The federal government unlawfully denied Grand Canyon University (GCU) its nonprofit status, per a new federal court ruling.
Last week, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Grand Canyon University v. Miguel Cardona that the U.S. Department of Education (ED) was wrong to refuse the Christian university their nonprofit status.
Circuit Judge Daniel Collins reversed the summary judgment by District Court Judge Susan Bolton favoring ED. Collins remanded GCU’s nonprofit status back to ED for review.
ED had determined that GCU’s organizing documents satisfied the IRS organizational test’s requirements; however, ED denied GCU when it came to the operational test. ED determined that GCU’s primary activities and its stream of revenue both didn’t benefit the university. Collins disagreed.
Collins ruled that ED had invoked the wrong legal standards, going beyond the Higher Education Act (HEA) requirements to impose exceeding IRS regulations. Rather, Collins ruled that HEA standards only require ED to determine whether GCU was owned and operated by a nonprofit corporation and whether GCU satisfied the no-inurement requirement.
“The Department invoked the wrong legal standards by relying on IRS regulations that impose requirements that go well beyond the HEA’s requirements and instead implement a portion of § 501(c)(3) that has no counterpart in the definition of the term ‘nonprofit’ set forth in HEA § 103(13),” ruled Collins.
The inurement requirement allows nonprofits to buy from for-profit companies at fair market value.
GCU has been battling with ED over its nonprofit status since 2019, when ED denied the IRS status granted to GCU. GCU had historically been a nonprofit school, save a stint in the early 2000s when the university went for-profit to avoid bankruptcy.
After GCU sued ED in 2021 over the denial, ED launched a coordinated investigation with the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Veterans Affairs for unfair or deceptive practices.
Last year, ED levied a $38 million fine against GCU.
GCU maintained that ED targeted them over their ideological differences, since they are a Christian university.
Bob Romantic, GCU executive director of the office of communications and public relations, said in a press release that the nonprofit status would allow GCU to thrive more than it has been able to under a for-profit status.
“While the university remains exceedingly proud of what it achieved during its short stint as a for-profit institution, building up GCU from the brink of bankruptcy into the largest Christian university in the country, nonprofit status best allows the university to accomplish its goals around research, grant writing, development, being full members of the NCAA, etc.,” said Romantic. “Today’s decision is a long-awaited correction to the Department’s unlawful application of a standard that improperly denied GCU of its nonprofit status, and we are hopeful for a quick affirmation of the university as a nonprofit institution.”
President-elect Donald Trump pledged to dismantle ED “very early” in his administration in a campaign video last year, citing America’s high spending and poor student outcomes compared to other nations.
“[We’re] sending all education and education work and needs back to the states. We want them to run the education of our children, because they’ll do a much better job of it. You can’t do worse,” said Trump. “We’re going to end education coming out of Washington, D.C., we’re going to close it up, all those buildings all over the place, and yeah people that, in many cases, hate our children. We’re going to send it all back to the states.”
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A liberal Democrat is attempting to maintain her representation of a middle-of-the-road Phoenix-area legislative district for another term in office.
State Senator Eva Burch of Arizona Legislative District 9 is seeking to make a return to the chamber for the next term of office, running for reelection in the upcoming November General Election.
The incumbent Democrat proudly displays several endorsements from left-leaning organizations on her campaign website, including Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona, Save Our Schools Arizona, Moms Demand Action, Climate Cabinet PAC, Emily’s List, Human Rights Campaign in Arizona, Arizona List, End Citizens United, and Sierra Club.
Burch is staunchly in the camp of her open-borders colleagues in the legislature – as her voting record indicates. Last year (2023), Burch voted no on HCM 2007, which expressed the legislative desire that Congress enact the State Immigration Enforcement Act, which would allow states or political subdivisions of states, to enact, implement, and enforce criminal penalties that are prohibited in the criminal provisions of immigration laws.
This past legislative session (2024), Burch voted against SB 1231, which would have made it unlawful for a person who is an alien (unlawful immigrant) to enter Arizona from a foreign nation at any location other than a lawful port of entry. She also opposed SCR 1042, which proclaimed the Legislature’s support for the people and governor of the state of Texas in its efforts to secure our nation’s southern border. Additionally, she voted no on HB 2157, which would have prohibited a court from using a defendant’s deportation as the sole reason for early termination of probation or intensive probation.
