Arizona voters will get to decide if public employment should have diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) requirements, a court has ruled.
The Maricopa County Superior Court found on Tuesday that Proposition 142 was constitutional, not in violation of the single subject rule as opponents claimed.
Proposition 142, passed by the legislature as HCR 2044, would bar the state and all political subdivisions from making preferential treatments or discriminations based on immutable traits — race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin — in public employment, education, or contracting. This would extend to a ban on any preferential consideration given to individuals based on race or ethnicity.
It would also prohibit public entities from requiring individuals to endorse or support preferential treatments or discriminations based on immutable traits as a condition of admission, graduation, hiring, promotion, certification, contracting, or other employment or scholarship opportunities.
Further, the proposition would prohibit requiring or soliciting a written or oral statement supporting certain race-based DEI concepts, theories, or practices, as well as any confession of race-based privilege or discussion of personal race or ethnicity or experiences with the race or ethnicity of others.
The proposition would also prohibit any requirements for employees to undergo and complete DEI trainings or courses.
Will of the People, a progressive political action committee, was behind the lawsuit to prevent Proposition 142 from appearing on the ballot. Also named as a plaintiff in the lawsuit was Joel Edman, Arizona State University’s Democracy Director for the Indian Legal Clinic’s Native Vote Election Protection Project.
Edman founded the Arizona Democracy Resource Center and the Arizona Election Protection Coalition. He was also the executive director for the Arizona Advocacy Network, where he served as a lobbyist. Edman’s wife, Marilyn Rodriguez, founded the lobbying firm Creosote Partners. It was reported in a 2019 feature on Edman by the Flinn Foundation that the two shared office space for their organizations.
The lawsuit argued that Proposition 142 would establish prohibitions already covered by state and federal laws, including the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution, the Arizona Civil Rights Act, and Title XII of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Further on the topic of the Constitution, the lawsuit claimed the proposition violated the right to free speech.
“The absolute bar on trainings, policies, and procedures that are designed or implemented with reference to race or ethnicity is both a content-based and viewpoint-based restriction on speech and therefore violates the First Amendment[,]” stated the lawsuit.
It also contended that the proposition had two subjects: barring preferential treatment or discrimination by the state based on immutable traits, and barring public funding for promoting programs or activities referencing DEI.
The Maricopa County Superior Court rejected those arguments, stating that the proposals were sufficiently connected because they were all rooted in limits on governmental action regarding immutable traits, and that the issue of free-speech restrictions could only be addressed should voters approve the measure.
Will of the People has also sued to stop another legislative ballot referral, HCR 2003, the “Protect Girls’ Sports in Arizona Act.”
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Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05) criticized former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Anthony Fauci for invoking the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times during subpoenaed testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
Fauci appeared Wednesday at a full committee hearing chaired by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who questioned him about the federal response to COVID-19, government-funded research in China, and recently released portions of Fauci’s pandemic-era diary. Fauci repeatedly declined to answer, stating that he was acting on the advice of counsel and invoking his constitutional right against self-incrimination.
Throughout the hearing, Dr. Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment a total of 111 times.
“I was one of the first to question the counsel Dr. Anthony Fauci was giving during the COVID-19 response in 2020, and I have been proven right about him many times over,” Biggs said.
“However, there is no victory lap because millions of American lives and livelihoods were destroyed thanks to Fauci’s insistence on his unscientific opinions,” Biggs added. “History has already judged Fauci — and will continue to do so in the years to come.”
Sen. Paul subpoenaed Fauci to appear before the committee and, ahead of the hearing, released 1,141 pages of diary entries covering Fauci’s work during the pandemic. The senator said the documents raised new questions about what Fauci knew regarding COVID-19’s origins, research conducted at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, and the effects of pandemic restrictions. Fauci maintained that the entries were consistent with his previous public statements.
Sen. Paul said the committee would vote next week on a contempt referral over Fauci’s refusal to answer its questions. The referral would need approval from the committee and the full Senate before being sent to the Department of Justice, which would decide whether to seek an indictment.
