Arizona’s Municipal Tax Code Commission (MTCC) hasn’t met in over three years, spelling trouble for the state’s taxpayers and businesses.
The issue was the focal point of a report issued by Auditor General Lindsey Perry on Tuesday. Perry warned that continued inactivity would have an inevitable, adverse impact on Arizona’s cities and towns. That, and the inactivity runs counter to state law.
As Perry noted, every one of the MTCC member’s terms expired last October without successors. State law allows members whose terms have expired to continue serving in the position until a successor is appointed.
At present, there are three who continue their expired terms: Chairman René Lopez, Jr., a councilman for the city of Chandler; Jerry Weiers, mayor of Glendale; and Jim Waring, a councilman for the city of Phoenix.
MTCC’s last meeting was in May 2019, despite receiving three proposed amendments to consider last year for the Model City Tax Code (MCTC): the uniform sales and use tax act that facilitates economic order. State law requires MTCC to hold a public hearing within 60 days of receiving a proposed amendment.
Perry recommended that Governor Doug Ducey, State House Speaker Rusty Bowers (R-Mesa), and State Senate President Karen Fann (R-Prescott) abide by state statute and appoint members to meet quorum.
MTCC has 10 members: an Arizona Department of Revenue (ADOR) representative, and nine mayors or council members from various cities that serve three-year terms. The governor appoints five members, while the senate president and house speaker each appoint two members.
Lopez issued a response letter last month agreeing to Perry’s recommendations.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee rejected a resolution requiring the Department of Justice (DOJ) to turn over records on federal agents or assets that encouraged protesters to enter the Capitol on January 6.
The original version of the resolution, introduced by Congressman Paul Gosar (R-AZ-04) last Friday, focused solely on Ray Epps, an Arizona man and former Oath Keeper leader accused of working as a federal informant. During Wednesday’s hearing, Congressman Thomas Massie (R-KY-04) amended the resolution to focus on federal involvement.
While Republicans urged transparency concerning Epps’ involvement, Democrats claimed ignorance or avoidance of the topic. Aside from Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD-08), who called Epps a “poor schmuck” being demonized by his own party, Democrats focused on expressing disdain for Republican characterizations of the January 6 riot.
ICYMI today: @RepThomasMassie amended @RepGosar resolution for DOJ records on #RayEpps , broadened to focus on "agents or assets of federal government who encouraged protesters to enter the Capitol building on January 6." House Judiciary Committee rejected it.
Massie urged the committee to pass the resolution, noting that the Biden administration hasn’t been completely transparent about Epps. He declared that the DOJ’s lack of interest in Epps defied logic, especially since the Biden administration prosecuted all other January 6 rioters and launched a formal committee to investigate the riot.
Massie showed multiple video clips of Epps telling protesters on January 5 and 6 to “go into the Capitol.” Massie stated that Epps is the only person on video telling protestors to go into the Capitol, noting that the first breach of the Capitol grounds occurred directly after Epps whispered into one of the trespasser’s ears.
Massie recounted investigative reporters’ details of the FBI’s action or inaction concerning Epps. This included the Revolver News reports (first and second) that the FBI listed Epps initially on their Most Wanted page for January 6 rioters, but later removed him without explanation. This also included Epoch Times reports (first and second) that Epps was the only protestor that had a premonition of the pipe bombs discovered on January 6. Additionally, this included New York Times reporting on Epps’ alleged text messages to his nephew admitting that he helped people breach the Capitol.
“[Epps’ involvement is] easily proven false if they would release this information. If the federal government would tell us, point-blank, no uncertain terms, under oath, not some staffer, not some statement released on some hearsay, not by leaking it to the New York Times, not by trying to soften the blow by putting things out in the press, just come here and tell us,” said Massie.
Massie rejected the House Select Committee to Investigate January 6 (January 6 Committee) assessment of Epps. In January, the committee revealed that Epps told them that he wasn’t working with or for any law enforcement agency on or before January 6. According to Massie, the committee promised to release a transcript of their interview with Epps. They haven’t.
The Select Committee is aware of unsupported claims that Ray Epps was an FBI informant based on the fact that he was on the FBI Wanted list and then was removed from that list without being charged.
Congressman Dan Bishop (R-NC-09) remarked that there are different standards of justice for Republicans versus Democrats: former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago documents versus Hillary Clinton’s emails, the months of Black Lives Matter (BLM) riots nationwide in 2020 versus the single afternoon of rioting last January.
“[M]any Americans believe there is a dual standard of justice in the country,” said Bishop. “Nothing reinforces Americans’ sense of a dual standard of justice more than the vehement embrace by Democrats of unequal consequences for like conduct. And it is done all the time.”
