Less than a year and a half after the initial economic disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, Arizona has already recovered more than 100 percent of private sector jobs, representing one of the fastest jobs recoveries in the nation.
The Arizona seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased to 6.2% in August 2021 from 6.6% in July 2021. The U.S. seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased to 5.2% in August 2021 from 5.4% in July 2021.
Month over month, Arizona’s seasonally adjusted labor force increased by 6,169 individuals or 0.2%. Year over year, the labor force increased by 119,257 individuals or 3.4%. Month over month, Arizona total non-farm employment increased by 53,600 jobs or 1.8%. Year over year, total non-farm employment increased by 162,400 jobs or 5.8%.
“The last year and a half have challenged Arizonans like never before,” said Governor Doug Ducey. “But thanks to the ingenuity and perseverance of our hard-working employees and business community, Arizona’s recovery is in full swing, with a real momentum headed in the right direction. This isn’t the case for every state, and we will continue to work hard to make sure Arizonans have ample opportunity to reenter the workforce, access new skills, and get back to work.”
We should be doing everything we can to ensure election integrity moving forward. Too many Americans have lost faith and trust in our election system. And while the results of the last election are done, that doesn’t mean we can’t learn lessons from November 2020 and apply them going forward.
Someone should tell that to Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs. Last month, Hobbs released a draft of a new elections manual. This manual establishes the election procedures that are to be used by the counties in Arizona for accepting and tabulating votes.
If approved, the manual would go into effect next year…when Democrat Katie Hobbs will be running for governor.
Problems with the elections manual
While the Arizona Free Enterprise Club is currently conducting a thorough review of the manual to identify any issues and concerns, one major problem has already arisen. In her manual, Hobbs proposes counting votes for certain offices, like president or statewide offices including governor, even if the voter shows up and votes at the wrong precinct.
But a rule like this opens the door to extensive fraud. And it’s why the United States Supreme Court ruled against this sort of thing just a couple months ago.
Do you remember that? Apparently, Katie Hobbs forgot. Or maybe she just wants to protect her own interests.
In Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee, the nation’s highest court ruled 6-3 in favor of Arizona’s ban on ballot harvesting and the state’s requirement that individuals vote in their assigned precinct for their votes to count…
Efforts by the Biden Administration to coerce Arizonans to obtain the COVID-19 vaccination or risk losing their jobs is “one of the greatest infringements upon individual liberties, principles of federalism, and separation of powers ever attempted by any administration in the history of our Republic,” according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday by Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich.
“Under our Constitution, the President is not a king who can exercise this sort of unbridled power unilaterally,” Brnovich argues in the lawsuit, adding that “even George III wouldn’t have dreamed that he could enact such sweeping policies by royal decree alone.”
Over the last few weeks, President Joe Biden has pushed for more Americans to be vaccinated, including tens of thousands of Arizonans who work for the federal government, private contractors doing business with the U.S., healthcare workers whose employers received Medicare or Medicare payments, and those working for companies with at least 100 employees.
Among those the mandate would apply to are nearly 300,000 employees of the federally-funded Head Start program. The lawsuit does not address Biden’s recent announcement that all military personnel, including reserves, must be vaccinated.
Employees who refuse to be vaccinated under various Presidential executive orders or OSHA rules will be forced to undergo weekly COVID-19 testing, or face termination.
Brnovich’s lawsuit seeks ruling that Biden and the other federal defendants do not have authority to impose the vaccination mandate on U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents. It also seeks a declaratory judgment finding such policies and mandates unconstitutional.
Another prong of Brnovich’s lawsuit takes aim at the fact U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, and even lawfully present aliens face the prospect of much harsher public health mandates and punishment than hundreds of thousands of unauthorized aliens present in the country. As a result, Brnovich is asking for a court order enjoining the President and other federal officials from engaging in unconstitutional discrimination.
Brnovich’s lawsuit was not the only major COVID-19 vaccination development to occur Tuesday.
A federal judge in New York issued an emergency injunction on Tuesday against the State of New York’s requirement that all healthcare workers provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination. The order by U.S. District Judge David Hurd temporarily suspends a mandate put forth last month by then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo which applied to all hospitals and congregate care facilities such as nursing homes.
Cuomo’s mandate did not protect employees who hold sincere religious beliefs against receiving the vaccine, and Gov. Kathy Hochul did not amend the mandate when she was recently sworn in.
The New York Department of Health is now prohibited from initiating “any action, disciplinary or otherwise” which would impact the licensure, certification, residency, admitting privileges, or other professional status or qualification of any healthcare worker who objected to the mandatory COVID-19 vaccination due to a religious exemption.
Additional legal proceedings could lead to all or part of the New York mandate being permanently enjoined.
Also on Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued an advisory to all immigrants who apply for a Green Card on or after Oct. 1 that they must provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination in order to ensure their application is not rejected.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services advisory pertains to all applicants seeking permanent residency, who must undergo an immigration medical examination to show the applicant is “free from any conditions that would render them inadmissible under the health-related grounds.”
Under the new policy, applicants will not be able to receive the immigration medical examination without first providing proof of COVID-19 vaccination.
Phoenix, AZ – The initial maps for Arizona’s redistricting process were approved on September 14, 2021, by the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC). The approved grid maps are of equal populations for the congressional and legislative districts as required by the state constitution.
