George Takei, of “Star Trek” fame, threatened to remove Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) from office if she opposes President Joe Biden’s bill raising corporate taxes.
The legislation in question, the 725-page Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022, would impose a 15 percent minimum tax on corporations with income of $1 billion or more and closure of a carried interest provision in the tax code. The legislation is a repackaged version of Biden’s Build Back Better (BBB) Act. It gained momentum after earning Senator Joe Manchin’s (D-WV) support last week, who held out previously over concerns that it would exacerbate inflation.
Takei is a New Yorker and prominent LGBTQ+ activist; Sinema’s the Senate’s first bisexual member.
If Sen. Kyrsten Sinema blocks the climate and healthcare bill in order to protect corporations from pay 15% minimum taxes, I will devote my time and platform to supporting her primary opponent in 2024. And I will ask others here with large followings to join me.
Sinema’s opposition stands in the way of Democrats’ budget reconciliation — the only way Biden can have his bill passed without Republican support.
Costing around $433 billion, the IRA would invest $369 billion into renewable energy and climate change programs, enforce price controls on prescription medication, allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices and caps out-of-pocket cost to $2,000, expand the IRS budget by $124 billion, and extend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) while lowering premiums.
Democratic leadership claimed that the IRA would raise $739 billion in revenues, effectively reducing the deficit by over $300 billion and countering the historic high inflation (9.1 percent) plaguing the nation currently. In the Democrats’ one-page summary of the IRA, they claimed that the IRA wouldn’t result in any new taxes on families making $400,000 or less, and no new taxes on small businesses.
The Tax Foundation estimated that the IRA would eliminate about 30,000 jobs and reduce economic output and after-tax wages in the long run. They identified the 15 percent minimum tax on corporations as the main cause for projected job reduction.
On Tuesday, Sinema spoke with Arizona Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Danny Seiden about the legislation.
Thanks to @SenatorSinema for taking the time to chat with Arizona business leaders & manufacturers about our concerns with the reconciliation bill. Always appreciate the Senator’s thoughtful approach & willingness to listen to AZ job creators. @AZManufacturing@ShopFloorNAMpic.twitter.com/cdNDK7zIg9
On Wednesday, Axios reported that sources close to Sinema revealed that the senator may support the IRA if it’s expanded to include provisions improving drought and water security in the Southwest. Politico sources close to Sinema put a price tag to that request: $5 billion.
Arizona has been in a long-term drought for nearly 30 years, a status worsened by the recent reclassification of the Colorado River to Tier One drought status. That reduced Arizona’s water allotment, and prompted Governor Doug Ducey to seek out Israeli desalination technology to counter the drought.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
A new nonprofit, Save Democracy, wants to make primary elections nonpartisan through a forthcoming ballot initiative. They haven’t launched a formal campaign yet, but mentioned an aim to make the 2024 ballot.
The organization advocates for election reforms like ranked-choice voting (RCV), which proposes that individuals rank candidates into a preference list when voting. Two red states, Utah and Alaska, and nine blue states — California, Colorado, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, and New York — all have some form of RCV system in play. Save Democracy also advocates for unaffiliated candidates to be listed in primary elections.
“Until our system encourages broader voter turnout and equal treatment of candidates, it will continue to support tiny minorities of voters deciding the outcome of elections,” states the nonprofit on its website.
Arizona allows independent voters to vote in primaries via an open primary provision, so long as they request the type of ballot they want to receive. However, independent voters must change their voter registration for presidential preference elections. And, unlike Democratic and Republican primaries, the Libertarian Party has a closed primary.
However, Save Democracy declares that Arizona elections aren’t open because they’re favored to serve partisanship over independent candidacy.
The nonprofit’s leadership consists of Sarah Smallhouse, Si Schorr, Ted Hinderaker, and Don Budinger.
Since 2005, Smallhouse has donated over $15,300 to Democrats and over $7,600 to Republicans at the federal level (though none of her Republican donations were in the last decade).
