by Corinne Murdock | Oct 5, 2021 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
Arizona State University (ASU) Police Department confirmed with AZ Free News that they are investigating the activists who followed and filmed Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) inside a bathroom. The senator had stepped out of a class that she teaches at ASU to use the bathroom when activists with Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA), an nonprofit activist organization, accosted her and followed her into the bathroom. While filming Sinema, they also filmed other students using the bathroom. The activists demanded that Sinema vote “yes” on the reconciliation bill.
“The ASU Police Department is working with Senator Sinema and conducting a full investigation of the incident that occurred Sunday at the University Center on the Downtown Phoenix campus. Due to the active status of the investigation, we are unable to provide more information at this time,” stated ASU.
One of the LUCHA activists, Karina Ruiz de Diaz, is an illegal immigrant as admitted in a report by CNN. She also accosted Sinema on Monday during a flight, repeatedly asking Sinema to ensure that she and others would be given a pathway to citizenship.
One of LUCHA’s paid activists, Blanca Collazo, told Sinema that she was a product of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy. Collazo complained that she wasn’t able to visit her deported grandfather before his death because she doesn’t have her citizenship yet. DACA recipients may not leave the country without the government’s prior permission, or “advance parole.” Collazo held her face mask below her nose and mouth as she spoke at Sinema.
“My name is Blanca. I was brought into the United States when I was three years old. And in 2010 my grandparents both got deported because of SB1070. And I’m here because I definitely believe that we need a pathway to citizenship. My grandfather passed away two weeks ago, and I was not able to go to Mexico and visit him because there is no pathway to citizenship,” said Collazo. “We need to hold you accountable to what you told us – what you promised us that you were going to pass when we knocked on doors for you. It’s not right.”
Collazo intended to attend Grand Canyon University (GCU), where she’d been given a scholarship, but told Cronkite News that she opted to work full-time instead due to the pandemic.
Another activist, Sophia Marjanovic, told Sinema that she endured human trafficking because of the lack of worker protection laws. Shortly after, Marjanovic posted on Facebook that she’d caught Sinema “during her pee break” and encouraged others to accost the senator, sharing the location of her class.
“Always have a Lakota Auntie on board! I descend from people who neutralized Custer; I can neutralize anyone. #F***AroundAndFindOut,” wrote Marjanovic. “I told you I wasn’t going to allow this woman to pee in peace in public and mission accomplished!”
As their videos went viral, Marjanovic posted again to chastise her critics. She said that nobody could condemn her actions because she’s a human trafficking survivor, the critics are on “stolen” land anyway, and that white people shouldn’t be allowed to speak on this incident.
“For now, connect with the fact that you are on stolen Indigenous land and Indigenous women and children go missing and murdered because we don’t have access to stable jobs, stable housing, clean water, clean food, or stable decent healthcare [sic] despite the fact that Indigenous people have upheld our end of the treaty in assimilating and getting educated,” wrote Marjanovic. “Give my Indigenous relatives to the South of the US-Mexican border citizenship now! White Communications Departments of organizations, media and campaigns uphold White supremacy. Step out of the way!”
According to Arizona law, it is illegal to film someone in the bathroom and publish it without their consent.
“A. It is unlawful for any person to knowingly photograph, videotape, film, digitally record or by any other means secretly view, with or without a device, another person without that person’s consent under either of the following circumstances: 1. In a restroom, bathroom, locker room, bedroom or other location where the person has a reasonable expectation of privacy and the person is urinating, defecating, dressing, undressing, nude or involved in sexual intercourse or sexual contact. […] It is unlawful to disclose, display, distribute or publish a photograph, videotape, film or digital recording made in violation of subsection A of this section without the consent or knowledge of the person depicted.”
On Monday, Sinema addressed the incident in a statement. She denounced the approach and intentions of the LUCHA activists.
“After deceptively entering a locked, secure building, these individuals filmed and publicly posted videos of my students without their permission — including footage taken of both my students and I using a restroom. In Arizona, we love the First Amendment. We know it is vital to our democracy that constituents can freely petition, protest, or criticize my policy positions and decisions. The activist group that engaged in yesterday’s behavior is one that both my team and I have met with several times since I was elected to the Senate, and I will continue engaging with Arizonans with diverse viewpoints to help inform my work for Arizona. Yesterday’s behavior was not a legitimate protest. It is unacceptable for activist organizations to instruct their members to jeopardize themselves by engaging in unlawful activities such as gaining entry to closed university buildings, disrupting learning environments, and filming students in a restroom.”
