by Daniel Stefanski | May 13, 2023 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
Arizonans who were under the impression that a Democrat governor in office would tip the scale in favor of more progressive policies are readjusting their expectations after the new state budget was signed into law.
On Friday, Governor Katie Hobbs signed the budget sent to her earlier in the week by the Republican-led Arizona Legislature. The $17.8 billion budget was approved in both the House and Senate with broad bipartisan support, though several Democrats refused to back the compromise.
Many observers thought that with Arizona’s divided government and with the political animosity between state Republicans and Democrats, this budget wouldn’t become a reality until June or later. Veteran communicator Barrett Marson tweeted, “A lot of people said it couldn’t be done. A lot of pundits (me included) said there’d be no budget deal until June/July. We were wrong. Governor Hobbs, President Petersen and Speaker Toma came together to craft a budget with broad bipartisan support. There’s a lot to like. Let’s celebrate.”
Though both sides received concessions in the budget, it appears that Republicans were the significant winners in the deal thanks to the shrewd negotiations employed by Petersen, Toma, and members of their staff. Both chiefs of staff, Josh Kredit (Senate) and Michael Hunter (House), have dealt with the state budget for a number of years and gave their bosses an extreme advantage when coming to terms with Arizona’s chief executive.
Petersen took a victory lap after the governor’s signature ended the budget saga for this fiscal year, stating, “We’re able to do this for our citizens, while also reducing government spending by $300 million. In fact, this is the first budget since 2017 where we have not added any new ongoing spending above formula increases. Additionally, Senate Republicans prevented the Governor and Democrat Legislators from advancing their extremist agenda. State-funded abortions and tuition-free college education for undocumented immigrants will not happen in Arizona. We are not getting rid of state-funded border security resources to keep our communities safe, especially as the Biden Administration foolishly lifts Title 42. We’re also not capping, cutting or eliminating the historic universal school choice program that now has more than 50,000 participants. Needless to say, your Republican Majority at the Legislature will continue to fight to protect Arizona from turning into California at the hands of the radical left.”
After the House cleared the budget on Wednesday, Speaker Toma also championed this major achievement for his chamber and caucus: “From day one, our Majority has been focused on getting the job done for our constituents: putting Arizona families first, protecting the vulnerable, and growing opportunity and freedom. We’re conservatives. We believe you should keep more of your money and the government should spend less. That’s why we believe this is Arizona’s Budget — a budget that reflects our needs, gives back, spends smart, and addresses real issues. We needed a budget that the Governor would sign that accomplishes our goal of putting Arizona families first. This budget accomplishes both.”
Cathi Herrod, President of the Center for Arizona Policy, also praised Republican leaders for protecting the future of family values in the budget. She wrote, “I credit Senate President Warren Petersen and House Speaker Ben Toma for standing strong against any pro-abortion funding or other measures. The popular universal Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program did not get a cap or any restrictions, which is great news for all Arizona families who want to choose the best educational environment for their children.”
The Senate Republicans shared additional highlights from the Fiscal Year 2023 budget:
- Education: $680 million in new education investments, including a $300 million infusion into K-12, an $88 million ongoing increase to per pupil funding, and $183 million for school capital funding
- Public Safety: $256 million, including operational investments for the Departments of Corrections, Public Safety, and Emergency and Military Affairs, as well as $36 million in local sheriff and police department support
- Transportation: $610 million in state and local transportation projects, including $89 million to expand lanes on the I-10, $76 million to expand lanes on the I-17, as well as $54 million in pavement rehabilitation for roads affected by winter weather
- Tax Cuts: $260 million for the Arizona Families Tax Rebate, which will provide up to $750 to taxpayers with children and adult dependents
- Health and Welfare: $342 million, including $150 million for the Housing Trust Fund to develop more affordable housing, $60 million for emergency homeless services and temporary shelters, as well as $14 million specifically allocated for veteran housing and employment services
- Natural Resources: $174 million in natural resource investments, including $143 million in reallocated funding for targeted water-related projects
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | May 3, 2023 | News
By Daniel Stefanksi |
As budget negotiations between Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs and the Republican leaders of the Arizona Legislature continue to inch closer toward a summer deadline, the Senate President and Speaker of the House are finding other endeavors to do the people’s business.
On Monday, the Arizona State Senate Republican Caucus announced an action taken by President Warren Petersen “to defend the Save Women’s Sports Act in court.”
That action was a Motion to Intervene in the case of Jane Doe, et al. v Thomas C. Horne, et al., which Petersen and Speaker Ben Toma filed in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona Tucson Division “to protect a state law banning biological males from competing in women’s and girls’ athletic events at Arizona public schools, colleges and universities.” The newly enacted policy was SB 1165, which was signed into law by former Arizona Governor Doug Ducey on March 30, 2022.