Arizonans are encouraged to become involved with this next phase by utilizing the online mapping system and or by attending the public hearing sessions. Information can be found at irc.az.gov.
“We welcome the involvement and voices of all interested individuals and groups to become part of this critical process that will remain in place for the next ten years,” said Erika Neuberg, Chairwoman Independent Redistricting Commission. “With the approval of scheduled dates, times and locations, for the next round of public hearing, we will follow the State of Arizona’s COVID guidelines but also encourage those who choose not to participate in person to please go online and submit comments and maps.”
The following is the schedule of in-person public meeting sessions:
Tuesday, September 21 4:00 pm (MST) 5:00 pm (MDT)
Main location:
Red Mountain Multigenerational Center
7550E. Adobe St.
Mesa, AZ 85207
Satellite locations:
Yuma Civic Center
1440 W. Desert Hills Dr.
Yuma, AZ 85365
Navajo Nation Training Center (limit 25 participants onsite) Masks Required
Morgan Blvd. Bldg. #2740
Window Rock, AZ 86515
Thursday, September 23 12:00 pm ( MST)
Main location:
Scottsdale Center for the Arts
7380 E. 2nd St.,
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
Satellite locations:
Radisson Hotel
777 N. Pinal Ave
Casa Grande, AZ 85122
Sierra Suites
391 E. Fry Blvd.
Sierra Vista, AZ 85635
Saturday, September 25 10:00 am (MST)
Main location:
Desert Willow Conference Center
4340 E. Cotton Center Blvd.
Phoenix, AZ 850401
Satellite location:
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
3700 Willow Creek Road
Prescott, AZ 86301
Wednesday, September 29 4:00 pm (MST)
Main location:
Cactus Shadows Fine Arts Center
33606 N. 60th St.
Scottsdale, AZ 85266
Satellite location:
Tucson Convention Center
260 S. Church Ave.
Tucson, AZ 85701
Thursday, October 7 4:00 pm (MST) 5:00 (MDT)
Main location:
The Vista Center for the Arts
15660 N. Parkview Pl.
Surprise, AZ 85374
Satellite locations:
High Country Conference Center
201 W. Butler Ave.
Flagstaff, AZ 86001
Cesar Chavez Cultural Center
1015 N. Main St.
San Luis, AZ 85349
Kayenta Township Town Hall (limit 25 participants onsite) Masks required
100 N. Highway 163
Kayenta, AZ 86033
Individuals attending the in-person sessions at the main and satellite locations will have the opportunity to speak and give public comments on the grid maps. They can also complete their mapping comments online before the public meetings.
Proposed changes to how federal capital gains and inheritances are taxed would cost Arizona families billions of dollars in lost economic output and investment income over the next decade, not to mention kill thousands of jobs, according to an economic impact analysis released last week.
The report issued Sept. 9 by Committee to Unleash Prosperity examined the direct effects federal legislative proposals like the Sensible Taxation and Equity Promotion (STEP) Act put forth by the Biden Administration would have on financing costs, labor productivity, costs to small and family-owned businesses and farms, and federal non-military spending of new revenue.
U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) is joined by Sens. Cory Booker, Bernie Sanders, Sheldon Whitehouse, and Elizabeth Warren in supporting the STEP Act and other proposed federal legislation also seek to make death a tax realization event and to increase the tax liability of trusts commonly utilized by small businesses, family- and privately-owned enterprises, farm and ranch operations, and others.
And the result over the next decade would hit thousands of Arizonans hard, according to the analysis conducted by Regional Economic Models, Inc. (REMI). The results would include sustained annual job losses in the state from 8,000 to nearly 20,000. That translates to 80,000 to almost 200,000 fewer job-year equivalents over 10 years, the report states.
In addition, the Biden-supported STEP Act and similar legislation would increase the top capital gains tax rate to 39.6 percent, which becomes 43.4 percent if the taxpayer is also subjected to a 3.8 percent net investment income tax (NIIT).
The changes would create $12 billion in private investment losses for Arizonans, a $120 million decline in research & development spending, and a 10-year loss in personal income of about $20 billion in Arizona, the analysis showed. The analysis does not address any further effect attributed to state capital gains, estate, or inheritance taxes.
The negative impact of changing federal tax law is driven by several factors, including increased capital and tax liability costs faced by businesses and farms. In turn, that translates into higher prices for consumer goods and services and makes the domestic private sector less hospitable for new and existing businesses, especially small and family-owned businesses and farms that are often less resilient to economic shocks.
“Higher prices mean that consumers are able to make fewer purchases, slowing demand throughout the economy from retailers to manufacturers to service providers,” the report states. “A less hospitable private sector means that prospective businesses may choose not to open, existing businesses may be forced to downsize or close altogether, and export-focused businesses lose market share to international competitors.”
And despite likely increased federal non-military spending to provide a direct boost to the economy, REMI found the negative impacts “dominate” in the end in Arizona.
Stephen Moore, the Committee to Unleash Prosperity’s co-founder, calls the proposed federal legislation a tax scheme that is “an assault on the American tradition of family-owned and operated businesses being passed on” from one generation to the next.
“Many families will literally have to sell the farm to pay the Biden taxes,” Moore said. “The damage to jobs and the economy would be multiple times larger than any revenue gained for the government from this unfair tax proposal.”
