by Corinne Murdock | Feb 28, 2023 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
The city of Phoenix will vote on whether to ban income discrimination for housing during the next upcoming council meeting. The ban would likely have the most significant impact for the homeless and low-income who receive housing vouchers.
According to the proposed ordinance, those who discriminate based on a homebuyer or renter’s source of income would face civil penalties of up to $2,500, as well as daily penalties of up to $2,500.
In a letter to City Manager Jeff Barton, several members of the council claimed that income discrimination violated a civil right to fair housing. Federal law only prohibits discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, familial status, and disability.
“Too often, the practice of considering a source of income is used to discriminate against renters who use housing vouchers, Social Security disability, foster family credits, or benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs,” stated the letter.
Councilmembers Laura Pastor, Betty Guadardo, and Carlos Garcia signed off on the letter, disclosing that Mayor Kate Gallego and four other members of the council support this proposed ordinance.
19 states and Washington, D.C. have banned income discrimination for housing.
The vote will come about a week after the House passed a bill banning local governments from requiring hotels and motels to accept housing vouchers from the homeless passed the House.
HB2379 by State Rep. Matt Gress (R-LD04) specifically prevents cities, towns, and counties from requiring hotels and motels to participate in housing programs for the homeless, thereby allowing them to refuse housing voucher payments for an unoccupied guest room. Voucher funds come from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The House passed Gress’ bill along party lines, with all Republicans voting for it and all Democrats against it.
House Minority Leader Andrés Cano (D-LD20) claimed that the bill wasn’t compassionate. He alluded that a housing-first approach was the right solution for the homeless.
“What message is the state of Arizona sending if we have vacant hotel rooms and people living on the street?” said Cano. “It is the message that we can’t have people in our state housed. I’m worried that’s what this bill does. Democrats stand ready, we are absolutely ready, to address their long-term needs.”
Gress rebutted that his bill was common sense. He cited the Arizona Lodging & Tourism Association recommendation against requiring hotels and motels to accept housing vouchers, due to the fact that staff weren’t equipped to handle the needs of the homeless.
“This legislation is trying to prevent what would amount to a takings of private property, to force unequipped and untrained hotel workers to help address the situation with homelessness. Many of these individuals struggle with mental health and addiction issues,” said Gress. “We’ve seen too many bad ideas being exported from California, and this is another one we’re trying to prevent.”
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Daniel Stefanski | Feb 27, 2023 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
Arizona Republicans continue to take action to protect the financial interests and futures of their constituents – even though these current efforts face an uncertain fate with Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs’ veto stamp looming and already very active this legislative session.
Representative Steve Montenegro introduced HB 2472, which deals with a prohibition on the use of social credits. According to the overview provided by the Arizona House, this bill “asserts that the State may not require a bank to use a social credit score in determining whether to lend money.”
HB 2472 passed both the House Commerce and Rules Committees with 6-4 and 8-0 votes, respectively. This week, Montenegro’s bill made it to the floor of the Arizona House for an up-or-down vote. It passed 31-28, with one Democrat not voting.
In explaining her vote against this bill on the floor, Democrat Representative Athena Salman talked about the importance of financial institutions achieving and advancing the goal of gender equity.
One House Republican, Representative John Gillette, strongly disagreed with Salman’s viewpoint, tweeting, “We support equal opportunity, not equal outcome.”
The Republican Liberty Caucus of Arizona supported this bill throughout its House journey, stating, “The terms of a loan should be negotiated by a bank and the customer with minimal government interference. Once government colludes with banks to impose social credit scores, people will begin to lose their individual rights and the economy with suffer. Government will naturally use social credit scores to control people’s behavior, in the interest of government, not the individual. Private businesses will lose profits as they make business decisions not on market demands, but on deeply flawed ESG standards. We must reject government imposed social credit scores and ESG, and instead support free market policies. Only in a free market can we truly have freedom and prosperity.”
ESG (Environmental, social, and corporate governance) has been given heightened visibility in recent years as many Republicans around the country have identified this as a threat to their constituents’ financial futures and security. One of the leaders in this arena is Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has made the fight against ESG one of the priorities of his administration. Prior to 2023, Arizona had two statewide officials, who were extremely active in fighting back against the ESG movement with former Attorney General Mark Brnovich and Treasurer Kimberly Yee.
However, the transition of power in the Arizona Attorney General’s Office halted Brnovich’s investigative efforts into this movement. Kris Mayes, Arizona’s new top prosecutor, stopped an ongoing investigation from her predecessor, saying, “corporations increasingly realize that investing in sustainability is both good for our country, our environment, and public health and good for their bottom lines. The state of Arizona is not going to stand in the way of corporations’ efforts to move in the right direction.”
