by Daniel Stefanski | Nov 3, 2024 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
Arizona’s Senate President is working to defend state laws and to elect President Donald J. Trump to the White House.
Last week, Senator Warren Petersen, the leader of his chamber, issued a statement after sitting in depositions for legal cases that he is a part of, involving two laws passed by the Arizona Legislature – a citizens-only voting law and the Save Women’s Sports Act.
In his statement, Petersen asserted that he intervened in the defense of both these laws because of the refusal of Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes to do so. He also said, “You might ask why I have to sit through a grueling deposition when I have legislative immunity. The answer is that the liberal 9th Circuit Court does not believe I enjoy that constitutional right. It is hard to believe they could get something so simple wrong but this is a perfect example of why they are the most overturned circuit in the nation.”
Petersen promised to appeal both of the cases to the Supreme Court of the United States, adding, “I am confident we will prevail. The 9th Circuit may not know what a woman is but most of the Supreme Court still does. The 9th Circuit may no longer believe that only citizens should vote but the majority of the Supreme court does. I am also confident the Supreme Court will rule that elected officials are not subject to such depositions.”
He finished by highlighting the necessity of electing former President Donald J. Trump to the White House, writing, “Just another reminder to me of why we need President Trump. He will appoint more judges that believe in the original intent of the Constitution.”
Petersen’s statement was greeted by praise for his efforts from many of his followers. State Senator Sylvia Allen said, “Thanks Senator for standing strong on behalf of the citizens of Arizona.” Another grassroots activist replied, “Warren Petersen for Attorney General 2026!!”
The Senate President’s prolific defense of state and federal laws over the past two years in the Arizona Legislature has launched him into a conversation for state Attorney General as politicos start to look at the fast-approaching 2026 cycle. Petersen has joined several briefs and lawsuits from Republican attorneys general around the country in lieu of Mayes’ involvement, giving him first-hand experience in the world of a state’s top prosecutor for select issues. If he would run for the post, it is unknown who – if anyone – might contend with him for the primary election nomination.
Mayes is expected to run for re-election as Attorney General, yet her public and private disagreements with Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs have led some to wonder if there could be a significant Democrat primary election brewing for the office of the state’s chief executive.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Warren Petersen | Oct 28, 2024 | Opinion
Arizona voters deserve to know election results within hours, not weeks. There’s one important step we can take to make this a reality.
By Warren Petersen |
We’re in the final stretch of the 2024 election cycle. In just a matter of days, we should know the outcome of races and issues on the ballot that are important to the lives and livelihoods of Americans and the Grand Canyon state.
The key word is “should.” Unfortunately, as recent history has shown us, receiving results on winners and losers may not happen in a timely fashion in our all-important swing state.
During the last several election cycles, Arizona was in the national spotlight with embarrassing headlines because of election issues. Citizens have been rightly frustrated over delayed results and day-of voting problems. However, we don’t have to perpetuate these narratives again come November. By voting early in-person, people can avoid day-of voting problems and know the final outcomes of races on election night, instead of weeks later.
If more people understood how votes are counted, they would probably change their voting behavior. The first batch of results appearing on T.V. screens at 8 p.m. on election night are the ballots that were dropped off, or mailed in, before 7 p.m. the Friday before election day. Then, from 9 p.m. until about midnight, results start coming in from people who voted in person on election day. If this was how everyone voted, we would likely know the results by midnight despite close races. But close races, and the phenomena known as “late earlies,” have thrown a wrench into the process and are prolonging results.
Arizona has been the epicenter for close races. In 2022, several races, with millions of votes cast, were decided by just a few hundred votes. These close races have not only made your vote more important than ever, but they have also created a situation where the winners of races cannot be determined until nearly every single vote is counted, and that takes quite a bit of time.
Many people don’t realize this, but if you drop off your early ballot on election day, which is also known as a “late early,” it does not get counted for days. When ballots are dropped off on election day, they must go through the signature verification process. If there are problems with your signature or ballot, then your ballot needs to be “cured.” The county has five days to cure a ballot, and if the county cannot reach you to cure your ballot within that time frame, then it does not get counted at all.
