Wednesday’s grounding of thousands of planes due to airlines’ massive management failures proved Arizona’s call for increasing federal oversight a prescient petition. Flights nationwide were grounded due to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) computer outages.
Arizona and 29 states asked the Department of Transportation (DOT) to require airlines to provide meaningful relief for flight cancellations and delays. The petition occurred a little over a week before yet another sweeping airline catastrophe that occurred last month, resulting in historic highs of major issues like flight cancellations, stranded flyers, and lost baggage.
Flights nationwide have been grounded due to FAA computer outages.
Mayor Pete doesn't know what happened or how he is going to fix it.
From supply chain issues to consistent flight cancellations, the DOT job has become too big for him.
In a letter, former Attorney General Mark Brnovich advised DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg that the proposed rulemaking to address flight cancellations and delays should be strengthened.
The DOT issued the proposed “Airline Ticket Refunds and Rule Protections” in August. The rule would make it unlawful for an airline to refuse to refund passengers for canceled or significantly modified flights. However, the attorneys general said the DOT’s allowance for a three-hour delay would enable airlines to loosen their standards at the expense of travelers.
Even at their cruising altitudes, airlines are still not above the law. That’s why I’m fighting to hold them to similar consumer protection standards as other service industries. Read more here: https://t.co/lWj7CnmJEY
The attorneys also suggested that airlines be required to advertise and sell only the flights they have adequate personnel to fly and support. Further, they suggested regular audits and fines for compliance.
We're holding airlines accountable for keeping their promises and servicing the tickets they sell. If you experience disruptions this holiday season, we're here to help. pic.twitter.com/KsuZFVO8Pt
The DOT’s proposed rule would require airlines to provide non-expiring travel vouchers or credits for those with non-refundable tickets facing a flight itinerary change after so many hours or those unable to travel due to “serious communicable disease.” The attorneys suggested that airlines be required to not only provide a full refund but offer a partial refund in the event that passengers choose to accept an airline’s alternative flight.
Too many people have been waiting far too long for airline ticket refunds.
Our focus is on getting money back in people's pockets, and today’s enforcement actions will better ensure that the traveling public gets the refunds they are owed. ⬇️ https://t.co/OYhr7P1Cbz
The attorneys general also suggested that airlines be prohibited from canceling and then upselling alternative flights to the same destinations. They further suggested that airlines be required to provide additional compensation for delays or cancellations, such as food, lodging, and transport.
Airlines must be prepared to service every ticket they sell. If your flight was delayed or canceled and it was the airline’s fault, we want you to know your rights. pic.twitter.com/G1SPOsF56N
Brnovich also advised the DOT to create a framework ensuring timely and prompt communication with attorneys general. The bipartisan coalition joining Brnovich previously petitioned the DOT in late August for the same remedy, but experienced delays and an absence of any collaboration or communication.
Congress needs to allow state AGs to hold the airline industry accountable. Passengers may encounter turbulence in the air, but they shouldn't expect it from the airlines themselves.https://t.co/pK63deIEDI
Brnovich co-led the effort signed on by the attorneys general for the District of Columbia, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands, as well as Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
“It’s time for them to be held to similar consumer protection standards as other service industries,” stated Brnovich.
Brnovich has led a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general in advocating for more stringent rules for airlines since the pandemic began. In 2020, Brnovich urged Congress to implement greater consumer protections such as full refunds for travelers who voluntarily canceled flights due to COVID-19, elimination of delays and expirations in refunds for flight cancellations, and the ability for state attorneys general to enforce federal airline consumer protection laws. These petitions have gone unfulfilled.
If the airlines are receiving tens of millions of taxpayer dollars, Arizonans should expect top-notch service from this industry.
That's why our office is fighting to create more consumer protections for all Americans. pic.twitter.com/Hr5o0h9jFh
In 2021, Brnovich filed an antitrust lawsuit against American Airlines and JetBlue Airlines over their Northeast Alliance Agreement. Brnovich noted that past significant mergers of other airlines resulted in reduced quality of services, job losses, and higher ticket prices. The case, United States of America v. American Airlines Group, is ongoing in the Massachusetts District Court before Judge Leo Sorokin.
Our office just joined a coalition in filing an antitrust lawsuit against American Airlines & JetBlue Airlines regarding their Northeast Alliance Agreement.
Currently, passengers are entitled to receive a refund or compensation if they’re involuntarily taken off an oversold flight, moved to a lower class of service than entitled to the difference in fares, unable to use in-flight services they paid for, or subjected to lost or damaged baggage.
Airlines may, but aren’t required to, compensate passengers facing long delays.
In November, the DOT issued over $600 million in penalties to six airlines for delaying refunds for canceled flights. Most were international. Among those penalized were Frontier Airlines, Air India, TAP Portugal, Aeromexico, El Al, and Avianca.
