by Staff Reporter | Oct 3, 2026 | Education, News
By Staff Reporter |
Gov. Katie Hobbs is looking to spend as much of the federal COVID-19 relief funds as possible before Election Day and the December spending deadline.
On Tuesday, Hobbs announced the allocation of more than $16.4 million to Arizona’s three public universities.
Arizona State University will receive more than $8 million; Northern Arizona University will receive more than $2.6 million; and the University of Arizona will receive more than $5.7 million split between its main campus and its health sciences center.
The $16.4 million comes from the $4.2 billion in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds given to the state. The deadline to obligate ARPA funds passed on Dec. 31, 2024, and the deadline to spend those funds is coming up on Dec. 31, 2026.
Legal forms of obligation include formal commitments through contracts, interagency agreements such as a memorandum of understanding, purchase orders for goods or services, or subawards.
Moving ARPA funds into a general fund without establishing an obligation doesn’t qualify, however.
During Hobbs’ first year in office, she clawed back more than $210 million in ARPA funds issued by her predecessor, Gov. Doug Ducey. The Hobbs administration alleged the funds were illegally issued because the recipients weren’t subjected to a competitive bidding process. Sean Behrens, Hobbs’ senior counsel, said at the time that Hobbs was just following the law.
“We didn’t have a choice in the matter,” said Behrens. “In the Hobbs administration, we follow the law.”
Hobbs’ spokesman Christian Slater refused to elaborate on the original obligations behind the $16.4 million in a statement to KNAU. Slater also denied that the millions had any bearing on Hobbs’ reelection campaign.
“I’ll decline to comment on the processes by which we determine ARPA funding,” said Slater. “As the governor has always said, she is committed to doing what’s right for Arizona and putting politics aside.”
Hobbs said the funds were necessary to offset budget cuts from the fiscal year 2027 state budget, which she characterized as the product of “extremist” and “reckless” Republican lawmakers who she claimed were opposed to public education.
The $16.4 million matches the cuts the state budget made to each university.
“I will always fight to ensure state universities have the resources they need to deliver opportunities for Arizonans and ensure our employers have a high-skilled workforce,” said Hobbs. “ I’ll continue standing up to extremist legislators and their attacks on public education that kill jobs and make our state less competitive.”
The governor sang a different tune about the state budget less than four months ago when she signed it into law.
The 2027 fiscal year budget had earned the support of Hobbs and a bipartisan collective in the legislature.
Hobbs announced her approval of the budget back in June with a press release praising it as “her Arizona First budget” with laudable public education investments.
“I’m thrilled to sign the bipartisan Arizona First budget into law,” said Hobbs. “We’re stopping the data center tax credit for three years, investing in border security, education and water security, and delivering a $1.4 billion tax cut for middle class Arizonans. Starting on July 1, Arizonans will have no taxes on tips and overtime, a higher standard deduction, a deduction for seniors, and next year, an expanded child tax credit.”
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by AZ Free Enterprise Club | Oct 1, 2026 | Opinion
By the Arizona Free Enterprise Club |
Over the last four years Governor Katie Hobbs, the teachers’ unions, and their allies in the corporate media have been relentlessly attacking Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESAs) program, the most popular and successful school choice program in the country. Over 106,000 kids are currently using an ESA scholarship, with thousands more signing up each year.
Their most recent assault began last March, when the unions filed their ballot initiative in an attempt to gut ESAs. If passed, over 30,000 kids would have immediately lost their ESA scholarship or had their scholarship funds revoked because of the new restrictions. Another 400,000 children would have been permanently barred from participation in the program. The National Education Association (NEA) poured $7 million into this fight, hiring an army of paid circulators that were willing to say, and sometimes do, just about anything for a paycheck.
Interestingly, there were two different responses to this most recent threat. The response from most of Arizona’s school choice organizations and ESA families was a full-throated defense of the program. Within days, the AZ school choice coalition launched a countercampaign and made clear that ESAs would not go undefended. They fundraised, developed messaging, deployed grassroots “decline to sign” efforts, and crafted legislative countermeasures to put the unions on their heels.
