by Ethan Faverino | Jan 18, 2026 | Economy, News
By Ethan Faverino |
State Representative Nick Kupper (R-LD25) introduced House Bill 2325, also known as the Own Something and Be Happy Act. This legislative measure is designed to reduce the growing influence of large institutional investors in Arizona’s single-family housing market and restore ownership opportunities for working families.
The bill, which amends Title 44 of the Arizona Revised Statutes by adding Chapter 42, targets corporate dominance that has driven up home prices and made it harder for Arizona residents—particularly first-time buyers—to purchase homes in their communities.
Key provisions include:
- Capping institutional ownership at no more than 50 single-family homes statewide.
- Prohibiting bulk purchases, defined as acquiring two or more single-family homes in a single transaction or within a rolling 12-month period by the same entity.
- Imposing a 60-day waiting period, during which institutional investors are prohibited from bidding on or purchasing newly listed single-family homes, giving individual buyers priority.
Institutional investors—defined as entities owning or managing 10 or more single-family homes in Arizona—exceeding the cap on the bill’s effective date would be prohibited from new acquisitions and encouraged to voluntarily reduce holdings to achieve compliance.
The legislation includes targeted exemptions to avoid unintended impacts on housing efforts, such as:
- Nonprofit organizations focused on affordable housing
- Government housing agencies
- Community land trusts
- Small property owners (fewer than 50 homes)
- Pension funds of fiduciary entities with assets under $5 million
- Homebuilders whose primary business is constructing new homes for individual sale
To ensure transparency and accountability, HB 2325 requires institutional investors to file annual disclosures with the Arizona Department of Housing by March 15, detailing the single-family homes they own, purchase, or sell, along with their compliance with applicable laws.
Enforcement authority rests with the Arizona Attorney General, who may investigate violations, seek injunctive relief, or pursue other remedies. If the Attorney General declines action, county or city attorneys in the relevant jurisdiction are empowered to step in.
Representative Kupper emphasized the bill’s alignment with broader national concerns over housing affordability. “President Trump is right to call this out,” Kupper stated. “Homeownership has long been central to the American Dream and the reward for hard work. When large investment firms buy up neighborhoods, families lose, and prices climb. HB 2325 puts Arizona on the side of working people who want to own a home, raise a family, and stay rooted where they live.”
“Housing costs have climbed nationwide as institutional investors expanded their residential footprint, while homeownership rates for younger Americans have stalled,” continued Kupper. “In Arizona, population growth and limited housing supply have intensified the squeeze on first-time buyers. This bill draws a clear line. Arizona homes should be owned by Arizona families, not treated like financial instruments by distant corporations.”
Ethan Faverino is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Staff Reporter | Jan 18, 2026 | Education, News
By Staff Reporter |
Psychology was a top major for Arizona college students this past year, per a new study.
This determination was pulled from data gathered concerning college major-related queries in Arizona and organized by monthly search volumes.
The top five college majors based on monthly searches were psychology, then music, then computer science, then communications, and then business administration.
The subsequent most-popular college majors searched were criminal justice, then accounting, then business management, then nursing, and finally social work.
The data was published by Flipsnack, a company that creates flipbooks.
Psychology ranks near the bottom for median wage early career and middling for median wage mid-career, per the New York Federal Reserve Bank’s Labor Market for Recent College Graduates.
The top but lesser popular college majors fared far better in terms of salary potential. Computer science sat at the very top, followed by a slew of engineering specialities: computer engineering, chemical engineering, electrical engineering, industrial engineering, mechanical engineering, and civil engineering. Just above miscellaneous engineering and general engineering sat physics.
Psychology’s median early career income potential was around $35,000 to $45,000 less than computer science, the major with the highest labor market outcome for early career wage. Psychology was projected to earn around $55,000 less for mid-career median wage than several of the engineering majors.
Reporting data from the state’s three public universities aligns with these findings. Psychology was a top degree for both Arizona State University (ASU), University of Arizona (UA), and Northern Arizona University (NAU), according to Niche.
ASU’s top five degrees based on the number of graduates in recent years, in order, included business and business support services, psychology, biology, computer science, and marketing.
Per their latest data published in 2024, the top majors for ASU Online were information technology, psychology, liberal studies, business administration, biological sciences, electrical engineering, software engineering, English, criminology and criminal justice, and nursing.
