Attorney General Sues USDA Over Gender Ideology Adherence For School Lunch Funds

Attorney General Sues USDA Over Gender Ideology Adherence For School Lunch Funds

By Corinne Murdock |

On Tuesday, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for requiring schools to adopt gender ideology practices in order to receive free or reduced lunch funds. About half of Arizona’s children rely on those meals. 

The federal government supplements states with funds to provide free or reduced meals for low-income K-12 students. As AZ Free News reported, the Biden administration updated its Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) guidelines for its Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to clarify that protected classes within anti-discrimination policy included sexual orientation and gender identity. In the context of Biden’s correlating executive order, the guidelines would likely require schools to allow bathrooms, locker rooms, and sports teams open to gender identity. 

Brnovich asserted in a press release that the Biden administration’s actions are unlawful. 

“USDA Choice applies to beef at the market, not to our children’s restrooms,” said Brnovich. “This threat of the Biden administration to withhold nutritional assistance for students whose schools do not submit to its extreme agenda is unlawful and despicable.”

Arizona’s lawsuit is part of a 22-state coalition led by Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery. The remainder of the coalition includes Indiana, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia. 

Altogether, the 22 states receive over $28.6 billion in SNAP benefits for over 15.4 million individuals.

The states’ complaint asserted that President Joe Biden directed federal agencies to rewrite federal law in order to align with his January 2021 executive order to “prevent and combat discrimination on the basis of gender identity.” The lawsuit further asserted that the USDA circumvented the mandatory legal process outlined in the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) to implement their new guidelines. 

The states described the new guidelines as “arbitrary, capricious, [and] an abuse of discretion.” Specifically, their lawsuit alleged that the Biden administration failed to observe procedures required by law for guideline updates, misinterpreted Title IX, violated anti-commandeering and non-delegation doctrines, and violated the Constitution’s Spending Clause, First Amendment, Tenth Amendment, and separation of powers.

“To be clear, the States do not deny benefits based on a household member’s sexual orientation or gender identity. But the States do challenge the unlawful and unnecessary new obligations and liabilities that the Memoranda and Final Rule attempt to impose — obligations that apparently stretch as far as ending sex-separated living facilities and athletics and mandating the use of biologically inaccurate preferred pronouns,” read the complaint. “Collectively, the Memoranda and Final Rule inappropriately expand the law far beyond what statutory text, regulatory requirements, judicial precedent, and the U.S. Constitution permit.”

Brnovich’s decision to join the coalition lawsuit wasn’t the only action Arizona officials took in response to the USDA guidelines. Earlier this month, Congresswoman Debbie Lesko (R-AZ-08) introduced legislation to nullify the gender ideology compliance requirement. 

Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.

Public School Spending Surged During COVID But Teacher Pay Didn’t Follow Despite Funding

Public School Spending Surged During COVID But Teacher Pay Didn’t Follow Despite Funding

By Terri Jo Neff |

If state lawmakers provided nearly 28 percent more funding to increase the salaries of Arizona’s public school teachers between 2018 and 2021, why did those teachers’ pay only go up 16.5 percent? And how did Arizona’s public schools spend billions of federal COVID funds?

Those are among the questions related to public school expenditures addressed in a policy report released this week by the Goldwater Institute which uses Arizona as a case study to delve into how school districts allocated COVID funds and why teachers have not seen meaningful pay increases dispute funding being made available to their district boards.

The report, “The COVID Funding Flood: How Spending Surged in Arizona’s Public School System Amid the Pandemic Era” by Matt Beienburg contains information which lawmakers, school district stakeholders, and the public can learn from when addressing future school funding issues.

Beienburg, Goldwater’s Director of Education Policy, provides data showing that the flood of taxpayer spending in response to COVID was “ostensibly meant to address the harms of the pandemic” but actually led to a massive overspending of federal funds, triggered a costly cycle of fiscal irresponsibility within K-12 public schools, and prioritized the interests of teachers’ unions “over student wellbeing.”

And during that time, the long-running pattern of public school districts increasing overall spending without meaningfully raising teacher salaries continued, according to Beienburg’s report. It should not be surprising then that district boards and administrations engaged in the same type of redirection when it came to COVID funds, the report notes.