I’ve scheduled a vote next week for the HSGAC committee to vote on a resolution to certify contempt for Dr. Anthony Fauci. pic.twitter.com/XmRZKpvBTz
The dispute is complicated by the preemptive pardon issued to Fauci by former President Joe Biden on Jan. 19, 2025. The clemency warrant granted Fauci a “full and unconditional pardon” for any federal offenses he may have committed from Jan. 1, 2014, through the date of the pardon arising from his service at NIAID, on the White House Coronavirus Task Force and COVID-19 Response Team, or as chief medical adviser to the president.
Sen. Paul and several Republican senators argued that the pardon removed Fauci’s ability to claim that answers concerning the covered period could expose him to federal prosecution. Fauci’s attorneys disputed that conclusion. The pardon does not cover conduct after Jan. 19, 2025, including any potentially false statements made during later testimony, and legal analysts said federal courts have not resolved whether a pardoned witness may invoke the Fifth Amendment when questioned by Congress about pardoned conduct.
.@RandPaul: "In the red folder on your table is a copy of Section 192 of Title 2 of the U.S. Code…that section makes it a crime for a witness appearing under subpoena to refuse to answer any questions pertinent to the question under inquiry. Do you have that in front of you?"… pic.twitter.com/NTXPsvBxdM
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) tested the scope of Fauci’s refusal by asking him what day it was and the colors of his tie and the carpet. Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment in response to each question. Hawley also alleged that federal employees had worked on Fauci’s nominations for awards carrying monetary prizes. Fauci did not respond to those allegations during the hearing.
Anthony Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right dozens of times before Congress — then refused to answer what day of the week it was or what color tie he was wearing.
Sen. Josh Hawley cited an 1896 Supreme Court ruling that a pardoned witness can be compelled to testify because… pic.twitter.com/KxjVIIRfMy
— Fox News Politics (@foxnewspolitics) July 29, 2026
Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) questioned Fauci about closed schools and churches, missed childhood vaccinations, and diary entries concerning the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Fauci gave the same Fifth Amendment response to each subject.
Fauci accused Sen. Paul of conducting an “unhinged” campaign to have him prosecuted and said the hearing was intended to induce him to make a statement that could be used in a future criminal case. His attorney, David Schertler, called Paul’s investigation an “obsessive vendetta” and denied the allegations against Fauci. Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), the committee’s ranking Democrat, described the hearing as one-sided and aimed at validating a predetermined conclusion.
Biggs’s statement accused Fauci of misleading Congress about research funding and the origins of COVID-19. Fauci has denied lying to lawmakers and has maintained that the research at issue did not meet the federal regulatory definition of gain-of-function research.
The cause of the pandemic remains unresolved. The FBI has assessed that a laboratory incident was the most likely origin, while the CIA reached a similar conclusion in 2025. Four other intelligence agencies and the National Intelligence Council have favored natural transmission from an animal, according to assessments summarized following the hearing.
Biggs’s opposition to Fauci’s pandemic recommendations dates to the spring of 2020. In May 2020, he and Sen. Paul co-authored an opinion column titled “Anthony Fauci wants America closed until there’s nothing to reopen,” arguing that Americans should be permitted to evaluate health risks and decide whether to patronize businesses or remain home.
Biggs also published an April 2020 column calling for the removal of economic restrictions and was appointed that month to the Congressional Task Force on Reopening the American Economy. He later advocated for reopening schools and allowing parents to decide whether their children would return to in-person instruction.
“The United States should never again fall prey to the lockdown tactics that he and others around him employed and encouraged,” Biggs said.
Inflation cooled for the Phoenix metro area last month, and expenditures went up.
The Common Sense Institute (CSI) reported that Phoenix metro’s Consumer Price Index rose 2.8% year-over-year in June, a slight reduction from a 3% reading in April. Energy prices dropped by more than 6% in a single month, attributed to easing tensions with Iran.
CSI noted that Arizona’s growth rate was slower than the rest of the nation. Arizona’s home prices have also cooled while home prices climb nationally.
Over the past seven years, prices have increased in the Phoenix metro area by more than 33%. The typical household pays nearly $1,700 more a month on average for its regular expenditures than they did in the last year before the pandemic hit: around $5,200 to nearly $6,900. CSI estimated that the average Phoenix metro household would have been paying just $600 more compared to 2019 if inflation had followed a steady 2% increase rate these past seven years.