And after the initiative was filed with the Secretary of State in July, a petition review was launched by the Goldwater Institute, which our organization helped support. That petition review revealed that thousands of signatures were either invalid or unlawfully collected by convicted felons. The result was that we proved in court that the NEA and Save our Schools was short of qualifying by nearly 15,000 signatures, and we knocked them off the ballot.
It was a pivotal victory in a long line of big wins for school choice in Arizona.
However, during this battle against the radical left, an alternative response to this attack emerged from the shadows: a belief that the only way to save the ESA program was to enact punitive regulations on the families that use the program. Rather than fighting back against the false attacks being levied against ESAs by the unions and the media, they preferred to make concessions that would make the program politically “attack-proof” in the future.
Sadly, this strategy has been tried in the past when dealing with the unions, and it almost resulted in irreversible disaster for our state.
Conceding the Issue to the Left Is the Quickest Way to Defeat
Our organization has seen this coordinated attack from the left before. Different issues, different talking points, but the same trajectory that involves goading us into accepting the other side’s terms of surrender…
>>> CONTINUE READING >>>
by TJ Shope | Sep 29, 2026 | Opinion
By T.J. Shope |
Over the past few years, a government pay-to-play scandal has been brewing in Arizona that rivals the malfeasance we have come to expect from American bastions of improprieties like New York, Illinois, and California.
A couple of years ago, the state’s paper of record, The Arizona Republic, exposed a troubling relationship between Governor Katie Hobbs and Sunshine Residential Homes, LLC. The reporting revealed a suspicious link between political donations benefiting Hobbs’ inaugural fund and the Arizona Democratic Party and government-approved rate increases for Sunshine—at a time when similar increases were not being granted to other providers.
The revelation of a possible pay-to-play scandal at the highest levels of Arizona government sent shockwaves across the state and launched a quest for answers.
Thanks in large part to media reporting, we now know that more than $580,000 in political contributions from Sunshine Residential Homes and individuals connected to the company benefited Katie Hobbs and Democratic organizations. Then, the Hobbs administration approved rate increases that made Sunshine Arizona’s highest-paid group home provider per child. Internal messages uncovered over the past two years referenced Sunshine’s political connections and even discussed keeping its special arrangement quiet from competitors.
If that body of evidence doesn’t set off alarm bells, what will?
Following these revelations, three state and local officials sprang into action to investigate the allegations: Arizona’s Attorney General, the Auditor General, and the Maricopa County Attorney. Given the gravity of the allegations against Hobbs, each had a legitimate role to play.
But one of them—Attorney General Kris Mayes—publicly attempted to commandeer the investigation into her political ally, warning the other two against interference. Thankfully, the Auditor General and Maricopa County Attorney rejected this politically motivated power grab and continued exercising their lawful authority.
For more than a year, there was almost complete silence surrounding Mayes’ investigation, raising serious questions about her resolve to follow the facts wherever they might lead. Near the end of the investigation, we also learned that Hobbs had refused to sit down for an interview with investigators from the Attorney General’s Office.
Then, after two years—and conveniently just months before an election—Mayes cleared her fellow Democrat of wrongdoing, despite finding fault with numerous actions by the Hobbs administration.
In releasing her findings, Mayes suddenly announced a desire for reform. Even amid a matter as serious as this pay-to-play scandal, I had to laugh at the change of heart and sanctimonious posturing.
Over the past two legislative sessions, I introduced pay-to-play reforms designed not only to address concerns raised by the Hobbs administration’s conduct, but also to prevent future statewide officials from being tempted to travel down the same path. Hobbs vetoed both bills. Mayes stayed silent each time.
When Mayes had an opportunity to support meaningful reform, she said nothing.
That’s not leadership. That’s cowardice—and it helped set the stage for what has become a cover-up between Hobbs and Mayes.