The DOT offers travelers a portal where they may file a consumer complaint, a dashboard to report on specific carriers’ customer service, as well as a guide on traveler rights.
A delayed or cancelled flight over the holidays can be stressful, but getting a refund from an airline shouldn’t be.
Our Airline Customer Service Dashboard is giving travelers the info they need to get the service they deserve. pic.twitter.com/rZwXf2uMnu
Gov. Katie Hobbs wants to ensure that illegal immigrants get a taxpayer-funded college education; she proposed an initial $40 million investment to realize this goal.
Hobbs issued the proposal during her State of the State Address on Monday in the Capitol. She named the proposed investment after those qualified to remain in the country under former President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
“In line with the will of Arizona’s voters in passing Proposition 308 this past November, my budget allocates $40 million to create the Promise For Dreamers Scholarship Program to cover all students, regardless of immigration status,” stated Hobbs.
Hobbs’ proposal brought some of the loudest cheers from the Democrats on the floor.
In a subsequent statement on Twitter, Hobbs described opposition to Prop 308 and outrage over illegal immigration as “politicized.” She relieved President Joe Biden of much of his responsibility for the border crisis, instead insisting that both Democrats and Republicans were to blame.
“Unfortunately, immigration has been politicized for far too long. Arizona voters told us in November they don’t want or need political stunts designed solely to garner sensationalist TV coverage and generate social media posts,” stated Hobbs.
When I speak to leaders in Arizona’s border communities, they agree they need real solutions after decades of failed leadership by both parties. #HobbsSOTS#SOTS2023pic.twitter.com/EbOBUHaAyJ
Hobbs’ remarks follow the narrow passage of Proposition 308, which awards in-state college tuition rates to Dreamers. The proposition was backed by at least $1.2 million of out-of-state dark money network funding.
Following Prop 308, the state’s universities moved quickly to offer scholarships to illegal immigrant students. Northern Arizona University (NAU), one of the latest, partnered with a scholarship program fund operated by the New Venture Fund, one nonprofit arm of one of the nation’s leading leftist dark money networks, Arabella Advisors. Those eligible for these scholarships include illegal immigrant students eligible for deportation.
Arizona voters don’t just vote on people, we vote on policy too!
Prop 308 gives AZ Dreamers equal affordability if they attend a state school, has bipartisan support, and puts no additional costs on the taxpayer.
Hobbs proposes this additional $40 million, though Arizona already spends hundreds of millions on K-12 illegal immigrant children’s education. In 2020, illegal immigrant students cost Arizona public schools over $748 million. 99 percent of those funds come from local and state taxes, not the federal government.
Some Republicans have supported improving tuition affordability for illegal immigrant students. Last summer, the Arizona House awarded a proclamation to an illegal immigrant activist group for advocating for in-state tuition and education for illegal immigrants. The group, Aliento, was co-founded by a DACA recipient or “Dreamer,” Reyna Montoya.
Montoya graduated from Arizona State University (ASU) with degrees in political science and transborder studies, with recognition as “Most Outstanding Undergraduate Student,” before earning a master’s degree there in secondary education.
During Hobbs’ address, members of the Arizona Freedom Caucus staged a walkout in protest of Hobbs’ agenda. The caucus criticized Hobbs, claiming that she failed to address the real concerns facing Arizonans. State Sen. Jake Hoffman (R-LD15), the caucus chairman, claimed that Hobbs was exploiting her executive power to a tyrannical degree.
“We’re seeing a new breed of Democratic Fascism take hold of the Governor’s office,” stated Hoffman.
State Rep. Jacqueline Parker (R-LD15), vice chairwoman of the caucus, said that it was wrong for legislators to remain before Hobbs while she spoke, claiming it was complicity in Hobbs’ use of office for activism.
“We could not sit idly by while she repeatedly declared her intention to advance her woke agenda that stands at odds with the people of our state,” said Parker.
Several Republican lawmakers opted to walkout or turn their backs as a sign of protest during Monday’s State of the State address by Gov. Katie Hobbs. And the same group intends to move forward with plans to initiate a lawsuit challenging Hobbs’ first executive order.
The protests were organized by the Arizona Freedom Caucus, whose members are committed to upholding the Constitution and preserving personal freedom. Their actions at the State of the State event came just hours after a press conference was held to discuss a lawsuit they intend to file against Hobbs.
The lawsuit will challenge the constitutionality of Executive Order 2023-01, which seeks to extend anti-discrimination protections to LGBTQ+ individuals seeking employment in most state offices and state contractors. Hobbs’ order, however, has come under attack for likely violating an Arizona law which protects the religious autonomy of organizations that work with state agencies.
