Arizona Republican legislative leaders are backing Congressman Andy Biggs’ proposed $19 billion plan to expand water supplies and accelerate infrastructure projects throughout the Colorado River Basin.
The Colorado River Basin Water Security and Infrastructure Act, introduced by Biggs (R-AZ-05) last week, would authorize funding for water augmentation, desalination, storage, treatment, recharge, and conveyance projects across the seven Basin states.
The goal of the legislation I introduced this week is simple: add new water, strengthen the Basin, and protect the farms, communities, and military installations that depend on the Colorado River.
My bill offers a path forward by investing in new water, modernizing critical…
Senate President Warren Petersen (R-LD14), House Speaker Steve Montenegro (R-LD29), and several Republican committee leaders have announced their support for the proposal, arguing that Arizona needs to focus on developing additional water supplies as uncertainty continues over the Colorado River.
“Arizona can’t make it rain or snow, but we can take action to secure our water future,” said Petersen.
Petersen said state lawmakers worked with Biggs to ensure Arizona priorities were incorporated into the federal proposal.
“Arizona has known for years that shortages could put the Central Arizona Project at risk, Petersen said. “Valuable time to develop alternative supplies has already been lost, and we cannot afford to lose any more. That’s why we worked with Congressman Biggs to make sure Arizona’s priorities helped shape this federal plan.”
One of the bill’s central provisions would establish a $5 billion Colorado River Basin Water Augmentation Program for projects that increase, store, treat, or transport water.
States, tribes, municipalities, utilities, nonprofit organizations, and private entities could seek funding under the program.
The federal government would provide $2 for every $1 in non-federal funding, with priority given to projects that increase available water supplies, benefit multiple states, address municipal water needs, or reduce dependence on the Colorado River.
Montenegro said the proposal represents a shift from negotiations over how existing Colorado River supplies should be divided toward projects intended to increase available water.
“Congressman Biggs has put forward a serious proposal that addresses the problem Arizona should have started preparing for years ago: we need more water,” Montenegro said. “For too long, the discussion has centered on how to divide a declining supply. This legislation takes a better approach by removing unnecessary federal delays and putting real resources behind projects that can increase supply. Long-term water augmentation is the path forward.”
✅Arizona Republicans Applaud Federal Legislation to Expand Colorado River Water Supplies Biggs’ plan would speed new water projects, direct $19 billion in supply and infrastructure, and restore the Yuma Desalting Plant
The proposal would also change the federal permitting process for qualifying water projects. Agencies would have 30 days to determine whether an application is complete and 180 days to make a final decision, with a limited 90-day extension.
Certain qualifying projects would also be exempt from review under the National Environmental Policy Act while remaining subject to other applicable federal requirements.
Senate President Pro Tempore T.J. Shope (R-LD16), who chairs the Senate Natural Resource Committee, said increasing the Basin’s overall supply should be part of the long-term response to Colorado River shortages.
“Our job is to make sure Arizona families and businesses have reliable water without driving up costs,” said Shope. “We cannot solve a water shortage by arguing over smaller and smaller shares of the river. We need to make the pie bigger, and this bill gives Arizona and the other Basin states practical ways to bring more water into the system.”
Another major component of the legislation involves the Yuma Desalting Plant.
The bill would direct the U.S. Department of the Interior to restore the plant to operational status within 180 days and authorize $1 billion for restoration, operation, modernization, and expansion.
According to a press release from the Legislature, treating agricultural drainage water at the facility could help meet U.S. treaty obligations to Mexico while preserving an equivalent amount of Colorado River water in the system.
An additional $1 billion would be authorized to support seawater desalination facilities that could be used toward U.S. treaty obligations, potentially reducing the amount of Colorado River water delivered from the United States.
House Speaker Pro Tempore Neal Carter (R-LD15) said the provisions are intended to focus on developing additional sources rather than relying solely on managing existing supplies.
“We need to stop trading paper around and start bringing new, real wet water into the state. Congressman Biggs’ plan prioritizes just that,” Carter said. “Instead of focusing on scarcity, as Governor Hobbs has done by instituting water-use moratoriums and vetoing bills designed to authorize access to new water, Biggs’ bill plans for prosperity and abundance through the development of new water sources.”
The proposal would additionally authorize $12 billion for federal water infrastructure projects throughout the Basin, including potential water capture projects in California, augmentation and storage projects serving Arizona and Nevada, and infrastructure and forest restoration projects in the Upper Basin.
According to the legislation and the Arizona Legislature’s summary, the proposal would preserve existing Colorado River entitlements and state water priorities and would not modify state water rights, interstate compacts, or the Arizona v. California decree.
