by Daniel Stefanski | Jun 5, 2024 | Economy, News
By Daniel Stefanski |
Arizona legislative Republicans are seeking to bring economic relief to many of their constituents who are struggling to make ends meet.
Over the weekend, Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen issued a statement about the harsh economic circumstances faced by thousands of Arizonans – and countless more around the nation. Petersen said, “Crippling prices on basic necessities continue to wreak havoc on hardworking Arizonans. Sadly, this will remain the case while the Biden Administration continues to enact costly policies, and while Washington D.C. continues its out of control spending spree.”
The Republican Senate President pointed to a study from a local thinktank, which proved his point about the current state of the economy, as compared to years earlier, writing, “According to a recent report from the Common Sense Institute, the average family would have saved approximately $8,400 annually over the past three years, if inflation remained at the Federal Reserve’s 2% goal. In comparison to 2020, rent for a two-bedroom apartment is now 30% higher, a tank of gas is $24 dollars more, and a month’s worth of groceries for a family of four is $302 higher!”
The report also showed that “real wages in Arizona have fallen 1% since peaking in April 2020.”
As he ended his statement about the economic woes across the state and country, Petersen said, “Senate Republicans provided families some relief with a tax rebate last year, and by also eliminating the tax renters pay on their monthly bill. We are committed to doing more to ease these burdens, while Democrats, unfortunately, ignore the problem.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | May 20, 2024 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
Arizona Republican legislators are working hard to come up with bipartisan solutions that would help to mitigate the state’s growing housing crisis.
This week, the Arizona House of Representatives passed two bills to augment the state’s housing supply. The first bill was HB 2720, which would “establish requirements relating to accessory dwelling units,” according to the overview from the state House. The second was HB 2721, which would “adopt requirements for middle housing development.” Both bills now head to Governor Hobbs’ desk.
According to the press release issued by the Arizona House Republican Caucus, these bills “will increase the supply of housing types that are currently illegal to build in most cities and towns across the state. HB 2720 will legalize backyard Accessory Dwelling Units, or Casitas, and HB 2721 will legalize duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes—or Middle Housing— in certain areas of cities and towns. Both bills will only apply to cities and towns with a population of more than 75,000 people.”
Both proposals were sponsored by State Representative Michael Carbone, who issued a statement to champion these bipartisan efforts during another contentious legislative session in the state’s divided government. Carbone said, “Arizonans across the state are being decimated by high housing costs and unrelenting inflation. Right now, our teachers, nurses, firefighters, and police officers can’t afford to live in the communities that they serve. Our children and grandchildren can’t afford to live in the communities that they grew up in. Most Arizonans have been priced out of the housing economy – it’s wrong and un-American.”
Carbone added praise for a Democrat colleague, who helped get these pieces of legislation to the finish line in the Arizona Legislature, writing, “I cannot go a single day without hearing from my constituents about the high housing costs in our state that is decimating my community and locking families in poverty. We worked tirelessly with housing and community stakeholders in order to craft this historic and bipartisan solution that we are proud to send to the Governor. This was truly a bipartisan effort, and I am grateful for Senator Hernandez’s leadership on this issue.”
Senator Anna Hernandez, a Democrat, noted the legislative success of one of these bills, saying, “Someone told me months ago, that we could never pass our statewide ADU (casitas) legislation. HB2720 just passed final read in the house with 35 bipartisan votes. This bill, that will legalize casitas, is now heading to the Governor’s desk. Huge thanks to everyone that worked with me and helped get this across the finish line.”
As the two bills head to the Governor’s Office for her decision, both Republicans and Democrats who supported these proposals are hoping for a better result than the fate that met another housing bill earlier in the session. Back in March, Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed HB2570, which would have “create[ed] municipal prohibitions relating to home designs and single-family home lot sizes” – according to the overview provided by the state House. Hobbs explained that she had vetoed the proposal because “this is unprecedented legislation that would put Arizonans at the center of a housing reform experiment with unclear outcomes.”
The Senate Republican Caucus’ press release after the veto of HB 2570 highlighted that Hobbs became the “first Governor in the nation to block a bill removing zoning restrictions to bring housing prices down for hardworking citizens.” Representative Analise Ortiz, a Democrat, said, “I hope Governor Hobbs will support future plans to expand the state’s inventory of modest, starter homes and homes on small lots – homes that our parents & grandparents purchased years ago that allowed them to build wealth, lay roots in communities, and break cycles of poverty.” And Senator Anna Hernandez added, “I hope the Governor takes this moment to reaffirm her commitment to solving the housing crisis rather than stand as another obstacle in the way of solutions.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | Dec 31, 2023 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
Arizona’s Republican legislative leaders scored a significant legal victory as the clock runs out on 2023.