Some key findings of the policy report are:

· Between fiscal years 2018 and 2021, Arizona lawmakers increased funding for teacher pay by 27.9 percent. But district schools provided only a 16.5 percent average teacher pay raise during that time, showing many district boards chose to use the funds for other expenditures and not what the legislators, teachers, and parents understood those funds were being used for.

· Arizona public school districts triggered a massive statewide enrollment decline of nearly 50,000 students as a result of their COVID mitigation protocols (i.e. closures, mask mandates) even as charter school enrollment rose and state and federal taxpayer funding for all public schools surged during the pandemic;

· Arizona school districts spent a significantly smaller proportion of their federal COVID funds (23.6 percent) compared to charter schools (31.3 percent) during the peak of the pandemic through June 2021. This was primarily due to a disproportionately high level of funding that districts have received from legislation but accumulated instead of spending at that time.

· The vast majority of public school districts’ expenditures of federal COVID funds for technology and school facilities upgrades occurred more than a full year after most public schools reopened for in-person learning. This suggests the funds are being primarily used for a non-COVID-related purpose. According to Beienburg’s report, the “COVID-19 pandemic ushered in an era of unprecedented spending on public K-12 schools, yet available evidence suggests that the bonanza of federal spending was almost entirely avoidable and that much of it will likely serve a very different purpose than the one originally sold to policymakers and the public.”

The report recommends that to avoid this sort of institutional failure in the future, policymakers in other states should seek to replicate the steps taken by the Arizona legislature to mandate reporting requirements on the use of all federal COVID stimulus funds.

Beienburg’s full report can be read here.

Liberal Election-Related Initiative Hit With Lawsuit Over Non-Compliant Petition Circulators

Liberal Election-Related Initiative Hit With Lawsuit Over Non-Compliant Petition Circulators

By Terri Jo Neff |

A judge will decide next week whether Arizona voters will see an initiative on the Nov. 8 General Election ballot to approve what the Arizona Free Enterprise Club calls “radical” election procedure changes.  

Judge Joseph Mikitish of the Maricopa County Superior Court has set Aug. 5 for a hearing on an Order to Show Cause as to why he should not grant a request by the Arizona Free Enterprise Club (AFEC) to invalidate more than half the signatures submitted earlier this month on initiative petitions for the proposed Arizonans for Free and Fair Elections Act (AFFE Act).

Mikitsh’s hearing stems from a lawsuit filed July 22 by AFEC, which argues the AFFE Act would upend Arizona’s election administration and voter registration laws, curtail current safeguards with the initiative and referendum process, and reduce candidate contribution limits while promoting more taxpayer subsidies to certain ‘Clean Elections’ candidates.

According to AFEC’s lawsuit, the political committee Arizonans for Free and Fair Elections (ADRC Action) filed an application in February with Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs for a serial number necessary to commence a petition drive in hopes of getting the Arizonans for Free and Fair Elections Act on the statewide ballot for the 2022 General Election.

Then on July 7, Hobbs was presented with nearly 52,000 petitions sheets containing a purported 475,290 signatures of qualified electors, of which at least 237,645 must be deemed valid to get the AFFE Act on the general election ballot.

But state law requires that all circulators who are not Arizona residents along with all paid circulators regardless of residency must register as circulators before they may begin collecting petition signatures. The circulators must also affix their unique circulator registration ID number to each petition they circulate.

AFEC contends, however, that more than 1,000 of the circulators who collected signatures for the AFFE Act initiative were non-compliant with at least one state election law. Some of the compliance issues involved incomplete registration forms while other circulators allegedly did not write  their “full and correct registration number on both sides of the sheet,” as required by law.

The lawsuit seeks a court order requiring Hobbs to disqualify all petition signatures obtained by circulators who were not registered in compliance with state law. It also asks Mikitish to bar the state’s 15 county recorders from verifying any signatures on petitions in which the circulator’s registration number was not properly affixed.

“Petition signatures obtained by individuals who failed to strictly comply with

one or more provisions of applicable law are legally insufficient,” the lawsuit states. “Injunctive remedies are necessary to prevent irreparable injury to the

Plaintiffs and to ensure that the Defendant fully and effectively discharges the duties imposed upon her by state law.”