House Natural Resources, Energy and Water Committee Chairwoman Gail Griffin (R-LD19) called expanding the water supply a priority that should receive support across party lines.
“Expanding water supply should be a bipartisan priority,” Griffin said. “We need a long-term solution that protects the Colorado River system and works for everyone who depends on it. House and Senate Republicans support Congressman Biggs’ legislation and will continue working on state policies that protect existing residents, increase supply, and support rural economies.”
Biggs introduced the legislation to confront long-term questions over Colorado River operations and water availability. His office has characterized the proposal as an effort to supplement conservation and allocation negotiations with projects designed to add or preserve water supplies throughout the system.
Ethan Faverino is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
A former Arizona Supreme Court justice will be leading the pay-to-play investigation into Gov. Katie Hobbs.
ArizonaSenate Republicans announced on Monday that it had appointed Andrew Gould, a justice on the Arizona Supreme Court from 2016 to 2021, as part of the next phase of their investigation regarding allegations that Hobbs arranged for Sunshine Residential Homes, a group home operator and one of her top donors, to receive a special rate increase from the Arizona Department of Child Safety.
As a result of the transfer to another committee, Senate Republicans postponed the hearing for an indeterminate date in the future. The hearing was scheduled to take place on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026, at 11 a.m.
Gould also served on the Arizona Court of Appeals and Yuma County Superior Court, and served as a prosecutor in Maricopa and Yuma counties.
In a press release, Gould pledged to carry out an impartial and dispassionate investigation into the matter.
“My responsibility will be to help the committee establish a complete factual record, evaluate testimony and documents objectively, and ensure its work is thorough, fair, and legally sound,” said Gould. “No factual or policy conclusion should be predetermined. The evidence will determine where this investigation leads, and which reforms if any are ultimately recommended to the Committee.”
🚨FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Former Arizona Supreme Court Justice Andrew Gould Appointed to Lead Senate Investigation into Hobbs Pay-to-Play Scandal
The Senate GOP also transferred the investigation from the Senate Government Committee to the Senate Committee on Appropriations. State Sen. Jake Hoffman (R-LD15), the chair of the Government Committee, said the media was to blame for the transfer.
During a press conference last week announcing a special hearing and subpoenas concerning the pay-to-play allegations, Stacey Barchenger, the Arizona Republic reporter who first reported on the alleged connection between Hobbs and Sunshine Residential Homes, asked Hoffman about the more than $1 million his advertising agency received from Turning Point PAC in support of Republican gubernatorial nominee Andy Biggs’s candidacy.
In this latest press release, Hoffman said the transfer of the investigation to another committee was necessary to keep the focus on the allegations against Hobbs.
“The crooked political media decided what this investigation was before it even began, because running cover for Katie Hobbs and Kris Mayes is more important to them than exposing potential corruption,” said Hoffman. “Transferring the proceedings and placing former Justice Andrew Gould at the center takes away their excuses for non-cooperation, strengthens the investigation, and ensures the evidence, not their predetermined political narrative, drives any resulting legislative reforms.”
Sen. David Farnsworth (R-LD10), chair of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, stated in the same press release that the scope of the investigation enabled it to fit comfortably within his committee.
“This transfer does not narrow the issues under investigation or diminish the Senate’s resolve. It places the investigation where the money can be examined directly and adds an experienced former prosecutor and Supreme Court justice to lead that work,” said Farnsworth. “We will follow the evidence, examine how these decisions were made, and give every witness a fair opportunity to explain the events at issue. Only after that process is complete can we reliably identify gaps in current Arizona law and determine which statutory changes are most appropriate to help prevent future misappropriation of taxpayer dollars.”
Along with Hobbs, the Senate subpoenaed Sunshine Residential Homes CEO Simon Kottoor and his wife, Elizabeth; Attorney General Kris Mayes; Christian Slater, Hobbs’ communications director; Hobbs’ inaugural and defense funds; Dan Barr, Mayes’ chief deputy attorney general; Bill Mundell, Mayes’ chief deputy of police and administration; Nicholas Klingerman, Mayes’ criminal division chief; Michael Faust, former DCS director and current city of Peoria manager; Shalom Jacobs, former DCS deputy director and current CGI director; Alex Ong, DCS deputy director; Robert Navarro, former DCS deputy director; and David Lujan, former DCS director.
Republican lawmakers are investigating Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs for allegedly securing a unique rate increase from the Arizona Department of Child Safety (DCS) for one of her top donors, Sunshine Residential Homes, a group home operator.
Sunshine Residential Homes, its CEO Simon Kottoor, and his wife Elizabeth contributed more than $500,000 to Hobbs and the Arizona Democratic Party.
