State Senator Victoria Steele (D-Tucson) treated legislators and constituents to poetry and music at the Arizona State Capitol on Wednesday. Steele felt compelled to do so after her fellow Tucson legislator, State Senator Vince Leach (R-Tucson), criticized Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson the day before for Jackson’s inability to define “woman” during her Supreme Court confirmation hearing. Steele considered Leach’s question to be “audacious” and in need of a response. Since it wasn’t feasible for Jackson to speak for herself, Steele stepped up to the plate.
With a giggle, Steele began to recite poet Maya Angelou’s poem, “Phenomenal Woman.” Then, she began to sing the 1971 hit “I Am Woman” by Helen Reddy, which she explained was offered “just in case there was any doubt” about her definition of a woman. Unlike the poem, Steele cut short her song to perform only the first verse and chorus.
“And that, my friend, is a woman,” concluded Steele.
According to the science, Steele’s remarks didn’t answer the question. A woman is an adult female human. A female human is determined by the two XX sex chromosomes that arise at the moment of fertilization. For males, that’s the XY sex chromosomes. According to the greater scope of nature, females have the ability of bearing offspring and/or producing eggs in ovaries. In the case of humans, females produce eggs and have the ability to carry and bear children after reaching sexual maturity.
It appears that Steele prepared a whole day to respond to Leach’s remarks on Tuesday. Leach said it was “troubling” that someone like Jackson was appointed to the highest court in the land.
“What is to be questioned is a system which puts to the bench of the United States Supreme Court someone that can’t answer a simple question: what is a woman?” said Leach.
During a confirmation hearing, Jackson was unable to answer a question from Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) asking her to define the word “woman.” Jackson said she couldn’t answer because she wasn’t a biologist.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Most Americans would agree that taxes aren’t among the top ten things they love about this country — that is, unless you’re a corporation in Arizona looking ahead to SB1643. The bill offers corporations the option to cash out unused Research and Development (R&D) tax credits normally carried forward by taxpayers, totaling around $2 billion in 2019. SB1643 would allow corporations to cash them out at 60 cents on the dollar for “reinvestment” projects, with each corporation limited to $10 million a year or their amount of unused R&D credits, whichever is less. In order to implement this program, the state would appropriate over $50 million from its general fund. The bill would also increase the annual aggregate cap’s refundable portion of the R&D credit from $5 to $10 million. SB1643 passed in the State Senate several days after failing initially last month, and awaits final consideration in the House.
Valid reinvestment projects would include sustainability or water capital projects; building or updating research and development facilities; capital expenditure projects or workforce development projects with universities or career technical education districts, including tuition reimbursement, hiring employees for the institution of higher learning, and apprenticeships; and capital expenditure projects supported by matching funds from federal or national grant programs.
In practice, those reinvestment projects tend to encourage corporations to be fashioned in government and bureaucrat-friendly trappings. Sustainability efforts fall in line with initiatives fulfilling the climate justice portion of the Green New Deal: electric vehicle charging stations, windmills, public transit, solar panels, and greenhouse gas elimination on farms. The city of Phoenix has been the poster child for climate justice, implementing a “cool pavement” pilot program to mitigate urban heat, a phenomenon of higher temperatures in urbanized areas, as well as pledging to become 100 percent carbon-neutral by 2050, eliminating food deserts, and establishing 100 years of clean and reliable water supplies.
Workforce development initiatives would err on the side of social justice activism. One recent example would be defense technology giant Raytheon, whose workforce development initiative, “Stronger Together,” garnered international controversy for requiring employees to adopt critical race theory (CRT) beliefs through a training program. The program targeted white employees, listing white, straight, Christian men as the pinnacle of the “oppression hierarchy.” The company also segregated employees into race and identity groups.
Investigative journalist Christopher Rufo exposed Raytheon’s initiative last July. In an interview with Fox News, Rufo opined that the reason corporations like Raytheon push woke ideologies was to ensure that the government had less reasons to scrutinize them, allowing for an uninhibited flow of taxpayer dollars.
