A coalition of Arizona legislators are taking steps to improve the state’s wildfire mitigation efforts.
This week, State Representative Lupe Diaz, the Chairman of the House Committee on Land, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs, updated constituents on the progress of bills in the Arizona Legislature, which are meant “to protect lives, property, and communities from the growing threat of catastrophic wildfires.”
Those bills include:
HB 2201, which was sponsored by Representative Griffin. The bill “requires utilities to develop and submit biennial Wildfire Mitigation Plans, which include clearing hazardous vegetation around power lines to prevent utility-caused wildfires.”
HB 2219, which was sponsored by Representative Marshall; HB 2395, HB 2398, and HB 2400, which were sponsored by Representative Blackman; and HB 2694, which was sponsored by Representative Griffin. These bills “allocate funding for fire contingency planning and wildland firefighting efforts in Arizona’s high-risk areas.”
HB 2456, which was sponsored by Representative Marshall. This bill would “establish fire incident management grants to assist districts across the state.”
HB 2577, which was sponsored by Representative Griffin. The bill “cuts red tape to give the State Forester more flexibility to protect communities.”
HB 2639, which was sponsored by Representative Griffin. This bill “extends the ‘healthy forest’ tax incentive to encourage responsible forest thinning and prevent catastrophic fires.”
In a statement, Representative Diaz said, “Public safety is more than law enforcement and border security – it means defending our communities from preventable disasters. Arizona has seen what happens when wildfires are mismanaged in places like California. We refuse to let that happen here. Our plan prioritizes proactive fire mitigation efforts, responsible forest management, and ensuring that Arizonans are protected when disaster strikes.”
Diaz added, “Preventing wildfires means enacting responsible management before disaster strikes. We are working with state agencies, local officials, and private utilities to get boots on the ground, clear hazardous areas, and stop wildfires before they start. This is what leadership looks like, and it’s exactly what Arizonans expect from us.”
Governor Katie Hobbs did not mention plans to address wildfire mitigation efforts in her State of the State address to the Arizona Legislature at the beginning of the 57th Regular Session last month. Chairman Diaz’s release highlights that the Democrat governor’s “proposed budget offers zero funding for hazardous vegetation removal or forest thinning despite recognizing that wildland fire costs have been ‘much higher in recent years’ due to neglected forest maintenance.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
On January 29, Governor Katie Hobbs appointed Appellate Court Judge Maria Elena Cruz to fill the vacancy of Supreme Court Justice Robert Brutinel. Brutinel announced his retirement in 2024. Cruz emphasized her understanding of those “marginalized because of their color or their gender.”
In a news conference on Wednesday Hobbs told reporters, “I prioritized an appointee who is not only eminently qualified, but also someone who reflects our state and who is committed to making our legal system work for everyday people,” according to AZCentral. “Of course, I was focused on credentials and experience, but also, on appointing a justice who will uplift those who need it most.”
As an attorney, she has argued before municipal, state, and federal courts, and been both a defender and a prosecutor.
Cruz highlighted her heritage while standing with her family during the conference saying, “For many, this day is long overdue. And so today, we celebrate. We celebrate that Arizonans will look at their highest court and see a group that looks more like them.”
She told reporters that she has a “deep respect and loyalty for the rule of law, but also, a perspective that is informed by growing up, living, raising a family and working in rural Arizona.” She also said that she has, “a personal understanding of challenges faced by those who are marginalized because of their color or their gender.”
Hobbs also stressed Cruz as “a Justice who gives a voice to working class people in every corner of our state,” adding the dimension of a class-based distinction to her appointment decision as well.
Appointed to the Arizona Court of Appeals in 2017 by then-Governor Doug Ducey, Judge Cruz ruled against the Republican-led Arizona Senate, forcing the release of several sealed records related to audit of the 2020 election returns with the Florida company Cyber Ninjas. The court found that Cyber Ninjas, despite being a third party, was compelled to turn over documentation on how the recount audit was being conducted while it was still underway.
Cruz wrote for the three-judge panel, “Allowing the legislature to disregard the clear mandate of the (public records law) would undermine the integrity of the legislative process and discourage transparency, which contradicts the purpose of both the immunity doctrine and the (law),” according to NBC News. She added, “The requested records are no less public records simply because they are in the possession of a third party, Cyber Ninjas.”
As reported by AZCentral, Cruz noted on her application for the role that she officiated same-sex marriages in Yuma County once they became legal after two justices of the peace refused to do so. She wrote, “I had to stand up … for the law and, regardless of the threat of potential backlash at the polls, I officiated over the first same-sex wedding in our county.” She added, “I always said that any decision I made could be the beginning of the end. A good judge should always be faithful to the law no matter the personal risk.”
Another election has come and gone, and once again Arizona showed the nation that it doesn’t know how to count votes. Like a bad movie we are forced to watch every two years, rampant delays in processing early ballots left voters waiting over a week to find out who won key races in the state.
Virtually everyone around the country watching our slow-motion election train wreck, from major media outlets to national pundits, agreed that fixing Arizona’s tabulation process is long overdue.
Everyone, that is, except Governor Katie Hobbs and her partisan Democrat allies in the legislature.
This shouldn’t be a total shock to those who have followed previous attempts to reform our election system. Over the last couple of years, Democrats have opposed popular election reforms like requiring basic proof of citizenship to vote, all while millions were pouring in illegally through the southern border. They argued against commonsense voter ID laws, claiming our elections are safe and secure without them (and California democrats even banned voter ID outright).
And now, after Arizona was again one of the last states to finish ballot processing, the Democrats remain opposed to ensuring we have election night results…
After Tuesday’s blunder from Arizona’s chief executive, those across the state are again questioning the competency of Governor Katie Hobbs and her staffers.