More recently, Burch refused to support a legislative effort to refer a border security measure to the ballot in this November’s General Election – HCR 2060, voting against the bill when it was considered by her chamber. The proposal, if passed by voters in the fall, would empower local law enforcement to better secure their communities from the increasing calamities from the border crisis. A recent poll from Noble Predictive Insights showed that over fifty percent of Democrat respondents support the measure.
The Democrat lawmaker has also established a clear voting record for opposing bills that seek to lower taxes and reduce burdensome red tape for Arizona businesses. In 2023, she voted no on SCR 1018, which was a resolution restricting counties, cities, towns, municipal corporations, and political subdivisions from imposing a tax, rule, or law based on vehicle miles traveled. Burch also voted against SB 1156 that year, which would have increased the amount of the individual income tax subtraction for unreimbursed adoption expenses.
In the 2024 legislative session, Burch returned to her anti-small government ways, voting against SB 1056, which would have prohibited city councils or county board of supervisors from increasing an assessment, tax or fee without a two-thirds vote. Also, she voted no on SB 1153, which would have prohibited a proposed rule from becoming effective if the proposed rule is estimated to increase regulatory costs by more than $500,000 within five years.
Burch is also a soft-on-crime legislator. Over the past two years, she has opposed several bills that would strengthen Arizona statutes against crime and increase penalties for lawbreakers and those who seek to perpetrate harm on innocent men, women, and children. In 2024, she voted no on SB 1414, which would require a person who is convicted of a third or subsequent organized retail theft offense to be sentenced as a category two repetitive offender. She also voted against HB 2591, which would have prohibited a public power entity or public service corporation from entering into a contract with a person or company that uses forced labor or oppressive child labor.
Last legislative session, Burch voted no on SB 1583, which would have mandated that a level one sex offender who commits specified sexual offenses is required to register on the internet sex offender website if the offender was sentenced for a dangerous crime against children. Additionally, she opposed SB 1323, which would have made an employee or independent contractor of a public school who refers students to or uses any sexually explicit material in violation of existing statute criminally liable for a class 5 felony.
Arizona Legislative District 9 is one of the most competitive in the state, with a 2.6% vote spread between Democrats and Republicans over the past nine statewide elections, according to the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission. Out of those nine contests, Democrats have won five compared to four for the Republicans.
Burch ran unopposed in the July 30 primary election. She is facing off against the winner of the Republican primary, Robert Scantlebury. In the 2022 General Election, Burch defeated Scantlebury by more than 3,000 votes to assume her seat.
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A middle-of-the-road legislative district in the Phoenix-metro area will be key to deciding the future political makeup of the Arizona State Legislature.
State Representative Seth Blattman, a Democrat, is running for reelection in Arizona Legislative District 9.
The Democrat lawmaker has been endorsed by liberal groups in his reelection bid, including National Organization for Women Arizona, AEA Fund for Public Education, the Progressive Turnout Project, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Jane Fonda Climate PAC, Save Our Schools Arizona, and Stonewall Democrats of Arizona.
Blattman’s support from the Fonda PAC may be one of the most concerning for voters researching his record and determining which direction they want to see for their district. On August 7, Blattman boasted of this endorsement, saying, “I am incredibly honored to announce the endorsement by the Jane Fonda Climate PAC! Their tireless efforts in combating climate change and advocating for sustainable policies are crucial for our planet’s future. Together, let’s create a healthier and sustainable Arizona for generations to come.”
I am incredibly honored to announce the endorsement by the Jane Fonda Climate PAC! Their tireless efforts in combating climate change and advocating for sustainable policies are crucial for our planet's future. Together, let's create a healthier and sustainable Arizona for… pic.twitter.com/qXZVxxZDJs
The mission of the PAC, however, is not as agreeable to a wide swath of constituents. On her website, Fonda writes, “Our planet is on fire and our leaders are failing us, so if we can’t change the minds of the people in power, we need to change the people in power. It is for that reason that I started Jane Fonda Climate PAC, which is laser-focused on one goal: Do what it takes to defeat fossil fuel supporters and elect climate champions at all levels of government.”
This PAC asserts that “major solutions are stopped cold: the Green New Deal, Build Back Better, clean energy investments, ending billions in tax subsidies to the fossil fuel industry – all because of politicians backed by Big Oil.”
The Green New Deal pushed by the Jane Fonda Climate PAC is the same championed by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, who is one of the most progressive lawmakers in the U.S. Congress. On Sanders’ presidential campaign website, he wrote about the deal, that “the climate crisis is not only the single greatest challenge facing our country; it is also our single greatest opportunity to build a more just and equitable future, but we must act immediately.”