From the national perspective, the Joint Economic Committee (JEC) reported that headline personal consumption expenditure price index inflation rose to nearly 4% from June 2025 to last month. The Federal Reserve’s target for that metric is 2%. Core personal consumption expenditure price index inflation was reported to be nearing 3.3%.
Services inflation rose by 0.13% and goods inflation dropped by 0.63%.
Real personal consumption expenditures increased by $68 billion, or 0.4%. Real personal consumption expenditures on all services increased by $28 billion, or 0.26%, and real personal consumption expenditures on all goods increased by $42 billion, or 0.73%.
The JEC reported that the nominal personal savings rate declined by 0.1% to 2.7%. Headline personal income increased by $55 billion, or 0.2%, and real disposable income per capita increased by nearly 0.3%.
U.S. News & World Report ranked Arizona fourth for economy in its latest Best States annual report for 2026. This marked the highest ranking achieved by the state this past year among all scorecard metrics. The state ranked high for business environment, seventh; growth, seventh; and employment, 17th.
Arizona also ranked 33rd for fiscal stability and 42nd for opportunity: 28th for economic opportunity, 32nd for equality, 35th for affordability, 30th for long-term fiscal stability, and 33rd for short term fiscal stability.
All metric rankings tallied, Arizona came in 34th overall.
Elsewhere, Arizona ranked 21st for healthcare, 23rd for infrastructure, 29th for crime and corrections, 41st for natural environment, and 43rd for education.
The Arizona Commerce Authority issued a new report this month indicating that Arizona is exceeding its goals for the 2026 fiscal year: more than 26,000 potential new jobs added (131% of goal), nearly $110 billion in capital expenditures (2,749% of goal), and more than $81,000 in wages (137% of goal).
Yet, Arizona’s unemployment rate has been outpacing job growth. The state was one of seven states to experience an increase in unemployment, and its rate recently hit a high of 4.9%, numbers not seen since the pandemic. Labor force participation also fell to a total nearing a 10-year low.
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The city of Mesa will honor the birth of Jesus Christ with a drag queen show at its multimillion-dollar arts center.
“A Drag Queen Christmas” is the longest-running drag tour in America per the event organizers, Murray & Peter Present. This year, the group will perform at more than 40 locations across the country, including the Mesa Arts Center.
Those listed as performing at Mesa this year are drag performers under the stage names Crystal Methyd, Darlene Mitchell, Discord Addams, Juicy Love Dion, Myki Meeks, Nini Coco, and Silky Ganache. All Drag Queen Christmas performers were either contestants or winners in “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” a reality competition television series.
The event will take place in the Tom and Janet Ikeda Theater, which has more than 1,500 seats.
Publicly available video footage from past Drag Queen Christmas performances showcased some of the performers anticipated to take the stage in Mesa incorporating typical drag race elements in their performances: costumes and dance numbers peppered with sexually suggestive gestures and themes.
Tickets for the Drag Race Christmas in Mesa cost between $43 to $151 for seating, and an additional $134 for a meet and greet. Based on seat pricing, a sold-out show could bring in around $130,000 in ticket sales.
The show is limited to people aged 18 and older, though in Arizona it’s not illegal for children to attend these shows.
Republican lawmakers initially attempted to prohibit the exposure of minors to drag shows, as well as ban public funds for them, but Gov. Katie Hobbs swiftly squashed that effort when she vetoed a group of those bills upon taking office in 2023.
The city of Mesa has more than $18 million listed as projected expenditures this year for the Mesa Arts Center, more than $5 million of which was reported for live performances. The city’s budget reported more than $9 million allocated to the arts center.
The city has also listed more than $8 million for operations, nearly $2 million for fund development, more than $1 million for adult and youth studio classes, nearly $900,000 for education and engagement, and more than $89,000 for volunteer recruitment and management.
The Fox Tucson Theatre in Tucson will also be hosting A Drag Queen Christmas performance this year.
The tour came through Arizona last year as well, hitting the Phoenix Theater in Phoenix and the University of Arizona main campus in Tucson.
Mesa is represented in the Arizona legislature by a supporter of drag shows.
State Rep. Lorena Austin (LD9), a Democrat representing Mesa, partnered with Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona to host a Drag Story hour in the Arizona Legislature’s basement in 2024.
