Gov. Doug Ducey vetoed a bill Wednesday which would have allowed Maricopa County voters to decide next year whether to extend a 2004 voter approved one-half cent transportation tax for another 25 years.
Ducey explained in his veto notice that his action was not about whether the 20-year voter approved Proposition 400 tax set to expire in December 2025 should be extended. Instead, he determined lawmakers approved House Bill 2685 with ballot language that was not responsible nor transparent.
“The language is not only biased, but it fails to include any mention of the increase of 20 to 25 years nor the changes to distribution for state highways, local roads and public transit,” Ducey wrote, pointing out the proposed ballot measure also does not take into consideration passage of the Investment in Infrastructure and Jobs Act.
As a result, Ducey noted that what voters would have been asked to approve “does not properly account for the opportunity to properly leverage state dollars for federal transportation infrastructure funding.”
HB2685 passed the State Senate with only 7 aye votes from the 16 members of its Republican caucus, while the bill received support of only 10 of the 31 House Republicans on the final vote. It was introduced in March to replace Senate Bill 1356 which did not make it out of the House Rules Committee.
Ducey’s veto notice did not have much good to say about HB2685, but he gave a shout out to Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita for introducing various amendments to both bills to address several concerns the majority of Republican lawmakers had with the language of the ballot measure.
The amendments offered by Ugenti-Rita (R-Scottsdale) would have ensured a fairer ballot description narrative, Ducey explained, as well as provide more strategic insight into how the transportation and infrastructure tax dollars would be spent.
“Unfortunately, none of these amendments were adopted,” Ducey wrote, adding that asking voters to approve the extension as proposed “is not the way to address the needs of our growing state.”
Reaction to Ducey’s veto was swift, including a statement from the Arizona Free Enterprise Club which called the veto “well-deserved” to avoid allocating transportation dollars for bike lanes, trollies, and “little used transit” at the expense of critical freeway maintenance.
“We commend the Governor for this wise decision and for hearing the concerns brought up by opponents throughout the process as well as thousands of Arizona taxpayers who expressed deep concerns over the poorly drafted legislation,” the AFEC statement reads. “The real victors of course are the taxpayers themselves who deserve common sense transportation policy and accountability for their tax dollars.”
Also complimenting Ducey’s veto was the Arizona Chapter of the Republican Liberty Caucus.
Thank you @DougDucey for your veto of HB2685! We testified against this massive 25 year tax extension while down at the Capitol for our Liberty Lobby Day earlier this session. Our bloated budget spends enough on infrastructure. Arizonans need lower taxes for inflation relief! pic.twitter.com/TEZT8p2hLS
However, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego tweeted that she was profoundly disappointed by what she called Ducey’s shortsighted, anti-economic development, and “out of touch” veto.
By killing the bill, the governor seems to think Arizonans love sitting in traffic jams, giving up time with family, and further damaging air quality. 3/6
One thing Gallego’s six-part missive did not mention is there is nothing in Ducey’s veto to prevent legislators from drafting a sounder bill next session and get it before voters in plenty of time to be decided before the one-half cent tax expires.
On Tuesday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it sued the state over its new law requiring individuals to show proof of citizenship when registering to vote. The law, HB2492, wouldn’t take effect until next January.
DOJ Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke called Arizona’s proof of citizenship rule an “onerous” and “unnecessary” requirement.
The DOJ contended in its press release that Arizona’s law violates Section 6 of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) and Section 101 of the Civil Rights Act. The NVRA specifies that individuals aren’t required to show proof of citizenship for the federal voter registration form enabling them to vote in federal elections, just to attest that they have one: these are called “federal-only voters.”
Justice Department Files Lawsuit Against the State of Arizona Over Restrictive Voter Registration Requirementshttps://t.co/nIzluHFZVj
In its lawsuit, the DOJ rationalized that the federal voter registration form doesn’t require anything beyond an attestation because documentation “is not necessary to prove citizenship.”
The DOJ also cited the 2013 Supreme Court (SCOTUS) ruling in Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, which determined that Arizona couldn’t require proof of citizenship for those registering to vote using the federal form.