ASU offers over 400 undergraduate programs. They also boast an 89 percent success rate of graduates securing employment or a job offer within 90 days of graduation, with a median full-time salary of $55,000.
NAU’s top degrees include psychology, liberal arts and humanities, nursing, elementary education, and criminology.
NAU has over 150 undergraduate programs. The university reported a full-time employment rate of 45 percent, and 35 percent seeking employment. The median salary for these graduates sits at around $50,000.
UA’s top five degrees based on the number of graduates in recent years, in order, were psychology, liberal arts and humanities, intelligence, physiology and pathology, and nursing.
Likewise, UA has over 150 undergraduate programs.
UA reported a full-time employment rate of 56 percent, with a median full-time salary of $60,000. 25 percent reported continuing education or seeking continuing education, 15 percent reported seeking employment, and two percent reported part-time employment.
Grand Canyon University (GCU), a private university that consistently ranks up there with the state’s three public universities, didn’t report psychology as a popular pick among its graduating students. GCU’s most popular majors were nursing, business, human services, elementary education, and special education and teaching.
Psychiatrist and mental health services fell just outside the scope of top-five popularity for GCU graduating students.
GCU reported a 96 percent employment rate post-graduation, with a median salary of $62,000 annually.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Staff Reporter | Jan 17, 2026 | News
By Staff Reporter |
Former U.S. Senator-turned-lobbyist Kyrsten Sinema is facing a lawsuit alleging an affair with her formerly married bodyguard, Matthew “Matt” Ammel.
Ammel’s ex-wife filed the lawsuit against Sinema based on North Carolina’s “homewrecker law” back in September with a superior court in North Carolina. The lawsuit became public after the case was moved to the District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina.
The Ammels were married for 14 years and had three children together prior to their separation in November 2024.
Ammel joined Sinema’s security detail in early 2022. The lawsuit alleged that the adulterous relationship between Sinema and Ammel began at some point between late 2023 and early 2024.
The lawsuit also accused Sinema of giving gifts to Ammel, including psychedelic treatment. Sinema was further accused of directing Ammel to bring MDMA drugs, which are illegal, on a work trip so she could guide Ammel through a psychedelic experience.
During Sinema’s last year in the Senate while their alleged affair was well underway, Sinema allegedly hired Ammel to her staff as a Defense and National Security Fellow in addition to his security guard duties.
The two were alleged to have attended multiple concerts together: U2, Taylor Swift, Green Day, were among those listed.
The lawsuit claims Sinema’s former head of security allegedly even warned Ammel about Sinema having affairs with other security members upon her resignation in the fall of 2023.
During those last two years when Ammel was on board, Sinema’s security expenditures outpaced those by her colleagues and presidential candidates: over $1.7 million.
Sinema continued spending campaign funds into summer 2025. Expenditures amounted to over $390,000 over the course of three months; much of it went to similar expenses alleged in the lawsuit: private security and jet-setting.
One unusual expenditure noted by media reports involved several hundred dollars given to a middle school PTO in North Carolina. It appears that payment may have been in connection to Sinema’s alleged affair and Ammel’s children.
Ammel, an Army veteran, served over 17 years as a paratrooper and Green Beret before leaving the service in 2020.
Last February, Sinema had Ammel testify before the House Appropriations Committee in favor of ibogaine research as part of her lobbying effort for funding psychedelic clinical studies. Ibogaine is a psychoactive compound derived from an African shrub, the iboga tree. It is not currently legal in the country and does not have FDA approval. Certain clinics within the country do use ibogaine for treatments.
After growing closer with Sinema, Ammel was appointed to a fellowship within the Office of University Affairs at Arizona State University.
Last September, Ammel was a guest speaker at the screening of a 2024 Netflix documentary about Navy SEALs treating mental illness with psychedelics, “In Waves and War.” Ammel was presented as a North Carolina Special Operations Veteran and Ibogaine VETS Grant Recipient.
It appears the psychedelic treatments weren’t having their desired effect.
Ammel was arrested in November for assaulting an officer while at a hospital in North Carolina.
Ammel was placed on psychiatric hold for allegedly strangling a medic, per documents discovered by Fox 10 Phoenix.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Ethan Faverino | Jan 17, 2026 | Economy, News
By Ethan Faverino |
State Representatives David Marshall (R-LD7) and Ralph Heap (R-LD10) introduced House Bill 2269, a measure to eliminate the state sales tax on electric and gas utility bills for Arizona residents and businesses.