It can be frustrating that election officials have not been able to administer elections without this issue, but citizens can take action to avoid voting delays and election result delays. Vote early in person, Monday through Saturday, until election day. Some vote centers in Maricopa County are even open on Sundays. Early voting locations can be found at www.beballotready.vote.
Don’t let our elections drag on, and don’t let yourself become disenfranchised because of an issue with a ballot dropped off on election day. The future of our state and our nation are dependent on every single vote. The country is watching and waiting for our important swing state to get this right and to provide results in a timely manner.
Warren Petersen is the President of the Arizona State Senate and represents Legislative District 14. You can email him at wpetersen@azleg.gov.
by Daniel Stefanski | Oct 28, 2024 | Economy, News
By Daniel Stefanski |
Arizona home prices continue to be a major issue for people in the closing weeks of the 2024 General Election.
Last week, the Common Sense Institute Arizona unveiled its report for “Arizona Housing Affordability” for quarter 3 of 2024, sharing a “comprehensive analysis that details current challenges in Arizona’s housing market, including the ongoing housing shortage, escalating costs, and affordability issues that persist across the state.”
The report highlights that the state “is currently experiencing a housing shortfall of 65,721 units,” that “the average home price is nearly 23% higher than it would have been if prices had maintained the pre-pandemic trend,” and that “the number of building permits issued in Arizona has continued to drop, affecting the state’s ability to meet housing demand.”
“The high costs of housing in Arizona are creating significant barriers to homeownership, especially for lower-income families and first-time buyers,” said Zachary Milne, Senior Economist and Research Analyst. “While minor improvements in mortgage rates have provided some relief, the state’s overall housing deficit continues to widen, reflecting the need for housing policies that boost supply and affordability.”
CSI found that “it would take at least ten years for Arizona to resolve this [housing] deficit, that “it would still take 41 months for housing prices to fall back in line with the 2012-2019 trend if prices continued to decline at this pace [of July and August], that “new homebuyers today face nearly $500 more in monthly mortgage costs,” and that “it would take Maricopa County over 85 years to close their housing deficit.”
In a comment to AZ Free News about the report, Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen said, “It’s truly unfortunate the Governor vetoed the bipartisan Arizona Starter Homes Act and halted new home construction in two of the most booming areas in the Valley. Her actions have negatively impacted Arizona’s housing supply by contributing to the shortage, and as a result, hardworking Arizonans are having a difficult time achieving their American dream of homeownership because of skyrocketing prices. Republicans will continue to put bills on her desk to help alleviate the supply shortage next session, and we hope she will do the right thing by signing them.”
Recent polls have indicated that the issue of housing affordability is a top-three concern for many voters around the country, including in Arizona, affecting the upcoming election in November.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | Oct 27, 2024 | News
By Daniel Stefanksi |
Two Arizona Republicans are challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) increased regulation on energy policies affecting many Americans and Arizonans.
Last week, Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen and House Speaker Ben Toma joined a coalition of states and private parties in an amicus brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Nebraska v. Environmental Protection Agency. The petitioners are challenging the EPA’s final rule, “Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards for Heavy-Duty Vehicles – Phase 3.”
According to the press release issued by the State Senate Republican Caucus, this newly enacted standard by the EPA would “require by 2032 nearly 70% of all new vehicles and 25% of all new semitrucks or similar heavy-duty vehicles sold in the United States to be electric, guaranteeing to raise the costs of everything Arizonans purchase, and without adequate charging infrastructure in place or the necessary power grid capacity to accommodate the transition.”
In the brief, the coalition argues that “under the Major Questions Doctrine, EPA lacks statutory authority to effectively mandate electric vehicles,” that “EPA lacks statutory authority to set standards that can be met only by averaging in electric vehicles,” and that “EPA’s rule is arbitrary and capricious.”
“Our federal government does not have the power to mandate electric vehicles, and their actions show just how out of touch the Biden-Harris Administration is by creating costly policies that will inflict more financial pain on our citizens who have already been burned by skyrocketing costs over the past three-and-a-half years,” said Senate President Warren Petersen. “The EPA egregiously overstepped its authority with these arbitrary rules, and the negative impact of forcing industries that every American consumer depends on, to make unreasonable and unattainable changes, will be detrimental to our economy. The Arizona Legislature will continue to hold this Administration accountable and defend our citizens from this big government negligence.”