Hobbs submitted an error-ridden letter to the Arizona Congressional Delegation on Tuesday afternoon requesting their assistance in resisting the Trump administration’s federal funding freeze.
Hobbs’ letter failed to include two of Arizona’s congress members: Congressmen Abraham Hamadeh and Paul Gosar. Her letter also incorrectly claimed Trump’s federal funding freeze extended to federal assistance programs providing individuals with healthcare, public safety, veterans’ services, and financial assistance.
“Without these programs, Arizonans will be denied healthcare, families will struggle to stay housed, and communities will become less safe. The effects of this funding freeze will have impacts across the state, and weaken Arizona’s ability to care for its residents,” said Hobbs. “Congress must act. These actions directly violate the Constitution’s delegation of power of the purse to Congress and the Impoundment Control Act of 1974. Courts, including the Supreme Court, have made it clear that presidents cannot unilaterally withhold the funding appropriated by Congress for these services.”
Hobbs also threatened to sue the Trump administration over its funding freeze.
As the White House and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) clarified in a memo and other public statements preceding Hobbs’ letter, the federal funding freeze doesn’t affect programs providing direct benefits to individuals. The OMB supplemented its memo with a Q&A on the guidance.
“This is not a blanket pause on federal assistance and grant programs from the Trump Administration. Individual assistance that includes […] Social Security benefits, Medicare benefits, food stamps, welfare benefits […] will not be impacted by this pause,” said Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt during Tuesday morning’s White House press briefing.
.@PressSec: "This is not a blanket pause on federal assistance and grant programs from the Trump Administration. Individual assistance that includes…Social Security benefits, Medicare benefits, food stamps, welfare benefits…will not be impacted by this pause." pic.twitter.com/4Ifx4cm97P
The following executive orders pertain to the federal funding freeze: “Protecting the American People Against Invasion,” “Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid,” “Putting America First in International Environmental Agreements,” “Unleashing American Energy,” “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing,” “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” and “Enforcing the Hyde Amendment.”
An OMB memorandum meant to offer guidance on those executive orders, M-25-13, prompted an eleventh-hour federal court injunction on Tuesday. The federal funding freeze was scheduled to take place at 5 pm on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, Leavitt confirmed that the OMB rescinded its memo to “end any confusion” created by the injunction. In effect, this provided the administration with a workaround to the court order. A follow-up OMB memo advising of its rescission directed agencies to contact their general counsel for implementation of Trump’s executive orders.
“The President’s [Executive Orders] on federal funding remain in full force and effect, and will be rigorously implemented,” said Leavitt.
As first reported by the Arizona Daily Independent, other leaders took the effort to clarify the scope of the federal funding freeze — among them, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin.
“I’ve spoken to senior officials at the White House and confirmed the temporary pause by OMB does not impact individual assistance and will not interrupt disaster recovery efforts, school and childcare funding, healthcare for seniors or low-income families, funding for our roads, meals and lunches, or any of the other misinformation that has spread,” said Youngkin. “The partisan stunt to disseminate knowingly misleading information is dangerous fearmongering and completely wrong.”
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School funding is a hot topic at the Arizona Legislature as the 57th Regular Session prepares to launch into its second month.
Arizona lawmakers and the Governor’s Office are wrestling over the looming expiration date for Proposition 123, which has helped fund the state’s K-12 schools since it was established under the previous Ducey administration.
One legislator in particular, Senator J.D. Mesnard, noted this deadline in the weekly newsletter published by Arizona Senate Republicans, saying, “With a new session comes a new opportunity to work on bills that may not have reached the finish line in the year prior. As such, I’m again working on a Proposition 123 extension plan to send to the ballot. This measure was first approved by voters in 2016. It allows a larger percentage from the state land trust to be distributed to our K-12 schools. Prop. 123 is set to expire this summer. With this in mind, Republicans backfilled the money allocated each year to K-12 schools within the last state budget, nearly $300 million, so there are no disruptions to this funding stream.”
Mesnard added, “The new Prop. 123 I’m proposing would be additional dollars on top of what we backfilled. My colleagues and I would like this money to go directly to teacher pay raises, with a goal of each educator receiving an additional $4,000 annually. I will keep you posted on the progress of Proposition 123 as well as other commonsense legislation that will hopefully receive the Governor’s signature.”
In Governor Katie Hobbs’ recent State of the State address, she touched on the vital importance of Prop 123, saying, “We must address the impending expiration of Prop 123, which provides critical funding for public schools and teachers. Renewing it is essential. If we fail to act, we are throwing away an opportunity to fund teacher pay raises and give Arizona’s children the opportunity they deserve – all without raising taxes on a single Arizonan. When Prop 123 originally passed, it was a bipartisan success and proved that Republicans and Democrats could come together and do the right thing for our students, teachers, and parents. So let’s put our kids first again and provide the certainty they and our schools need. Let’s address the Aggregate Expenditure Limit to make sure schools stay open. Let’s pass a Prop 123 extension to fund our schools without raising taxes.”
Following the Governor’s speech to both chambers of the Arizona Legislature, Senate President Pro Tempore T.J. Shope offered one of the Republican responses to her proposal. He said, “We will take action to equip our K-12 schools with quality educators at the front of every classroom by using a Proposition 123 renewal to increase teacher pay above the national average.”
Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne has also weighed in on the Prop 123 debate. Earlier this month, he posted, “We must renew Prop 123 and increase the income from the land trust, which is overflowing with money, to increase teacher salaries.”
We must renew Prop 123 and increase the income from the land trust, which is overflowing with money, to increase teacher salaries. #Arizona#Education
