by Terri Jo Neff | Mar 8, 2021 | News
By Terri Jo Neff |
A Senate Concurrent Resolution that could terminate Gov. Doug Ducey’s March 11, 2020 declaration of emergency will be considered on Monday by the full Senate.
Currently under state law, a non-war state of emergency can only be ended by proclamation of the governor “or by concurrent resolution of the legislature declaring it at an end.” As Ducey has not put forth a plan for termination the current COVID-19 state of emergency any time soon, Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita (R-LD23) seeks to end it with SCR1001.
According to SCR1001, Arizona’s government “was established to protect and maintain individual rights and must frequently return to these principles to secure these rights and the perpetuity of our free government” but that Ducey’s year-old declaration and executive orders have “drastically restricted and suppressed the individual freedoms and economic prosperity of Arizonans.”
SCR1001 cites the fact Arizonans have been “personally responsible and have exceeded expectations in slowing community spread through their own individual behaviors and actions, accepting personal restrictions as a civic duty to prevent disease transmission.”
If SCR1001 clears its Third Reading on Monday it will be transmitted to the House. It would take immediate effect upon passage in the House.
However, legislators have been forewarned by Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich on Feb. 17 that Ducey could simply declare a new state of emergency, and even re-institute prior measures, “so long as the conditions for the existence of a state of emergency” are satisfied in accordance with the emergency powers statue.
While Ugenti-Rita’s effort would end the current state of emergency, another Third Reading is slated for Monday for SCR1010 which would require a governor to call a special session of the Legislature at the same time a state of emergency declaration is issued.
But even if Sen. Kelly Townsend’s SCR1010 passes out of the legislature, it must still be approved by voters before the changes to Arizona’s emergency powers law take affect. The Secretary of State would put the issue on the ballot for the next general election.
In fact voters could be asked to choose between Townsend’s immediate legislative special session option and one which gives a governor a few days before needing to call a special session after issuing an emergency proclamation.
SCR1003 sponsored by Sen. Warren Petersen (R-LD12) was approved last month by the Senate. It would terminate a governor’s state of emergency 30 days after issuance unless extended by a Concurrent Resolution of the Legislature. It also requires a legislative session to be called within 10 days if the legislature is not already in session.
Petersen’s SCR1003 has already been transmitted to the House where it awaits committee assignment by the House Speaker Rusty Bowers. As with SCR1010, it would be up to Arizona’s voters whether or not to make the change to a governor’s current emergency powers.
by Corinne Murdock | Mar 7, 2021 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
In the opening lines of a behemoth post-election analysis, Time Magazine tipped their hats to the “business titans” for their help in securing the election for President Joe Biden.
Amongst those titans are the ones controlling a majority of modern social interactions, transactions, and entertainment – Big Tech.
Arizona Free Enterprise Club President Scot Mussi stated that Democrats have become the home party for Big Tech.
“In general, everybody’s frustrated and angry about what’s going on here. Everything’s clearly to silence and target conservative ideologies and beliefs. The Democrat Party has become the party of Big Tech, and Big Tech is gladly going along with them because they share their beliefs. I don’t think there’s been a silver bullet solution that anyone’s come up with.”
Mussi noted that these companies align with the Democratic Party because of where they originated and how their business models run.
“I think it was more so where it originated and located at. You saw this develop out of Silicon Valley, California. I also think that the success related to Big Tech wasn’t the typical small business startup. A lot of what exists is venture capital money. [Basically:] ‘we come up with some hot new idea, it doesn’t matter if we make any money on it but let’s grow this thing and turn around and sell it to make a profit.’ There’s no family-run businesses in tech. They’re generally all left-of-center. It drives the culture in these firms.”
Mussi attributed Big Tech’s sweetheart deal with Democrats for causing their party to flip their outward narrative when it comes to big business.
“Democrats live and breathe trashing the big guys. That’s been their bread and butter for 100 years, and now it’s been an open embrace by and large publicly,” stated Mussi. “[Big Tech is] accomplishing their goals – silencing conservatives.”
Zuckerberg pumped the Center for Technology and Civic Life (CTCL) with over $350 million for the 2020 elections. Those funds went on to the local elections offices in counties nationwide. Arizona received $5 million, with a $3 million chunk alloted to the county that handed Biden the state: Maricopa County.
Biden won Maricopa despite Trump netting around 400,000 more votes than in 2016. And, Biden received nearly 511,000 more votes than Clinton did in 2016, and over 740,474 more votes than Obama in 2012.
As previously reported, research indicated that CTCL funds swayed the election results in one political direction significantly.