Since 2004, Schorr has donated nearly $18,400 to Democrats and none to Republicans at the federal level.
Since 2006, Hinderaker has donated nearly $3,500 to Democrats and over $3,500 to Republicans at the federal level.
Since 2000, Budinger has donated over $74,100 to Democrats and $58,400 to Republicans at the federal level.
Smallhouse, Budinger, and Schorr have all served in leadership within the Southern Arizona Leadership Council (SALC); Smallhouse and Hinderacker both serve leadership roles on University of Arizona (UArizona) boards.
SALC is an association of C-suite business and community leaders. Past board chairs hailed from Arizona State University (ASU) and giant corporations like Tucson Electric Power, Raytheon Missile Systems, IBM, Cox Communications, and Southwest Gas. In addition to Save Democracy, their partners include the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR), Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association (AHHA), Chicanos Por La Causa, and the ASU Morrison Institute for Public Policy.
Most notably in recent years, SALC coordinated a campaign to defeat Prop 205, a ballot measure that would have established a sanctuary city in Tucson.
Smallhouse, a longtime Democratic donor, pointed out in a June article that independent and “other” voters outnumbered partisan alternatives. Over 1.4 million voters (33 percent) are registered as “other,” closing in on well over 1.4 million registered Republicans (34 percent) and outnumbering the 1.3 million registered Democrats (31 percent). The number of “other” voters increased by over 128,200 since the 2020 election, outpacing the near-44,900 growth of Republican registrations by nearly three times over.
Smallhouse argued that elections weren’t competitive enough to reflect this voter demographic.
“Our current partisan primary system, paid for by all taxpayers, excludes certain candidates and creates massive barriers to participation for voters not affiliated with a political party,” wrote Smallhouse.
Two high-profile members of Save Democracy, when it comes to issues of election integrity and voter rights, are State Senator Paul Boyer (R-Glendale) and Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer.
Also members are Pima County Supervisor Rex Scott, Tucson Metro Chamber of Commerce Chairman Edmund Marquez, former Republican congressman Jim Kolbe, former Democratic congressman Ron Barber, former Phoenix mayor and Redirect Health CEO Paul Johnson, former Mesa mayor Scott Smith, Arizona State University (ASU) assistant vice president of media relations Jay Thorne, SALC director Nicole Barraza, Voter Choice Arizona executive member Blake Sacha, Yuma Center of Excellence for Desert Agriculture Executive Director Paul Brierley, S+C Communications co-founder Chip Scutari, Duncan Family Farms board chairman Arnott Duncan, Water Policy and State Affairs Senior Director Kevin Moran, and Greater Phoenix Leadership Executive Vice President Heather Carter.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
With all the pre-election hype about possible violence at polling stations for Tuesday’s primary election, the most serious election day misconduct appears to have been a town councilman removing opposition campaign signs.
AZ Free News has confirmed that current Gilbert councilman Scott September is the subject of a criminal investigation initiated Tuesday when a Gilbert police officer was dispatched to the Southeast Regional Library off South Greenfield Road and East Guadalupe Road for a report of a man pulling up campaign signs.
In Arizona, it is a Class 2 misdemeanor for an unauthorized person to “knowingly remove, alter, deface or cover any political sign of any candidate for public office” in the days leading up to an election unless the sign’s location “is hazardous to public safety, obstructs clear vision in the area. or interferes with” the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act, or is otherwise in violation of state law.
September has been a councilman since April 2020 and was seeking to remain in office on this year’s primary election ballot.
According to public records, September was at the library which serves as a Maricopa County voting center on Tuesday morning when at least two witnesses say they saw him pulling up campaign signs which opposed his election.
Andrew Adams, the Republican chairman of Legislative District 14, had reportedly placed some of the campaign signs near the library property but well outside the mandated 75-foot “no electioneering” buffer zone around official voting locations. It was Adams who told police he actually witnessed September tampering with the signs.
