by Corinne Murdock | Feb 25, 2024 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
Tucson Mayor Regina Romero played host to President Joe Biden’s senior advisor last week to discuss public infrastructure.
Tom Perez, senior advisor and assistant to the President and director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, visited the city of Tucson on Tuesday. Perez, the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, visited as part of the Investing in America tour highlighting initiatives funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
In a press conference, Perez said that the Biden administration prioritizes giving awards to those projects rooted in equity.
“There has never been in our lifetime a more robust investment in building America, building out our infrastructure, making sure in that process that we view everything through that equity lens, understanding that zip code will no longer determine destiny,” said Perez. “We have this opportunity folks, and we are not going to squander this opportunity to build an Arizona, and to build an America where everybody has access to good middle-class jobs, where high speed, affordable internet is a reality so that if you have a behavioral or mental health issue, you can do telemedicine.”
Among the initiatives for which Tucson received millions in federal funding under IRA and BIL was the 22nd Street Bridge revitalization, TARP Facility, Tucson Million Trees (TMT), and relinquishment of their water rights.
The Biden administration gave Tucson $25.9 million to build the 22nd Street Bridge. According to the Department of Transportation (DOT), it was the city’s focus on equity for the project that secured the funds.
Tucson also received a $5 million grant from the USDA last September for TMT. Despite the funding, TMT has fallen far short of its goal to plant one million trees by 2030. Only about 100,000 trees were planted as of last year.
However, Romero claimed in a one-on-one meeting with President Joe Biden earlier this month that TMT was on track.
Tucson also traded its water rights for $44 million in federal infrastructure funds last summer: over 110,000 acre-feet through 2025.
Perez also made a stop with another major Arizona city that has received millions in BIL and IRA funds.
Last Monday, Perez visited with Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego to discuss the availability of funds to both public and private entities for “clean” energy initiatives, such as electric buses for schools or solar panels for churches.
Earlier this month, Perez and National Economic Advisor Lael Brainard met with county elected officials through the National Association of Counties Legislative Conference to discuss Biden’s Investing in America agenda. Santa Cruz County Supervisor Manuel Ruiz was among those elected officials to attend.
Per White House data on federal awards, the Biden administration has issued over 1,800 BIL discretionary and formula grants in Arizona. USDA data reflects that Arizona has requested over $2.1 billion in clean energy funding.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Elizabeth Troutman | Feb 19, 2024 | Education, News
By Elizabeth Troutman |
The Goldwater Institute is suing the Biden administration for fining Grand Canyon University for $37 million without explanation.
The U.S. Department of Education assessed a record fine of $37 million against the private, Christian university in October 2023. This marks the largest fine of its kind ever assessed by the department.
The Goldwater Institute, a Phoenix-based conservative think tank, is suing the administration to get answers about the fine and hold the government accountable.
Fines on universities who have improperly dealt with sexual assault pale in comparison to those levied against GCU. The Department of Education fined Penn State University only $2.4 million for failing to report the crimes of serial pedophile Jerry Sandusky. Michigan State University was fined a mere $4.5 million fine for refusing to address sexual assaults committed by athletic director Larry Nassar, who abused more than 500 students.
The Education Department claimed to fine GCU for insufficiently informing P.h.D students that they may have to take continuing courses while completing their doctoral dissertations. The federal government report did not cite any student’s complaints, and Education Department personnel did not visit GCU as part of its so-called investigation.
The Goldwater Institute submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the department to gain clarity on the fine against GCU.
“The records may help inform the public about this extraordinary fine, as well as coordination between various federal agencies in what appears to be the intentionally targeting of a successful university—one that’s no stranger to run-ins with the feds—based on extraordinarily thin allegations,” a Goldwater news release says.
The Department of Education refused to turn over these public records, the think tank said, so it is suing the agency in federal court to get them anyway.
“With its motto of ‘private, Christian, affordable’ and its track record of graduating students into high-demand and high-paying jobs, GCU is a success story by any metric,” Goldwater Institute staff attorney Stacy Skankey said. “And it stands apart from universities across the country that are facing declining enrollment, that are indoctrinating students with radical politics, and that are under attack for failing to defend the First Amendment.”