As public servants, we have a responsibility to demand transparency and accountability from government. That obligation was not met by Hobbs, and it certainly was not met by Mayes’ sham report.
That’s why it’s time to shine some good old-fashioned sunlight on the Sunshine investigation.
Mayes must release the complete investigative file, including the evidence collected, relevant communications, interview and deposition transcripts, and the full rationale behind the decision not to prosecute. Arizonans deserve the opportunity to examine the facts for themselves. The other investigations with the Auditor General and Maricopa County Attorney remain open, and these must be allowed to continue without interference.
Transparency should not depend on political party. Accountability should not disappear when the person under investigation is a political ally. And reform should not suddenly become important only when an election is approaching.
Arizonans can rest assured that I will re-introduce these reforms again in the next legislative session—and I call on Attorney General Mayes to publicly support the policies ahead of time and work with me to ensure that these bills become law.
If she refuses, Arizonans will have every reason to conclude that this newfound concern for accountability was never really about reform.
It was election-year cover that would make New York, Illinois, and California mafia-style government officials proud.
T.J. Shope is the Arizona Senate President Pro Tempore and represents Legislative District 16.
by Staff Reporter | Sep 23, 2026 | News
By Staff Reporter |
Earlier this summer, State Sen. Kiana Sears (D-LD9) attempted to scam a restaurant out of more than $1,500 worth of fried chicken.
Now, Sears is part of the inaugural “Black Leaders for Katie” coalition, launched by Gov. Katie Hobbs on Monday as part of her reelection campaign. Sears was named second in a list of 35.
Members of the media referred to the ordeal as “Chickengate,” so dubbed by the Arizona Agenda who retrieved the emails involving the restaurant, lawmakers, senate staff, and lobbyists that shed light on Sears’s conduct.
The ordeal began after a Republican lawmaker and bipartisan lobbyist group organized an event celebrating the 100th anniversary of Route 66. That event included more than $1,500 worth of catering from the Gus’s World Famous Hot & Spicy Fried Chicken location in downtown Phoenix. The order included chicken, mac and cheese, coleslaw, sweet tea, and lemonade.
Following the event, Sears contacted the caterer purporting to be one of the individuals in charge. Sears did not coordinate or pay for the event. According to an email from the restaurant’s general manager, Sears claimed in a call that the chicken was “overcooked, dry, and not enjoyed by most” — directly contradicting positive feedback the restaurant had received from event coordinators.
The general manager also revealed that Sears demanded the $1,500 catering order be remade on Saturday, June 27 at 5:30 p.m. Those who coordinated the event urged the restaurant to ignore Sears’s request.
Sears later dismissed questions from the media about the scam attempt as a “distraction” from her work as a lawmaker, and refused to answer other questions regarding where the catering order would have gone if the restaurant had fulfilled it.
As part of Hobbs’ launch of Black Leaders for Katie, the governor hosted a roundtable pledging her commitment to minority-owned businesses.
Gus’s World Famous Hot & Spicy Fried Chicken began with a little operation founded by a Black family, originally called Maggie’s Short Orders by Napoleon “Na” and Maggie Vanderbilt when they first opened in Tennessee in 1973, and then renamed to the current branding after their son, Vernon “Gus” Bonner, who took over the business in the 1980s. The Bonner family has since sold the franchising rights to these restaurants.
There are four Gus’s locations in Arizona, and 38 locations across 13 states.
