by Corinne Murdock | Jan 22, 2023 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
On Tuesday, lawmakers asked Secretary of State Adrian Fontes to reject the Election Procedure Manuals (EPM) drafted by Governor Katie Hobbs when she was the secretary of state, per recent court decisions.
The dubious EPMs were the 2019 and 2021 versions drafted by Governor Katie Hobbs during her service as secretary of state. Court decisions in Brnovich v. Hobbs, McKenna v. Soto, Leach v. Hobbs, and Leibsohn v. Hobbs declared that these EPMs weren’t in line with state law.
In a joint statement issued Tuesday, State Reps. Jacqueline Parker (R-LD15) and Alex Kolodin (R-LD03) insisted to Fontes that the court decisions merited review of the EPMs. Parker chairs the House Committee on Municipal Oversight & Elections, and Kolodin serves as the vice chair.
“Recent Arizona court decisions give us serious concerns about the lawfulness of former Secretary Hobbs’ 2019 EPM and 2021 draft EPM,” said Parker and Kolodin. “Arizona law purports to authorize the EPM to achieve and maintain the maximum degree of correctness, impartiality, uniformity and efficiency in voting procedures throughout the state. But we question whether these mandates have been followed. We hope Secretary Fontes more fully evaluates where the prior Secretary overstepped her bounds and look forward to hearing how those errors will be corrected.”
Parker and Kolodin asked Fontes to include them in the stakeholder input process. They asked Fontes whether he would disregard Hobbs’ 2021 draft EPM; if he believed the 2019 EPM followed and carried the enforcement of state statute; and for his supplementation of any guidance, statements, emails, or directives that Hobbs or her agents gave to county election officials concerning the 2022 General Election not written in the 2019 EPM.
The duo also asked Fontes for copies of any and all drafts of the 2023 EPM, as well as communications regarding third-party input or proposals. They set next Tuesday, Jan. 24, as their deadline.
Brnovich v. Hobbs ruled that the 2021 draft EPM failed to meet statute deadline. McKenna v. Soto and Leach v. Hobbs determined that the 2019 EPM language added onto statute language and was therefore impermissible. Finally, Leibsohn v. Hobbs ruled that Hobbs’ electronic registration process for signature gathering was deficient and non-compliant with state statute.
When former attorney general Mark Brnovich rejected the 2021 draft EPM over concerns later confirmed by court decisions, Hobbs insisted that his grievances had no merit.
It appears that Fontes wouldn’t disregard Hobbs’ EPMs, regardless of court decisions. Fontes supported the Arizona Supreme Court decision upholding the 2019 EPM in McKenna v. Soto.
“This effectively shifts the burden from the petitioner (voter) to the government, maximizing all voters’ voices in the process,” stated Fontes. “This is a MASSIVE WIN for voters!”
Fontes also told his GOP opponent in the secretary of state race, Mark Finchem, to read the EPM last September.
Fontes’ office didn’t issue an immediate public response to the request letter. However, he did advertise an upcoming panel with Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by AZ Free Enterprise Club | Jan 21, 2023 | Opinion
By the Arizona Free Enterprise Club |
The people of Arizona do not want to turn our state into the next California. But just a few weeks into her reign as governor, Katie Hobbs has made it clear—that’s exactly what she intends to do. Last week, Hobbs released her first budget plan, and it’s nothing more than a liberal wish list of big spending, extreme proposals, and corporate welfare designed to reward her special interest friends.
Her first target is education, and she wasted no time going after Arizona’s expansion of Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESAs). Yes, the program that is so popular that it overwhelmed the Department of Education’s website immediately after launch—the one that even some Democrats have openly supported. Despite being a private schooler herself, Hobbs wants to dismantle school choice for all with a full repeal of universal ESAs. And that’s just the start…
>>> CONTINUE READING >>>
by AZ Free Enterprise Club | Jan 18, 2023 | Opinion
By the Arizona Free Enterprise Club |
From their pulpit at press conferences, they shrugged off questions and concerns about the potential for long lines on election day and whether they would have their voting centers properly equipped. For weeks, the mainstream media blasted out to Arizonans that they are competent election officials, about to implement the “safest, most secure” election in history.
