by AZ Free Enterprise Club | Dec 5, 2025 | Opinion
By the Arizona Free Enterprise Club |
Despite the noble work of Republican lawmakers over the past five years to reduce the state’s burden on taxpayers (lowering and flattening the income tax, eliminating tax on renters, and addressing taxes on food,) cities and towns are constantly undermining this progress through rampant tax, fee, and utility rate increases.
Arizona’s affordability is being eroded through the insatiable tax-hungry decisions of city and town councils and their year-over-year spending sprees. If taxpayers have not noticed already, surely, they are feeling the pinch as these tax and fee hikes continue to stack one on top another. Red or blue, no city is immune, most likely your costs are going up…
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by AZ Free Enterprise Club | Jun 17, 2025 | Opinion
By the Arizona Free Enterprise Club |
One of President Trump’s most important campaign promises was to bring accountability and transparency to federal government spending. Under the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), his administration didn’t waste any time getting to work.
Within weeks of Trump’s inauguration, DOGE had uncovered billions of dollars in waste and abuse of taxpayer funds under the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Here are just a few of the ways the Trump administration discovered USAID was spending your tax dollars:
- $1.5 million to “advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in Serbia’s workplaces and business communities.”
- $2 million for sex changes and “LGBT activism” in Guatemala.
- Millions to EcoHealth Alliance — which was involved in research at the Wuhan lab.
- $1 million to boost French-speaking LGBTQ groups in West and Central Africa through the State Department.
- $15 million for condoms to the Taliban through USAID.
This list barely scratches the surface of the waste and abuse that was discovered. But now, it appears it’s not just the federal government that’s been throwing your money around to outlandish woke initiatives. Arizona may have its very own USAID scandal…
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by Matthew Holloway | May 27, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
An investigation by Republican Reps. David Marshall, Walt Blackman, and Quang Nguyen found that the City of Phoenix has distributed over $28.5 million of taxpayer funding to more than 100 private organizations with a shocking lack of oversight. Now, the Goldwater Institute is asking Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes to intervene and stop what it termed an “unlawful spending spree.”
Citing the legislative findings, the Goldwater Institute alleges that “Organizations like the Phoenix Film Foundation, Phoenix Pride Inc, Mexican Baseball Fiesta LLC, the Arizona Science Center’s Galaxy Gala, and many others received subsidies—sometimes simultaneously by multiple departments—under questionable labels like ‘Sponsorships,’ ‘Grants and Subsidies,’ ‘Emerg[ency] Assist[ance],’ or ‘Miscellaneous.’ The city has no lawful authority to spend public money in this way.”
Parker Jackson, a staff attorney at the Goldwater Institute, said in a statement, “This effectively turns large portions of the city’s budget into a patchwork of slush funds that special interests can access in the sole discretion of a single city employee. Amazingly, the city ‘does not track donations by nonprofit status,’ so it does not know exactly how much taxpayer money has been funneled out through this opaque process.”
The reported “Sponsorships,” “Grants and Subsidies,” “Emerg[ency] Assist[ance],” or “Miscellaneous” donations run afoul of the Arizona State Constitution’s Gift Clause according to Jackson in a letter to the Attorney General co-signed by Jon Riches, the Goldwater’s Vice President for Litigation.
Riches wrote, “Most—if not all—of these expenditures appear to violate the Arizona Constitution’s Gift Clause, which strictly prohibits use of public funds to benefit private, special interests. Not only is it doubtful that these allocations serve a legitimate public purpose, but there also appears to be no direct or measurable consideration received in return for this use of public resources.”
The Arizona Constitution under Article 9 Section 7 states, “Neither the state, nor any county, city, town, municipality, or other subdivision of the state shall ever give or loan its credit in the aid of, or make any donation or grant, by subsidy or otherwise, to any individual, association, or corporation, or become a subscriber to, or a shareholder in, any company or corporation, or become a joint owner with any person, company, or corporation, except as to such ownerships as may accrue to the state by operation or provision of law or as authorized by law solely for investment of the monies in the various funds of the state.”
The Goldwater attorneys have called on Mayes to “[e]njoin the illegal payment of public monies” and to “[r]ecover illegally paid public monies,” under A.R.S. § 41-194.01 and A.R.S. § 35-212 respectively.
Jackson wrote in a Goldwater Institute press release that the finding by the Arizona legislature may seem familiar to keen observers: “If treating taxpayers as financiers for private entities—even controversial and ideological ones—sounds familiar, that’s because it mirrors what has been exposed throughout the federal government this year. For example, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) was aptly described as ‘a slush fund for leftist priorities’ after the White House exposed decades of waste and abuse in that agency.”
In a video posted to X, Jackson said, “At the end of the day, public dollars should be used for public purposes… not to enrich special interests at a bureaucrat’s whim.”
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
by Matthew Holloway | Mar 25, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
A motion to urge President Donald Trump and the United States Congress to eliminate the “Vision Zero” transportation framework is making its way through the Arizona legislature.
Senate Concurrent Memorial (SCM) 1002, introduced by State Senator Carine Werner, and cosponsored by Sens. Angius, Carroll, Gowan, and Shope, asserts that the “Vision Zero” doctrine “diverts from sound transportation engineering methodologies and instead employs a one-size-fits-all approach that requires the adoption in all circumstances of lower speed limits, fewer and narrower roads and draconian traffic enforcement measures.” It also observes that while major cities within the U.S. have implemented these policies with the goal of eliminating traffic fatalities, experience has proven that they achieve the opposite.