“Hardworking Americans are hurting enough as it is from soaring inflation caused by the Biden-Harris Administration,” said Senator Frank Carroll, vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Transportation, Technology & Missing Children. “The last thing we need is for this Administration to prioritize expensive and scientifically baseless polices all in the name of a radical climate change agenda from Democrats that imposes unattainable goals, which will lead to soaring consumer prices. The average working-class citizen or trucking business will cripple under these mandates and the cost of just about every basic essential will increase exponentially.”
The coalition writes, “As in West Virginia, EPA cannot unilaterally reshape the energy and transportation sectors by reimagining its statutory authority. Heavy-duty vehicles transport city commuters, move consumer goods across the country, remove refuse, and harvest our food. The question of whether and how internal-combustion-engine heavy-duty vehicles should be phased out in favor of electric vehicles is hugely consequential: It involves millions of jobs, the restructuring of entire industries, and the Nation’s energy independence. If the federal government is going to require that major shift, then a Congress accountable to the American public must say so. It has not.”
Over the past two years, Petersen and Toma have led a prolific defense of state and federal laws against the Democrat administrations in both the Arizona Governor’s Office and the White House. The lawmakers have long had their sights on the Biden Administration’s environmental and energy policies that have threatened to overhaul the country’s systems.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | Oct 22, 2024 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
Arizona Republicans continue to fight to protect the integrity of women’s sports.
Last week, Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen, House Speaker Ben Toma, and Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne filed a cert petition at the Supreme Court of the United States, asking the nation’s high court to accept a case to decide the fate of the state’s Save Women’s Sports Act, which was signed into law in 2022.
“We cannot remain silent and allow these wrongs against women and girls to continue. We must stand up and fight to protect our daughters, nieces, sisters, and granddaughters from bigger and stronger males who are claiming their identities, their private spaces, their sports, and are putting their safety at risk,” said Petersen. “What’s even more disheartening is that we have a Democratic Governor and Attorney General that claim to support women, but they refuse to keep boys out of girls’ sports. Republicans stand in solidarity to defend women and girls, and I’m confident the U.S. Supreme Court will make it clear- Arizona’s Save Women’s Sports Act should be enforced.”
In their brief to the U.S. Supreme Court, the Republicans argue that “the Ninth Circuit decided an important question of federal law in an opinion that contradicts this Court’s precedent and splits with other circuits on multiple issues, [and that] this case presents an ideal vehicle to address these important questions.”
In July, Judge Jennifer Zipps granted a preliminary injunction against SB 1165, the Save Women’s Sports Act, which blocked the law from going into effect. Arizona’s Republican Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne, the defendant in the case, promised to appeal the ruling, saying, “This will ultimately be decided by the United States Supreme Court, and they will rule in our favor. The Plaintiffs in this case claimed that this only involves pre-pubescent boys, but we presented peer-reviewed studies that show pre-pubescent boys have an advantage over girls in sports. The only expert presented by the Plaintiffs was a medical doctor who makes his money doing sex transition treatments on children and who has exactly zero peer-reviewed studies to support his opinion.”
On the other side, one of the representatives of the plaintiffs, Justin R. Rassi from Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, lauded the judge’s ruling, writing, “The Court’s well-reasoned decision exposes the lack of any legitimate justification for this discriminatory law, which inflicts severe and irreparable harm on transgender girls like Megan and Jane. We are very happy that, as a result of this ruling, Jane and Megan will be immediately able to resume playing sports with their friends.”
A panel from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals previously ruled that the district court’s opinion was in order, agreeing that “before puberty, there are no significant differences in athletic performance between boys and girls;” and that “Arizona’s transgender ban discriminates on its face based on transgender status.” This decision led to the appeal to the nation’s high court by the Republican petitioners.
Republican State Senator Wendy Rogers cheered on the filing at the U.S. Supreme Court, writing, “Arizona Senate Republicans protecting women!”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