Richard Young, another witness, told the responding officer that he took images of September at the library. Young also reportedly snapped a photo of September’s vehicle to share with police.
September reportedly handed over the signs to Adams at the library. There is no indication any of the signs were damaged.
As of press time, AZ Free News is awaiting a response from the Gilbert Police Department as to whether the investigation has been referred to an outside law enforcement agency given the conflict of interest with the suspect being a town councilman.
If cited and convicted, September faces a sentence of four months in the county jail and / or a fee for each count contained in the conviction.
The Flagstaff City Council approved expenditures of over $1.1 million for what it said would improve Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance for the public library entrance — yet the majority of the project accomplishes sustainability and artistic ends, and the conceptual rendering removed current handicap parking. Construction began Monday.
Of the seven initiatives outlined in the project’s executive summary, only one directly addresses an ADA item: safety railing. The executive summary noted that the project’s priorities and objectives align with diversity, inclusivity, sustainability, and carbon neutrality initiatives, in addition to benefiting a local artist.
That artist, Maria Salenger, received a $75,000 contract in December 2020 to create exterior artwork for the library, which includes miniature steel sculptures of open books that will line the pathway and be illuminated at night.
The Flagstaff City-Coconino County Public Library entrance renovations include new asphalt, curbs, gutters, and sidewalks; railing and ground-mounted art pieces; project lighting and electrical components; conduit and pull boxes for ITS Fiber and APS charging stations; a concrete plaza, pathways, and stairs with integral color and architectural finishes; hydronic heating in certain concrete pathways; and expanded landscaping.
Noticeably absent from the conception drawing are the two handicap parking spaces currently positioned directly in front of the building; there, the city projected the installation of a garden bed. There’s no handicap parking anywhere near the library entrance in the drawing.
According to the ADA: “Accessible [parking] spaces must connect to the shortest accessible route to the accessible public entrance or facility they serve.” For every 25 parking spaces in a lot, there must be at least one accessible parking space and at least one van accessible parking space.
(Source: U.S. Department of Justice, “ADA Compliance Brief,” ada.gov)
A conceptual rendering of the renovations depicts the library with a zigzag of sloped wheelchair-accessible concrete ramps lined with benches, plant beds, and safety railing. One side of the building will have stairs, whereas the current library entrance doesn’t. The new library entrance will also have porch tables and chairs.
The current exterior of the library has two straight, wide concrete pathways leading directly to the entrance, and no stairs.
The city announced early last year that the library’s front entrance wasn’t ADA compliant.
The city awarded the “Main Library ADA Entrance Project” contract to Scholz Contracting, the only company to submit a bid for the job. The city posted a solicitation for construction last month and closed it after two weeks. In that time, the city received only one bid: Scholz Contracting.
According to the city’s procurement code, invitation for bids must be issued 21 days before the closing date and time for receipt of bids, unless a shorter time is determined necessary in writing by the purchasing agent pursuant to a written request from the department requiring the contract. The city charter requires that public notice of bid invitations must be published at least once in the newspaper, five days prior to the opening of bids.
Funds for the renovation come from the general government and BBB funds for the library. The project is scheduled to take 130 days.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
On Tuesday, Maricopa County sent a cease-and-desist letter to board of supervisors candidate Gail Golec for advising voters to steal election pens. The county gives voters a specific type of felt-tipped pen to fill out their in-person ballots.
Maricopa County Deputy Attorney Joseph La Rue requested that Golec issue a public retraction urging voters not to steal the pens.
“As you well know, theft of any sort is unlawful; moreover encouraging theft of the fast-drying ink pens specifically recommended for election day voting is a deliberate attempt to interfere with election administration and will have the harmful effect of delaying the vote tabulation of election day ballots, as the wet ink harms the vote center tabulation machines,” wrote La Rue.