It is unclear how the activists gained entry into the locked building.
Sinema won’t support the $3.5 trillion price tag on the reconciliation bill, or the “Build Back Better Act.” Though LUCHA activists mentioned a “pathway to citizenship,” the nearly 2,500 pages of legislation doesn’t expressly include that provision yet. Democrats have been advocating for the inclusion of permanent legal status for illegal immigrants in the bill. However, Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough has twice rejected versions of that proposal.
That doesn’t mean that a pathway to citizenship won’t be included in the final bill. Congressman Adriano Espaillat (D-NY-13) told The New York Post last week that they intend to push three more versions of the proposal to secure a pathway to citizenship.
Currently, the reconciliation bill would offer two years of free community college; child care assistance and universal pre-K; Medicare expansion to cover dental, vision, and hearing, as well as allowing the program to negotiate drug prices to reduce them; a near-four year extension of child tax credits; 12 weeks of comprehensive paid family and medical leave; financial incentives for companies that increase renewable energy supplies, and penalties for those who don’t; an entrepreneurial program for formerly-incarcerated individuals; grants to local governments or groups for community violence prevention.
Funding for this bill would come from raising taxes on corporations, top income earners, and capital gains, as well as strengthening IRS oversight. One proposal to afford further funding would grant the IRS access to total transactions for bank accounts with over $600.
In a press conference addressing the bill on Monday, President Joe Biden was dismissive of what Sinema endured. He insinuated that Sinema would’ve been fine had she had a security detail, prompting the phrase “Based Biden” to trend on Twitter.
“I don’t think they’re appropriate tactics but it happens to everybody,” laughed Biden. “The only people it doesn’t happen to is people who have Secret Service standing around them. So, it’s a part of the process.”
Democrats on the local level weren’t sympathetic to Sinema’s plight, either. State Senator and treasurer candidate Martin Quezada (D-Phoenix) said Sinema was to blame for how her constituents approached her.
“Pro tip for politicians. A good way to not get harassed in restrooms by your constituents is to be available to meet and hear them out on the issues they are passionate about using normal channels,” tweeted Quezada.
Quezada made clear to AZ Free News that he never approved of how Sinema was treated. He informed us that Sinema hasn’t been keeping the lines of communication open for her constituents.
“[I] do believe that the focus of any story should be more on how Senator Sinema is an elected official. Part of her job is to listen to her constituents, not hide from them. She does not take calls or meetings and her office hangs up on constituents who try to use official channels to communicate with her. When elected officials become completely unaccountable to the people who elected them, you have to understand how they may feel as if they have no other choice but to contact her in unofficial channels,” said Quezada. “Like Senator Sinema, there are certain spaces that I would never want to be approached in. In order to avoid that happening, I fulfill my responsibility of having an open door and communicating with my bosses, the people I serve, through official channels, be they email, phone, in person meetings, Zoom meetings, social media, etc., etc., etc.”
AZ Free News inquired with Sinema’s communications team about these allegations of closing down communications with constituents. They didn’t respond by press time.
Quezada hasn’t been keen on Sinema as of late. The state senator is backing a crowdfunded campaign threatening to fund a primary challenger against Sinema if she doesn’t vote to end the filibuster. The CrowdPAC has already achieved over half of its goal contribution amount.
State Representative and attorney general candidate Diego Rodriguez (D-Phoenix) didn’t condemn the activists’ behavior.
“Clearly, the people of Arizona are not going [to] simply sit back and allow their wants and needs to be ignored by the same ELECTED officials they helped put into office,” wrote Rodriguez.
Rodriguez doesn’t take issue with public exposure of things traditionally considered private. The self-described “sex positive” representative has defended his habit of liking and commenting on both risque and pornographic posts via his personal Twitter account.
Certain Republican elected officials and candidates had a different take on the situation.
Congressman Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05) stated in an interview with The Conservative Circus that the LUCHA activists were examples of how society functions in a totalitarian regime.
