by Matthew Holloway | Feb 25, 2025 | Economy, News
By Matthew Holloway |
Arizona State Rep. Jeff Weninger (R-LD13) has targeted the hidden fees—also known as interchange fees—which are imposed by credit card companies every time a card is used for payment. These fees are charged on every transaction and can range from 1% to 5%. The lawmaker is calling for these fees, which are charged on transaction totals, including taxes, to be reformed to include only pre-tax totals.
Weninger penned an op-ed with the straightforward message that “It’s time to wipe the swipe on taxes.” He called upon members of the Arizona House of Representatives to support HB2629, legislation he has sponsored to force credit card companies to eliminate swipe fees on sales taxes.
He wrote in part, “The credit card industry is dominated by two major players—Visa and Mastercard—who control 90% of payment processing transactions outside of China. These companies are raking in record profits, while Arizona businesses are left footing the bill for an unfair, hidden charge.
“HB2629 will stop this practice and ensure Arizona businesses and consumers are treated fairly. By eliminating swipe fees on sales taxes, we can keep more money in our state’s economy, help small businesses grow, and prevent credit card companies from profiting off of money that should go back to our communities.”
The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) announced its support for the bill with NFIB State Director Chad Heinrich explaining in a statement, “HB 2629 will protect small businesses and keep more resources in Arizona for Arizonans. Today, millions of dollars, which could be better spent in Arizona on higher employee wages, better benefits, and business expansion, are instead being sent to out-of-state banks and major credit card companies that profit off Arizona state and local taxes.”
As noted in Weninger’s op-ed, Arizona businesses and consumers combined paid out over $217 million in interchange fees in 2023. According to Weninger, it’s “a fee on a fee that never should have existed in the first place.”
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 | Aug 23, 2024 | Economy, News
By Staff Reporter |
A radical Democrat state representative is attempting to return to her middle-of-the-road legislative district for a new term in office.
State Representative Lorena Austin is running for reelection in Arizona Legislative District 9, which covers the city of Mesa. According to the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission, the district is likely one of the most competitive in the state, with a 2.6% vote spread in the Commission’s nine focus elections. Democrats are slightly favored in the district, having won in five of those nine focus elections.
Despite her district being more moderate in its political makeup, Austin has demonstrated a propensity to become one of the most extreme leftist members of the Arizona Legislature on almost every issue.
In a struggling state and national economy, where many families are struggling to get by in life, keep their jobs, and save for their children’s futures, Austin showed no mercy with her votes. This year, she was one of a handful of members to vote against HCR 2002, which stated that the legislature recognizes, encourages, and continues to support Arizona’s beef producing farmers, ranchers, and families. Last year (2023), she voted no on SB 1131, which would have prohibited a county, city, or town from levying a tax on rental property.
Austin is also opposed to individual property rights, as her votes have indicated. In 2023, she was one of 14 members to vote against final passage of a bill prohibiting protestors from targeting people in their own homes by protesting on their residential property (SB 1023).
This latest legislative session (2024), Austin voted no on SB 1129, which would have allowed a property owner or the owners’ agent to request from law enforcement the immediate removal of a person who is unlawfully occupying a residential dwelling. She also opposed SB 1073, which would have established a new form of the existing offense of obstructing a highway or other public thoroughfare and classified this new form of the offense as a class 6 felony (which was introduced in response to protestors blocking traffic).
Austin’s legislative record extends, too, into bouts of radical socialism. In 2023, she co-sponsored HB 2610, which would have created a state-owned bank. Additionally, she co-sponsored HB 2653, which would have established that “restaurants and other food service establishments in this state may only serve water and disposable straws to customers on request.” Earlier this year, Austin voted no on HB 2629, which would have established November 7 of each year as Victims of Communism Day and required the State Board of Education to create a list of recommended resources for mandatory instruction on the topic in certain public school courses.
The Democrat lawmaker has refused to support solutions to help her state end the border crisis affecting almost every community in Arizona – not to mention elsewhere in the nation. In 2023, Austin co-sponsored HB 2604, which would have permitted the Arizona Department of Transportation to issue a driver’s license or nonoperating ID to a person without legal status in the United States. And in this most recent legislative session, she voted no on HB 2621, which would have deemed that the trafficking of fentanyl across Arizona’s border is a public health crisis and directed the Arizona Department of Health Services to do everything within its power to address the crisis. She also opposed SCR 1042, which proclaimed the legislature’s support for the people and government of the state of Texas in its efforts to secure our nation’s southern border.
Austin has an awful record in office on crimes against children. In 2023, she voted against SB 1028, which would have prohibited a person or business from engaging in an adult cabaret performance on public property or in a location where the performance could be viewed by a minor. She also voted no on SB 1583, which would have mandated that a level one sex offender who commits specified sexual offenses is required to register on the internet sex offender website if the offender was sentenced for a dangerous crime against children.
