by Matthew Holloway | Feb 22, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
Pima County Superior Court Judge Greg Sakall issued a ruling earlier this week striking down Pima County Ordinance 2024-2. The ordinance was passed by the County Board of Supervisors in March 2024 and levied a fine of $1,000 against legal gun owners who failed to report a lost or stolen firearm within two days. According to the Goldwater Institute, which led the legal fight, the board appeared to be fully aware of the ordinance’s illegality “when it brazenly passed the ordinance.”
Goldwater took up the case of Air Force veteran Chris King and the Pima County-based Arizona Citizens Defense League. The group argued before the court that unless authorized by the Arizona legislature, no county or municipality in the state is legally permitted to enact any rule or ordinance that is firearms-related and exceeds any regulations already passed by the state.
In his ruling, Judge Sakall agreed that the county board’s actions violated multiple provisions of state law, writing that there is “no genuine issue of material fact,” and that the ordinance was pre-emptively rendered illegal by A.R.S. § 13- 3108(B) and (D) which state:
B. “A political subdivision of this state shall not require the licensing or registration of firearms or ammunition or any firearm or ammunition components or related accessories or prohibit the ownership, purchase, sale or transfer of firearms or ammunition or any firearm or ammunition components, or related accessories.”
D. “A political subdivision of this state shall not enact any rule or ordinance that relates to firearms and is more prohibitive than or that has a penalty that is greater than any state law penalty. A political subdivision’s rule or ordinance that relates to firearms and that is inconsistent with or more restrictive than state law, whether enacted before or after July 29, 2010, is null and void.”
As noted by Goldwater when it issued a letter to the board on behalf of the Arizona Citizens Defense League, the ordinance was passed even after “a majority of the board made comments prior to passage of the ordinance recognizing that firearms regulations belong at the state level.”
The majority Democrat board also ignored the objections of the sole dissenting Supervisor, Republican Steve Christy, who warned during the board’s March 2024 meeting: “Are we opening up Pima County to numerous lawsuits with various entities including issues with the state legislature as this definitely has conflicts with it?”
Christy suggested that the move by the board’s Democrat majority was intended as a “a typical diversion and detraction,” from the county’s more pressing issues such as illegal immigration.
Democrat Supervisor Dr. Matt Heinz even implicitly observed that such lawmaking is the purview of the state government when he said what he referred to as “impactful meaningful reform that affects gun safety” would only happen “if there is a Democrat Governor, Senate, and House in the state of Arizona.”
King, an NRA-certified firearms instructor who had a firearm stolen when his home was burglarized while he was deployed on active-duty outside the state, praised the ruling saying, “I’m grateful the court recognized that Pima County officials are not above the law. Firearm owners like me shouldn’t have to pay exorbitant fines as punishment for being robbed.”
Goldwater Staff Attorney Parker Jackson added in a statement, “Today’s ruling is a significant victory for the rule of law, for gun owners statewide, and for the state’s ability to prevent rogue cities and counties from creating a confusing patchwork of local firearm restrictions.
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 | Feb 19, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
Last week, the Chairman of the Arizona House Appropriations Committee, Rep. David Livingston, praised Treasurer Kimberly Yee for her recent letter reporting on allegations of “missing money,” somehow “misplaced” by Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs. Yee explained that the “missing money…appears to be unfortunate gross financial mismanagement by the Hobbs Administration.”
Chairman Livingston said in a statement, “I appreciate Treasurer Yee’s clarity in addressing the financial mess Governor Hobbs has created. The issue isn’t ‘missing money’—it’s blatant mismanagement.”
“Under the Governor’s feckless leadership, state agencies are making massive spending decisions with zero legislative oversight, ballooning costs, and expecting taxpayers to foot the bill. This kind of incompetence cannot stand.”
Livingston has been among the legislators expressing increasing alarm over the State of Arizona’s Developmental Disabilities Program (DDD). The program is presently staring down insolvency in a matter of months due to decisions made by Hobbs’ Office.
“This Governor is running Arizona’s budget into the ground,” Livingston added. “She’s refusing to control spending, and instead of making responsible choices, she’s leaving families on the hook for her failures. The Republican Majority Legislature won’t stand by while she bankrupts the state.”
According to Matt Beienburg of the Goldwater Institute, the budget proposed by Hobbs in late January is “mismanagement at its worst.” He explained, “Her recently released budget plan seeks to tear down Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account program (ESA), the most successful school choice program in the country, even as it fails to account for more than $800 million in statutorily required spending on the state’s Medicaid program.”
In a letter to Hobbs in early February, Livingston called the Governor out for “fiscal mismanagement and lack of legislative consultation.” He claimed that the Hobbs administration has failed to control costs, noting that the program’s supplemental funding needs have ballooned from $109 million to $122 million in just weeks. He observed that in the case of the DDD, “Under Governor Hobbs’ watch, the cost of this program has exploded from $750 million to $1.5 billion.” He added, “The Legislature was blindsided by these numbers, and we need immediate answers on how the administration plans to rein in spending before Arizona families are left with nothing.”
“The state must act now to fix this before families pay the price for this administration’s failure,” Livingston said, according to the Arizona Daily Independent. “We can’t afford more of the governor’s last-minute budget negotiations while programs Arizonans depend on collapse.”
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 AZ Free Enterprise Club | Jan 25, 2025 | Opinion
By the Arizona Free Enterprise Club |
As President Trump gets to work cleaning up Joe Biden’s failed economy, the last thing the people of Arizona need is to be sending their hard-earned dollars to woke Hollywood. But that’s exactly what’s happening.