Petersen released the following quote to accompany the news of his court filing: “Senate and House Republicans stand in solidarity to protect women and girls from the injustices being attempted against them by the extreme left. Female athletes deserve equal opportunities in sporting events, which will not happen so long as males are allowed to compete against them. Science is clear that male athletes have many inherent physical advantages over females, including greater size, stronger muscles and larger bone structure. By allowing males to compete against females, we’re essentially subjecting young girls to greater risk of injury, as well as stripping them of athletic opportunities their female predecessors have long fought for. In the absence of the Attorney General defending Arizona’s law, we’re looking forward to fighting for the rights of female athletes across Arizona, as well as for the Court making it clear Arizona’s law protecting women and girls should be enforced.”
According to the Senate Republican’s press release, “on April 17, 2023, plaintiffs represented by a radical organization filed a motion for a preliminary injunction to stop the law from being enforced in Arizona,” and “Attorney General Kris Mayes is not defending the constitutionality of the law.”
The transfer of power from Republican Mark Brnovich to Democrat Kris Mayes in the Attorney General’s Office has forced the Republican-led Arizona Legislature into the lead role when it comes to litigation of federal and state lawsuits. Both legislative generals figure to take many more legal actions over the next year and a half with Democrats occupying the Governor’s and Attorney General’s Office in the Grand Canyon State.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | Apr 14, 2023 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
Water has always been an issue for the desert, but drought conditions have put even more of a premium on this precious resource; and Arizona Republicans are stepping up to provide solutions for their constituents.
This week, Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen and House Speaker Ben Toma formed the Joint Legislative Study Committee on Water Security. The purpose of this committee is “to convene and solicit information from water users, stakeholders, and the public regarding state solutions to address water security in Arizona.”
That information, which includes evidence and testimony, includes (1) the state’s existing and future water supplies; (2) methodologies and modeling used to quantify supplies; (3) opportunities and challenges associated with improving water storage and infrastructure; (4) the state’s regulatory and funding framework for augmentation, conservation, efficiency, recharge and reuse efforts; (5) public-private solutions to improve security; (6) the impact of water uncertainty across Arizona’s water users, industry sectors and property owners; and (7) and any other issue the Study Committee deems relevant to its investigation.”
Both Petersen and Toma issued statements with the announcement of this committee’s formation. Petersen said, “Water policy is dictated by statute. From the 1980s Groundwater Management Act to last year’s historic investment in WIFA, the Legislature has led and will continue to lead the water policy solutions that require legislative action to implement.”
And Toma stated, “The availability of water for the success of all industries in our state is critical to our economy. Strengthening our existing water resources while we secure our future water supply is a top priority as we work to achieve common-sense solutions for our state. We need to study all issues related to water carefully and work to identify any remaining issues that need to be resolved.”
Six members will be appointed by legislative leadership to serve on this committee: three out of the House of Representatives by the Speaker and three out of the Senate by the President. Senator Sine Kerr was first selected by Petersen, and Representative Gail Griffin by Toma. Both were named co-chairs of the committee.
Senator Kerr released the following statement after the news of her appointment to the committee: “Unlike other ‘top-down’ efforts, this Ad Hoc Committee on Water Security will enlist the participation of actual water users to find collaborative water management solutions. The Legislature will continue to be proactive and deliberative in balancing the realities of our water supply with the state’s economic objectives.”
Representative Griffin also provided a quote to accompany her appointment, saying, “Arizona must take an ‘all of the above’ approach to water and find a balance that protects private property rights while promoting the interests and economy of the state. This includes urban and rural, augmentation and conservation, and surface and groundwater, not to mention residential, commercial, industrial, and agricultural users and property rights across all land types. I appreciate Speaker Toma for affording the opportunity to explore this issue and for making water a top priority in this legislative session.”
The Director of Communications for the Arizona Senate Republicans told AZ Free News that the Legislature would have the remaining appointments and the agenda for the first meeting by next week.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | Mar 17, 2023 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs’ propensity for politically motivated decisions continues to lead to drawn-out fights with the Republican-led Legislature.
On Wednesday, Republican legislative leaders, Senate President Warren Petersen and House Speaker Ben Toma, filed an amicus brief with the Arizona Supreme Court over the governor’s controversial action to halt the execution of Aaron Brian Gunches.
A press release from the State Senate Republican Caucus stated that “the legislative leaders filed an amicus brief with the Arizona Supreme Court to support the victim’s sister, who submitted a petition for special action last week asking the court to direct the Governor to carry out the warrant issued earlier in the month to execute Gunches.”
In announcing his filing with the state’s high court, President Petersen said, “Right now, victims’ rights protected under the Arizona Constitution are being threatened by the Governor and the Attorney General. It’s incredibly disturbing to see them unwilling to enforce the law and are siding with the most vile individuals convicted of carrying out the most heinous crimes in our state. Furthermore, the Executive Branch is clearly undermining the very foundation of separation of powers by attempting to override the statutory process adopted by the Legislature and affirmed by the Judiciary. This is a dangerous precedent to set by our newly elected Governor.”