House leadership accused Austin of misleading them when reserving the space for an event, and her actions resulted in Democrats temporarily losing access to House meeting rooms.
Austin rejected the accusation in a response published by Arizona House Democrats.
Austin would then go on that summer to host a drag show fundraiser open to all ages.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a new policy this week, prohibiting county employees from using confidential, nonpublic information obtained through their public service to personally profit from prediction markets.
County officials said the policy is intended to strengthen public trust by ensuring government decisions are made in the best interest of residents rather than for personal financial gain.
Maricopa County officials also said the measure makes the county the first major county in the United States to adopt a formal policy specifically addressing prediction markets.
Public employees often have access to sensitive information before it becomes publicly available. Under the newly adopted resolution, county employees are prohibited from using or disclosing nonpublic information to profit from, avoid losses in, or assist others in profiting from prediction markets.
Violations of the policy may result in disciplinary action, including termination, and may also be referred to law enforcement.
The resolution builds upon existing Arizona law, including A.R.S. § 38-504(B), which prohibits public officers and employees from using or disclosing confidential, nonpublic information obtained through their official duties.
County leaders noted that prediction markets allow participants to wager on the likelihood of future events across a wide range of topics, including government actions, elections, politics, military conflicts, weather events, wildfires, sports, and other state, national, and global affairs.
The resolution states that the public’s confidence in government is undermined when officials use privileged information learned through public service for personal financial benefits.
Arizona law already prohibits wagering on the outcome of elections. Under A.R.S. § 16-1015, knowingly making, offering, accepting, or participating in a bet or wager on any contingency arising from an election before or during the election is classified as a class 2 misdemeanor.
In addition to prohibiting the use of nonpublic information for financial gain, the Board’s resolution formally designates such information as confidential, where it has not already been classified as such.
The policy also clarifies that it does not create new legal rights or remedies, does not conflict with federal or state law, and does not alter the statutory authority of any elected office or county department.
The policy applies to all Maricopa County employees, including those working in appointed departments, the Flood Control District of Maricopa County, and the Maricopa County Library District.
The resolution took effect immediately upon its unanimous approval by the Board of Supervisors and will remain in force until it is repealed, replaced, or rescinded.
Ethan Faverino is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced a $25 million federal investment to build a sterile fly dispersal facility in Arizona. She made the announcement during a visit to the Douglas Port of Entry with Reps. Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ-06), Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05), and Eli Crane (R-AZ-02) ahead of the planned resumption of livestock imports from Mexico.
Rollins toured the port’s livestock inspection facilities Wednesday with Ciscomani, Biggs, Crane, and Arizona Department of Agriculture Director Paul Brierley. The Department of Agriculture plans to reopen the Douglas crossing to cattle imports on Aug. 24 as the first stage of a phased reopening of southern livestock ports.
During the visit, Rollins announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) would invest $25 million toward establishing a sterile fly dispersal facility in Arizona as part of the federal response to New World screwworm.
“Protecting American agriculture begins with protecting our borders and ensuring we have the strongest animal health safeguards anywhere in the world,” Rollins said. “The Douglas Port of Entry will reopen only because USDA has implemented one of the most rigorous livestock inspection protocols in history, giving us confidence we can safely resume this critical trade while ensuring cattle crossing the border are free from New World screwworm.”
As part of USDA’s phased reopening of 3 southern cattle ports for livestock trade, USDA will reopen the Douglas, AZ, port, which borders Sonora on Aug. 24, 2026. Every animal entering the U.S. through these ports will undergo a full USDA inspection to ensure it is free of any… pic.twitter.com/5k1HtOZSAU
— New World Screwworm Rapid Response (@Screwworm_RR) July 29, 2026
Ciscomani said Arizona livestock producers and agricultural leaders had pressed the department to establish a sterile fly facility in the state.
“Local agriculture leaders and I have been fighting to deliver this sterile fly dispersal facility because Arizona’s livestock industry cannot afford to wait on the New World screwworm threat,” Ciscomani said. “This $25 million investment is the direct result of that work, and I’m grateful to Secretary Rollins for listening to Arizona’s producers and delivering on it.”