Sanders added that as president he would “launch the decade of the Green New Deal, a ten-year, nationwide mobilization centered around justice and equity during which climate change will be factored into virtually every area of policy, from immigration to trade to foreign policy and beyond. Part of the details of the Green New Deal, according to Sanders, includes, “declaring climate change a national emergency, commit[ing] to reducing emissions throughout the world, [and] expanding the climate justice movement.”
Though Arizona has so far resisted an extreme move to the globalist agenda of the climate change lobby – thanks, in large part, to its previous Republican governors (Brewer and Ducey) and a Republican-led legislature – Blattman’s recent votes indicate that he might help usher in more of the Green New Deal policies should Democrats retake the legislature alongside Governor Katie Hobbs. He voted against HCR 2050, which would have “constitutionally prohibit[ed] Arizona or any political subdivision or public body of Arizona from restricting the manufacture, use or sale or a device based on the energy sources used to power the device.”
Additionally, Blattman voted against HCR 2018, which would have “prohibit[ed] this state and any city, town, county, municipal corporation or other political subdivision of this state from imposing a fee or tax based on vehicle miles traveled by a person in a motor vehicle or enacting any rule or law to monitor or limit the vehicle miles traveled by a person in a motor vehicle.”
Another of Blattman’s endorsements, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, also highlights its efforts to fight for the Green New Deal. The organization promotes itself as “a proud supporter of Elizabeth Warren since her first run for Senate and was the first national political organization to endorse her for president in the 2020 election.”
Warren, also one of the most liberal and progressive members of the U.S. Congress, presents herself as a top supporter of the Green New Deal. On her campaign website, Warren writes, “This is a crisis. We need bold, aggressive action. We need a Green New Deal – and we need it now. Elizabeth is proud to be an original cosponsor of Senator Ed Markey and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal resolution, which commits the United States to a ten-year mobilization to achieve domestic net-zero emissions by 2030. It provides the framework for an ambitious effort to transform our economy and save our planet.”
According to the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission, Legislative District 9 is one of the most competitive in the entire state, with a 2.6% vote spread between Democrats and Republicans in the past nine statewide elections. In those contests, Democrats have emerged victorious five times, compared to four for Republicans.
Blattman will attempt to return to the Arizona House of Representatives alongside his seatmate, Lorena Austin. The two Democrats are facing off against Republicans Mary Ann Mendoza and Kylie Barber for the right to represent the district in its two slots.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
Energy executives overseeing Arizona’s utility companies stand to gain financially for adherence to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria — namely, whether they stay on track to eliminate carbon emissions by 2050.
According to Arizona Public Service’s (APS) holding company Pinnacle West (PNW) Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) report last year, they link 20 percent of compensation based on Clean Energy Commitment performance — specifically, the total number of “clean megawatts installed” over a period of three years.
Altogether, PNW’s seven executives made about $21.5 million last year.
PNW’s Clean Energy Commitment is to achieve a resource mix of 65 percent clean energy (45 percent of that coming from renewable energy) by 2030, end APS coal-fired generation by 2031, and ultimately transition completely to carbon-free electricity and eradicate all carbon emissions by 2050.
PNW’s progress on its Clean Energy Commitment has earned it a top-100 ranking with Energy Intelligence since 2019. In 2005, the company had achieved 24 percent clean energy; since 2019, they have maintained 50 percent clean energy. The company projects that they will reach 65 percent clean energy by 2030.
As part of their commitment, APS plans to add at least 2,500 megawatts of clean energy technologies such as solar and storage by 2025. In their 2022 SEC report, PNW projected the addition of 210 megawatts of utility-scale solar energy, 238 megawatts of wind energy, and 341 megawatts of energy storage. They also reported that APS had 2,400 megawatts of renewable capacity at present and over one million solar panels across their 10 grid-scale solar plants.
PNW reports that APS has been integrating ESG practices for nearly 30 years, but have undertaken extra steps in recent years to prioritize it. Their entire board “dedicates a significant amount of time to ESG matters,” and the company formed a Sustainability department to integrate ESG into everyday APS work and an ESG Executive Council to guide the company’s ESG pathway. That latter entity, the council, measures and reports on Clean Energy Commitment actions.
The company also tasked multiple committees to advance ESG: “Environmental” is handled by the Nuclear and Operating Committee, “Social” is handled by both Corporate Governance and Public Responsibility as well as Human Resources Committees, and “Governance” is handled by the Corporate Governance and Public Responsibility Committee.
