by Daniel Stefanski | Apr 22, 2023 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
A little drama between a member of the Arizona press corps and a state senator marked this week at the Arizona Legislature.
On Thursday, the Arizona State Senate Republican Caucus issued a press release, revealing that “a Coconino County Judge granted Senator Wendy Rogers an Injunction Against Harassment, which was served to a reporter.” That reporter was Camryn Sanchez from the Arizona Capitol Times.
Senator Rogers outlined the reasons for the court order, writing: “Earlier in this legislative session, after the reporter repeatedly invaded my personal space at my desk in the Senate Chamber, I requested that the Senate Sergeant at Arms and staff convey to the reporter that I did not want her to approach me. I didn’t have any further issues with this reporter until this week, when she showed up at two of my Valley homes, multiple times. The latest attempted contact at one of my residences happened Wednesday night. I don’t know this reporter personally, I don’t know what she is capable of, and I don’t believe anyone in their right mind would show up uninvited to my home at night. Therefore, I don’t trust that this person wouldn’t lash out and try to physically harm me in some fashion.”
Earlier Thursday, Rogers tweeted out pictures of a woman standing at what appeared to be multiple homes, stating, “Creepy @azcapitoltimes reporter @CamrynSanchezAZ has been stalking me and my neighbors at my private residences with no explanation. A judge just issued a restraining order against her for her bizarre behavior. See photos.”
In a perceived sign of solidarity with Rogers, Senate President Warren Petersen included his own statement in the Republican Caucus’ release, saying, “Our members know that the media will frequently engage with us in order to document the happenings at the Legislature, but everyone deserves privacy in their personal residences without worrying about reporters repeatedly showing up unannounced. A judge, who is a disinterested, non-biased, third-party heard Senator Rogers’ complaint and agreed with her position.”
Rogers opined on her decision to seek the court-issued injunction: “After seeking guidance from my legal counsel, family, and neighbors who are also quite bothered by the attempted contacts, we decided the Injunction Against Harassment would be the best approach. My neighbors should not have had to put up with this harassment either. When I signed up to be a public servant, I understood what the job entailed, including unwarranted harassment. I’m thankful to the judge who recognized the need to issue the restraining order, and I’m hopeful this reporter will heed the warning and stop showing up at my homes or face the full force and effect of law.”
The reporter, Sanchez, was defended by many of her colleagues from around Arizona. Brahm Resnik, a longtime anchor for 12News Phoenix, tweeted, “Sen. Wendy Rogers is playing a very dangerous game in order to stifle a legitimate investigation of her acceptance of taxpayer dollars. Her irresponsible speculation about a reporter’s behavior creates a predicate for Rogers or others to take action against the media.”
Jerod MacDonald-Evoy, a reporter with the Arizona Mirror, wrote, “Camryn Sanchez is nothing but professional. Knocking on doors is the most basic J-School 101 reporting technique. Reporters have been doing it forever. If a politician is afraid of a reporter knocking on their door it says more about them than the reporter.”
And Hank Stephenson, a writer for the Arizona Agenda, chimed in with his thoughts: “So I’m thinking press corps caravan to all of Wendy’s houses….How’s Saturday for y’all?”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | Apr 17, 2023 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
Arizona has been one of the nation’s most-ardent pro-life states, but its new Democrat Attorney General is seeking to quickly reverse that standing as she reacts to recent cases in the federal court system.
Last Friday, United States District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump, issued an order in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, et al. v U.S. Food and Drug Administration, granting a motion to stay “the effective date of the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) September 28, 2000 Approval of mifepristone and all subsequent challenged actions related to that approval – i.e., the 2016 Changes, the 2019 Generic Approval, and the 2021 Actions.”
Yet the same day, United States District Judge Thomas O. Rice, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, issued an order in State of Washington, et al. v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, et al., preliminarily enjoining the FDA and other defendants from “altering the status quo and rights as it relates to the availability of Mifepristone under the current operative January 2023 Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy under 21 U.S.C. 355-1 in Plaintiff States.”
The plaintiffs in Judge Rice’s order were Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia.