The proposed legislation would suspend the state’s 5.6% sales tax on electricity and natural gas utilities until either $2.3 billion in cumulative tax relief has been provided to Arizonans or December 31, 2046—whichever comes first.
Once the $2.3 billion threshold is reached, the Legislature would then decide whether to extend, modify, or reinstate the exemption.
“People are getting crushed by rising costs, making it harder to live and do business in our state,” said Representative Marshall. “Almost everyone pays a local utility for electricity or gas. Eliminating the tax on this expense represents one of the most immediate and direct ways we can help working families keep costs affordable.”
The 5.6% tax on electricity and gas quietly adds up on monthly bills, leaving the average household paying more than $100 a year in utility tax—funds that could instead support necessities like groceries, housing, and childcare.
Representative Marshall highlighted a structural concern with the current system: “Taxing electric and gas utilities creates a perverse incentive for the government to support increased rate hikes. If rates go up, the state gets more money. That leads some to view rate increases as a source of potential funds for their liberal pet projects. That’s not right; it’s time to put the people of Arizona first.”
“While we’re unsure of any legal way to get ratepayers’ money back, there are things we can do to help reduce costs today,” Marshall continued. “In my opinion, the next best thing we can do is try to provide justice by eliminating taxes on electric and gas utilities moving forward. That’s why, over the next 20 years, we are proposing no state tax on utilities until every penny of the $2.3 billion that was wrongfully extracted from the Arizona ratepayer is metaphorically ‘paid back’ to hardworking families.”
He added, “This bill will save most residents between $100 and $120 per year, on average. Once the $2.3 billion threshold has been met, then the state can determine what it wants to do with the exemption from there, including whether to reassess the tax or extend the exemption even further.”
Representative Heap pointed to actions taken by the Arizona Corporation Commission as the basis for the bill’s $2.3 billion figure: “In 2006, Arizona Corporation Commissioner Kris Mayes catered to outside special interests and adopted expensive renewable energy surcharges that cost ratepayers more than $2.3 billion over the last 20 years. This special interest slush fund also led to foreign-owned boondoggles like the Solana Generating Station, which Kris Mayes personally supported, and which cost ratepayers more than three times the above-market rate of power.”
“While repealing these mandates may help to prevent new costs,” Heap added, “it will do nothing to compensate customers for the unjust surcharges that Kris Mayes forced ratepayers to pay over the last 20 years.”
Ethan Faverino is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Matthew Holloway | Jan 17, 2026 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
Arizona State Sen. Kevin Payne (R-LD27) has introduced legislation he claims will ensure law enforcement’s use of modern crime-fighting technology doesn’t slide into unchecked government surveillance. But critics say otherwise.
The bill, SB 1111, would create statewide standards governing how automated license plate readers, popularly known as Flock cameras, are used by police and other agencies across Arizona. The measure comes as concerns grow among residents and local leaders about the privacy implications of expanding surveillance tech in everyday life.
Under the proposal, data collected by these systems could only be used for legitimate law enforcement purposes, such as solving serious crimes or locating missing and endangered persons. The bill would explicitly ban the use of license plate data for general surveillance, political purposes, or non-law-enforcement activities. In an effort to ensure accountability, it also requires strict access controls, mandatory user training, detailed audit logs, and regular compliance reviews.
“This bill draws a clear line. We’re protecting innocent Arizonans from government overreach while making sure our law enforcement officers have the modern tools they need to keep our communities safe,” Payne said in a statement.
“Arizonans shouldn’t have to choose between their privacy and their security. This bill proves we can do both—defend individual freedom and back the men and women who put their lives on the line every day.”
Critics of the bill believe it is vaguely worded and would open the door to broad government surveillance with few safeguards.
“This is among one of the weakest bills I’ve seen when it comes to regulating license plate readers,” Dave Maass, director of investigations at Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), told the Arizona Mirror. “This bill is not going to do what the author says it is going to do.”
