Arizona GOP Lawmakers To Investigate Arizona’s COVID-19 Pandemic Response

Arizona GOP Lawmakers To Investigate Arizona’s COVID-19 Pandemic Response

By Daniel Stefanski |

As the political impasse between Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs and the Republican-led Legislature remains at a historic divide, legislators continue to create new committees to tackle outstanding issues facing the state.

This week, the Arizona Legislature announced the formation of the Novel Coronavirus Southwestern Intergovernmental Committee “to examine federal, state and local efforts to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic, any fallout from such measures, and to identify any possible legal remedies against individuals or entities where appropriate.”

According to the announcement, this committee will “gather information from experts and provide the public with a formal venue to share their stories, experiences, and grievances from the pandemic response by public health departments and healthcare systems.” The committee will also “evaluate protocols and overall public health guidance, funding incentives for health care facilities, injustices committed against families, businesses, workers and industries, potential preventative protections that may have been able to safeguard Arizona citizens against harms committed, and anything else deemed relevant to the pandemic.”

Arizona Senator Janae Shamp was tapped to serve as the committee’s chairman, and Senator T.J. Shope was selected as vice-chairman. Rounding out the committee’s membership will be U.S. Representatives Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar, and Eli Crane, along with Arizona Representative Steve Montenegro.

Chairman Shamp released the following quote in conjunction with the news about this fledgling committee: “The pandemic was a heartbreaking period for so many people on so many different levels. I lost my job as a Perioperative Nurse because I refused to take the experimental vaccine that we now know has produced serious side effects in a number of otherwise healthy individuals. We’ve witnessed lives and livelihoods lost for no other reason than the mismanagement of COVID-19, and we are determined to hold those accountable for the injustices experienced.”

Vice-Chairman T.J. Shope told AZ Free News his “hope is that this committee will get to the bottom of when public officials knew that virus suppression measures being foisted on the public were actually unnecessary and how fast they responded to lift those measures.” He also praised Senator Shamp’s assembly of “an all-star team of medical experts,” and he expressed excitement for his expected participation.

The committee will meet on May 25 and 26 from 8:30am-4:30pm in the Arizona Senate building, and additional hearings will be scheduled in the future.

Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.

Adrian Fontes Begins Campaigning For Joe Biden’s Reelection Campaign

Adrian Fontes Begins Campaigning For Joe Biden’s Reelection Campaign

By Corinne Murdock |

Secretary of State Adrian Fontes has joined an effort to support President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign. The initiative cited Fontes as a key worker to mobilize the Latino and rural voters in Arizona.

Fontes was the odd man out in the voter turnout effort, named the “2024 Mobilization Project,” because the Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association (DLGA) launched it. The press release announcing the voter turnout campaign effort characterized Fontes as a fellow lieutenant governor, lumping him in with lieutenant governors Garlin Gilchrist (Michigan), Peggy Flanagan (Minnesota), Sara Rodriguez (Wisconsin), and Austin Davis (Pennsylvania).

“In critical swing states, the incumbent Democratic Lieutenant Governor has a demonstrated history of organizing and turning out key areas and constituencies,” stated the press release. “Secretary Adrian Fontes served as the County Recorder of Maricopa County for two terms before his 2022 election to Secretary of State, where he received the most votes out of any non-federal statewide office. He will be key in mobilizing Latino and rural voters throughout Arizona.”

DLGA’s website also lists Fontes as the “lieutenant governor” for Arizona.

Sergio Arellano, executive director of Conserva Mi Voto, told AZ Free News that Fontes’ involvement in the DLGA reelection initiative was suspect. 

“Secretary of State Fontes says that he has ‘seen firsthand how vital it is to protect our democratic processes, and defend our elections,’ but rather than focus on protecting those processes for Arizonans, he is spending time engaged in partisan pandering,” said Arellano. “I don’t believe that the chief elected official tasked with managing our elections should be assisting an individual candidate that will most likely be on the ballot. If his participation in the Biden campaign is not a breach of ethics, it certainly appears to be.”

Arellano was quoting Fontes directly from his press release statement, in which he claimed that Democratic states have been delivering for voters.

“As Secretary of State, I have seen firsthand how vital it is to protect our democratic processes, defend our elections, and ensure every single person in our country, no matter where they live, who they are, or where they’re from, has access to their version of the American dream,” said Fontes. “To do that, it is absolutely paramount that we all work together, hand-in-hand, to elect Democrats in 2024.”

Arellano challenged Fontes’ claim that states have done better under Democratic leadership. Arellano recalled the recent #freethetamale controversy, in which Gov. Katie Hobbs killed a bill expanding allowed homemade food sales. The bill would’ve especially impacted Hispanic communities, where homemade food like tamales are often sold by street vendors and make up a key part of family income.

“Secretary Fontes says ‘every single person in our country, no matter where they live, who they are, or where they’re from, has access to their version of the American dream.’ However, President Biden has created an American nightmare for the average Latino in this country in his brief time in office,” said Arellano. “From runaway inflation to onerous regulations, the Biden administration and the Democrats are crushing opportunity. We have seen it firsthand in Arizona with the recent veto by Governor Katie Hobbs of the ‘tamale bill.’”

In addition to reelecting Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the DLGA said they planned to raise $15 million by 2026.

Arizona voters approved a constitutional amendment, Proposition 131, creating a lieutenant governorship last November; however, that position wouldn’t begin until January 2027. That leaves Maine, New Hampshire, Oregon, and Wyoming the only states without lieutenant governors. Oregon’s secretary of state was also listed as a lieutenant governor on DLGA’s website, though Maine’s Senate president, who sits next in line for the governorship and is a Democrat, wasn’t listed.

DLGA issued its press release on Monday, a day before Biden formally announced his reelection bid. 

The president’s initial campaign theme was, “Let’s Finish the Job,” insisting that his administration was focused on preserving and expanding Americans’ freedoms. 

DLGA featuring Fontes, who isn’t a lieutenant governor, as a key player in mobilizing Latino votes aligns with the president’s formal reelection bid announcement. The campaign video included subtitles in only one other language than English: Spanish.

DLGA organized in August 2018.

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

Arizona Lawmaker Caught Stealing Bibles From Arizona Capitol

Arizona Lawmaker Caught Stealing Bibles From Arizona Capitol

By Corinne Murdock |

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.

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.

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. 

Republican lawmakers made light of Stahl Hamilton’s disdain for Bibles at the capitol. 

This wouldn’t be Stahl Hamilton’s first contradiction between her political activity and her alleged faith. 

Stahl Hamilton was endorsed by Planned Parenthood and supports abortion.

Stahl Hamilton has also backed laws advocating for LGBTQ+ lifestyles and ideologies for children and adults. 

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. Perry dispelled 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.

Arizona Republican Leaders Turn To SCOTUS To Stop Vaccine Mandate

Arizona Republican Leaders Turn To SCOTUS To Stop Vaccine Mandate

By Daniel Stefanski |

Arizona’s Republican leaders in the Legislature are turning to the U.S. Supreme Court for intervention in a vaccine mandate case.

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.”

Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.

Democrats Ignore Pleas Of Small Business Owners, Fail To Override Veto Of “Tamale Bill”

Democrats Ignore Pleas Of Small Business Owners, Fail To Override Veto Of “Tamale Bill”

By Daniel Stefanski |

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!”

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.”

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.”

Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.