Thanks to a law passed in 2022, movie companies that film in Arizona will begin receiving refundable tax credit subsidies this year—up to 15 percent if they spend up to $10 million in production costs, 17.5 percent if they spend between $10 million and $35 million, and 20 percent if they spend over $35 million. Then, to top it all off, these movie companies can get an additional 2.5 percent if they meet other criteria.
But here’s the real kicker. The keyword in all of this is “refundable.” This essentially means that if a movie company qualifies for more credits than they owe in taxes, the State of Arizona sends them a check!
So, how much does this outrageous tax scheme cost the people of Arizona?
Up to $125 million each year!
For that kind of money, there must be at least some kind of return on this investment, right? Nope.
If a company comes to Arizona, films a movie, mentions our state in the credits but decides not to release or distribute the film, it still receives the money.
Yes. You read that right. Arizona taxpayers could be funding Hollywood movies that won’t ever see the light of day…
>>> CONTINUE READING >>>
by Matthew Holloway | Jan 25, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
Governor Katie Hobbs is now facing a serious legal challenge from the Goldwater Institute, acting on behalf of the Home Builders Association of Central Arizona, to put a stop to what Goldwater described as “one of the most significant bureaucratic overreaches in Arizona’s history.”
On Wednesday, Goldwater announced the lawsuit against Arizona’s Democrat Governor stating that Hobbs is “taking illegal actions” that would worsen the state’s ongoing housing crisis by imposing a certification requirement in parts of Maricopa County that, in addition to showing a 100-year groundwater supply, must also meet the dubious standard of “unmet demand.”
Writing for Goldwater, Stacy Skankey explained, “Although the phrase ‘unmet demand’ does not exist in Arizona law, this new rule now requires homebuilders to show a 100-year groundwater supply across the entire water management area (a specially designated area with a reliance on groundwater) rather than at the site of the proposed development. In other words, if a groundwater shortage is projected anywhere within a management area, the Department of Water Resources now claims that there is insufficient groundwater elsewhere in the Valley.”
As reported by AZ Free News in December, Goldwater penned a letter to the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) urging the agency under Hobbs to reconsider its “AMA Wide Unmet Demand Rule,” noting that the new rule was in violation of the law having been imposed without legislative approval or via the required rulemaking process.
According to ADWR, “Unmet demand occurs when the model cannot simulate pumping of all demands included, thereby creating a pumping shortfall or deficit. This pumping shortfall or deficit occurs when there is insufficient saturated aquifer to satisfy the pumping demand (i.e., the depth-to-water level reaches bedrock) or when the depth to water exceeds 1,100 feet after 100 years of simulated pumping.”
Essentially, unmet demand occurs when the state’s modeling is insufficient to predict demand. In other words, the basis for shutting down Arizona housing development is that the Hobbs administration’s simulation doesn’t work.
As noted in an op-ed for the AZ Capitol Times by CEO of the Home Builders Association of Central Arizona Jackson Moll and Goldwater Institute Vice President for Litigation Jon Riches, the Phoenix Active Management Area (AMA) Groundwater Model being used by the Hobbs administration, coupled with the ‘unmet demand’ standard, moves the goalposts on developers who have mitigated impact on the state’s water needs for nearly 30 years by replenishing pumped groundwater back into the water table.
Riches said in a statement, “Decisions on vital statewide concerns like the availability of affordable housing and the responsible stewardship of our natural resources should be made through a transparent, democratic process—not imposed by executive fiat.”
Moll added, “Gov. Hobbs’ deeply inaccurate and flawed claim that Arizona is running out of groundwater is having devastating effects on housing affordability in the state, which already ranks among the worst in the country.”
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 Daniel Stefanski | Jan 22, 2025 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
One of Arizona’s leading watchdog organizations is starting off the new year with a significant lawsuit.
Last week, the Goldwater Institute announced that it had challenged “Arizona’s unconstitutional tax subsidies for filmmakers.” The lawsuit, McEwen v. Arizona Commerce Authority, was filed in the Superior Court of the State of Arizona for Maricopa County.
In that lawsuit, attorneys for the Goldwater Institute wrote that “this case challenges the constitutionality of a state program that subsidizes the film industry and private film companies to the tune of millions of dollars in refundable tax credits each year.” The filing adds that “The Arizona Motion Picture Production Program violates the Arizona Constitution’s Gift Clause, both facially and as applied to two film production projects approved to receive taxpayer-funded subsidies.”
Parker Jackson, a Staff Attorney at the Goldwater Institute, wrote a blog post about the lawsuit after it was filed with the court. He said, “…In 2022, when the state legislature controlled a $5.3 billion surplus, film industry executives and lobbyists who for years had failed to revive a subsidy program seized their chance to get back in on the action. They cobbled together enough votes to enact the Arizona Motion Picture Production Program, which provides up to $125 million in refundable tax credits each year to qualified film production projects. ‘Refundable’ means that if a film company qualifies for more in credits than they owe in taxes, the state cuts them a check! That’s even worse than the old program, which only allowed for ‘transferable’ credits (meaning the recipient could transfer or sell the credit to someone else, but the state didn’t directly send them cash).”
Jackson shared that “After delays due to administrative rulemaking and recent strikes that rocked the film industry, the state is set to finally begin issuing the first round of credits this year. The Arizona Commerce Authority has begun the process of approving subsidies up to $1.2 million for a single project.”
The Goldwater attorney finished his piece, saying, “These types of abuses are exactly why the Arizona Constitution prohibits the state from subsidizing or otherwise giving out money for private purposes unless taxpayers receive direct benefits in return. That means that the state can contract with private companies to perform services or provide supplies at fair market rates, but donations, grants, subsidies, and other forms of corporate aid are not allowed.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