On Thursday, a panel for the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued an order against the Biden Administration’s Contractor Vaccine Mandate in Mayes v. Biden, vacating its earlier opinion for mootness. According to the Ninth Circuit, the president rescinded his Executive Order in May, following the Ninth Circuit’s decision to reverse and vacate the district court’s grant of a permanent injunction; and earlier this month, the nation’s high court “vacated as moot the judgment in three cases concerning vaccine mandates.” The U.S. Supreme Court’s action was the final straw for the federal contractor vaccine mandate at stake in the Arizona case.
The news came months after the 56th Arizona Legislature had filed an Emergency Application to the Supreme Court of the United States in the case, arguing that “the Ninth Circuit overreached when it disturbed the status quo and stayed the district court’s injunction sua sponte.” After filing the application, Petersen said, “The Legislature’s intervention in this lawsuit against President Biden is critical in protecting the sovereignty of our state and the rights of all Arizonans.”
Both the Arizona Senate and House Republican Caucuses championed the December order from the federal appeals court. The Arizona Senate Republicans “X” account posted, “MAJOR win this week for Arizona Legislative Republicans in protecting you against a FORCED COVID-19 VACCINE!!… President [Warren Petersen] immediately fought back at this unconstitutional overreach and didn’t stop even after Biden revoked his emergency order at the end of the pandemic.”
The Arizona House Republicans wrote, “BIG WIN! The 9th Circuit today vacated its opinion that upheld Biden’s unconstitutional vaccine mandate for federal contractors. Thanks to [Arizona House Speaker Ben Toma] for intervening to protect Arizonans’ medical freedoms!”
The case began as Brnovich v. Biden in 2021, when former Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich filed the first lawsuit in the nation against the president’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates. At the time, Brnovich said that “the federal government cannot force people to get the COVID-19 vaccine,” and that “the Biden Administration is once again flouting our laws and precedents to push their radical agenda.” Brnovich’s suit was heard before U.S. District Court Judge Michael Liburdi, who later, in February 2022, issued a permanent injunction against the president’s mandate for federal contractors.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | Nov 16, 2023 | Education, News
By Daniel Stefanski |
While Arizona Democrats continue to search for ways to bring down the state’s school choice opportunities, Republicans are working on solutions to increase salaries for teachers in K-12 public schools.
On Monday, Arizona Republican legislators held a press conference to announce a plan to raise teachers’ pay, calling it the “Teacher Pay Fund.” The goal of the lawmakers is to “deliver K-12 public school educators with an average of 7% pay raises all without increasing taxes.”
According to the press release from Arizona Senate Republicans, the plan involves an addition to the November 2024 ballot, where voters would decide on Prop 123’s future. If voters approved that question, that money would be “dedicated solely to teacher pay raises, beginning in the summer of 2025.”
Senate President Warren Petersen endorsed the plan, saying, “This initiative will allow Arizona to be more competitive in teacher salaries, boosting teacher pay in Arizona above the national average, and making a big increase to starting teacher pay. We believe we can continue this dedicated funding source long-term because the fund has already grown exponentially over the last eight years, even during tumultuous economic times.”
The Chair of the Senate’s Education Committee, Ken Bennett, added, “Republicans have led the charge in dedicating billions of new dollars to K-12 education, on top of Prop 123 funds and inflationary increases, but unfortunately not enough of those dollars are getting into our classrooms or to our teachers. Arizona teachers right now make about $56,700, on average. This proposal will increase teacher pay to an average of over $60,000. We can – and we should – do better. This is a responsible proposal that won’t create a new tax burden for our citizens.”
AZ Free News reached out to Republican Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne, who said, “We absolutely have to increase teacher salaries. We lose 40% of our teachers in 4 years and then another 26% in years five to nine. So that’s a total of 63% of our teachers that we’re losing. We cannot replace teachers at that rate. Surrounding States all pay more and we lose good teachers. We can’t afford to keep doing that.”
One of the top advocates for teacher pay increases at the state legislature, freshman Representative Matthew Gress, attended the press conference and supported the plan. He posted, “Today, I’m proud to join with teachers, school board members, and my legislative colleagues to introduce a plan that sends 100% of NEW State Land Trust resources for K-12 education DIRECTLY to the classroom. If approved by voters, classroom teachers will get a $4,000 RAISE.”