The spending power of Big Tech moguls like Zuckerberg has influenced states to alter their voting systems and laws. Their millions go toward increasing voting turnout efforts in blue areas, while ignoring red ones.
Funding is just one part of their agenda. Big Tech also meddles with the manipulation of information to the public.
A whistleblower has been leaking video discussions from Facebook executives in which they admit to interfering with elections through the control of information – or, as the Vice President of Integrity Guy Rosen phrased it, “efforts to protect the election.” That information becoming transparent wasn’t approved by Big Tech, however. Within days, Twitter banned Project Veritas from their platform.
Silicon Valley has grown more sophisticated in their process of squelching any opposition of thought, especially concerning elections.
In what appeared to be a coordinated effort, some of the biggest players in Big Tech banished and dismantled an entire platform from online existence. Parler, marketed as a safe haven for conservatives and open dialogue, was targeted following the January 6 Capitol riot.
Over the course of several days, Parler was yanked from both Apple and Google’s app stores. Individuals who’d downloaded the app before this revocation were limited further, once both app hosts rendered Parler defunct through system updates. Then, Amazon stepped in and dealt the death blow: they removed Parler from their servers so users couldn’t even access the platform online.
Arizona legislators are approaching the Big Tech elephant with one-bite approaches. In this session, several bills propose solutions to scale back Big Tech’s influence.
Most recently, the House has passed a bill that would impact Big Tech’s funding of election offices. If passed by the Senate, the bill would likely scale back those partisan advantages gained from billionaires’ funding.
The House is also considering a bill currently that would loosen Big Tech companies’ grasp on the market. Naturally, lobbyists for Apple and Google took to the state capitol to work against the bill.
However, those are just a few measures that would curb Big Tech’s sway on the election. Mussi acknowledged that these state-level measures were a start, but indicated that the federal government would have to step in as well.
“The question is what you do about it and how you handle it. Because at the state level, I don’t know if there is a silver bullet.”
Corinne Murdock is a contributing reporter for AZ Free News. In her free time, she works on her books and podcasts. Follow her on Twitter, @CorinneMurdock or email tips to corinnejournalist@gmail.com.
by AZ Free News | Mar 6, 2021 | News
On the same day he announced increased steps to open the state, Governor Doug Ducey announced the retirement of one of the key players in state’s efforts to tackle the pandemic, Maj. Gen. Michael T. McGuire. McGuire serves on the Governor’s cabinet as both the Director of the Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs and as the Adjutant General for the state.
“General McGuire’s solid leadership and expertise has been critical, especially during the COVID-19 emergency response,” said Governor Ducey in the announcement. “Arizona is grateful for General McGuire’s exceptional service to the state and nation.”
McGuire has served in the role since 2013. He planned to retire last year but extended his service because of the pandemic. His last day will be April 10.
McGuire is responsible for managing the day-to-day activities of a nearly 8,300-member department, which includes the Arizona’s Army and Air National Guard, Joint Programs, and the Division of Emergency Management.
by Terri Jo Neff | Mar 5, 2021 | News
By Terri Jo Neff |
Gov. Doug Ducey has issued a lot of statements during his time in office, but the one he made Friday to allow most businesses across Arizona to reopen without capacity restrictions may be the most welcome of all.
“We’ve learned a lot over the past year,” Ducey said in his announcement. “Our businesses have done an excellent job at responding to this pandemic in a safe and responsible way. We will always admire the sacrifice they and their employees have made and their vigilance to protect against the virus.”
For businesses, physical distancing and mask protocols must still remain in place. In addition, Ducey will continue to order that mayor, counties, and municipalities cannot implement “extreme measures” over and above the state’s order.
Ducey and other state officials point to seven weeks of declining new COVID19 cases in Arizona, and the distribution of more than 2 million vaccines. Friday’s announcement that capacity restrictions will be removed for restaurants, gyms, theaters, water parks, bowling alleys, and bars providing dine-in service came just days after the Arizona Free Enterprise Club called for a reopening sooner than later.
The AFEC’s March 2 statement noted Arizonans were on “day 351” of what was announced at the time as a 15-day closure effort to show the spread of COVID19, but instead many businesses were still under very restrictive capacity limits…”
Several bills introduced this legislative session aimed to help Arizonans recapture a sense of normalcy by getting kids back to school and employees back to work. Rep. Bret Roberts (R-LD14) has sponsored or co-sponsored several of those bills, including one that defines the limits of a governor’s emergency powers.
Roberts said he is glad Ducey made the announcement but is mindful that more is needed.