Then it all came crumbling down in what was one of the worst election days in recent history. Long lines, yes. But more importantly, critical equipment failures resulted in the complete inability to tabulate ballots at dozens of voting locations for several hours. It didn’t stop there. The issues persisted in the coming weeks for Maricopa County, who responded to requests for information with hostility. And then, we found out Pinal County (following major problems in their primary election) had miscounted hundreds of ballots, shrinking the already miniscule gap between the candidates for attorney general.
Two months later, these issues are still being litigated. But regardless of how the election contests being pursued by Kari Lake and Abe Hamadeh turn out, nothing changes the fact that Maricopa and Pinal Counties bungled the election.
Going forward, Arizona must learn from what happened, craft meaningful solutions, and focus efforts on productive goals ahead of 2024…
>>> CONTINUE READING >>>
by Corinne Murdock | Jan 14, 2023 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
The newly appointed head of the Arizona Department of Child Safety (DCS) wants to make child services interventions equitable.
Governor Katie Hobbs appointed Matthew Stewart last month following a ProPublica-NBC News report in December alleging that racial disparities plagued the DCS. The report featured Stewart as evidence of the alleged disparity issue.
According to the investigative report, DCS investigations increased for Black families while overall DCS investigations went down
Stewart worked at DCS for over a decade, first as a case manager then training supervisor. Stewart told reporters that he’d discovered the alleged racial disparity in 2018, but didn’t leave the agency for another two years. Afterwards, Stewart founded a nonprofit advocating for keeping families together, Our Sister Our Brother (OSOB). Their website ceased being public around the time of Stewart’s appointment. (An archive of the latest version of the website is available here). According to Stewart’s LinkedIn page, he no longer serves as the CEO of OSOB.
Just over a week before Hobbs appointed Stewart, his advocacy organization declared that the state needed to end interventions. In the hashtags, OSOB included references to “anti-racism education,” “anti-racism,” “racial justice,” “social justice advocacy,” “anti-racist,” and “diversity, equity, inclusion.”
“We need to move away from interventions. Communities need resources that are proactive rather than reactive,” stated OSOB.
The OSOB website, prior to being taken down, declared its “heightened focus” as undoing the “overrepresentation” of Black children in foster care. OSOB cited from nonprofit and DCS data that five percent of Arizona children are Black, yet they represent about 17 percent of the foster care population. Researchers estimated that approximately 63 percent of Black children will undergo a DCS investigation before they turn 18.
In his interview with ProPublica-NBC News, Stewart said that DCS should focus more on solving “generational poverty and the resulting trauma” that was “centuries in the making.” Stewart expressed doubt that DCS could have a positive effect on lower-income Black families.
“I simply don’t think DCS is the agency to do this,” he stated.
Stewart said that DCS was part of a negative cultural fixation on Black families.
“We have a culture that says Black families need to be watched and if we don’t agree with the things that are going on with them, we are the saviors of these children and are charged with punishing their parents,” stated Stewart.
Stewart’s father, Warren Stewart, founded the oldest Black Baptist church in the Valley and instigated the state’s approval of Martin Luther King Jr. Day as an official state holiday.
The state created DCS in 2014 following systemic failures within Child Protective Services (CPS). In 2013, Hobbs, at the time a state senator and social worker, signaled support for prioritizing preventative measures rather than interventions. She said that CPS lacked employee support and infrastructure: namely, more funding to assist families that would prevent them from entering the system. Hobbs portrayed it as a cost-saving measure.
“We need to do so much more on the front end to help families on the front end who are struggling to stay out of the CPS system. What we could invest on that end is so much less than we would spend on the back end once people are in the system,” said Hobbs.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by AZ Free Enterprise Club | Jan 14, 2023 | Opinion
By the Arizona Free Enterprise Club |
For the last two years, Republicans have been winning the education debate, and Democrats are not happy. Public education has long been their baby, using it to indoctrinate children with their radical ideas all while deceiving voters into outrageous tax increases.
But after watching Republican Tom Horne win the race for Arizona’s Superintendent of Public Instruction this November—while 19 conservatives picked up school board seats—Democrats went into a tailspin. That’s why it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that Governor Katie Hobbs is willing to do whatever it takes to change the narrative, including lying to voters about K-12 education spending…
>>> CONTINUE READING >>>