As for the alleged Civil Rights Act violation, the DOJ argued that Arizona officials couldn’t deny individuals the right to vote if they willfully or mistakenly didn’t check a box on the voter registration form confirming that they’re a U.S. citizen. The checkmark serves as an attestation of citizenship, similar to the one outlined by the NVRA.
With this lawsuit, the Biden administration effectively declared their allegiance with other establishment Democrats suing Arizona over the citizenship requirement. At the helm of lawsuits from progressive activist organizations is Marc Elias, a favored lawyer within the Democratic Party who was at the center of the 2016 Russiagate hoax.
HB2492 not only requires proof of citizenship when registering to vote. It also requires election officials to cross-check applicants’ citizenship through government databases. On top of local and state databases, these include databases within the Department of Transportation concerning Arizona IDs and driver licenses, the Social Security Administration, the Citizenship and Immigration Services Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements Program, and the National Association for Public Health Statistics and Information Systems Electronic Verification of Vital Events System.
Over 11,000 voters in the 2020 election didn’t provide proof of citizenship. In 2018, that number was about 1,700.
Attorney General Mark Brnovich pledged to fight the Biden administration to uphold the law.
In addition to free rooms and transportation for those illegally entering our country, the DOJ now wants to give them a chance to vote.
I will once again be in court defending Arizona against the lawlessness of the Biden administration. https://t.co/tYt3EVoEn8
Arizona’s largest newspaper, the Arizona Republic, doesn’t put up a paywall for any articles on its Spanish sister publication, “La Voz” — even if they’re translated versions of subscriber-only articles on its main page.
When AZ Free News reached out to Gannett’s customer service, one of their agents insisted that readers needed a subscription to access any version of a paywalled story. AZ Free News then reached out to spokespersons with Gannett, Arizona Republic’s parent company, to ask about the rationale for not requiring Spanish readers to pay subscriptions. They didn’t respond by press time.
En Arizona, la mayoría de las clínicas que ofrecían servicios de aborto ya cerraron a raíz del fallo de la Corte Suprema, eliminando casi por completo el acceso al aborto en el estado. https://t.co/qPF6dqVD85
La Voz launched in 2000, the same year that Arizona Republic was acquired by Gannett, a Virginia-based mass media company that owns USA Today, a national paper, along with over 250 papers across 44 states. The only states that Gannett listed no paper ownership in: Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Nebraska, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
Though there isn’t an explicit reason given for the free access to La Voz, a plausible explanation might have to do with the newspaper chain’s social justice commitments.
Gannett is one of many companies across the globe committed to “ESG,” or “Environmental, Social, and Governance” criteria that amount to a “social credit score.” Internationally, there are over 70 major companies committed to ESG criteria. The world’s greatest asset manager, BlackRock, serves as one of 100 strategic partners behind the globalist lobbying organization that invented ESG, the World Economic Forum (WEF); BlackRock is the largest shareholder in Gannett by far.
As part of those ESG criteria, Gannett has committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in hiring and media coverage. Last September, Gannett also announced that it created 20 national and 40 regional positions exclusively focused on social justice issues, with more to come.
The company pledged to reshape its workforce to mirror the nation’s demographics and communities where its papers exist by the end of 2025. Per Gannett’s latest data, the Arizona Republic successfully neared this goal in several demographics last year. From 2020 to 2021, the newspaper reduced its White journalists from 66 to 62 percent, gaining on its community makeup of 55 percent; reduced its Black journalists from 7 percent to 5 percent, matching the 5 percent community makeup;
However, the Arizona Republic fell short in several demographics. Though it increased its Hispanic/Latino journalists from nearly 15 percent to 18 percent, the community makeup totals 30 percent. And, it barely reduced its Asian journalists, hovering around 7 percent when the community makeup is just under 4 percent. It actually increased its Native American journalist hires, from just over 2 percent to nearly 3 percent, though the community makeup is just under 2 percent.
Gannett was acquired by New Media Investment Group in 2019. The firm is controlled by Fortress Investment Group, another private equity firm, who is owned by Softbank, a Japanese conglomerate.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
On Wednesday, Maricopa County will open the first 10 of 211 vote centers for the upcoming primary election; in all, double the number operating during the 2020 election. Five of those locations will only serve as vote centers on certain days — otherwise, they’ll only house drop boxes.