“Think of it as a protection racket similar to the Mafia, where you pay a small fee — in this case, you signal virtue, you hire the right consultants, you sign the right pledges to decolonize your bookshelf or to interrogate your unconscious bias — and then these companies hope to be left alone, that the social media mob, that the politicians in office, that the Biden Administration will keep that taxpayer money flowing because they’ve signaled the right beliefs,” said Rufo.
SCOOP: Raytheon, the nation's second-largest defense contractor, has launched a critical race theory program that encourages white employees to confront their "privilege," reject the principle of "equality," and "defund the police."
Let's review the internal documents.🧵
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) July 6, 2021
Raytheon has a headquarters in Tucson.
Banner Health, one of the state’s largest employers, clarifies that its workforce development and training course content is “culturally appropriate” and “trauma informed,” among other things. Those same keywords were present in Raytheon’s woke workforce development program.
Workforce development initiatives with universities under the tax credit program may look like the latest efforts out of Arizona State University (ASU) and its “New Economy Initiative,” which aims to increase the number of science, technology, and engineering workers and therefore attract more large technology companies. The state gave ASU $32.2 million over last year and this year, with an additional $21.2 forthcoming. ASU projected it would double these funds over the next decade, and create 40,000 new jobs by 2041.
As part of a statewide plan to attract high-tech industry, @ASU is building five science and technology centers. Here, we take an inside look at the Advanced Manufacturing Science and Technology Center. @ASUEngineeringhttps://t.co/mbXbx7Xciu
Monday’s scheduled Senate committee meeting to look into requested Maricopa County records from the 2020 election was canceled after the county’s Board of Supervisors complied with Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s subpoena, following State Senator Kelly Townsend’s (R-Mesa) pushes to have them to respond to her records requests echoing those made in Brnovich’s subpoena. Townsend’s efforts were to assert the will of Arizonans, she said in a press release, noting that she took action when the supervisors didn’t comply with Brnovich’s requests at the beginning of this month.
“I am pleased to report that Maricopa County has complied with the legislative subpoena commanding fulfillment of the Attorney General’s request dated March 9, 2022. The Government Committee scheduled for later today is therefore no longer necessary, as its intended objective has been achieved. The County’s acknowledgement of its duty to timely account for election administration activity is a laudable victory in our pursuit of accountability to Arizona voters,” wrote Townsend. “While the Maricopa County Chairman defends the delay in their response to the Attorney General with indeterminate case law and timelines set by courts, our subpoena conveyed the will of Arizonans, from the branch most representative of the statewide electorate, that the County make election integrity requests a top priority, rather than place them in a public records queue.”
However, Townsend noted that her job wasn’t done. She promised that she and a number of unnamed colleagues would ensure that Maricopa County officials carried out their compliance to the end.
“While I am encouraged by Maricopa County’s evolving attitude towards transparency and compliance, I will be closely following the Attorney General’s ongoing investigation and will be following up with additional inquiries to answer further questions I have as Government Committee Chairman,” stated Townsend. “I stand with my colleagues as we remain committed to engage again when it is necessary for the Legislature’s plenary authority over statewide elections to be exercised.”
Townsend issued her subpoena last Monday. In response, Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Gates claimed it wasn’t necessary to show up to Monday’s scheduled hearing because they already submitted requested records to Brnovich. Gates added that Townsend may not have authority to subpoena their board without permission of Senate President Karen Fann (R-Prescott).
Townsend responded by citing Arizona code, which allows committee chairmen to subpoena individuals.
As an educational opportunity, @billgatesaz remarks that I did not get permission from the Senate President, however may we all learn statute and see that A.R.S. 41–1151 allows for any Chairman to issue a subpoena w/o permission. A.R.S. 41–1153 requires that it be complied with. pic.twitter.com/gjnpktAHdZ
Gates reasserted to KJZZ several days after Townsend’s remarks that the board wouldn’t respond. Instead, the county’s attorney, Ed Novak, was slated to appear at the meeting.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Several Arizona legislators along with the Free Enterprise Club and the Goldwater Institute are celebrating a major court victory for Arizona taxpayers after a Maricopa County Superior Court judge struck down the largest tax hike in state history on Friday.
Today, @maricopacounty Superior Court Judge John Hannah ruled against Prop 208, determining that the $$ raised from the tax would exceed the constitutional spending limit for education.