Watch the full debate on the resolution below:
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
In one of the biggest legal rulings in decades, a Pima County judge ruled Friday afternoon that Arizona’s abortion ban is still in effect and can be enforced immediately.
Arizonans had been eagerly awaiting Judge Kellie Johnson’s decision with an eye on Sept. 24, the date a 15-week abortion ban passed earlier this year by the Arizona Legislature would have gone in effect if the law first implemented in 1864 was overturned.
The law outlaws performing or abetting the performance of an abortion except to save the life of the mother, and calls for a prison term of two to five years for anyone who violates the statute.
The language of the newer legislation signed by Gov. Doug Ducey in March is not much different than the 1864 law, other than the 15-week wait. However, the new law specifically stated it was not intended to repeal the 1864 law which was updated for technical language changes in 1901, more than a decade before statehood.
An appeal is expected, if only to reconcile the fact the new 15-week legislation takes effect Saturday and thus appears to directly conflict with Johnson’s ruling allowing enforcement of the territorial days law.
But without a court order putting Johnson’s ruling on hold, it appears Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich is ready to enforce the old law, which can be found in Arizona’s criminal code under Title 13, Chapter 36 Family Offenses:
“A person who provides, supplies or administers to a pregnant woman, or procures such woman to take any medicine, drugs or substance, or uses or employs any instrument or other means whatever, with intent thereby to procure the miscarriage of such woman, unless it is necessary to save her life, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not less than two years nor more than five years.”
In a statement released Friday, Brnovich applauded the “clarity and uniformity” of Johnson’s ruling. “I have and will continue to protect the most vulnerable Arizonans,” he stated.
The most recent records from the Arizona Department of Health Services showed that more than 12,500 women obtained an abortion in Arizona in 2020 prior to 15 weeks of pregnancy. About 640 obtained an abortion after the 15 week threshold.
Those records do not specify how many of the procedures were deemed by the women’s physician to be medically necessary.
Arizona’s abortion ban except to save a mother’s life became unenforceable due to a court-ordered injunction in 1973 when the U.S. Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade. However, when Roe v. Wade was overturned in June, the question became whether the injunction against the nearly 160-year-old law was still valid, or was the 1901 language in fact valid law, or would the new 15-week ban signed by Ducey become law on Sept. 24, the legislation’s effective date.
The Center for Arizona Policy advocated for validating the old law.
“Judge Kellie Johnson’s ruling today upholding the law that was in effect in 1973 when Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided will protect unborn babies and their mothers,” said its president Cathi Herrod. “And nearly 50 pregnancy resource centers throughout the state stand ready to ensure no woman stands alone.”
The state’s 15 elected county attorneys also have authority under the law to pursue criminal prosecutions in the name of the State of Arizona.
Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell has previously stated she “does not want to revictimize” victims of rape or incest, which suggests she would not charge a doctor or other medical staff involved in an abortion in such cases. But she has declined to directly say if that will be an official agency policy.
Meanwhile, Pima County Attorney Laura Conover had pushed for the judge to reject the 1864 law. She announced Friday that her office is “reviewing legal options,” although she has gone on record for intending to not enforce the law in Pima County.
That would not prevent the attorney general’s office from pursuing a prosecution for an offense committed in Pima County.
Tuesday night, Gov. Doug Ducey was joined by his family in Simi Valley for his featured appearance as part of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute’s “A Time For Choosing” speakers series.
The emphasis of the series is to hear from the leading voices in the conservative movement. And Ducey’s social media comments before and after the event show he was honored to be invited to speak.
The @RonaldReagan Library is sacred ground of conservatism at its finest. A walk through it is a reminder of a great president – one who led our country with purpose and principle. pic.twitter.com/TfoQBn85eu
At the beginning of his speech, the governor described the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library as “a monument to not only a great president, but a great man who built the modern conservative movement” and who inspired many, including Ducey.
“Ronald Reagan’s sentiment remains today,” Ducey said. “Most of us can say unflinchingly – while far from perfect – we remain the single greatest country in the history of the world.”
The governor also used his speech to address the importance of federalism.
We are on the front end of major, historic change in governance, and the ultimate beneficiary will be the states, the people and the cause of federalism. https://t.co/Cs78Gk7rOy
And he used the appearance at the Ronald Reagan Library to express his concerns with the direction of the Republican Party at the federal level, calling out what he sees as the “dangerous strain of big government activism.”
At least 1,365,700 Arizonans will have about $19.2 billion in student debts forgiven through President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness handout. Those numbers could be much higher, since the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) noted in a Tuesday press release that they were unable to pinpoint the home states of over 5.1 million individuals with student debts.