Vote centers allow voters to cast ballots at any location rather than an assigned precinct, leading them to be referred to as “vote anywhere” locations.
We'll have over 120 additional voting locations from August 2020. All of them will be "vote anywhere" vote centers. Early voting 27 days before Election Day. We have vote by mail. We have special election boards.
— Stephen Richer—Maricopa Cnty Recorder (prsnl acct) (@stephen_richer) June 2, 2022
The majority of vote centers were concentrated at places of worship: churches and a few mosques accounted for about 44 percent of all vote centers. About 16 percent were located at K-12 schools or district offices. About 15 percent were located at recreational or community centers.
Another 15 percent were scattered almost evenly across 17 different types of buildings. Of note, there was a vote center at a mortuary, a union, a country club, an airport, and a commercial real estate agency.
The first 10 voting locations open on Wednesday (7/6). I've listed them in the next tweet.
Gubernatorial candidate and Secretary of State Katie Hobbs bowed out of last Thursday’s debate against primary opponent Marco Lopez due to a reported COVID-19 infection, yet was out and about on Monday for Flagstaff’s Independence Day parade.
The CDC recommends that individuals with COVID-19 isolate for five days at least and not travel. If after five days the individual is asymptomatic or there’s no fever for 24 hours, then the CDC recommends that individuals wear a mask for five days when around others. If the COVID-19 illness is severe, then the individual should isolate for a minimum of 10 days.
Hobbs didn’t appear to be masked in the event pictures she posted.
What a great way to celebrate Independence Day — at the Flagstaff 4th of July parade, hearing from voters who care about the future of our state! I look forward to working for you on affordability, education, water and much more. pic.twitter.com/o5ifJa3o5y
It is unclear when Hobbs became infected, but it appears that she recovered completely by Monday.
I'm so happy to see that @KatieHobbs has fully recovered from her sudden case of COVID-19, which was bad enough to prevent her from debating @1marcolopez
Hobbs’ spokeswoman, Sarah Muench, informed The Arizona Republic in a Friday report that Hobbs missed the debate due to COVID-19. Prior to that, Hobbs didn’t issue any public statement mentioning her contraction of COVID-19. She was scheduled to attend other events that would’ve also conflicted with the debate scheduling, but reportedly had to cancel those as well due to her illness.
Lopez didn’t comment on Hobbs’ appearance in Flagstaff, though he was also in Coconino County for July 4 festivities.
Friends, we want our neighbors back. Our communities are longing for hope and leadership. Let's build an Arizona with good jobs, education, respect for rights – an Arizona for ALL. Thank you Coconino for your hospitality! #ArizonaNeedsUs 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/bJsY3IxvfF
The state of California will no longer fully fund official travel to Arizona because of laws banning gender transition procedures for minors (SB1138) and biological males from female sports (SB1165). The West Coast state’s attorney general, Rob Bonta issued the announcement on Thursday, the eleventh hour of Pride Month 2022.
California’s wielding of a 2016 law also applies to Indiana, Louisiana, and Utah, for their respective laws banning biological males, who believe they are transgender females, from participating in girl’s and women’s sports.
Bonta claimed in a press release that protections for women and children were solutions in search of a problem. Rather, Bonta asserted that the laws were veiled attacks on transgenderism and that the state would be “putting [its] money where [its] values are.”
“Make no mistake: There is a coordinated, ongoing attack on transgender rights happening right now all across the country,” said Bonta. “Blanket legislation targeting transgender children is a ‘solution’ in search of a problem. It is detached from reality and directly undermines the well-being of our LGBTQ+ community.”
As of press time, Attorney General Mark Brnovich hasn’t responded to California’s proclamation.
Make no mistake: There is a coordinated, ongoing attack on transgender rights happening right now all across the country.
Later on Thursday, Bonta issued a several statements commending members of his staff within the LGBTQ+ community, including his deputy attorney general Lily Weaver, a man who identifies as a “lesbian transgender millennial woman.
Deputy Attorney General Lily’s life experience as a transgender woman inspired her to continue fighting for justice until everyone is free. #PrideMonthpic.twitter.com/SXVDAqVtjh