Attorney General Kris Mayes cleared Hobbs of wrongdoing last month.
Arizona State Senator Jake Hoffman (R-LD15) has called on Mayes to release the documents from her investigation.
Arizona Senate Republicans claim that “the underlying evidence remains hidden” in Hobbs’ case.
Hoffman said that the evidence presented so far has created a clear appearance of pay-to-play corruption. Hoffman accused Mayes of having a political alliance with Hobbs that compelled her to decline to charge the governor of wrongdoing.
“The money, the favors, and the secrecy form a pattern that cannot be ignored,” said Hoffman. “The confluence of events here renders these allegations extremely credible and worth investigating.”
Lawmakers have subpoenaed materials concerning donations to Hobbs’ inaugural or legal defense funds by Sunshine Residential Homes, the Kottoors, or any executive of the group home operator.
Sunshine Residential Homes and both Kottoors were also subpoenaed, along with Abi Saifi, the director of programs at Sunshine Residential Homes.
They also requested materials concerning contracts or agreements between any state agency and Sunshine Residential Homes, and changes to compensation or reimbursement rates, formulas, or amounts paid by any state agency to Sunshine Residential Homes.
The Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP) is targeting Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs over her veto of legislation that would have eliminated municipal grocery taxes. Party Chairman Sergio Arellano said digital advertisements are targeting undecided voters, with additional ads forthcoming. An anti-Hobbs graphic appeared in a September 8 post, as Arellano defended the party’s advertising strategy in a newsletter reported by AZFamily.
The AZGOP released its first ad against Hobbs on September 4, highlighting the governor’s veto of SB 1231, the Arizona Border Invasion Act. Arellano identified it as the party’s first ad and encouraged supporters to share it. The legislation would have created a state offense for a noncitizen entering or attempting to enter Arizona directly from a foreign nation outside a lawful port of entry.
Arizonans overwhelmingly voted YES on border security. Katie Hobbs said NO.
She ignored our communities and opened the doors to dangerous criminals and deadly drugs.
Andy Biggs is ready to secure our state. Katie Hobbs never will.
Arellano addressed concerns about the visibility of Republican advertising in a recent newsletter, writing that “more ads are on the way.” He said the party’s online commercials were targeting undecided voters and encouraged supporters to share them.
“I know many of you have been concerned that you haven’t seen ads,” Arellano wrote, arguing that the party is being “as fiscally conservative with our donors’ contributions as we possibly can be.”
“The newsletter message is a direct response to the tens of thousands of Republicans I’ve heard from who are frustrated with Katie Hobbs’ lies and concerned that she may once again get away without being seriously challenged by the mainstream media,” Arellano said.
The station also reported criticism from former AZGOP Chair Gina Swoboda, who urged the party to deploy its resources.
“Your job is to get to zero,” she said.
AZFamily reported that Hobbs had spent more than $10 million on television advertising and that Biggs had yet to launch a traditional television campaign. The article did not provide a dollar amount for the AZGOP’s digital campaign.
State campaign-finance filings provide a partial picture of the party’s finances before the current advertising push. The Republican Party of Arizona, LLC reported $151,016.45 in cash disbursements during the first quarter of 2026, $175,829.83 during the second quarter, and $23,491.60 during the July 1–4 pre-primary reporting period.
Those reports total $350,337.88 in party disbursements from January 1 through July 4. The expenditures cover general party operations, including payroll, rent, legal services, consulting, mailings, and event costs. The three reports do not identify a specific amount spent opposing Hobbs. The party reported a cash balance of $1,114,887.48 at the close of the July 4 reporting period.
The AZGOP graphic released September 8thstates, “Katie Hobbs is LYING to your friends and neighbors every day, all day long. Tell them the truth – time and time again, Katie Hobbs chose higher prices over the needs of Arizona families. Voters know she has taken Arizona is the WRONG direction.”
The accompanying image accuses Hobbs of choosing higher prices over Arizona families.
Katie Hobbs is LYING to your friends and neighbors every day, all day long.
Tell them the truth – time and time again, Katie Hobbs chose higher prices over the needs of Arizona families. Voters know she has taken Arizona is the WRONG direction. pic.twitter.com/bCHzmrpwQl
The ad refers to legislation Hobbs vetoed on March 28, 2023. Senate Bill 1063 would have prohibited municipal taxes on food for home consumption beginning in July 2025. In her veto letter, Hobbs cited local officials’ concerns about potential service cuts and property-tax increases. She also argued that the delayed effective date would prevent immediate relief and that purchases made with SNAP and WIC benefits were already exempt.