Sen. Jake Hoffman said during Monday’s press conference that Hobbs believes “she has the ability to legislate with the power of the pen, attempting to create law that simply does not exist.” The lawsuit hopes to rein in the type of policy changes Hobbs seeks to implement through executive orders.
Hoffman is one of the lawmakers who later left the House of Representatives chamber during Hobbs’ speech.
While Katie Hobbs was speaking I took the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet one-on-one with our guest speaker – Holocaust survivor Hanna Miley. Then Chairwoman Parker and I got right to work on legislation of importance to the people of Arizona. pic.twitter.com/IgDp1SpnT1
State Rep. Jacqueline Parker is a founding member of the Arizona Freedom Caucus. She explained her protest action in a press release issued after Hobbs’ address.
“We could not sit idly by while she repeatedly declared her intention to advance her woke agenda that stands at odds with the people of our state,” Parker said.
& she wants to take the money (for illegals) from ESA’s which help the children of actual Arizona citizens 👇 https://t.co/WDqgRr9Uth
“The Arizona Freedom Caucus will never back down in the face of Katie Hobbs’ attempts to implement her fascist agenda in our state,” vowed Rep. Joseph Chaplik.
Terri Jo Neff is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or send her news tips here.
Her office says Gov. Katie Hobbs intends to unleash “Arizonan innovation” in order to grow the State’s workforce. This includes the first executive order of Hobbs’ term along with a 100 Day Initiative which was announced Tuesday.
“Right now, Arizona’s working families face ongoing economic uncertainties,” a statement by Hobbs’ office reads. “Governor Hobbs knows what’s possible when leaders work together to improve the lives of those they represent. That’s why she will work with the legislature to put more money in pockets and provide meaningful relief for so many working families in Arizona.”
According to the statement, Hobbs plans to prioritize lowering the costs for families with children through state level child tax credits, sales tax exemptions for diapers, and a sales tax holiday for back to school shopping.
She also intends to push for sales tax exemptions to help working families, and to help Arizonans secure good-paying jobs by creating more career and technical education opportunities and expanding child care assistance.
But how the governor intends to pay for her plan has not yet been announced.
In the meantime, concerns are being raised about Hobbs’ first Executive Order which was promoted by the governor’s office as “protecting employment opportunities” for Arizona’s workers.
As previously reported by AZ Free News, much of the emphasis of Executive Order 2023-01 involves barring gender identity discrimination.
Yet Hobbs appears to be trying to expand discrimination protection by dictating how religious organizations must operate if they want to contract with the State. It is a sort of reverse discrimination which Arizona law actually prohibits, according to critics of the governor’s effort.
EO 2023-01 directs the Arizona Department of Administration to establish procedures for use by all State agencies to ensure that hiring, promotion, recruitment, compensation, and tenure “is on the basis of merit and qualifications” is in accordance with all existing federal, state, and local laws, rules, policies, or executive orders.
It also mandates that “all new state contracts or subcontracts” include the same provisions to prohibit discriminatory practices based on race, color, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or medical conditions related to pregnancy or childbirth, political or religious affiliation or ideas, culture, creed, social origin or condition, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, military service or veteran status, or marital status.
But many state agencies, like the Department of Child Safety and the Department of Health Services, heavily rely on religious organization such as Catholic Charities and other faith-based groups to provide much needed services, particularly for Arizona’s at-risk children.
Cathi Herrod, president of the Center for Arizona Policy, expressed concern that the anti-discrimination effort of Hobbs’ first executive order might actually violate Arizona law and the rights of non-secular agencies.
“The question is does the state want to continue to have faith-based agencies providing such critical foster care and adoption services?” Herrod says. “Because if they didn’t award the contract because of the religious entity’s beliefs, then they’re violating their constitutional and statutory rights.”
EO 2023-01 does not address how Hobbs will ensure those critical social services remain available nor how competing discrimination arguments would be resolved. But state law generally trumps an individual governor’s wishes.
And while the executive order will apply to thousands of state jobs, all state offices headed by one or more statewide elected officials—such as the Attorney General, Treasurer, and Secretary of State—are exempted from compliance. This likely leaves hundreds of other state jobs outside the scope of Hobbs’ order.
“Although these organizations are not included they are encouraged, along with all private employers operating in Arizona, to adopt similar employment opportunity protections,” Hobbs noted in EO 2023-01.
EO 2023-01 does not confer any legal rights or remedies upon any persons and “shall not be used as a basis for legal challenges to a State Agency’s refusal to consider an applicant for employment, the removal of an applicant from consideration for employment, the denial of an employment application, or any inaction of a State Agency.”
Terri Jo Neff is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or send her news tips here.