The lawsuit does not supply a tally of the disputed signatures, but AFEC’s Executive Director Scot Mussi said Monday that well over half of the signatures submitted by ADRC Action were collected in violation of Arizona law.

“That should be more than enough to invalidate this initiative,” Mussi said.

Among the provisions of the Arizonans for Free and Fair Elections Act is one which would restrict legislative election audits such as the one Senate President Karen Fann approved last year. It would also allow same-day voter registration

In addition, it would prohibit any law being enacted calling for voters  to show identification when dropping off a mail-in ballot at a polling station or election center.

Another provision of the Act is a requirement that elections officials accept tribal IDs when registering voters and confirming their voting eligibility, even though county recorders do not have access to tribal membership databases.

Election-related legal challenges are heard by the courts on an expedited basis. Mikitish’s show cause hearing comes more than three months before the Nov. 8 election, but the case must be resolved by the end of August to ensure the counties have sufficient time for printing and delivery of early ballots and ballots which are sent to voters under the Uniformed and OverseasCitizens Absentee Voting Act.

Even if the AFEC legal challenge fails, many elections observers doubt that voters will approve the initiative. The problem, they note, is that the Act includes so many different provisions that voters will find enough objectionable that they will reject the whole initiative.  

Co-plaintiffs in the case are AFEC’s Mussi and Aimee Yentes, both of whom are registered voters in Arizona. Meanwhile, Arizonans for Free and Fair Elections (ADRC Action) has been named as a Real Party in Interest in the lawsuit.

AFEC is an Arizona nonprofit corporation organized and operated for the promotion of social welfare, within the meaning of IRS Code of 1986, section 501(c)(4). The organization engages in public education and advocacy in support of free markets and economic growth in the State of Arizona.

Dark Money-Fueled Arizona Ballot Initiative Proposes Gutting Election Integrity Measures

Dark Money-Fueled Arizona Ballot Initiative Proposes Gutting Election Integrity Measures

By Corinne Murdock |

A proposed ballot initiative for this November seeks to implement a sprawling 25-page overhaul of elections processes, accruing over $7.6 million so far from the national network of Democratic dark money. Namely, the Arizonans for Free and Fair Elections initiative would eliminate voter ID and proof of citizenship for voter registration, allow same-day voter registration, bar election audits like the one authorized by the state senate for the 2020 election, raise small business taxes to increase political campaign funding, and restore private funding in election administration.

Additionally, the ballot initiative would also require universal vote centers, extend in-person early voting through the day before Election Day; require a court order to rule someone too incapacitated to vote; implement automatic voter registration for driver’s license and state ID recipients, as well as of-age high schoolers; allow curbside voting; allow “nontraditional residential addresses” such as mile markers or “geographic or other identifying features” when registering to vote; restore the permanent early voting list; restore inactive voters to active status; permit “signature-only” voter registration; allow third parties to register voters; and reduce contribution limits.

The ballot initiative is the effort of a Democratic coalition of major players in state and national politics filtered through the Arizona Democracy Resource Center (ADRC) as “ADRC Action.” Although the initiative appears to be a local effort at first glance, there are glimpses into the source of its millions in funds: the massive, national Democratic network of dark money. Arizonans for Free and Fair Elections actually sources back to a national donor network called “Way to Win,” which launched as a direct response to former President Donald Trump’s 2016 victory over Hillary Clinton. They asserted that their over $110 million funneled to states in 2019 flipped Arizona and George blue in the 2020 presidential election. 

Way to Win’s major funding comes from the likes of globalist billionaire George Soros’ Open Society Foundations and his family, Stryker Corporation heiress Patricia Stryker, and the prominent dark money D.C. consulting firm Arabella Advisors’ Sixteen Thirty (1630) Fund.

The Soros family has invested personally in Arizona’s elections as well. To date, the family has invested $10,000 in former Maricopa County Recorder and secretary of state candidate Adrian Fontes’ campaign, $10,000 to Democratic attorney general candidate Kris Mayes’ campaign, and $10,600 to Secretary of State Katie Hobbs’ gubernatorial campaign.

According to the latest campaign finance filings, ADRC Action has accumulated well over $7.6 million from in-kind contributions, over $5.5 million of which were from ADRC itself, and expended only $50,000. The second-largest donation came from the Tides Foundation-backed One Arizona, which donated $925,000.