Judge Kacsmaryk stayed his own order for seven days “to allow the federal government time to seek emergency relief from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.” Judge Rice’s order went into effect immediately for the plaintiff states.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes previously joined the Washington case in February, stating that the lawsuit “asserts that the FDA exceeded its authority by continuing its unnecessary and extremely burdensome restrictions on mifepristone,” and it “asks the court to find the FDA’s REMS (Risk Evaluation & Mitigation Strategies) restrictions unlawful and to bar the federal agency from enforcing or applying them to mifepristone.”
After Friday’s two judicial orders, Mayes assured her fellow Arizonans “that legal access to the drug (mifepristone) remains available for providers and patients in this state.” She promised that her office would join other states in filing an amicus brief to oppose Judge Kacsmaryk’s ruling, which came Monday. The court filing from several attorneys general across the country urged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit “to stay pending appeal the district court’s ruling.” Mayes said that “Judge Kacsmaryk’s outrageous and appalling ruling, if allowed to stand, would upend decades of scientific research and established legal principles.”
A three-judge panel quickly considered the appeal and decided that “the statute of limitations bars plaintiffs’ challenges to the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone in 2000.” However, the judges noted that the plaintiffs’ arguments brought before the district court in “2016 and subsequent years” were timely. The FDA’s changes from 2016-on were as follows: “increased gestational age to 70 days (from 50 days); reduced required in-person office visits to one (from three), allowed non-doctors to prescribe and administer mifepristone; and eliminated reporting of non-fatal adverse events.” In 2021, the FDA also announced “’enforcement discretion’ to allow mifepristone to be dispensed through the mail during COVID-19.”
After the decision from the Appeals Court panel, Kristen Waggoner, the CEO and President for Alliance Defending Freedom, tweeted, “Last night’s Fifth Circuit decision is a step forward for the rule of law. Critical safeguards removed by the @US_FDA will be restored and abortion by mail will end. The FDA put politics over science when it unlawfully approved dangerous chemical abortion drugs. It has evaded legal responsibility for years and has jeopardized the health of women and girls. While there is still work to do to hold the FDA accountable for its lawlessness, girls and women are safer today.”
On Thursday, Attorney General Mayes “provided a summary of the legal status of mifepristone in Arizona” – as it stood at the moment. Mayes admitted that “this is a fast-moving situation, and we are likely to see further court orders in the coming days and weeks.” She vowed to “use every tool at our disposal to fight back against rulings from extremist judges seeking to interfere with the rights of individuals to make their own personal medical decisions.” Her release broadcasted that “under Arizona law, patients in other states who need reproductive care can still travel to Arizona to receive care here.”
The case is expected to be expedited to the U.S. Supreme Court based on the conflicting rulings from the District Courts in Texas and Washington, and the updated decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Corinne Murdock | Apr 17, 2023 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs marked her 100th day in office last week; and while she hasn’t accomplished much in her short tenure so far, she nonetheless celebrated this milestone.
Hobbs wrote an opinion piece for the Arizona Republic to kick off her day, stating that her “administration has hit the ground running to follow through on the promises I made during the campaign.” She championed the 22 bills that she signed into law and her work on the border and budget negotiations.
The governor didn’t just laud her own accomplishments, but pointed fingers at legislators, in large part, due to the “highly politicized confirmation process” for her nominees to lead state agencies. Hobbs argued that this perceived obstruction “has led agencies to slow walk critical initiatives that could save lives or support vulnerable populations for fear that any move, no matter how innocuous, will be interpreted negatively by certain lawmakers.”
Arizona legislators have been extremely frustrated over the Governor’s Office slow walking of nominees to the Senate for confirmation in the early going of her administration as is her legal responsibility. Though the Hobbs’ administration has appeared to have picked up the pace of transmitting her selections to the Legislature, a Senate source did tell AZ Free News that there are still a few outstanding from the Ninth Floor.
Unsurprisingly, the governor did not include any of her administration’s missteps and unfavorable headlines, including her decision to pull the nomination of her first appointee to serve as the Director of the Arizona Department of Child Safety, the lack of transparency over aspects of her Inaugural Fund, or the sudden resignation of her press secretary – among others.
Hobbs also tweeted that “We’ve accomplished so much these last 100 days and laid the groundwork for what’s to come.” She shared two graphics that highlighted what her administration has done “to move Arizona forward.”
