not only funding for the next fiscal year, but supplemental funding for several state agencies. Consequently, those agencies will soon run out of money prior to the next fiscal year.”
The Senate President did not hold back when summing up the governor’s decision to veto this budget, saying, “A reasonable governor would have signed the budget and negotiated how to spend the surplus funds separately. A wise governor would have, at a minimum, line itemed everything except for the current year supplemental funding, ensuring that the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, Arizona’s K-12 public schools, and the Arizona State Hospital system had enough money to make it through the next few months. Chalk it up to inexperience. Her senseless veto means all are at risk.”
As the release continues, it remains apparent how much Arizona Republicans have sought to bridge the gaps with their colleagues from the other side of the political aisle – and Governor Hobbs: “Despite Hobbs’ error, Republicans immediately began to build a new budget. On March 2, the Senate Appropriations Chairman emailed all members of the Senate, requesting a list of their priorities for consideration in a new budget proposal. Room was included for reasonable requests from both Republicans and Democrats. The Republicans provided their priorities within a matter of days. Their reasonable, non-partisan priorities have been included in the budget. The Democrats provided no response until March 16, when the Minority Leader stated her Caucus would not provide their feedback for a month. Despite the lack of cooperation and leadership from the Democrat Caucus, President Petersen and House Speaker Ben Toma met with the Governor on March 20 to agree on ground rules to accomplish a second bipartisan budget proposal. Since then, frequent meetings have taken place with the Governor’s office to come up with a consensus on how to best appropriate funds. The Governor’s priorities are being negotiated, as are the Republicans’ priorities. Unfortunately, the Democrats have still not provided their requests.”
Petersen issued a direct warning about the state of the state’s finances, writing: “”We are, just weeks away from some government agencies running out of funding because legislative Democrats are stalling. I’m confident we would have already passed a budget had the Democrats spent the last seven weeks negotiating the budget with us, in good faith.”
Last week, after a slew of vetoes from her office, Hobbs attempted to justify her contention with the Republicans in the Legislature, stating, “I promised to deliver sanity, not chaos in the governor’s office and I am delivering. I will gladly work with anybody who will be a partner in addressing the real problems Arizonans face, but I refuse to play political games with our state government. I’m proud of the bipartisan accomplishments we have achieved and encourage leaders in our legislature to continue to come together and pass real solutions that will grow jobs, build roads and bridges, invest in education, and deal with our water crisis.”
I promised to deliver sanity, not chaos in the governor’s office and I am delivering. I will gladly work with anybody who will be a partner in addressing the real problems Arizonans face, but I refuse to play political games with our state government.