“I think what she’s doing is principled. I think it’s what she believes in, and she’s getting the crud kicked out of her by her own party, and they’re spending millions to try to embarrass her,” said Biggs. “You’ve got these yo-yos on ASU’s campus that are chasing her into the bathroom while she’s in a stall to harass and harangue her while she’s there. I mean, that’s the kind of thing that goes on in totalitarian regimes. I mean, that’s really what it is: they’re trying to ostracize her and browbeat her. But I’ll tell you what, I know few people who are tougher than Kyrsten Sinema. I’m hopeful that she’s going to hold out on her principles.”
The bathroom incident wasn’t the first time that LUCHA activists confronted Sinema over these last few days. They disrupted a private fundraising event in Royal Palms Resort and Spa in Scottsdale on Saturday. As stated earlier in this report, the illegal immigrant Ruiz de Diaz confronted Sinema on a plane.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Corinne Murdock | Oct 5, 2021 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
Most school districts have decided to saddle their local communities with a near-$100 million property tax increase, which will hit this month. In 2020, the Transpo Delta tax totaled just over $79 million; this year, it will be $178 million.
The law allows districts to raise local property taxes, called a “Transpo Delta” tax, to make up the difference between their current transportation funding determined by the Transportation Support Level (TSL) formula and the highest amount of transportation funding they’ve received historically, or the Transportation Revenue Control Limit (TRCL). Transportation funding is based on the amount of route-miles driven. Essentially, the Transpo Delta tax is TRCL minus TSL.
As Arizona Tax Research Association (ATRA) researcher Sean McCarthy explained, this latest Transpo Delta tax won’t hit communities equally.
“Some districts have almost no Transpo Delta tax because their route-mile driven formula in TSL is close to their TRCL,” assessed McCarthy. “Some have massive amounts, meaning they essentially get more funding than others in relative terms. Districts with lower property value incur abusive tax rates to pay for the Transpo Delta in some cases.”
School districts didn’t have to impose this burden on taxpayers. Districts had the option of tapping into $3.7 billion in federal COVID-19 relief funds.
“The one-time decrease in formula monies for transportation is a perfect example of what federal dollars should backfill. It’s not as though this $3.7 billion can be used for permanent pay raises for employees – it’s one-time money,” stated McCarthy. “For most districts, their one-time decrease in formula transportation funding represents a tiny fraction of the federal monies they received.”
According to ATRA, Tucson Unified School District increased taxes by $10.4 million, yet received just under $270 million in federal relief; Alhambra Elementary School District increased taxes by over $1 million, yet received over $93 million in federal relief; and Paradise Valley Unified School District increased taxes by over $4 million and received $64.5 million in federal relief.
Those districts who chose not to increase taxes are Santa Cruz Valley Unified School District, Alpine Elementary School District, Palominas Elementary School District, and San Fernando Elementary School District.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by AZ Free News | Oct 4, 2021 | News
By AZ Free News |
Credit unions in Arizona have joined the Arizona Treasurer’s Office in opposition to a proposal requiring financial institutions to give the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) citizens’ personal account information if the account exceeds $600 of deposits or withdrawals. In a letter, they urged Senator Kyrsten Sinema and Senator Mark Kelly to oppose this measure being considered in Congress as part of the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill. This proposal would threaten the financial security of more than 100 million Americans from all demographics.
“Being forced to hand over your personal household or small business financial records to the government as a law-abiding citizen is as intrusive as it gets. There are no guardrails in the bill for how the government can leverage this highly private information,” said Arizona Treasurer Kimberly Yee. “As Arizona’s Chief Banking and Investment Officer, I cannot stay silent while Arizonan’s sensitive financial data is at risk of unprecedented government surveillance.”
“There is simply no scenario in which this is a good idea for credit union members, or customers at any financial institution for that matter,” said Scott Earl, President and CEO of Mountain West Credit Union Association. “Between the exposure risk of data privacy, and the
significant resources and associated costs that would need be required to comply with this measure, it is a bad idea all around.”
The letter states, “As State Treasurer and credit unions in Arizona, we join with the many voices and groups from across the nation who strongly oppose this intrusive proposal.
Congress should not approve the IRS to have access to law-abiding Arizonan’s personal financial transactions in a blatant attempt to tax them unnecessarily.”
by Terri Jo Neff | Oct 2, 2021 | News
By Terri Jo Neff |
While COVID-19 damaged much of the state’s tourism for most of 2020, the Arizona State Parks and Trails still managed to pump $272 million into the state and local economies during Fiscal Year 2020, according to a report released last week by Gov. Doug Ducey’s office.