On public safety and the border, the governor selected her Executive Order to establish the Independent Prison Oversight Commission and her roundtable discussion with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on migrant policy. On infrastructure, her speech at Lighting Up the Future, a benefit dinner for broadband expansion and digital equity. On Water and the environment, her establishment of the Office of Resiliency. On education, her Executive Order to create the Educator Retention Task Force. On health, her veto of Representative Matt Gress’s bill to enhance protections for pregnant victims. On housing, her Executive Order to reinstate the Arizona Governor’s Commission on Homelessness and Housing under new title. And on the economy, her International State of the State Address.
Mesa Mayor John Giles cheered on the governor’s first 100 days in office, writing, “In a divided government, Governor Hobbs has been forced to be a great defensive player. I appreciate that she’s also gone on the offensive for our shared priorities. She’s off to a great start, setting the right pace to tackle the issues impacting all Arizonans.”
But many legislative Republicans disagreed with Hobbs’ (and others’) characterizations of her early time in office. House Speaker Pro-Tempore Travis Grantham told AZ Free News that “There’s not much for her to celebrate. It’s clear she wasn’t prepared to govern, and her administration has been a mishandled from the start. But we can celebrate that because of the work by Republicans at the legislature in recent years, the State of Arizona is in a pretty good position. Consider that we now have universal school choice for families, a 2.5 percent flat income tax for everyone, and a balanced budget with billions of dollars in the bank in a rainy-day fund, all because of Republicans. And we are going to protect and defend those things.”
Arizona Senate President Pro Tempore T.J. Shope tweeted out a preview of an interview he participated in outside of the chamber, saying, “Special thanks to @Telemundo for having me on to discuss the lack of promised bipartisanship from @GovernorHobbs over her first 100 Days. From vetoing food/rental tax cuts, standing with murderers on Death Row instead of crime victims, standing with sex offenders instead of parents, to vetoes on bills that had over 2/3s support in both House & Senate to expand access to health care options, the partisan actions haven’t lived up to the bipartisan hype.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Corinne Murdock | Apr 15, 2023 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego is urging the Biden administration to declare Arizona’s heat a federal emergency in an effort to unlock more federal funding and resources.
Gallego disclosed this effort during her city of the state address on Wednesday, “The Future of Phoenix.” Gallego called on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to include “extreme heat” into its national emergency declarations categorization, which would qualify Arizona summers as a disaster.
“We need to meet the moment to support our most vulnerable. We need national action,” said Gallego. “I’m calling on FEMA to revise their declared disasters list to include extreme heat. Resources from pop-up shelters, to additional outreach to our vulnerable residents could help us successfully navigate unforgiving summers.”
If Phoenix is successful in its petition, federal assistance would likely come through something like a funding pathway established by the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018. That measure allowed six percent of federal disaster grants’ annual aggregate amount to go to pre-disaster hazard mitigation.
Phoenix has already rolled out projects designed to mitigate heat-related illnesses and deaths, such as “cool corridors,” areas with manufactured shade and drinking water access,” and “cool pavement,” which reflects rather than absorbs sunlight to keep the ground and air cool.
Gallego also urged state lawmakers to support Proposition 400, a county regional transportation tax to expand infrastructure. Gallego also urged voter approval of a general obligation bond: $500 million for public developments like parks and fire stations. Gallego said that the bond funding would allow the establishment of semiconductor and medical device development centers.
Gallego explained that the city’s main focuses included water conservation and restoration; federal funding to support infrastructure development, specifically public transit expansion; and investment into semiconductor facilities.
Gallego insisted that the city was handling the homeless crisis well, despite what the Maricopa County Superior Court said in a preliminary injunction handed down last month.
The mayor insisted that homelessness isn’t unique to Phoenix, but that Phoenix is unique in that it has a better approach for managing its homeless. Gallego talked at length about the city’s affordable housing initiatives, a focal point of their “housing first” approach that, in part, earned them the unfavorable court ruling last month.
“Homelessness is not unique to Phoenix,” said Gallego. “What is unique to Phoenix is that our city is putting every solution on the table to lift people out of homelessness.”
Gallego said it was her desire to create a city where her son would choose to live as an adult.
“Raising a six-year-old and running a city have more in common than you might expect,” said Gallego.