“I would prefer we repeal it all in one fell swoop as other states are doing,” Roberts said. “However, I am happy to see were moving in that direction albeit incrementally. It’s a good first step…but we need to do more.”
Ducey’s new order will likely also have a huge impact on Arizona’s struggling tourism industry. He will now allow Major League Baseball and other major sports organizations to seek approval from the Arizona Department of Health Services of a crowd-public health plan that demonstrates implementation of safety precautions and physical distancing.
“Today’s announcement is a measured approach; we are not in the clear yet,” Ducey added. “We need to continue practicing personal responsibility.”
by Terri Jo Neff | Mar 5, 2021 | News
By Terri Jo Neff |
The Arizona Supreme Court announced Thursday it will hear oral arguments on April 20 in an attempt to quickly address whether a lower court judge should have put Proposition 208 on hold pending a trial on the measure’s constitutionality.
“Small business owners are already leaving the state due to this poorly crafted measure, and we are hopeful that the Supreme Court will do the right thing and stop this illegal law from going into effect before more damage is done,” Scot Mussi, President of the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, said after the announcement.
Prop 208 mandates a 3.5 percent surcharge tax on income above $250,000 (single filers) or $500,000 (joint filers) in addition to whatever regular income tax is due. The Arizona Free Enterprise Club, Senate President Karen Fann, House Speaker Russell Bowers, and others impacted by the surcharge are asking the Supreme Court to invalidate the measure approved in November with less than 52 percent of the vote.
Attorneys affiliated with the Goldwater Institute, including Timothy Sandefur, are among those representing the plaintiffs. He welcomed Thursday’s news that oral arguments will be held in less than seven weeks on the plaintiff’s previously rejected request for a temporary restraining order.
“Today’s order shows that the Supreme Court understands how important these constitutional challenges are,” said Sandefur, the organization’s vice-president of litigation. “Rather than having the case go through the slower procedures for appeals, the Court announced that it will hear the case right away.”
In February, Judge John Hannah of the Maricopa County Superior Court refused to put Prop 208 on hold pending a trial on several constitutional challenges. His ruling requires the Arizona Department of Revenue to prepare to collect the surcharge, although the judge noted the funds could be refunded if Prop 208 is later invalidated.
Among the legal issues is whether a tax surcharge is simply a tax increase in disguise, and if so, whether it can be enacted without the same two-thirds majority required when the legislature wants to hike taxes. That two-thirds requirement was added to the Arizona Constitution in more than 20 years ago.
“But you can’t override the Constitution except by a constitutional amendment, and Proposition 208 isn’t a constitutional amendment,” said Sandefur, who appealed Hannah’s denial of the restraining order to the Arizona Court of Appeals per normal court rules. He also took the unusual path of simultaneously seeking expedited consideration from the Supreme Court.
Among those who encouraged the Supreme Court to hear the matter was Gov. Doug Ducey, who campaigned against Prop 208 as a “crippling” tax increase with no guarantee of much of the funds would reach teachers. Estimates that $800 million or more in additional annual K-12 funding would be generated under Prop 208 have been recently called into question in light of post-COVID income impacts.
The oral arguments proceeding will be closed to in-person attendance, but a livestream will be available via www.azcourts.gov/AZSupremeCourt/LiveArchivedVideo.
by B Hernandez | Mar 5, 2021 | Education, News
By B. Hernandez |
Parents, like those in the Peoria Unified School District, are praising a bill, SB1058, which requires district and charter schools to post a list of procedures used to review and approve learning materials and procedures by which a parent can review learning materials in advance.
If the district does not have procedures used to review and approve learning materials, the bill requires them to post a “clear statement that no such procedures or processes are in effect at the school.”
While the bill has been stripped of meaningful reforms, supporters say the bill is a baby step in the right direction even if it only brings much needed attention to what is going on in Arizona’s K-12 classrooms.
Last week, Peoria parents attempted to share their concerns with district officials about lesson plans that involve and appeared to be based on the principles forwarded by the political organization, Black Lives Matter.
Not only were parents not advised that students would be exposed to curriculum of a highly controversial and clearly partisan nature, they were denied access to review the learning materials.
Barto’s bill at least provides them with a clear path to curriculum review, say education experts.
RELATED ARTICLE: Peoria Parents Grow Frustrated As District Officials Block Access To Curriculum
This week, the Arizona Department of Education released a report showing a dramatic decrease in public school enrollments compared to last year. Public enrollment is down by approximately 38,000 students for the 2020-2021 school year compared to last year.