This most recent legislative session (2024), Austin continued her spree of opposing legislation that would have protected more Arizona children from horrific crimes committed against them. She voted no on SB 1236, which would have specified that any offender who was convicted of or adjudicated guilty except insane for sexual crimes against children, whether completed or preparatory, and was 18 years of age or older at the time of the offense, must be included on the internet sex offender website. She also opposed HB 2835, which would have established knowingly observing a nude minor for the purpose of engaging in sexual conduct for a person’s sexual gratification as a form of criminal sexual exploitation of a minor. And Austin voted no on a ballot referral (SCR 1021), which would statutorily require an adult who is convicted of a class 2 felony for any child sex trafficking offense to be sentenced to natural life imprisonment.
As with many of her fellow Democrats running for the state legislature, Austin promotes endorsements from left-leaning organizations for her campaign for the Arizona House of Representatives, including Moms Demand Action, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona, Save Our Schools Arizona, Progressive Turnout Project, HRC in Arizona, AEA Fund for Public Education, NARAL Pro-Choice Arizona, Stonewall Democrats of Arizona, Arizona Education Association, Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Emily’s List, and Human Rights Campaign PAC.
There is one endorsement for Austin that appears to be absent from her website, from the Jane Fonda Climate PAC. Austin’s support from this PAC may be one of the most concerning for voters researching her record and determining which direction they want to see for their district. This PAC asserts that “major solutions are stopped cold: the Green New Deal, Build Back Better, clean energy investments, ending billions in tax subsidies to the fossil fuel industry – all because of politicians backed by Big Oil.”
The Green New Deal pushed by the Jane Fonda Climate PAC is the same championed by New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is one of the most progressive lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The district is currently represented by two Democrats in the state House of Representatives. Austin and her fellow Democrat incumbent, Seth Blattman, ran unopposed in the recent primary election. Austin received 10,353 votes, and Blattman obtained 8,741 votes. They will face off against Republicans Mary Ann Mendoza and Kylie Barber, who also ran unopposed in the primary election. Mendoza garnered 10,429 votes, and Barber received 10,136 votes.
November’s General Election will be the second time that Mendoza has been pitted against Austin and Blattman. In 2022, Austin and Blattman defeated Mendoza and her running mate, Kathy Pearce, to assume their offices for the 2023 Arizona legislative session.
Correction: A previous version of this article listed the incorrect vote totals for the candidates. The totals have now been updated with the latest results from the Arizona Secretary of State website.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | Feb 26, 2024 | Education, News
By Daniel Stefanski |
A bill to help educate Arizona students about the history of communism is one step closer to the Governor’s desk.
On Thursday, the Arizona House of Representatives passed HB 2629, which “establishes November 7 of each year as Victims of Communism Day and requires the State Board of Education to create a list of recommended resources for mandatory instruction on the topic in certain public school courses” – according to the chamber. The proposal was sponsored by Speaker Ben Toma and received a vote of 33-26 (with one seat vacant).
In a statement, Toma said, “Teaching Arizona students about the evils of communism shouldn’t be a partisan issue, yet here we are. Thankfully, Republicans get it. As someone who lived in communist Romania, I can attest that Marxist ideology has left a lasting scar on our world. For more than 100 years and over 100 million lives lost, the legacy of communism is death, oppression, deprivation, economic suffering, and families being torn apart. It’s important to educate about this dark history, to ensure that the atrocities of communism are never forgotten, and future generations can learn from those who suffered in the past and gain a deeper appreciation for the democratic principles that underpin our free society.”
According to the State House of Representatives, if the bill was enacted, the “State Board of Education (SBE) would be tasked with developing a list of recommended resources on the history of communism that align with academic standards in statute. Starting in the 2024-2025 school year, high school taking American government courses will have at least 45 minutes of classroom instruction on the history of global communist regimes, encompassing figures such as Mao Zedong, Joseph Stalin, Fidel Castro, Vladimir Lenin, Pol Pot, and Nicolas Maduro. Students would learn about how victims suffered under such regimes, through poverty, starvation, forced migration, lethal violence, and the suppression of speech.”
Only two House Democrats supported the proposal on the floor, which was something that Representative Quang Nguyen, the bill’s cosponsor, highlighted. Nguyen stated, “I think if my colleagues on the other side of the aisle grew up under a communist regime, as Ben and I both did, this vote would have been unanimous. Opposing the education of Arizona students on the history of communism and those who have suffered from it is an extreme and shameful position that’s hard for Democrats to defend. And it’s certainly far from where most Arizona parents stand.”
On the Arizona Legislature’s Request To Speak system, representatives from the Arizona Education Association and Save Our Schools Arizona, signed in opposition to the bill.
Last month, the legislation passed the House Judiciary Committee with a 6-3 vote. All Republicans voted in favor, and all Democrats voted to oppose.
HB 2629 now heads to the Arizona Senate for consideration.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