But State Treasurer Kimberly Yee continues to be an active opponent of ESG. Her office took several positions and actions against ESG during her first term, including revising the Arizona State Treasurer’s Office Investment Policy Statement to ensure that the Office “investments are not subject to the subjective political whims of the ESG standards.” Yee stated, “This is about maintaining American free-market principles that our country was founded upon and not allowing environmental or social goals to dictate how taxpayer monies are managed.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Terri Jo Neff | Feb 27, 2023 | News
By Terri Jo Neff |
Maricopa County officials have been working for several weeks on replacing County Manager Joy Rich, who is retiring in early April. Now, the county’s top IT employee is also leaving.
Chief Information Officer (CIO) Ed Winfield is retiring later this week as head of Maricopa County’s Office of Enterprise Technology where he is responsible for all aspects of information technology strategy, operations, service, and security.
For now, Winfield’s duties will be handled by Lester Godsey, the county’s Chief Information Security Officer or CISO. Godsey has been responsible for all cybersecurity and data privacy efforts for Maricopa County.
In turn, Godsey will temporarily turn over his CISO duties to Assistant CISO Seema Patel, who is the county’s director of Information Security Assurance.
How long Godsey and Patel hold those interim positions depends on the speed in which the Board of Supervisors replace Rich. The decision has been made to allow the new manager to hire the new CIO, according to a county spokesperson.
Rich, who as Maricopa County’s chief administrator has been responsible since 2016 for roughly 13,000 employees across 40 departments, announced her impending retirement back in January.
Applications for her position were not due until Feb. 13, leading to the possibility an interim manager could be named if a new manager is not in place by Rich’s last day of April 7.
Terri Jo Neff is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or send her news tips here.
by Terri Jo Neff | Feb 26, 2023 | News
By Terri Jo Neff |
It was a hearing two years in the making, but for government officials, business leaders, and nonprofit operators in Yuma County the sentiment toward the recent field hearing conducted by the U.S. House Judiciary Committee was better late than never.
On Feb. 24, Committee Chairman Jim Jordan led a 14-member delegation to Yuma to hear testimony about how the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has responded to the southwest border crisis that began two years ago when President Joe Biden took office.
The delegation came on the heels of a border visit earlier this month by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and three freshman representatives who were hosted by Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ6) in Cochise County, in the southeast corner of the state.
The Yuma trip, however, focused on evidence of how the federal response to the ongoing border crisis in Arizona’s southwest corner has created economic challenges and public health threats.
It also led a recently retired high ranking U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) official to freely speak out on the crisis while others addressed the hard dollar costs of providing free foodstuff and medical care to tens of thousands of migrants.
Dr. Robert Trenschel, president and CEO of Yuma Regional Medical Center, described the $26 million price tag for uncompensated health care provided in 2022 to thousands of illegal immigrants who have besieged Yuma County.
“Migrant patients are receiving free care,” Trenschel noted. “We cannot provide completely free care to the residents of our community so the situation is not fair and is understandably concerning to them.”
Trenschel explained that some migrants have required intensive treatment such as dialysis and heart surgery. He added that discharging migrants after treatment is further complicated by the fact they don’t have access to the necessary post-release equipment and follow-up.
“And when babies are born, they may have to stay in the intensive care unit for a month because of the complications of their situation,” Trenschel said, adding many of the mothers had not had adequate prenatal care.
All of the Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee skipped the trip to Yuma, calling it a “stunt hearing.” The lack of bipartisan interest was noted by former USBP Yuma Sector Chief Chris Clem, who was the top USBP official in the area from December 2020 to December 2022 until he retired.
“I think that it should’ve been a bipartisan hearing down here because in order to solve a border security and immigration crisis, we need to involve the community, the experts, the business community,” Clem said of Thursday’s hearing. “That takes everybody and so that means everybody that is represented and their representatives need to be here.”
Clem added that because immigration is a socioeconomic issue, “it requires all sides of the aisle to address.”
The threat to Yuma County’s agriculture powered economy was also addressed by an unexpected voice – Yuma County Sheriff Leon Wilmot.
Wilmot spoke of how USBP apprehensions in his border county went from about 40 a day prior to President Joe Biden’s inauguration in January 2021 to more than 1,000 on some days last year. He also shed a light on the economic and public health issues associated with the border crisis.
According to Wilmot, Yuma County supplies 90 percent of the leafy greens consumed in the U.S. during the winter. But those fields as well as the water needed to support agriculture in the area is being increasingly endangered from “tons of trash, pharmaceuticals, and biological waste” associated with border crossers along the Colorado River.