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that the Goldwater Institute was founded by Barry Goldwater. The story has been corrected.
Elizabeth Troutman is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send her news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | Feb 17, 2024 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
Arizona Republicans are going to court yet again.
On Monday, the Arizona State Senate Republican Caucus announced that President Warren Petersen and House Speaker Ben Toma had filed a lawsuit against the Biden Administration’s “unlawful, dictator-style land grab last summer in northern Arizona.” The challenge, which “attempts to reverse Biden’s confiscation of nearly a million acres of land within Coconino and Mohave Counties,” was launched in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.
Back in August 2023, President Joe Biden visited Arizona to establish the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument. In his signed proclamation, Biden stated, “Protecting the areas to the northeast, northwest, and south of the Grand Canyon will preserve an important spiritual, cultural, prehistoric, and historic legacy; maintain a diverse array of natural and scientific resources; and help ensure that the prehistoric, historic, and scientific value of the areas endures for the benefit of all Americans.”
“This federal confiscation promises to wreak havoc on our local and state economies, jeopardize the livelihoods of our citizens, and compromise national security, all in an attempt to score cheap political points with radical environmentalists,” said President Petersen. “Biden’s maneuver is incredibly disingenuous, as it has nothing to do with protecting actual artifacts. Instead, it aims to halt all mining, ranching, and other local uses of federal lands that are critical to our energy independence from adversary foreign nations, our food supply, and the strength of our economy.”
Petersen highlighted the lack of defense against Biden’s executive overreach from the state’s Democrat attorney general, which has been a common refrain from legislative Republicans over the past few months. He said, “Needless to say, I’m incredibly disappointed our Attorney General has once again failed to carry out the duties of her office in defending our state against this reckless federal overreach and is instead showing her complicity with Biden’s extremist agenda. Nonetheless, we look forward to prevailing in court and for the president’s abuse of power to be reined in.”
Arizona Treasurer Kimberly Yee, another Republican, also joined in the lawsuit. According to a press release sent from her office, Yee signed on “as she is responsible for the receipt and investment of all revenue from Arizona state trust land.”
In a statement that accompanied her announcement, Yee said, “We must protect the value of state trust lands for the future of Arizona. This unlawful land grab by the Biden Administration will directly affect Arizona’s economy and the livelihoods of our citizens. The Federal Government needs to compensate the permanent school fund for the tens of thousands of trust land parcels left economically isolated by the stroke of the pen by President Biden. This big hand of government will hurt our K-12 education beneficiaries the most.”
Yee added, “The suit affirms that Congress passed the Antiquities Act to protect just that: antiquities. It did not pass the law to allow the Biden Administration to declare every inch of federal land a monument.”
Mohave County and the towns of Colorado City and Fredonia also joined the Arizona Legislature and the Treasurer’s Office in the lawsuit.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Corinne Murdock | Feb 5, 2024 | Education, News
By Corinne Murdock |
The Biden administration awarded Arizona State University (ASU) $15 million to lead a project tackling climate change in an equitable manner.
On Monday, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced that ASU’s $15 million, two-year award was one of 10 inaugural Regional Innovation Engines (REIs) across 18 states: the Southwest Sustainability Innovation Engine (SWSIE). SWSIE has the specific goal of ensuring “equitable water and energy access,” per the recent White House briefing on the initiative, which characterized the southwest’s dry and hot climate as “extreme.”
ASU explained in a press release that it will lead the SWSIE using researchers from the University of Utah, University of Nevada Las Vegas, the Desert Research Institute, Water Research Foundation, SciTech Institute, and Maricopa Community Colleges.
SWSIE deputy CEO and School of Sustainability foundation professor Diane Pataki said that she chose Arizona, Utah, and Nevada because they had the potential for leading in progressive sustainability measures as three of the fastest-growing states in the country.
“We see those challenges as an opportunity to become the national leader in water security, renewable energy and carbon capture so this region can continue to thrive,” said Pataki.