The Corporate Governance and Public Responsibility Committee also reviews ESG trends that may impact the company. Earlier this year, PNW amended the committee’s charter to include oversight of climate change-related issues and strategies for response.
As for the Tucson Electric Power (TEP) and UNS Energy Corporation (UNS), their owner, Fortis, offers an ESG-related financial incentive of 10 percent for its executives. Fortis executives made over $4.5 million last year.
The ESG incentive is part of Fortis’ “sustainability and people performance,” factored for the first time last year. It carries a 40 percent performance pay incentive; in addition to ESG leadership, it includes the weighting factors of safety (10 percent); diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) (10 percent); and reliability (10 percent).
This year, Fortis raised the ESG incentive to 15 percent, and added climate and emissions priorities as well as a DEI objective.
Similar to PNW, Fortis has a 2050 net-zero carbon emissions goal, which includes a 50 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and a 75 percent reduction by 2035. They established a Governance and Sustainability Committee to oversee their emissions reduction goals.
Fortis has planned additions of 3,500 megawatts of wind, solar, and storage energy expansions through 2035. In doing so, Fortis projected by 2032 that TEP will achieve a coal-free generation mix and eliminate the use of surface water-generated power and groundwater use by 70 percent. Additionally, TEP is scheduled to have more than 40 percent of its power derived from wind, solar, and battery storage by 2030, and then over 60 percent by 2033.
Last year, Fortis amended its $1.3 billion revolving credit facility to become a sustainability-linked loan; meaning, its pricing adjustments are now linked to goals related to carbon emissions and board diversity.
Both APS and TEP are part of the California Independent System Operator (ISO) Western Energy Imbalance Market (WEIM), established in 2014. The WEIM allows participants to buy and sell renewable energy power based on need, and offers visibility of neighboring grids. If one utility has excess hydroelectric, solar, or wind power, the ISO will deliver that energy where needed elsewhere.
APS entered the WEIM in 2016, and TEP entered in 2022. Also members are the Salt River Project (SRP), joined in 2020, and the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) Desert Southwest Region, joined in 2023.
As reported earlier this month, the world’s largest globalist investors are now backing the ESG push across Arizona’s utility companies.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ-03) is amping up his energy on fundraising efforts for his 2024 Senate campaign.
As part of his efforts, Gallego is leaning into memes to gin up support. Although embattled Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake hasn’t officially announced a run, Gallego cited Lake as a reason to support his campaign.
Gallego issued his tweet warning about “Senator Kari Lake” a day before Lake revealed to Breitbart that she was considering running to challenge incumbent Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ). However, Lake disclosed that she had a “lot of options” to choose from, though she didn’t offer details as to what those might be.
“I am contemplating running for office again,” said Lake. “I may run for Senate, I’m considering that.”
Lake convened with the U.S. Senate GOP’s campaign team in May to discuss a possible Senate run. The visit was a follow-up to a February meeting with the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
Gallego again relied on a meme to issue an end-of-quarter plea for more funding several weeks ago.
POV: it’s EOQ, and it all adds up when we're all chipping in. Let’s win this!https://t.co/QPMeFHJYUz
According to the latest Federal Election Commission (FEC) data through March, Gallego has raised over $3.7 million since January. Only about 2,200 of his 11,818 contributions have come from Arizona, totaling about $500,000.
Top donors include Evan Goldberg, executive vice president for global technology giant Oracle Corporation; Andrew E. Beck III, managing director for global investment giant D.E. Shaw; and George Pla, CEO of construction engineering giant Cordoba Corporation.
Over $7,000, the single-highest donation, came from the Swallego Victory Fund: the joint committee between Gallego and fellow Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA-14).
Gallego also received thousands of dollars in early support from a number of national unions: United Food and Commercial Workers International Union; National Beer Wholesalers Association; National Association of Letter Carriers of U.S.A.; National Air Traffic Controllers Association; International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers; International Association of Sheet, Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers; International Association of Firefighters Interested in Registration and Education; International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers; International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental, and Reinforcing Iron Workers; Communications Workers of America
Gallego also received some support from political action committees (PACs) associated with major corporations: Synchrony Financial, Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America, Northrop Grummanm, General Dynamics, and Salt River Valley Water Users’ Association.
Several PACs also issued thousands to Gallego: VoteVets, The Next 50 PAC, and Poet PAC.
Since their inception in 2006, VoteVets brought in over $102.6 million. The Next 50 PAC, registered in 2019 and based out of New York, has brought in over $730,000. Poet PAC, established in 2008 and based out of South Dakota, has brought in over $6.3 million.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