Activate 48 donated $600,000 — they partner with Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA), who donated $500,000 themselves and receives support from the Arabella Advisors 1630 Fund and the National Education Association (NEA); Mi Familia Vota; secretary of state candidate Reginald Bolding’s scandal-ridden, dark money-linked Our Voice Our Vote; and Chispa Arizona. The Education Foundation of America also donated $50,000.

All of the $50,000 expenditures went to counsel from Barton Mendez Soto, an election and employment law firm. 

The firm’s co-founder, Jim Barton, has a number of high-profile and controversial clients under his belt, including the ballot initiative predecessor to Prop 208, the Arizona Democratic Party, and LUCHA. Barton was previously a partner at Torres Law Group: a firm whose partner is linked to a Democratic political action committee (PAC) that’s invested over $120,200 into a Republican state representative’s re-election campaign. 

The Secretary of State’s office is processing the signatures. Arizonans For Free and Fair Elections will need over 237,600 valid signatures to qualify. They submitted over 475,000. 

Coalition leadership includes ADRC Co-Executive Director Alison Marciniak, serving as the coalition’s chairwoman, and ADRC Communications Co-Director Joel Edman, serving as the coalition’s treasurer. Marciniak previously worked as a regional field director and organizer for the Arizona Democratic Party, as well as a field director and organizer for Central Arizonans for a Sustainable Economy (CASE): a nonprofit that advocates for immigration law and voting reforms. Edman clerked with the Arizona District Court and Arizona Supreme Court, as well as interned with the ACLU.

Another one of the coalition members, Eric Kramer, ran a similar ballot initiative last year. The initiative encompassed one of the goals of the coalition’s initiative by repealing HB2569: a bill signed into law last year which bars election officials from using private funds to run elections. HB2569 was prompted by the swell of funds provided by the likes of Mark Zuckerberg, who funneled $5 million to Arizona election officials. That initiative didn’t file signatures when the deadline rolled around.

Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.

Biden’s 9th Circuit Nominee From Arizona Raises Concerns Over Progressive Activism

Biden’s 9th Circuit Nominee From Arizona Raises Concerns Over Progressive Activism

By Corinne Murdock |

President Joe Biden’s Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals nominee, Phoenix-based attorney Roopali Desai, spurred Republican criticisms that her progressive activism throughout her career would result in judicial activism. 

As AZ Free News reported, Desai has long defended and advanced Democratic Party interests. In addition to the nature of the cases she’s taken on over the years, Desai serves on a number of boards advancing progressive causes: Just Communities Arizona (JCA), which advocates for abolishing prisons; Save Our Schools Arizona (SOSAZ), which advocates for an end to school choice; National Cannabis Roundtable, which advocates for federal marijuana legalization; and Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest, which litigates to advance progressive initiatives. In the past, she served on the boards of New Pathways for Youth, ACLU of Arizona, and Arizona Family Health Partnership. 

During the Senate Judiciary Committee’s confirmation hearing earlier this month, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) cited Desai’s decades of championing progressive causes. He asked if her personal views would bleed into her judiciary rulings. Desai said there was a distinction in roles between lawyers and judges. 

“No matter what matter I have in front of me, and no matter what my personal or political views may be, they will not play a role in any case or decision that comes before me,” insisted Desai.

Desai rejected characterization by Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) that the bulk of her clients were Democrat-affiliated. She asserted that she’s represented corporations, small business owners, and even the government in a range of issues from business to constitutional law disputes. 

“My work as a litigator for almost 20 years spans a much broader range of clients and matters than just the ones you’ve referenced,” said Desai. 

At the opening of the hearing, Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) offered a lengthy opening statement in favor of Desai. Sinema characterized Desai as a balanced arbitrator of the law.  In the past, Desai served as legal counsel for Sinema’s campaign. Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) also issued support for Desai’s nomination. 

Like both of Arizona’s senators, the other Democratic senators didn’t venture an in-depth exploration of Desai’s views. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) used his time to heap praise and gratitude on Desai. His remarks echoed the remarks he issued during the confirmation hearings of now-Supreme Court (SCOTUS) Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Senator Amy Klobuchar (DFL-MN) remarked repeatedly that Desai received bipartisan support among the likes of politicians, lawyers, and law enforcement. Desai explained that support for her nomination was rooted in her equal and fair application of the law. 