Common themes of Gallego’s address were sustainability and equity efforts.
Gallego said that Phoenix surpassed its “zero waste” goal when it hosted the Super Bowl earlier this year. Gallego highlighted technology advancements in travel, such as Apple Watch check-ins at Phoenix Sky Harbor airport and driverless electric cars roaming the downtown.
Gallego highlighted the city’s free tuition program, “Route to Relief,” similar to what later launched last September — both using American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding.
Gallego said that they would develop 50,000 affordable housing units, noting that they’ve already built or preserved 26,000 units. The mayor cited “critical, systemic inequities” as the root of housing issues. The city has also established a community land trust program with NewTown.
The mayor also cited their “eco-friendly” shipping containers turned into affordable housing. The city will also establish a housing complex of shipping container housing units. Gallego said that the city plans to issue 7,000 housing vouchers and managing over 5,000 housing units.
Phoenix also invested $10 million into mental health treatment for the underinsured and uninsured. In the first seven months of a newly launched pilot, behavioral health engagement teams to address the opioid crisis contacted 200 individuals and connected 57 individuals.
Gallego then said that stronger law enforcement and progressive ideals weren’t mutually exclusive.
“To those who say it is not possible: we can and will be both progressive and practical on policing,” said Gallego.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Corinne Murdock | Apr 14, 2023 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
On Wednesday, the Arizona House voted to expel State Rep. Liz Harris (R-LD13) over findings that she lied to the Ethics Committee. Harris’ seat is now vacant; her district’s Republican precinct committee members have five days to nominate three candidates to replace her.
House Speaker Ben Toma (R-LD27) introduced the resolution, HR 2003, to expel Harris.
The resolution passed 46 to 13. The 13 members who opposed Harris’ expulsion, including Harris herself, were Reps. Neal Carter (R-LD15), Joseph Chaplik (R-LD03), David Cook (R-LD07), Gail Griffin (R-LD19), Justin Heap (R-LD10), Rachel Jones (R-LD17), Alex Kolodin (R-LD03), Cory McGarr (R-LD17), Barbara Parker (R-LD10), Jacqueline Parker (R-LD15), Kevin Payne (R-LD27), and Austin Smith (R-LD29).
Seven of the 12 Arizona Freedom Caucus members voted against Harris’ expulsion.
Smith said that he felt that the voters should decide on how to handle Harris, not lawmakers.
Amid a swarm of reporters on her way out of the capitol, Harris called the report “a lie,” and insisted that God knew the truth.
Issues with Harris arose after a February joint hearing on election integrity. Harris invited a woman to testify named Jacqueline Breger, who alleged a number of individuals engaged in criminal conduct including money laundering, drug trafficking and sales, public corruption, and public official bribery in addition to election fraud. Breger testified that these alleged crimes were overseen by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, most commonly referred to as the Mormon church, which included current Arizona legislators.
Following the joint hearing, State Rep. Stephanie Stahl Hamilton (D-LD21) filed a complaint against Harris. Stahl Hamilton alleged that Harris embarrassed the House and put it in disrepute, as well as violated House Rule 1, which prohibits impugning other members.
The House Ethics Committee convened twice last month to review the accusations against Harris. According to their report issued earlier this week, Breger inappropriately levied criminal allegations; Harris failed to comply with internal House deadlines on presentation material disclosure ahead of the joint hearing; and that Harris engaged in disorderly behavior in violation of House Rule 1.
“By her own admission, Representative Harris had obvious influence and significant control over the Joint Hearing as its organizer and facilitator,” stated the report. “[T]he totality of the evidence shows that Representative Harris used her elected position to provide Breger with a legislative platform as a substitute for criminal court.”
According to the committee report, Harris indicated in a text to Breger after the joint hearing that the hearing had played out according to their plan.
“It was all how it was intended to be,” wrote Harris.
The Ethics Committee also determined that Harris didn’t disavow Breger’s testimony and had eroded public trust with her actions. Harris also claimed to not have known Breger’s allegations ahead of the joint hearing; the committee report rejected that claim.
“Representative Harris violated the inherent obligation to protect the integrity of the House of Representatives and used her elected position to provide Ms. Breger with a legislative platform as a substitute for a criminal court,” stated the resolution.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