The grocery-tax veto has become a campaign issue for Republican gubernatorial candidate Andy Biggs, who criticized Hobbs’ record after her 2022 comments about potentially supporting a repeal.
The AZGOP’s social media criticism of Hobbs has also included the Sunshine Residential Homes investigation. In a September 3 statement, Arellano questioned Attorney General Kris Mayes’ handling of allegations involving political contributions and Department of Child Safety rate increases, and urged voters to elect Biggs.
Mayes announced August 21 that the investigation had uncovered no evidence of the quid pro quo necessary to support a bribery charge. A separate investigation involving Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell and the Arizona Auditor General remains ongoing.
The next regular state party report covers July 5 through September 30 and is due October 15. That reporting period encompasses the party’s current campaign activity against Hobbs.
On a Friday in July 2022, the Department of Justice (DOJ), under President Joe Biden, arrested a man for a bomb threat he’d made a year and a half earlier to the Arizona secretary of state at the time, Katie Hobbs.
According to the DOJ’s public announcement of that arrest, that threat was sent online in mid-February 2021 through the secretary of state’s Elections Division contact form. Yet, it took law enforcement more than a year to nab the perpetrator: a Massachusetts man named James Clark.
Media outlets promptly picked up the news of Clark’s arrest, framing it as the latest in what was then an ongoing scourge of threats to election officials following the contentious 2020 election.
Hobbs was reaffirmed in the public eye as a face of resistance to former President Donald Trump’s purported election denialism. And she was deep into a contentious race of her own for the governor’s office against Trump-backed candidate Kari Lake.
“Election officials across the country are being threatened regularly for doing their jobs,’’ said Hobbs in a prepared statement at the time. “It’s unconscionable and undermines our democracy. This harassment won’t be tolerated and can’t be normalized. We thank the FBI for their persistence on further investigating this incident.”
The one detail that never received much attention was the timing of Clark’s arrest.
On the same day that the DOJ sparked a flurry of media coverage on their delayed arrest of a Trump-defying Democrat’s would-be assassin, a Hobbs campaign operative quietly registered Will of the People, a political action committee (PAC) that would go on to raise more than $5 million from dark money and labor union heavyweights across the nation.
The listed address for the PAC is a virtual office in downtown Phoenix. Its treasurer from day one was Dacey Montoya, founder and president of The Money Wheel, a well-known political and nonprofit compliance firm in Democratic circles. Montoya is currently the treasurer for both Gov. Katie Hobbs’ campaign and Hobbs’ alleged campaign finance fund-washing fund.
Montoya has offered her Money Wheel services to numerous Democratic candidates, party organizations, and progressive dark money operations both in Arizona and nationally over the years. Past clientele include Gov. Katie Hobbs, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, Rep. Yassamin Ansari, Sen. Mark Kelly, Jevin D. Hodge, Kirsten Engel, Reginald Bolding, Arizona Democratic Party, Maricopa County Democratic Party, Progress Now Arizona/Progress Arizona, Our Voice Our Vote Arizona, Copper State Victory, and the Arizona Education Association.
The Money Wheel has received more than $5.2 million since 2017 at the federal level according to Federal Election Commission records, and more than $1.9 million since 2017 at the state level according to secretary of state campaign finance records. Since 2022, Montoya’s company has received more than $119,000 from the PAC.
Will of the People PAC
Most of Will of the People PAC’s millions came in 2022 and 2024.
$2.3 million from SEIU-UHW and SEIU-COPE, the nation’s largest labor union and a PAC
$1 million from Open Society Action Fund, an organization by the Soros family, who are top Democratic dark money donors
$680,000 from ProgressNow AZ
$600,000 from the National Education Association
$360,000 from the Fairness Project
$200,000 from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Arizona
The PAC has not reported any income this year, and the only significant reported expenditures so far have been $8,000 from January through April given to The Money Wheel.
The PAC has spent an undisclosed amount of funding on lawfare to kill Republican-led ballot initiatives; in recent months, they filed two lawsuits to stop Propositions 142 (called the “Prohibit Mandatory Support for Discrimination or Preferential Treatment by Government Entities Amendment”) and 318 (called the “Require All Schools and Athletic Associations to Restrict Sports Participation and Access to Private Spaces Based on Sex Measure”).
Prop 142 would prohibit the state and government agencies from compelling, promoting, or implementing practices rooted in preferential treatment or discrimination based on race or ethnicity.
Prop 318 would restrict access to private spaces like restrooms and locker rooms based on biological sex, bar male students from participating in female sports, and establish a definition of sex rooted in biology.