“I would point to my respect for the rule of law. Our system of justice demands judges to apply the law objectively, fair-mindedly, and to honor the precedent of our courts,” replied Desai. 

By contrast, the Republican senators were more direct about discerning the nature of Desai’s legal career and how it would relate to her appointment in the Ninth Circuit. Desai didn’t elaborate on the impetus of her legal work, instead recounting the basic facts of the cases in question and repeating that she would stand by higher court precedent.

Concerning elections, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) asked Desai to explain why she opposed Arizona laws banning ballot harvesting. Desai explained that she believed in her case, Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee, that the two Arizona laws banning out-of-precinct voting and ballot harvesting, respectively, violated the Voting Rights Act (VRA). She added that, although the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) didn’t agree with her argument, it did impose a test reviewing laws for discriminatory effects or results — guideposts that Desai pledged to follow if confirmed to the court. 

Grassley then asked Desai whether she believed that Christians refusing services to same-sex couples such as wedding invitations constituted religious discrimination, citing her arguments in the case Brush & NIB Studio, LC v. City of PhoenixThe Arizona Supreme Court ruled that the city of Phoenix couldn’t compel businessowners to violate their religious beliefs by serving same-sex couples. 

Desai didn’t answer Grassley directly, but said that she would uphold SCOTUS precedent on the matter. 

Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) asked Desai about her involvement in a 2016 case, John Doe, et al. v. Heritage Academy Incorporated, et al., which argued that the Heritage Academy charter schools were imposing a religious education. Desai represented the plaintiff in the case, which was ultimately instigated by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, an organization seeking to eradicate Christian religion from the public sector. Lee asked Desai to explain the legal standard supporting her argument in her case brief, which proposed that SCOTUS precedent in Sherbert v. Verner supported that the charter schools’ teachings imposed a burden on students who didn’t share the same beliefs. 

Lee countered that the SCOTUS ruling didn’t contain any of the arguments she proposed in her brief. Desai said she couldn’t recall the details of the case, but insisted she would follow SCOTUS precedent. 

“It does cause me some concern because the source of authority is one you can’t identify, I believe because it doesn’t exist,” said Lee. 

There were several other legal endeavors of Desai’s not addressed at length in the Senate confirmation hearing. 

Desai attempted to stop the State Senate’s Cyber Ninjas-led audit on behalf of the Arizona Democratic Party. Desai also intervened to help defeat the Arizona Republican Party’s challenge to the state’s mail-in early voting system, echoing Democratic Party sentiments that issues with mail-in voting were an infringement on voter rights. 

Concerning schools, Desai served as counsel for the Arizona School Boards Association (ASBA). With her help, ASBA defeated the state’s mask mandate ban last November and overturned a number of laws tied to the state budget — including a ban on Critical Race Theory in K-12 classrooms. Desai also defended a challenge to Prop 305, a ballot initiative from SOSAZ. Shortly after, Desai joined their board of directors, where she remains at present. 

Desai also served as counsel for Prop 208 and authored its summary: a ballot initiative to increase teacher funding through an additional income tax. If approved, that measure would’ve rendered Arizona the tenth-highest tax rate in the nation. 

Additionally, Desai authored Prop 207’s summary: the ballot initiative that legalized marijuana for adults over 21 years old. Afterwards, the National Cannabis Roundtable appointed her to their advisory board. 

Desai has also worked with the likes of pro-abortion organization Planned Parenthood, open borders advocates La Raza, globalist billionaire George Soros, and Russiagate hoax and longtime DNC lawyer Marc Elias.

In the wake of the latest confirmation hearing, Republicans have issued public criticisms of Desai. Mike Davis, founder of an organization that advocates for constitutional judiciaries called Article III Project (A3P), insisted to Fox News host Laura Ingraham that Desai was a “left-wing radical” and one of the worst Biden nominees.

“She also thinks that our criminal justice system is racist. She’s going to have a hard time doing her job,” claimed Davis. 

A3P also issued several reports on Desai’s career and what that will mean for the Ninth Circuit. 

Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.