Judge John Hannah’s ruling bars enforcement of Proposition 208, which imposed a significant income tax surcharge on small-business owners and individuals making over $250,000 a year. Prop 208, also called the Invest in Education Act, was narrowly passed by voters in November 2020 and was immediately challenged in court on multiple grounds, including a conflict with Arizona’s Constitution.
Governor Doug Ducey called Hannah’s ruling “a win for Arizona taxpayers,” adding that it is marks “another step in undoing the damage of Prop 208 and making sure we continue to benefit from having the lowest flat income tax rate in the nation.”
The Goldwater Institute-sponsored lawsuit was filed in February 2021 on behalf of numerous taxpayers, small business owners, and legislators. Last summer, the Arizona Supreme Court agreed with the plaintiffs’ argument that the surcharge taxes from Prop 208 were considered “local revenues” subject to spending limits under the state’s Constitution. The Justices sent the case back Hannah for a determination of whether Prop 208’s Local Revenues Provision runs afoul of the Constitution’s Education Expenditure Clause by violating that limitation. In a decision today, the judge agreed that Proposition 208 violated the Constitution.
“This Court understands the remand order as a direction to declare Proposition 208 unconstitutional in its entirety, and to enjoin its operation permanently, if the Court finds as a fact that the annual education spending limits imposed by the Arizona Constitution will prevent Arizona’s public schools from spending a ‘material’ amount of Proposition 208 tax revenue in 2023,” Hannah wrote in his ruling. “On that basis, the Court is obligated to strike down Proposition 208.”
Reaction to the ruling came swiftly, despite a possibility the Justices may be asked by the losing parties to review Hannah’s order later this year.
“While we expect the ruling may be appealed, we are confident the Arizona Supreme Court will find 208 unconstitutional, as they did last year. Arizona is – and will remain – a state that knows how to prioritize education while keeping taxes low and attracting jobs,” Gov. Ducey said.
Senate President Karen Fann, one of the plaintiffs, called Friday’s ruling “a major victory” against an initiative she said misled voters by trying to get the tax-and-spend hike around the Constitution.
“Out-of-state special interests tried to deceive our voters,” Fann said after Hannah released his ruling. “We are thrilled that this job-killing tax hike won’t go into effect.”
Many attributed the success of the lawsuit to the work of the Goldwater Institute which pointed out concerns with Prop 208’s constitutionality well before Election Day in 2020.
“Today’s decision puts a nail in the coffin of the unconstitutional, job-killing Proposition 208, and it cements Arizona’s position as the national leader in lower taxes and building a stronger economy,” said Victor Riches, President and CEO of the Goldwater Institute.
A bill to prevent the state and public utilities from contracting with companies who rely on forced Uyghur labor, HB2488, passed out of the Senate Commerce Committee 8-1 on Wednesday. The only senator to vote against the bill was State Senator Tyler Pace (R-Mesa). The Uyghurs are a Muslim ethnic group that the Chinese government has detained in “reeducation camps” since 2017. The legislation passed out of the House nearly a month ago.
HB2488 prohibits the state and any of its political subdivisions, agencies, boards, commissions, or departments from entering contracts without explicit confirmation that the company doesn’t and won’t rely on forced labor from Uyghurs in China. The prohibition also extends to goods and services produced by those Uyghurs, as well as any Uyghur labor used by a company’s contractors, subcontractors, or suppliers.
The bill sponsor, State Representative Justin Wilmeth (R-Phoenix) explained in a press release that this was a necessary measure to stand against human rights violations.
“As a student of history, I know what happens when good people remain silent,” stated Wilmeth. “The Chinese Communist Party keeping millions of people locked in internment camps, which harkens back to the darkest chapters of the 20th century. HB 2488 sends a strong message that the State of Arizona won’t do business with anyone that turns a blind eye to this horrible human rights abuse.”
In the House, the bill passed unanimously. The only other votes against the bill that occurred came from Minority Whip Domingo Degrazia (D-Tucson) and State Representative Diego Espinoza (D-Tolleson) in the Rules Committee. Degrazia ultimately voted for the bill during the final house floor vote, while Espinoza didn’t vote at all.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