Peter Schlosser, SWSIE principal investigator and ASU Global Futures Lab vice president and vice provost, said that the current climate conditions would result in “a planetary emergency” if left unaddressed.
“They require immediate action, and the NSF Regional Innovation Engines award offers a new, transformative avenue to apply our holistic sustainability innovation approach to the Southwestern United States to keep this region on a path of economic growth,” said Schlosser.
In order to carry out the REIs in an equitable manner, the NSF and awardees arranged for workforce programs “designed specifically to be inclusive of underserved populations to build generational wealth in historically excluded communities.” The Department of Labor is assisting in this effort.
This includes specialized education for certain K-12 students; exclusive career portals for certain jobseekers, which contain special offerings of access to education partners, certificate programs, and fast-tracked trainings; an exclusive certificate program offering exclusive entrepreneurial opportunities related to climate change initiatives; exclusive executive-level internships; and a special pipeline for certain workers to receive technical and university educations.
SWSIE’s $15 million is the low end of the cost. All REIs may be renewed for up to a decade, with $160 million in funding available for each REI.
Additionally, NSF reports that the $15 million in federal funding is matched nearly two to one in commitments from state and local governments, along with other federal agencies, philanthropy, and private industry.
The city of Phoenix is serving as an SWSIE core partner, as well as the Greater Phoenix Economic Council and Maricopa Community Colleges.
Other SWSIE core partners include Arizona Public Service, Arizona Technology Council, Arizona Municipal Water Users Authority, Salt River Project, and Starbucks.
In a press release on Tuesday, Reps. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ-03) and Greg Stanton (D-AZ-04), along with Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) said that the NSF grant also served as an economic booster and means of improving the state’s water supply.
The $150 million REI funding came from the CHIPS and Science Act.
In addition to ASU, the other REIs are: Central Florida Semiconductor Innovation Engine, Wyoming Climate Resilience Engine, Great Lakes Water Innovation Engine, Louisiana Energy Transition Engine, North Carolina Textile Innovation, North Dakota Advanced Agriculture Technology Engine, Paso del Norte Defense and Aerospace Engine, Piedmont Triad Regenerative Medicine Engine, and Upstate New York Energy Storage Engine.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Daniel Stefanski | Feb 1, 2024 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
Arizona’s Attorney General is standing with the state’s Senate President to protect the financial interests of families.
Last week, Attorney General Kris Mayes sent a letter to the IRS Commissioner, requesting the agency “reconsider its decision to tax the 2023 Arizona Families Tax Rebate.”
In a statement that accompanied her announcement, Mayes said, “The IRS should act promptly to reverse this decision and provide clear guidance to Arizona taxpayers as tax season nears. If they do not, my office is prepared to examine all legal avenues to ensure these dollars stay in the pockets of Arizona taxpayers.”
The news from the state Attorney General’s Office follows communication from Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen over this matter. Earlier this month, Petersen issued a press release to share that he was “working diligently to come to a resolution that will protect the more than 700,000 recipients from having to give the federal government a portion of [the rebate] this tax season.”
Petersen also thanked Mayes’ office for “reaching out to us on this matter,” though he cautioned that “litigation likely isn’t the best approach.”
In her letter to the IRS Commissioner, Mayes argued that “the full Tax Rebate should be excludable from federal tax under the general welfare exclusion,” and that “at a minimum, the Tax Rebate should be excluded from federal tax to the extent it does not exceed state taxes that were actually paid and that were not deducted from federal income.”
The state’s top cop pointed to past IRS guidance and states where the agency “determined to be excludable from federal tax in February 2023,” such as Alaska, California, Colorado, Delaware, Idaho, and Indiana. She added that different guidance from the IRS established other exclusions that benefited four states – Georgia, Massachusetts, South Carolina, and Virginia. In closing, Mayes wrote that “it would…be fundamentally arbitrary and inequitable to preclude Arizona and its taxpayers from relying on that guidance, particularly given the materially similar (and less restrictive) state programs that the IRS found to be nontaxable in whole or in part last year.”
Mayes asked for the IRS to reply to her letter “by return letter or through amended published guidance no later than February 6.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