Other Black Leaders for Katie members are:
- Corey Woods, Tempe Mayor
- Quantá Crews, State Representative
- Kesha Hodge Washington, Phoenix Vice-Mayor
- Kevin Robinson, Phoenix Councilmember
- Henry Wade, Maricopa Councilmember
- Max White, Avondale Councilmember
- Khara House, Flagstaff City Councilmember
- Coral Evans, former Flagstaff Mayor
- Cloves Campbell Jr., former State Representative
- Berdetta Hodge, former Tempe Councilmember
- Rev. Sheriolyn Curry Hodge, Community & Business Leader
- Rev. Andre Miller, Faith and Community Leader
- Pastor David Wade, Mt. Calvary Baptist church
- Rev. Brian Wright, The Citadel of Praise, Overseer
- Connie DeLarge, Arizona Democratic African American Caucus, Chair
- Briona Parkinson, Maricopa Area Labor Federation, Chair
- Carla Gentles, Gentles Agency, Partner
- Karl Gentles, Gentles Agency, Partner
- Rosiland Moore, Business Leader
- Kent O’Jon, Business Leader
- Sasha Simmons, Business Leader
- Shannon Tolbert, Business Leader
- Ashley Anderson, Community Leader
- Dr. Edmon Baker, MD
- Dr. George Barnes, Education Leader
- Carla Boatner, Community Leader
- Dr. Joanne Curry
- Dr. Karen Hardin, Ed.D Faculty Emeritus
- Jackie Johnson, Community Leader
- Dr. Kenja Kassan
- Dr. Gail Knight, Community and Education Leader
- Dr. Matthew C. Whitaker, Community Leader
- Donna Williams, Attorney and Community Leader
- Rohn Ragland, Student Leader
[Photo courtesy of Gage Skidmore via Creative Commons]
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by Staff Reporter | Sep 23, 2026 | News
By Staff Reporter |
The monsoon season rains are anticipated to wind down in Arizona, but the political attack ads are picking up.
Arizona residents have likely received campaign mailers at this point in the election season. Some of those mailers have a disclosure that they were paid for by the Arizona Democratic Party, thanks to funds by Arizona Public Service (APS) and Elevance Health (operating as Wellpoint, formerly Amerigroup).
These mailers appear to be targeting voters in swing districts throughout the state.
One mailer reflected opposition to Republican state legislative candidates seeking to represent Legislative District 13: Julie Willoughby for State Senate, and Kevin Hartke and Janet Weninger for State House. This mailer claimed Willoughby, Hartke, and Weninger would cost taxpayers more through school choice funds.
Another mailer reflected support for Willoughby’s Democratic primary opponent, Kristie O’Brien. This mailer claimed O’Brien would lower costs for the community.
Both mailers stress affordability, but they were financed by the same companies which have sought or imposed double-digit rate increases for Arizonans’ utilities and healthcare.
According to state campaign finance records, Elevance Health donated $25,000 to the Arizona Democratic Party last May. They have never donated prior to that time. As reported previously, Elevance Health was one of the top single donors last year to the heavily indebted Arizona Democratic Party.
APS donated $40,000 to the Arizona Democratic Party in three installments: June 2025, September 2025, and June 2026. The earliest APS donations on record to Arizona Democrats occurred in 2024, totaling $80,000.
As reported previously, Pinnacle West Capital Corp., the owner of APS, was one of the top donors for Gov. Katie Hobbs’ secretive inaugural and litigation funds.
As far as state campaign finance records go online (back to 2002), neither Elevance Health nor APS has ever donated to the Arizona Republican Party.
Both organizations have made headlines over the past year for raising their rates by double digits.
Elevance Health recently raised its premium rates by 24% across its Affordable Care Act and Medicare plans. It also requested an additional 17% increase in rate hikes for 2027, according to the Wall Street Journal. The company is also looking to cut down on the offerings within its affordable healthcare portfolio. It has signaled that it will exit underperforming Medicaid programs in multiple states by the end of 2027, following its recent departures from Louisiana and the Washington, D.C., markets.
Similarly, APS has requested to increase its rates by 14% to 16% for residential customers and more than 45% for large load users like data centers and manufacturing companies. APS is also petitioning to implement a new formula that would allow for automatic rate adjustments annually.
This financial support from Elevance Health and APS has boosted Democrats’ ongoing efforts to flip key seats in the Arizona legislature, which would result in Republicans losing their slim majority.
The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee is targeting 17 races throughout the state, including in Legislative Districts 2, 4, 13, and 17 in the Senate and Legislative Districts 2, 4, 13, 16, 17, and 23 in the House.
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