Flock cameras have been under heavy critcism from groups like the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, who wrote in an op-ed in November that “Arizona is home to some of the most Flock-saturated cities in the country.” The group warned that “Flock monitors your movement constantly, often without your knowledge, and always without your consent. You can turn off your phone. You can’t turn off a camera mounted on a pole. Every car you drive and every route you take is automatically logged, creating a permanent record you never agreed to.”
Flock Safety, the company behind the mass surveillance cameras used throughout Arizona, was compromised in December.
Supporters of the legislation argue that the absence of clear statewide guidelines has left residents uncertain about how and when sensitive data is collected, shared, and stored. Some cities and counties have already wrestled with local policies as questions about oversight and civil-liberty protections have surfaced.
Law-enforcement advocates say the technology has helped solve serious crimes and locate missing persons, while acknowledging that clear guardrails are necessary to maintain public trust.
Joe Clure, Executive Director of the Arizona Police Association, stated, “SB 1111 provides the tools law enforcement needs to keep our communities safe while putting firm protections in place against government overreach and privacy assurance to that same community. Cameras used to detect and apprehend suspects are invaluable in maintaining public safety and preventing criminal and terrorist activity. They also aid in the investigation and solving of crimes long after they were committed.”
SB 1111 will now proceed through the legislative process, where it is expected to draw fierce debate over how to strike a balance between crime-fighting effectiveness and individual privacy rights.
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
by Matthew Holloway | Jan 16, 2026 | Education, News
By Matthew Holloway |
An Arizona State University faculty member, who also serves as an associate director, was captured on video acknowledging that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programming continues at ASU despite Executive Orders and U.S. Department of Education (DOE) policies directing the elimination of the programs.
In footage from Accuracy in Media (AIM) circulating online, an ASU official identified as Rebecca Loftus, Associate Teaching Professor and Associate Director of the School of Criminology & Criminal Justice, is shown discussing how DEI efforts persist at the university, saying the programming is now “just not as broadcast as it was before,” according to posts and videos shared on social media platforms.
In January 2025, the DOE announced it was dismantling DEI-related offices, removing DEI references from public-facing materials, and directing staff to eliminate related programs as part of a department-wide policy shift under the Trump administration. The department said the move was intended to end what it described as discriminatory or non-merit-based practices tied to DEI frameworks. It warned that institutions continuing such efforts could face scrutiny over federal funding.
The video, originally posted to YouTube, was later shared on X by Corey A. DeAngelis and circulated more broadly as Instagram Reels and X posts. In the footage, Loftus can be heard making statements that ASU’s diversity initiatives are still in effect, albeit with less public emphasis than in earlier years.
According to AIM, Loftus, speaking with an undercover investigator, was recorded stating that, “Most of our faculty do tend to be a little more on the liberal side. You have to be careful with the language that you use. We’re doing pretty much what we were doing before.”
The outlet reported that she went on to describe a body known as “the idea office,” an internal group responsible for “designing” criminology classes for a “majority-minority student body,” with AIM characterizing such groups as “how DEI-related instruction is being concealed through new internal structures.”
Loftus is later seen telling the investigator: “You’re not going to find very many programs that are going to broadcast it as before because the federal funding for universities, especially state-run universities like ASU… If you have federal funds that are withheld, it really makes a big impact.” She reportedly added that entire classes are still being devoted to race, ethnicity, and gender, and said that ASU has been bringing in outside figures to present these classes.
In a later clip, when confronted about the undercover video, she can be seen telling Adam Guillette, President of Accuracy in Media, that she has “no idea” what he’s talking about and urged him to “talk to our Director” before requesting he leave her office.
ASU’s use of diversity training and DEI programming has been the subject of a legal challenge in recent years.
In March 2024, the Goldwater Institute filed a lawsuit on behalf of an ASU faculty member challenging ASU’s “Inclusive Communities” training requirement as violating Arizona law prohibiting certain diversity trainings funded with public money. That lawsuit, Anderson v. Arizona Board of Regents, remains active in the state court system.
The Goldwater Institute’s online materials describe the training as covering systemic bias, privilege, and related concepts.
At the time of this report, ASU administrators had not issued a public response to the video clips widely circulated on social media, nor had the university clarified whether the recording was conducted with consent or in a sanctioned setting.
The footage has been reposted and commented on by multiple users, including calls for questions about the university’s DEI direction. One user suggested contacting the ASU Board of Trustees regarding the issue; however, no official response from the board has been posted publicly as of this report.
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