“Arizona’s state parks are second to none! In addition to their unbeatable views, recreational activities and family-friendly opportunities, they have a significant impact on our state economy,” Ducey tweeted on Sept. 30.
The 82-page report about the economic contributions and impacts of the state’s 21 parks, 10 historic parks, and 3 natural areas covers Oct. 1, 2019 through Sept. 30, 2020. The data comes from the Arizona State Parks and Trails in collaboration with the Regional Economic Analysis Program at the University of Arizona and the Hospitality Research & Resource Center at Northern Arizona University.
The economic contribution of spending by nearly 3,000,000 visitors in and around Arizona’s 34 state park properties was $449 million, including multiplier effects. Of that, $272 million was counted toward Arizona’s gross state product, supporting 4,173 jobs statewide.
Included in the report are details about how Arizona State Parks impacts the 13 counties home to at least one state park. Yavapai County has seven state parks -the most in Arizona- while Pinal and Santa Cruz each have four. Greenlee and Maricopa are the only counties with none.
According to the report, most state parks stayed open during the pandemic, but temporary closures were implemented at Kartchner Caverns and the 10 historic state parks as a safety precaution. The closures caused visits at those locations to plummet 50 percent from FY2019, but combined visitors to the other state parks resulted in a net one percent increase compared to 2019.
Lake Havasu State Park in Mohave County counted the most visits at 533,757 in FY2020. In fact, the report found the top five most visited parks accounted for 53 percent of the total statewide total.
Visitor counts at Kartchner Caverns State Park and the Tombstone Courthouse State Historic Park, the two state parks in Cochise County, took especially harsh hits during FY2020 due to mandated temporary closures. The parks saw a combined 161,010 visitors, down significantly from the nearly 220,000 visitors the year before.
When averaged out, the visitor count across the system declined 7.6 percent. The majority of the visits occurred in the first six months of the fiscal year before COVID-19 shutdowns occurred across the United States.
As part of the state’s post-pandemic recovery efforts, Ducey has focused on promoting the benefits of Arizona’s park system for its relatively safe and inexpensive outdoor options.
The report released by the governor’s office also highlighted the growth in popularity of Arizona State Parks from FY2014 when 2,310,349 visitors were counted, to 2,971,844 visitors in FY2020. And the spending by non-local visitors during that same period increased by 20 percent.
Several changes were made to park operations over those years. For instance, Lyman Lakes State Park in Apache County went from seasonally hours to being opened year-round, and Oracle State Park in Pinal County went from weekends-only hours to being opened seven days a week.
In July, Ducey announced $20 million in American Rescue Plan federal funding was being earmarked for capital improvements at various parks. Another $5 million will be spent with the State Parks Heritage Fund for new open space development, restoration or renovation projects, historic preservation, and outdoor education program.
by Corinne Murdock | Oct 2, 2021 | Education, News
By Corinne Murdock |
2021 marks the ten-year anniversary of education savings accounts (ESAs) in Arizona. The state’s ESA policy, formally known as Empowerment Scholarship Accounts, was established in 2011. As of this year, nearly a quarter of Arizona children are eligible for an ESA. The legislature has consistently fought to increase that rate – especially during this past legislative session.
The push for ESAs began with the Goldwater Institute. Their efforts led to the passage of SB1553, the first ESA policy in Arizona history. In a report, the Goldwater Institute highlighted three major factors that contributed to the ESA program’s success. The increasing demand for ESAs, financial benefits, and continued improvements all reportedly allowed the ESA program to grow.
Not only has the ESA program grown – supplemental resources have grown, too. The Goldwater Institute partnered with EdChoice to produce an interactive map to allow families to navigate their educational options. The map informs parents of state and local eligibility zones, the grade awarded each public school, and private school options. It also offers the location, contact information, grade range, tuition and fees for private schools.
The Goldwater Institute and EdChoice also released an informational packet discussing the track record, controversies, and details of the ESA program.
The ESA program has received significant pushback over the years. Activist groups like Save Our Schools Arizona (SOSA) view the ESA program as a drain on public school funding, which they claim is especially harmful for low-income families and in rural areas that already struggle with low funding.