La Rue’s letter came hours after Golec persuaded voters to steal pens via Telegram, an encrypted messaging service increasingly relied on by right-wing individuals as an alternative social media platform.
“I just had someone give me an idea. When voting take the pentel pen with you and leave a blue pen behind. Eventually they will run out,” wrote Golec.
Later on Twitter, Golec alluded to her advice to steal pens with the hashtag, “#LeaveNoPentelBehind.”
Election Day in AZ! Do not drop off your ballot. It will not be counted today b4 they call the races. Exchange your ballot after voiding it and get an Election Day ballot. Vote in Blue Ink! #StopTheSteal#LeaveNoPentelBehind
— Maricopa Cty Candidate for Supervisor Gail Golec (@GailGolec) August 2, 2022
Golec dismissed the county’s warning as a distraction from election integrity. She doubled down with a hashtag associated with her call to action, #UseBlueInk. As of press time, the Telegram post wasn’t removed.
Ironically, concerned about law breaking, Maricopa County is really afraid that people will steal the pens. What if they ran out and they did not get enough ballots into the adjudication cycle? My intention is to Protect Our Vote, not encourage you to steal pens. #USEBLUEINKpic.twitter.com/FrkdvMrwMf
— Maricopa Cty Candidate for Supervisor Gail Golec (@GailGolec) August 2, 2022
Several hours before Golec shared Maricopa County’s cease-and-desist letter, AZ Free News inquired with the county whether voters were stealing poll pens and/or replacing them with their preferred pens. The county didn’t respond by press time.
The county’s elections department announced Tuesday morning that they resolved reports of stolen pens, as well as other minor technology issues.
More than 18K voters have successfully cast a ballot in person so far today! Minor tech issues have been resolved as well as reports of stolen pens. Please do not remove any voting materials from the polling place, including pens.https://t.co/WXsuEj0sDe
— Maricopa County Elections Department (@MaricopaVote) August 2, 2022
Golec’s advice was based on her claims that the tabulation machines wouldn’t be able to read ballots marked with the county’s felt-tipped pens. Golec also claimed that the felt-tipped pens were part of a bigger conspiracy to rig elections.
— Maricopa Cty Candidate for Supervisor Gail Golec (@GailGolec) August 2, 2022
The candidate advised voters repeatedly to use a blue ink pen of their choice, not the felt-tipped pens provided by the county.
Do not drop off your ballot. Exchange your Early Ballot for an Election Day ballot and put it through the machine so that it will count on Election Day. They will call the Election without counting your vote! Be sure to #UseBlueInk if possible, NO Felt Tip pens. https://t.co/wg8uJpqN05
— Maricopa Cty Candidate for Supervisor Gail Golec (@GailGolec) August 1, 2022
Golec made headlines last month for her claim that former President Donald Trump endorsed her campaign. The Arizona Daily Independent reported that sources close to Trump denied that the former president ever issued a formal endorsement for Golec.
The county supervisor candidate substantiated her claim of Trump’s endorsement with a brief exchange the two shared: Golec interrupted part of Trump’s speech addressing Maricopa County at Mar-A-Lago, telling the former president that she needed him to get her into office. Trump replied that he endorsed her, but didn’t mention her by name and never issued a formal endorsement later.
During the Arizona Senate’s audit of the 2020 election, Golec communicated frequently with Ken Bennett, the audit liaison, to share concerns that Antifa and Black Lives Matter (BLM) activists were attempting to undermine the audit. Those exchanges came to light through the release of communications data related to the audit.
As proof of her claims that BLM was near the site of the audit, Golec sent Bennett a picture of a bus with “Black Lives Matter” wrapping. The bus belonged to the Toronto Raptors, an NBA team, not BLM.
Golic submitted numerous questions and requests about election security to Bennett as well as Senate President Karen Fann (R-Prescott).