The Senate President and the House Speaker argue that “the Governor’s unilateral executive decision threatens bedrock principles of separation of powers by usurping the statutory process established by the Legislature and affirmed by the Judiciary,” that “the decision willfully defies this Court’s mandatory order – signaling to all Arizonans that the Governor is not subject to this Court’s jurisdiction and is, in fact, above the law,” that “the Governor has effectively provided a reprieve of Gunches; death sentence without complying with the statutory limitations on her limited clemency power,” and that “the Governor’s action violates Arizona’s Victim’s Bill of Rights, stripping the victim, Ted Price’s sister, of any finality in this decades-old murder case.”
Senate President Pro Tempore, T.J. Shope, signaled his approval of the court filing, writing, “I agree 100% with President Warren Petersen on this. If we are truly caring less about the victim and their family than the criminal, we are in for years of pain and high crime.”
Petersen and Toma conclude their filing with the following plea for the Arizona Supreme Court to force the state to execute the condemned murderer: “Absent clear and specific delegation of authority from the Legislature or the Judiciary, the Executive cannot rule by fiat and choose which statutes or court orders to follow. The Governor’s actions here set a dangerous precedent, opening a Pandora’s Box and inviting litigation every time she disagrees with a jury’s verdict, a court order, or other statutory mandates passed by the Legislature.”
The saga over Gunches execution started in late-2022, when former Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich asked the Arizona Supreme Court for a warrant of execution. After the January 2 transition of power to Katie Hobbs and new Attorney General Kris Mayes, the state desperately attempted to reverse the actions that set Gunches’ execution process into motion. These efforts proved to be unsuccessful, however, when the high court did, in fact, grant the warrant of execution, ordering the state to put Gunches to death on April 6. The governor refused to comply with the court-issued warrant, stating that the State would not be seeking to carry out the execution at this time. Hobbs’ decision triggered court filings from Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell and Petersen and Toma.
The Arizona Supreme Court is expected to take expedient action in this case with a life and a court-imposed date of execution hanging in the balance.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Corinne Murdock | Mar 14, 2023 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
Two GOP lawmakers will defend the state’s ban on abortions due to fetal genetic abnormalities, since Attorney General Kris Mayes refuses.
House Speaker Ben Toma (R-LD27) and Senate President Warren Petersen (R-LD14) were granted permission to defend the law by U.S. District Court Judge Douglas Rayes last Thursday. Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a Scottsdale-based Christian legal advocacy group, is representing Toma and Petersen in the case, Isaacson v. Mayes.
Rayes determined that Toma and Petersen were qualified to intervene because they had significant protectable interest in the case. The pair requested to intervene in February, following Mayes informing the court that she no longer wished to represent the state in this case. Mayes told multiple news outlets just days into her administration that she wouldn’t defend or uphold the state’s existing abortion laws.
“Arizona has made a policy decision to vest in its legislative leaders an interest in defending the constitutionality of the legislature’s enactments,” stated Rayes. “If [Toma and Petersen] are not permitted to intervene, the challenged laws will go undefended, which ‘risk[s] turning a deaf ear to the voices the State has deemed crucial to understanding the full range of its interests.’”
Throughout her campaign and in her first few months as attorney general, Mayes characterized the contested abortion ban as “unconstitutional” and in violation of Arizona’s privacy clause, promised to not prosecute abortionists in violation of law, and vowed to use her authority to prevent county attorneys from enforcing abortion restrictions and bans.
“Intervention is even more appropriate here, where the Attorney General’s interests are directly contrary to those of the proposed intervenor,” stated ADF’s petition.
As AZ Free News reported last week, Mayes revealed that her office has even been encouraging pharmacies to give out abortion pills.
A.R.S. § 12-1841 allows legislative leaders to intervene in cases challenging the constitutionality of state statutes. Last year, the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) upheld the legality of state laws like Arizona’s.
Abortionists Paul Isaacson and Eric Ruess; the National Council of Jewish Women, Arizona section; Arizona National Organization for Women; and Arizona Medical Association sued the state over the abortion ban in August 2021. The ban, codified through SB1457, prevents a woman from terminating her pregnancy due to the presence of any fetal genetic abnormalities, like Down Syndrome.
SB1457 argued that the state had three compelling interests in outlawing selective abortions: protecting the disability community from discriminatory abortions; protecting citizens from coercive medical practices encouraging selective abortions based on genetic abnormalities; and protecting the integrity and ethics of the medical profession by preventing doctors from becoming witting participants in genetic-abnormality-selective abortion.
READ THE ABORTION BAN HERE
Last July, the court ruled that the law’s recognition of the personhood of unborn children was unconstitutionally vague and in conflict with other state laws.
The state legislature is working on passing additional abortion regulations and restrictions. SB1600 from State Sen. Janae Shamp (R-LD29) provides protections to infants born alive from a botched abortion. According to the Arizona Department of Health’s (AZDHS) latest data, at least nine babies were born alive following a botched abortion procedure in 2021. The Senate passed Shamp’s bill along party lines last month.
SB1146 from State Sen. Jake Hoffman (R-LD15) would require the State Board of Investment to identify companies that donate to or invest in organizations that promote, facilitate, or advocate for abortions for minors or for the inclusion of or referral of K-12 students to sexually explicit material. The Senate passed the bill earlier this month, also along party lines.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