The drafters of the bill note: “New York City experienced the highest traffic fatalities in a decade, Los Angeles sustained a 22-year record high in fatalities in 2023 and Seattle has been subject to a steady increase in fatalities.”
The City of Phoenix approved the implementation of such a plan in September 2022 and has reintroduced and re-approved them since, with the most recent approved of in October 2024. The original plan was unanimously approved by the Phoenix City Council and allocated $10 million in annual funding.
As reported by ABC15, the Phoenix Department of Street Transportation reported in May of last year that although the city saw a decrease in serious traffic accidents, there was also an increase… in deadly crashes. The city plan proposes to reduce traffic deaths to zero by 2050 with Street Transportation Director Joe Brown saying, “It’s ambitious as it should be. Some places we’re hitting the mark and some places we have some work to do.”
As previously reported by AZ Free News, the Fountain Hills Town Council rejected the ‘Vision Zero Road Diet Plan’ in January by a 5-2 vote. Councilman Allen Skillicorn, joined by fellow councilors Gayle Earle, Rick Watts, Vice Mayor Hannah Toth, and Mayor Gerry Friedel, voted to reject the Resolution and terminate the plan, citing that it was rife with DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) policies unrelated to traffic safety.
“How is this plan racially equitable? Climate change, how does that relate to streets?” Councilwoman Earle asked.
In the text of the measure, Werner notes that “after adopting Vision Zero, Denver, Colorado’s traffic fatalities increased by 33% in the next five years compared to the previous five years, with motorcyclists, pedestrians and cyclists experiencing the highest fatality rates.” She added, “Portland, Oregon’s 2024 city auditor report attributed a doubling of fatalities to Vision Zero policies, despite reduced speed limits, stricter enforcement, intersection reconfigurations and improved lighting, raising concerns about its real-world safety outcomes.”
Concluding the memorandum to the Federal government, the Senate asked “that the President and Congress of the United States eliminate Vision Zero and the safe systems approach to transportation planning and funding, and instead promote transportation solutions that prioritize sound engineering methods, reliable safety outcomes, flexibility and engineering innovation without compromising individual freedoms or economic efficiency.”
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
by Staff Reporter | Mar 21, 2025 | News
By Staff Reporter |
Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego attacked Arizona’s school choice programming in an attempt to sway Governor Katie Hobbs against an Arizona Diamondbacks funding bill.
In a letter submitted to Hobbs on Tuesday, Gallego expressed opposition over the bill to fund the Arizona Diamondbacks facility renovation, HB2704. The legislation dedicates Chase Field sales and employee income taxes to the renovation.
HB2704 has passed the House with bipartisan support and awaits Senate approval.
Gallego argued the legislation was a “boondoggle” for failing to accurately capture the fiscal impact. Gallego said the Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC) model underestimated the predicted cost to taxpayers derived from the city’s actual tax collection data by nearly half, equating the underestimation to the Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) Program.
“Just like the state’s Empowerment Scholarship Account Program or the infamous Alt-Fuels bill, there is not a high-end cap on this bill to act as a safeguard for taxpayers,” said Gallego. “I urge that you work with the Legislature to demand responsible and enforceable parameters for the amount of taxpayer dollars spent on an annual and aggregate basis.”
The JLBC model estimated a $471 million cost over 30 years, sans fiscal impact data input from the Department of Revenue. Per Gallego, the city of Phoenix estimated an $825 million cost over 30 years.
“After accounting for lost construction sales tax revenue, additional revenues that can follow a significant renovation to a major league sports facility, and inflation over 30 years, the bill in its current form will certainly cost more than $1 billion in public funds,” said Gallego.
Last month, Gallego also spoke out against HB2704 publicly. Gallego expressed opposition to the diversion of millions of funds that would have gone to the city otherwise.
“Two-thirds of Phoenix’s general fund supports public safety. Phoenix’s tax dollars are best spent supporting our firefighters who respond to emergencies, helping police fight crime, and combating homelessness — not used to pay for subsidies for those at the very top,” said Gallego.
Recently ousted Arizona State Board of Education (ASBE) member and ESA Program advocate Jenny Clark advised Gallego to dedicate her efforts to improving the city’s budget rather than criticizing the budgeting of another program.
“Maybe Mayor Gallego should focus on her own MASSIVE failures with the city of Phoenix budget, instead of taking cheap shots at Arizona families using the widely popular ESA program,” said Clark.
Clark questioned why Gallego’s critique of increased funding for school choice, given the mayor attended an out-of-state private school in her youth.
The city of Phoenix narrowly avoided a reported $39 million budget deficit by the 2026 fiscal year by passing on the cost to taxpayers. The city previously announced an $85 million annual loss following the state legislature’s elimination of the residential rental tax and the implementation of the flat income tax.
On Tuesday, Gallego and the Phoenix City Council voted to increase the sales tax rate from 2.3 percent to 2.8 percent to avoid making cuts to city programs and services. The increase takes effect on July 1. Only Councilman Jim Waring voted against the sales tax increase.
The Goldwater Institute sued the city over the proposed tax increase earlier this month.
In a letter submitted to Gallego and the council, the public policy institute alleged this latest tax increase to be unconstitutional.
The Goldwater Institute also sued the city last year over allegedly illegal tax breaks for developers.
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