Gress took a political shot at some of the state’s education interest groups, adding, “It’s time to bypass school administration and the education unions to do what’s right for Arizona students. Every student deserves a high quality educational leader in the front of their classroom, EVERY DAY without exception. Common sense couldn’t be more clear.”
It didn’t take long for some of those groups to react to the Republicans’ plan. The Arizona Education Association’s President, Marisol Garcia, warned that “the devil is in the details,” making the case for “education support professionals” to receive increases in pay along with the state’s teachers.
Save Our Schools Arizona called the proposal a “shell game,” accusing Republicans of using this scheme to cut funding to K-12 schools. The group argued that Arizona legislators should instead be committing “new dollars” for students and teachers and attacked the 2022 universal expansion of ESAs as part of the problem.
Earlier this year, Representative Gress, a Republican, sponsored HB 2800, which would have given Arizona teachers a pay increase. According to figures provided by House Republicans, the bill would have given state instructors the fourth highest ($50,554) starting salaries in the nation, compared to a current ranking of 27th ($40,554). The bill did not make it to Governor Katie Hobbs’ Office during the 2023 session.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | Feb 15, 2023 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
Two weeks after the Arizona Senate passed the state’s budget for 2023-2024, the House followed suit, setting the stage for another early legislative session showdown with Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs’ office.
Last week, the Arizona House attempted to pass a budget, but Republican Liz Harris voted with Democrats to stop progress on this front in a narrowly divided chamber. Rep. Harris tweeted after her February 9 vote that she “will reject this budget until we right size and restore it to a level that is commensurate with our economic growth.”
Time was ultimately on Speaker Ben Toma’s side, and this week, all House Republicans came together to join their Senate colleagues in passing the $15.8 billion budget. According to the communication from the Arizona Senate Republican Caucus on February 1, this budget is “$2.3 billion less than the state budget that was approved last year and $1.3 billion less than the Governor’s proposed budget.”
Also, “to absorb any revenue loss, this approved budget leaves $1.8 billion in cash available by the end of fiscal year 2024, in addition to the $1.4 billion available in the state’s Rainy-Day Fund.”
In a release sent out by the Arizona House Republicans touting the passage of this budget, Speaker Toma proclaimed victory and challenged the governor to sign the legislation for the good of all Arizonans:
“House Republicans have acted today to pass a responsible state budget. It’s one that was crafted with the needs of the state, and of Arizona’s families in mind, families who are struggling during this economic recession caused by reckless federal overspending and far-left priorities….This budget passed today continues the same budget which was approved less than a year ago with a bipartisan majority and was cheered at the time by Governor Hobbs and Democratic Minority Leader Cano.”
Speaker Toma’s reference to then-Secretary of State Hobbs supporting the last budget was highlighted by Rep. Jacqueline Parker, who shared a tweet from Hobbs from the conclusion of last year’s process:
Arizona Senate Republicans also cheered this week’s action by the House:
Other House Republicans celebrated the budget passage after their votes on the floor. Rep. Austin Smith tweeted, “I voted YES on the budget today to keep the government running so no Arizonan is held hostage to special interests. Democrats keep threatening a veto from Katie Hobbs. They are willing to shutdown the government to protect special interests. SAD!”
Rep. David Livingston wrote, “Great news, the Arizona House just passed the 2023-2024 Budget! Now we transfer the budget bills to Governor Hobbs.”
House Majority Leader Leo Biasiucci stated, “Arizona House passes budget to avoid Arizona shutdown. Will Governor Hobbs Veto this bipartisan budget or will she do what’s right for every resident of Arizona?”
Arizona House Democrats were much less complimentary of this week’s action to pass the budget and transmit to the governor’s office.
Rep. Laura Terech tweeted, “This is a budget that is destined for a veto. Hopefully, we will be sitting down together soon to do the real work of finding meaningful bipartisan solutions for Arizonans.”
Minority Whip Marcelino Quiñonez said, “The dynamics in Arizona politics changed in November 2022, & this rushed budget headed to the Governor’s desk ignores that reality. The final budget we pass as a body this session must be bipartisan, everything until then is only a distraction. The work starts after the veto.”
The Republican-led budget is dead on arrival at the Ninth Floor. Governor Hobbs released a statement in opposition to the incoming budget, saying, “The issues Arizonans are facing require more than business as usual. I will not sign a budget that is just more of the same and does nothing to demonstrate a desire to move our state forward.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