Gail Golec was very concerned about Antifa and BLM interfering with the Maricopa audit. These are texts she sent to AZ Audit Senate Liaison Ken Bennet. To Ken's credit he did basically brushed her off. pic.twitter.com/jEG7afaCCM
Golic characterized Fann in a recent campaign ad as a politician willing to undermine election integrity to serve her own interests. She cited the timeline of the State Senate’s settlement concerning its subpoena of Maricopa County in September, followed by the state’s contracting of Fann’s family company and 10 other developers in October to widen the I-17. Golic claimed that the settlement meant the county didn’t have to supply its routers.
However, the county did agree to hand over its routers. Fann summarized that the settlement gave the senate everything they wanted and had the county drop its $2.8 million lawsuit.
HUGE win for the Az Senate today! Maricopa settlement gives us all the data needed to complete the review of the routers & splunk log to the most comprehensive election audit in history. We got everything we need and more. Maricopa County goes home with its tail between its legs
Maricopa County announced earlier this year that it would cease using Sharpies at the polls, instead relying on Pentel felt-tipped pens. Election officials offered multiple reasons for the change, with some noting public distrust of Sharpies following the 2020 election and the ensuing “Sharpiegate” controversy.
The county’s chief reason for the switch concerned faster ink drying times for improved ballot processing by the tabulation machines.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
A joint effort by the Republican National Committee (RNC) and the Republican Party of Arizona (AZGOP) resulted in engagement with one million voters this election cycle.
That effort, “Arizona Victory,” relied on volunteers to carry out door knocking, phone calls, and communications to encourage voting. The latest voter registration data revealed that well over 1.4 million voters (34 percent) registered as Republicans, slightly over 1.4 million (33 percent) registered in the catch-all “other” listing (independent voters, those without a party preference, and those whose party isn’t considered major), while just under 1.3 million (31 percent) registered as Democrats. As the dominant group, Republicans have over 147,600 more voters than Democrats and nearly 33,400 more voters than the “other” category.
That reflects an increase in Republican and “other” voter registrations, and a loss in Democratic voter registration since the 2020 primary election. Republican registrations increased by nearly 44,900 voters, and “other” registrations increased by over 128,200 voters. Democrat registrations decreased by nearly 5,900 voters.
All parties lost registrations when compared to the 2020 general election. Democrats lost over 91,100 voters, Republicans lost over 73,900, and “other” registrations reduced by over 107,300.
Despite having a lead in voter registrations in the 2020 general election, former President Donald Trump amassed nearly 10,500 less votes than current President Joe Biden.
The Libertarian Party’s presidential candidate earned over 51,400 votes: 13,000 more voters than total registered libertarians. The other five presidential candidates representing either no party, the “Constitution” party, or the “Socialism and Liberation” party earned just over 2,000 votes, cumulatively.
The current state voter registration numbers reflect a shift in voter outlooks between 2020 and this year, from party affiliation to “other.” This is a shift also reflected by the state’s largest county (over half of all voters reside in Maricopa County). As AZ Free News reported in June, over 5,000 voters in Maricopa County switched their party affiliation to “other.” A majority of those voters were Democrats, numbering over 2,1000, followed by Republicans, over 1,700, and over 1,000 individuals switching between classifications within the “other” category.
In a video congratulating the RNC and AZGOP for engaging more voters, Congresswoman Debbie Lesko (R-AZ-08) urged further GOP mobilization.
“We need every volunteer out there making phone calls, going to doors, doing everything that they can, telling their neighbors and their friends to vote Republican,” said Lesko. “You know as well as I that President Biden and the Democrats are ruining our country, and we have to take it back.”
This year’s primary election has nearly 170,900 more registered voters than the 2020 primary election. It’s the highest voter registration for a primary, ever. However, nearly 296,100 voters registered between the 2020 primary and general elections. There were about 125,000 more voters registered in the 2020 general election than the current primary.
The primary elections are Tuesday, August 2.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