However, research shows that per-pupil funding has increased by over $1,600 since the ESA program was put in place. This information was collected from reports by the Joint Legislative Budget Committee and the Arizona Department of Education (ADE).
In 2018, voters were presented with the option to expand ESAs as legislated in SB1431 with a ballot initiative, Proposition 305. It was the biggest move to expand the ESA program: if passed, all students would be eligible for ESAs. Over 64 percent of Arizonans voted against it.
Legislators attempted to pass SB1452 this year, which would’ve opened up ESAs to low-income families – but it stalled in the House after Senate passage. The House later shot down a budget provision attempting to revive the bill. Three Republican Representatives joined their Democratic colleagues to kill it: Michelle Udall (R-Mesa), Joel John (R-Buckeye), and Joanne Osborne (R-Goodyear).
This past year, the legislature passed laws enhancing the ESA program.
These laws reduced the waiting period for ESA applicants, dropped a punitive measure forcing parents to effectively pay twice for unapproved items, rescinded the ADE’s authority to prematurely enact punitive measures against parents, allowed online attendance to count toward time spent in a public school, allowed families to supplement their insurance coverage for special needs therapies, and reduced the processing time for applicants from 45 to 30 days.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Corinne Murdock | Oct 2, 2021 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
Cochise County Recorder David Stevens disagrees with the assurances from Maricopa County election officials that the recently-released audit was entirely inaccurate. Stevens made this assessment on KFYI’s James T. Harris radio show. He honed in on the purported issues presented by Maricopa County’s signature verification process.
“We have standards in this field. I was in this field for 30 years, they go back decades that dictate what are good practices – and they [Maricopa] show none of them,” said Stevens.
Stevens explained that his county’s signature verification process was very different from Maricopa County’s. That caused him to question the strength of Maricopa County’s results.
“They’re verifying the scanned copy of the signature with what’s in their file. What I do in my county is we actually have the envelope in hand, looking at the signature on screen, because there are indicators in the signature that help to determine if it’s a valid signature or not. But you saw the scans if you watched the presentation on Friday, [of] how low quality of the scan was. And those indicators are very small. Like when you stop – when you’re writing your name and you stop, and that one letter you start up again – that kind of stuff disappears on a scan, and it makes it harder if not impossible to verify.”
AZ Free News reached out to Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer about these concerns. He didn’t respond by press time.
Stevens said that he was also astounded by the other problems discovered by auditors – like the fact that countless people used the same log-in credentials.
However, Stevens said that the more troublesome aspect of the audit concerned the election officials themselves. He cited the recent resignation of Maricopa County Supervisor Steve Chucri as an example, who quit following the audio leak of a phone call in which he claimed that his county knew their audit and the Dominion voting machines weren’t trustworthy.
“Why did the elected officials obstruct this audit?” asked Stevens. “We’re elected to serve the public, not to serve ourselves. You see what happens when you get caught on a phone call you don’t know what’s being recorded, you don’t know what comes out. They were afraid for themselves.”
Maricopa County officials disagree with the audit because of who was put in charge: Cyber Ninjas. Prior to the Arizona Senate’s contract, the technology security company had never conducted any election-related work, including audits. This is something that Richer and others have reiterated: their reluctance to cooperate comes from their distrust of Cyber Ninjas’ intentions and competence.
Stevens said that he couldn’t see what good reasons the county could have for the issues presented in the audit.
He added that officials shouldn’t be deleting files, referencing a claim made during the Senate audit hearing last week. Maricopa County responded that they hadn’t deleted the files: they’d archived them elsewhere, something which the Senate hadn’t subpoenaed.
When asked, Stevens said there likely wouldn’t be any remedies to improve elections before the 2022 midterms.
“I think the best solution going forward is a random, constant audit going forward,” said Stevens.
Maricopa County created a webpage to address various concerns and claims made about their election processes.
Attorney General Mark Brnovich promised to have his Election Integrity Unit (EIU) investigate some of the findings in the Senate audit. He issued a follow-up request for the supporting documents to the audit earlier this week.
“The Arizona Senate’s report that was released on Friday raises some serious questions regarding the 2020 election,” said Brnovich. “Arizonans can be assured our office will conduct a thorough review of the information we receive.”
Read the latest updates from the EIU here.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