New year, new policy: the University of Arizona (UArizona) began paying for gender reassignment surgeries for both employees and their children on Jan. 1.
UArizona will cover up to $10,000 for these procedures through a newly established Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA): an employer-funded, tax-free health benefit that reimburses employees. Both employees and their dependents are eligible for the HRA.
The HRA would also cover fertility treatments, but only up to $2,500.
UArizona announced the reimbursement plan in the week after Thanksgiving. The HRA administrator is Navia Benefit Solutions, and offered through enrollment in the Arizona Department of Administration’s High-Deductible Health Plan or Triple Choice Plan.
The university has supported transgenderism openly over the past few decades. In 2013, UArizona lifted up a transgender former professor, Susan Stryker, who established their Transgender Studies Initiative.
Stryker retired, but is a visiting professor for Yale University, distinguished chair for Mills College, and co-editor for a Duke University Press book series on gender. Buzzfeed named Stryker as one of 24 individuals who radically reformed public perception of transgenderism.
The UA's Susan Stryker has been listed as an American who has changed the way we think about transgender rights: http://t.co/ciVVsElHgw.
UArizona also offers a “Gender Affirming Treatment” through their student health insurance plan, a benefit which is also available at Arizona State University (ASU) and Northern Arizona University (NAU). UArizona offers insurance through UnitedHealthcare.
The university also issues room assignments based on students’ preferred room gender through “open housing rooms” within “Gender Inclusive Housing” groups on certain floors or in certain dorms. Preferred names and pronouns are permitted to be changed for class rosters, emails, and other non-legal uses.
The university allows individuals to use restrooms corresponding with their gender identity, as well as offering restrooms that allow both genders.
UArizona received over $327.6 million from the state general fund in the last fiscal year. Current tuition rates are set at over $13,200 for residents, and over $39,500 for non-residents.
The university has a 50 percent four-year and 68 percent six-year graduation rate.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Gov. Katie Hobbs selected as her spokeswoman a leader of two leftist dark money organizations and supporter of an FBI Most Wanted terrorist.
Hobbs’ spokeswoman, Josselyn Berry, served as leadership in two organizations that managed funds from Democratic dark networks. Berry served as the program manager for Arizona Wins from 2015 to 2016, and executive director for ProgressNow Arizona (now Progress Arizona) from 2016 through 2019.
Progress Arizona’s sponsor, Way to Win, launched in response to former President Donald Trump’s 2016 victory as a national donor network for defeating Republicans. It spent $110 million in key states, including Arizona, to ensure Democratic victories in 2020. Its major funders include George Soros’ Open Society Foundations and family, Stryker Corporation heiress Patricia Stryker, prominent D.C. consulting firm Arabella Advisors’ Sixteen Thirty (1630) Fund, and the Tides Foundation-backed One Arizona.
Specifics about Progress Arizona’s financials (filed under “ProgressNow AZ”) aren’t publicly available. IRS public documents for the 501(c)(4) nonprofit only include the organization’s tax-exempt notification letter. ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom site, was only able to obtain the extracted financial data for their fiscal year 2020 filing, but no specific details to reflect the $3.9 million revenue. An initiative of Progress Arizona, ProgressNow AZ Institute, had revenues of over $500,000 in 2020, but source documents weren’t available for that filing, either.
Of note, Hobbs’ campaign shared the same mailing address as ProgressNow and Arizona Wins: a UPS store in Phoenix shared over the years by several other Democratic political action committees (PACs), activist organizations, and even candidates. These groups also have ties to the political operative behind at least 50 political action committees or candidate campaigns over the last five years.
That operative, Dacey Montoya, had the email for her consulting firm, The Money Wheel, listed as a contact for Hobbs’ secretary of state and gubernatorial campaigns, and received about $188,500 over the past four years. Montoya’s PAC received $37 million from fallen crypto giant FTX leader Sam Bankman-Fried, as well as over $1 million from committees for Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Governor Katie Hobbs.
While serving as the communications director for the Arizona State Senate Democratic Caucus, Berry quoted FBI Most Wanted Terrorist Assata Shakur in a tweet following George Floyd’s death. The Senate Democrats also shared the quote on their Twitter feed, but were forced to delete it and issue an apology after it stoked controversy.
The Senate Democrats claimed ignorance of Shakur’s criminal history and terrorist status. Shakur was a Black Liberation Army member sentenced to life in prison for murdering a cop and committing armed robbery, among other crimes. She escaped prison in 1979 and fled to Cuba; the FBI has a $2 million reward for her apprehension.
Berry, who was hired as an Arizona Democratic Party spokeswoman last year, never deleted the tweet.
Berry graduated from Arizona State University (ASU) Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, where she was also in the Barrett Honors College.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