According to the USDE, Arizona has approximately 554,900 Pell Grant recipients and 810,800 other types of borrowers. Pell Grant recipients will have $20,000 of their student loans forgiven (approximately $11.1 billion), while other borrowers will have $10,000 forgiven (approximately $8.1 billion).
The Biden administration’s plan prioritizes those with lower income. Nearly 90 percent of student relief funds will go to those earning less than $75,000 a year. For Arizona, that’s about $17.2 billion of the student loans that will be forgiven.
Those who earn over $125,000 a year ($250,000 for households) are excluded from student debt forgiveness. That means 10 percent of the student relief funds will go to those who earn between $75,000 and $125,000 a year. For Arizona, that accounts for about $1.9 billion of the student loans that will be forgiven.
The USDE explained in a Tuesday press release that lower income borrowers were prioritized in order to “narrow the racial wealth gap.” The DOE noted that nearly 71 percent of Black individuals and 65 percent of Latino individuals with student debt were Pell Grant recipients.
In all, the Biden administration estimates that over 40 million Americans would have some amount of student debt forgiven, with nearly 20 million having all of their student debt forgiven entirely.
News: @WhiteHouse has released state-by-state data on the estimated number of student loan borrowers & Pell Grant recipients eligible for student loan debt relief under @POTUS’ plan. https://t.co/1hdCw5cNTt
In addition to issuing mass student loan forgiveness, the Biden administration extended its moratorium on student debt payments until January 2023.
Members of Congress were quick to point out that Biden’s declaration on Sunday that the pandemic is over meant that his continued suspension of student loan repayments, as well as his plan to issue billions in debt forgiveness, weren’t justifiable.
Biden admitted last night that the COVID pandemic is over.
In other words, there is no ‘ongoing emergency’ to justify his proposal for student loan handouts.
Congresswoman Debbie Lesko (R-AZ-08) called Biden’s student loan forgiveness program an “unconstitutional […] debt scheme” that oversteps his executive authority.
President Biden used COVID-19 as an excuse for his unconstitutional student loan debt scheme, but he just admitted that the COVID-19 pandemic was over. Now, he no longer has any reason to justify his unprecedented breach of executive authority. https://t.co/3HJ8CJoCfk
Those who made payments on their student debt over the course of the pandemic will receive a refund of any payments that brought their debt below the maximum relief amount — but only if they didn’t pay their loan off in full.
The Biden administration claimed that the program will cost the country about $240 billion in lost revenue over the next decade, but private estimates are higher. The Penn Wharton Budget Model estimated that the program would cost between $605 billion and $1 trillion.
Regardless of the losses, the Biden administration expressed hope that the student debt forgiveness would result in greater economic activity elsewhere such as the housing market.
Applications for the student loan forgiveness program close on December 31, 2023.
When confronted by reporters and supporters in person on Wednesday, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs wouldn’t elaborate on her refusal to debate her Republican opponent, Kari Lake.
Hobbs abandoned an interview when a Yellow Sheet Report reporter asked her why she won’t debate Lake, as well as dismissed a similar question from a female supporter.
Hobbs refused to provide the reporter with proof that she proposed a debate format to the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission (AZCCEC). After the reporter challenged Hobbs’ assertion that she had offered debate format changes, Hobbs stated that their conversation wasn’t productive and left the interview after less than three minutes.
When one of Hobbs’ female supporters asked her why she wouldn’t debate Lake, Hobbs told the woman that they would talk about it later.
.@FOX10Phoenix: "@katiehobbs was asked first by a supporter on campus, "Why she didn't want to take the stage to debate with Republican nominee @KariLake. She told the woman, quote, "Let's talk about this later."
Hobbs never proposed changes to the debate format. Rather, Hobbs proposed something else entirely: two back-to-back town halls, effectively two interviews. The AZCCEC rejected Hobbs’ proposal earlier this month.
AZCCEC voted to reject the request to replace the standard debate format with separate 30-minute interviews and will give its staff & the campaigns of Katie Hobbs and Kari Lake 7 days to find an acceptable format to both parties. View the meeting here https://t.co/6rnR5TVjq4.
Hobbs effectively told Fox News that Lake wasn’t debatable. Hobbs’ campaign manager, Nicole DeMont, said during the AZCCEC meeting earlier this month that Lake wasn’t capable of a substantive debate because she was a conspiracy theorist.
TODAY: @katiehobbs campaign manager Nicole DeMont said @KariLake wanted to create a spectacle, not have a debate: "You can't debate a conspiracy theorist. … When she starts to come back to reality [then] we can have a debate." pic.twitter.com/6JVZHb3DwP
Last week, Lake requested the AZCCEC to extend an “open invitation” for Hobbs to debate her. At this point, Lake will have a Q&A session set up by AZCCEC on the scheduled debate day, October 12.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