Terri Jo Neff is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or send her news tips here.
by Daniel Stefanski | Feb 25, 2023 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
Arizona may no longer have a pro-life governor, but Republican legislators are working hard to champion family values at the State House and Senate – and they turned out en masse to this week’s Arizona Right to Life March in downtown Phoenix.
Senate President Warren Petersen attended the event and issued the following statement before the March: “Today we will MARCH FOR LIFE! One of the key reasons I am republican is because we believe in the sanctity of life.
The Arizona Senate Republican Caucus tweeted, “Every life is precious and deserving of protection. As pro-life advocates, we believe in upholding the dignity and value of human life from conception to natural death. At today’s #MarchForLife at the Capitol, Republican Senators and Representatives showed their support and assured Arizona residents that we will continue to fight for the most vulnerable.”
House Speaker Ben Toma also attended the March for Life, saying, “Honored to address today’s March for Life at the State Capitol. As the Speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives, I will ALWAYS fight protect the good laws that we have passed in this state to safeguard the sanctity of life!”
House Majority Leader Leo Biasiucci released a photo from the stage of the rally at Wesley Bolin Plaza, showing all the Arizonans who showed up to stand for life.
Representative David Marshall tweeted a picture of him on the March for Life sage, stating, “Thousands came out to support the unborn, Praise the Lord!”
Representative Matt Gress pledged his support to pro-life causes and laws at the rally, saying, “What an amazing day at the Capitol! We marched with thousands of Arizonans who believe life is a sacred human right. We will do all that we can to fervently protect that right.”
Senator Wendy Rogers tweeted a picture of her and her colleagues standing on the rally stage with the caption, “Honored to stand for #MarchForLife at the Arizona Capitol today.”
Senator Justine Wadsack shared photos of the March for Life rally, including one with her LD17 seatmate.
Representative John Gillette thanked all the individuals who attended the rally and March for Life: “We are grateful for the support and the thousands that turned out in support, and a big thanks to Majority Whip Martinez for getting the word out.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | Feb 25, 2023 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
After vetoing a collection of budget bills last week, Democrat Katie Hobbs was ready to jettison another Republican-led policy as a divided state government remains far apart on solutions to help Arizonans weather the storms of a harsh economy.
Earlier this month, Republicans in the Arizona House and Senate passed legislation that would prohibit “municipalities from levying municipal tax on the business of renting or leasing real property for residential purposes,” sending SB 1184 to Governor Hobbs’ office on the Ninth Floor of the Executive Tower for consideration.
Governor Hobbs vetoed SB 1184, but her veto explanation struck a different tone than the one delivered to legislators after her rejection of their budget. The governor gave the following explanation for her veto: “I appreciate the legislature’s interest in addressing rising housing costs, particularly for renters. Lowering costs for Arizona families is a priority of my administration. Unfortunately, this bill suffers from two important defects at this time. First, this bill lacks any enforceable mechanism to ensure relief will be provided to renters. As noted by the legislature’s own attorney, provisions in the bill that purport to require that tax savings be passed on to renters face challenges under both the state and federal constitutions. If we are going to promise relief to renters, it’s important that we are able to ensure they actually receive it.
Hobbs then addressed the opposition to the legislative proposal from multiple cities and towns, including quotes from John Lewis (the President and CEO of PHX East Valley Partnership Board) and Yuma Mayor Douglas Nicholls (the League of Cities and Towns President), who had both urged the governor to veto SB 1184.
Republicans in the Legislature were not happy with Hobbs’ action to stop their bill from becoming law. Senate bill sponsor, Steve Kaiser, responded to the governor’s veto, saying, “Rent is the costliest expense for hundreds of Arizonans, but Governor Hobbs is clearly not among their ranks. If she was, she would know that in 70 cities across our state, renters see and pay for a rental tax line item on each monthly bill. Senate Republicans offered a substantive plan to fight spiking inflation that Hobbs vetoed. Governor Hobbs inflation plan? A limited tax exemption for diapers and feminine hygiene products. By her own logic used to veto SB 1184, her proposal would be a tax break for grocery stores, not consumers. Grocery stores, just like landlords, collect and remit tax paid for by consumers. Unlike Hobbs, our citizens don’t have the luxury of falling back on the semantics of tax collection, they feel the hurt of onerous taxation in their wallets.”
House Majority Leader Leo Biasiucci tweeted, “Removing the Home/Apartment rental tax would save Arizona renters $100-$200 per year. Yet, Governor Hobbs vetoed the rental tax repeal bill today. This idea that she’s a Governor for the people is now officially a lie! Watch, she’ll veto the grocery food tax repeal bill next!”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
