by Corinne Murdock | Mar 1, 2023 | Education, News
By Corinne Murdock |
Arizona State University (ASU) began paying for children’s gender transitions at the start of the year, as part of a health care plan similar to one provided by at least one other state university.
ASU offers up to $10,000 in tax-free reimbursements for these treatments, which it dubbed “gender-affirming” medical care. Both employees and their dependents are eligible for the reimbursements.
ASU isn’t the only university to offer this benefit. The University of Arizona (UArizona) is also paying up to $10,000 for gender reassignment surgeries for employees and their dependents.
Employees or their dependents are eligible for these reimbursements if the gender transition services aren’t covered by the Arizona Department of Administration’s health care plan.
Reimbursement is available for gender-affirming medical care services not currently covered by the Arizona Department of Administration health care plan.
Minors may not receive gender transition surgery in the state, according to a bill codified in April of last year, SB1138. The legislation nearly died in the Senate Health & Human Services Committee. Former State Sen. Tyler Pace initially refused to support the bill. Pace changed his mind after reviewing the standards of care issued by the World Professional Association of Transgender Health (WPATH) at the time.
Last September, WPATH modified their standards of care to declare that minors are capable of giving informed consent through a legal guardian.
Federal policy doesn’t address gender transition procedures as part of Medicaid coverage. In 2021 the Biden administration began enforcing a rule modifying the Affordable Care Act (ACA) non-discrimination provisions to include sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes.
In November, a federal court rejected the Biden administration’s attempted expansion of sex-based discrimination to include sexual orientation and gender identity.
ASU’s Educational Outreach and Student Services provides a “trans-specific” resource page, which includes an 11-page guide informing faculty on proper transgender student inclusion in the classroom. Their advice included using pronouns in email signatures, attend training workshops to receive an “ally” placard and image to include in their communications, vocalize their pronouns on the first day of class, using gender-neutral terms on class documents, requesting pronouns from students prior to class, and establishing anti-bullying policies.
The guide characterized bullying as any negative commentary and the intentional use of incorrect pronouns.
“Blatant misgendering and transphobic comments create an unsafe and hostile learning environment for all students,” read the guide.
ASU also offers a $79, four-hour course for K-12 teachers to address the “social, emotional, and educational needs” of transgender students. Behind the course is the program manager for the Transgender Education Program (TEP), Cammy Bellis, who’s work at ASU over the past decade concerned establishing safe and affirming K-12 environments for LGBTQ+ students. TEP has existed for nearly seven years. Bellis was formerly an education training coordinator and board member for the Gay, Lesbian, & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) chapter in Phoenix.
GLSEN is a national organization pushing LGBTQ+ ideologies onto minors.
ASU disclosed that their surveys revealed an increase in transgender or LGBTQ+ students over the years, with an estimate that there would be one or more transgender or LGBTQ+ student in every classroom.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Corinne Murdock | Feb 28, 2023 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
The city of Flagstaff is proposing to effectively decriminalize abortion. The proposed resolution is listed currently on the draft agenda for next week’s planned formal meeting.
The resolution would permit Flagstaff police to deprioritize alleged violations of abortion crimes by referring them to the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS), and by not arresting the alleged offenders.
“The City Council supports the Flagstaff Police Department in establishing law enforcement priorities that consider the need to protect the physical, psychological, and socioeconomic wellbeing of pregnant persons and their care providers,” stated the resolution. “The City Council supports the Flagstaff Police Department in establishing policies that require a report of an alleged violation of [statute] that is reported to have taken place at a medical facility, be referred to the Arizona Department of Health Services for investigation and that no physical arrest be made by the Flagstaff Police Department.”
The resolution also opposed A.R.S. §§ 36-2321 through 2326 specifically, which outline bans on abortions after 15 weeks gestation except in the cases of medical emergencies, as well as “all provisions of Arizona law criminalizing abortion.” The council petitioned the legislature to repeal all laws criminalizing abortion.
READ THE RESOLUTION
As justification for its position, the council’s resolution cited the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ claim that abortion bans harm women’s health. The council claimed that pregnancy has a 14 times higher risk of death than abortion. It also cited statistics indicating that rural area, minority, and lower-income women more often rely on abortion and therefore will be disproportionately impacted by it.
The proposed resolution arose out of a citizen petition submitted to the council last August by the Flagstaff Abortion Alliance. Vice Mayor Austin Aslan, at the time still a member of the council, advanced the petition. According to Women’s March Flagstaff, the city plans to implement stronger protections for abortionists and women obtaining abortions, such as restrictions on surveillance, arrest, and prosecution, in the near future.
Only Councilwoman Lori Matthews opposed the resolution at last week’s meeting. She broke it to the many pro-abortion activists present at the meeting that the city couldn’t truly protect citizens from abortion laws. Matthews stated that there were other pressing issues that the council should be facing, but that it was caught up in this issue of resisting current law.
“The Flagstaff City Council cannot change the law and we cannot protect your right to abortion,” said Matthews. “[W]e can only make a politically charged statement.”
Matthews added that those supportive of the resolution seemed to not understand that current state law doesn’t ban all abortions, just those following 15 weeks gestation. She further alluded that the council shouldn’t support a resolution that would contradict their oath of office: upholding state law.
“We cannot pass an ordinance protecting abortion rights, so why are we talking about this very politically and emotionally charged issue just to make a political statement that clearly doesn’t represent the community as a whole?” said Matthews. “We took an oath of office to uphold the Constitution, to uphold the state constitution, and its laws. And until those laws change, we have to abide by them because that’s the oath of office we take.”
The council cited the cities of Tucson and Phoenix as inspiration for their resolution to effectively decriminalize abortion.
Tucson decriminalized abortion last June, shortly after the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) draft opinion leaked revealing their overturning of Roe v. Wade through the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health. About a month earlier, Pima County Attorney Laura Conover promised to not give jail time to those seeking or assisting abortions.
Phoenix followed Tucson months later, decriminalizing abortion last October.
The discrepancy between state law and both local and state leadership is more evident following the midterm election. Last week, Attorney General Kris Mayes joined a multistate lawsuit against the FDA in an attempt to remove restrictions on the abortion pill, mifepristone. Arizona signed onto the lawsuit with Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Delaware, Illinois, Connecticut, Colorado, Vermont, New Mexico, Michigan, and Rhode Island.
Mayes and the other attorneys general claimed that mifepristone is safer than Tylenol. The FDA restricts mifepristone and 59 drugs under the Risk Evaluation & Mitigation Strategies (REMS). Other drugs under these restrictions include opioids like fentanyl and high-dose sedatives. Mayes cited FDA assessment that serious complications with mifepristone are rare. Mifepristone can cause bacterial infections and prolonged, heavy menstrual bleeding.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
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.