In the case of Prop 318, the PAC also created a website called “Vote No on Prop 318.” However, per media coverage and the website itself, the PAC is now claiming to be a program under Progress Arizona, a progressive 501(c)(4) nonprofit. This website has not been disclosed under the PAC’s campaign finance reporting as of this report. The PAC’s logo is displayed on the website.
“Will of the People is a program of Progress Arizona,” states the website. “Email info@progressarizona.org. Paid for by Will of the People.”
Concerning the media — as previously reported, the PAC once identified The Arizona Republic as an endorser of their efforts.
It appears that the PAC may have failed to file some of its required expenditure disclosures. Four television advertisements urging Arizonans to vote “no” on Prop 132 (called the “60% Vote Requirement for Ballot Measures to Approve Taxes Amendment”) weren’t reflected in the PAC’s ballot measure expenditures for 2022, because none were issued.
Voters approved Prop 132 in 2022, which established a 60% vote threshold for ballot measures approving taxes.
Will of the People Is Also a Nonprofit
The PAC also has a similarly named nonprofit, “Will of the People Arizona.” The two share a launch year, an address, and leadership.
One of the first leaders of the nonprofit arm, Betsy Boggia, was not listed on PAC documentation. Boggia served as the director/secretary from 2022 through 2024, based on Arizona Corporation Commission records.
Boggia is a League of Women Voters board member and a recent former president of its Tucson chapter, according to her active and up-to-date LinkedIn profile. Notably missing from her work history and posts were any references to her leading a nonprofit that raised more than $5.5 million in three years.
Boggia’s silence on the matter may be explained by the nonprofit’s tax filings, which reported that Boggia spent an average of just one hour per week running the multi-million dollar operation.
Between the nonprofit and PAC, the two apparently affiliated entities have raised and spent approximately $11 million in four years.
The nonprofit didn’t disclose its revenue sources on its available tax filings from 2022, 2023, and 2024. Only four contributions totaling $2.1 million were publicly available through other organizations’ tax filings:
$1 million from Open Society Policy Center in 2024
Only the ACLU provided a detailed explanation for the purpose of their contribution: paid communications to defeat Propositions 128, 129, and 132.
Propositions Targeted by Will of the People PAC and Nonprofit
Based on various sources, the PAC and nonprofit together targeted at least 14 Republican-led propositions from 2022 through this year.
Nine were defeated and five passed. Five are to be determined this year.
The PAC and nonprofit also successfully advocated for the passage of Prop 139 in 2024, which made abortion a constitutional right in Arizona.
On publicly available archived versions of the PAC’s site from 2024 through 2025, the PAC clearly disclosed which propositions it opposed: Props 134, 136, 137, and 139.
Prop 134 would have set a signature distribution requirement in all 30 legislative districts for citizen-led initiatives: 10% for statewide initiatives, 15% for constitutional amendments, and 5% for statewide referenda.
Prop 136 would have allowed individuals to sue to stop voter-proposed initiatives from being put on the ballot if they believe them to be unconstitutional.
Prop 137 would have ended term limits for state supreme court justices and superior court judges.
Then, earlier this year, the PAC changed its website to offer a ballot proposal guide in exchange for donations. The linked donation button led to a donation page hosted by ActBlue Civics, which disclosed that the donated funds would be given to Progress Arizona, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, not the Will of the People PAC.
In 2024, the PAC disclosed giving $8,000 to Progress Arizona’s policy and research director, Casey Clowes, in 2024 to run digital ads opposed to multiple propositions and in favor of one proposition, Prop 139, which created a constitutional right to abortion.
The PAC has also paid $55,000 to ProgressNow AZ and Progress Arizona PAC, and $706,000 to the Arizona Democratic Party.
The current version of the site as of this report no longer includes the promise of a ballot proposal guide in exchange for fundraising. Instead, the PAC website now urges individuals to endorse a “no” vote on Props 142, 144, 318, and 320.
“A group of power-hungry politicians have voted to put a set of highly deceptive propositions on your ballot this November,” states the present version of the site. “They are aiming to make voting more difficult for Arizonans, hollow out our schools with funding cuts, and institute blanket discrimination in youth sports. You can help stop these propositions by adding your name to the list of Arizonans endorsing a NO vote on these dangerous measures.”
Despite its grassroots-sounding name, Will of the People has been funded by millions of dollars from national labor unions, progressive organizations, and Democratic-aligned dark-money groups, while its leadership and vendors have extensive ties to Arizona’s Democratic political establishment.
The organization has opposed numerous Republican-led ballot measures. With five targeted measures still awaiting a vote, its influence over Arizona’s ballot initiatives remains active heading into November.
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