Big things are happening in Douglas, AZ! 🐕🦺🐾🦺
As @USDA_APHIS prepares to deploy the New World screwworm detector dogs to the Douglas, AZ port of entry, we are fired up to support the mission — and have modified the cattle chutes to give these canine heroes the best possible… pic.twitter.com/OtmDqpXJLu
— New World Screwworm Rapid Response (@Screwworm_RR) July 30, 2026
The Douglas crossing was selected as the first port to reopen because the USDA considers Sonora among the Mexican states presenting the lowest screwworm risk, citing its animal-health inspection system and distance from the areas of southern Mexico where most cases are concentrated. The department said the closest active case to the Douglas port was approximately 325 miles away as of July 22.
The reopening remains contingent on Mexico’s compliance with a joint federal action plan and continuing USDA risk assessments. Following an evaluation of operations in Douglas, the department will consider reopening livestock crossings at Santa Teresa and Columbus, New Mexico.
Every animal imported through Douglas will receive multiple veterinary examinations, including an inspection by USDA veterinarians before entering the United States. Animals that fail to satisfy federal import requirements will be denied entry, and the discovery of New World screwworm would immediately halt imports through the port.
The USDA described the Arizona dispersal center as a proposed facility and said it would work with state officials to determine its specific location and operating plan in the Douglas area. The department said construction could be completed in as little as several months, depending on the selected site and available infrastructure.
Cochise County officials have proposed placing the center at Bisbee-Douglas International Airport, about eight miles from Douglas. The county has promoted the airport as a potential site because of its proximity to the border, transportation infrastructure, available land, and location in a less-populated area.
A previous USDA sterile fly facility operated near Douglas from 1963 until 1983. The former facility was located at Douglas Municipal Airport, approximately two miles from downtown.
Biggs led a June letter to Rollins urging the USDA to include Arizona in its long-term screwworm prevention and response strategy. The letter was signed by Crane, Ciscomani, and Reps. Paul Gosar (R-AZ-09) and Abraham Hamadeh (R-AZ-08) and identified the historic Douglas sterile fly facility site as a strategically valuable location for future production capacity.
New World screwworm is a parasitic fly whose larvae feed on the living tissue of warm-blooded animals, causing severe wounds that can become fatal. The pest can affect livestock, pets, wildlife, and, in rare cases, people. The USDA confirmed the first animal case in the current U.S. outbreak in a Zavala County, Texas, calf on June 3. Additional cases have since been confirmed in Texas and New Mexico, while Arizona has reported no confirmed cases.
The United States eradicated New World screwworm in 1966 through the sterile insect technique. The method releases sterilized male flies into affected areas. Female screwworm flies that mate with sterile males produce no offspring, reducing the wild population over successive generations.
The USDA said federal and state personnel have maintained trapping operations near Douglas during the past year. Nearly 1,000 captured flies were submitted for scientific testing, and none were identified as New World screwworm.
State Rep. Lupe Diaz (R-LD19), chairman of the Arizona House Land, Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee, also attended the event and praised the federal investment and reopening plan.
“The port reopening demonstrates that we can protect American agriculture while responsibly restoring commerce through this vital trade corridor,” Diaz said. “USDA’s science-based approach includes multiple layers of inspection and strict federal oversight.”
✅Rep. Lupe Diaz Joins U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins for Douglas Port Reopening and Sterile Fly Center Announcement
"The new sterile fly distribution center at Bisbee-Douglas International Airport is another major step forward. It will serve Arizona, New Mexico,… pic.twitter.com/ebiGbaOoc3
— Arizona House Republicans (@AZHouseGOP) July 30, 2026
Arizona’s fiscal year 2027 budget allows the state Department of Agriculture to use up to $250,000 from the Commercial Feed Trust Fund for two full-time-equivalent positions. One is designated for expenses associated with the screwworm response. The department may conduct border inspections as part of that response if the border opens for live cattle imports, and the state veterinarian may oversee the response. The second position is designated for expenses involving foreign animal diseases or pests, USDA program diseases, zoonotic diseases, and other emerging animal-disease responses.
“The new sterile fly distribution center at Bisbee-Douglas International Airport is another major step forward,” Diaz said. “It will serve Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and California, giving western states a critical regional resource to combat the New World screwworm and protect our livestock industry.”
