by Daniel Stefanski | Jun 5, 2024 | Economy, News
By Daniel Stefanski |
Arizona legislative Republicans are seeking to bring economic relief to many of their constituents who are struggling to make ends meet.
Over the weekend, Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen issued a statement about the harsh economic circumstances faced by thousands of Arizonans – and countless more around the nation. Petersen said, “Crippling prices on basic necessities continue to wreak havoc on hardworking Arizonans. Sadly, this will remain the case while the Biden Administration continues to enact costly policies, and while Washington D.C. continues its out of control spending spree.”
The Republican Senate President pointed to a study from a local thinktank, which proved his point about the current state of the economy, as compared to years earlier, writing, “According to a recent report from the Common Sense Institute, the average family would have saved approximately $8,400 annually over the past three years, if inflation remained at the Federal Reserve’s 2% goal. In comparison to 2020, rent for a two-bedroom apartment is now 30% higher, a tank of gas is $24 dollars more, and a month’s worth of groceries for a family of four is $302 higher!”
The report also showed that “real wages in Arizona have fallen 1% since peaking in April 2020.”
As he ended his statement about the economic woes across the state and country, Petersen said, “Senate Republicans provided families some relief with a tax rebate last year, and by also eliminating the tax renters pay on their monthly bill. We are committed to doing more to ease these burdens, while Democrats, unfortunately, ignore the problem.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | May 24, 2024 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
Amid protests in the chamber, Arizona Senate Republicans passed a controversial bill to give state voters an opportunity in the November General Election to take border security into their own hands.
On Wednesday, Arizona Senate Republicans reformed the lines around an amended HCR 2060 after a one-week delay, approving the measure after a spirited debate on the floor of the chamber. The legislators weren’t the only individuals making their presence known though, as some onlookers from the gallery interrupted the legislative process to chant “Stop the Hate.”
The protestors were forced to exit the gallery because of their outbursts.
On the floor, Senate Republicans rounded up all 16 votes to give a green light to the border-related measure. Thirteen Democrats voted against it, while one member did not vote.
“The Governor’s reckless disregard for the safety and well-being of our citizens has left us no other option than to send the Secure the Border Act to the ballot to empower Arizonans to take matters into their own hands,” said Senate President Warren Petersen.
According to Arizona Senate Republicans, the measure “would provide local, county, or state law enforcement the authority to arrest individuals who are non-U.S. citizens entering Arizona from Mexico outside of a lawful port of entry.” These enhanced tools for local law enforcement to protect their communities would go into effect only if the federal courts allow a similar policy (SB 4) in the State of Texas and if Arizona voters approve this measure in November. There are additional provisions in HCR 2060 that are not tied to the legal wrangling over SB 4.
The Arizona Senate Democrats’ Caucus “X” account expressed the sentiments of its members, writing, “Today has shown once again that the Republican majority at the legislature has failed Arizona. They rushed through another ballot referral, HCR 2060, that could easily lead to racial profiling across this state, it will give law enforcement unlimited state immunity, and cost taxpayer money to fight in court.”
Arizona Republicans were again clear about the urgent need for state officials to act on the border to protect innocent families. In the press release announcing the result of the vote on HCR 2060, Republicans shared information about the skyrocketing number of suspected terrorists entering the United States over the past four years – “more than 2500%” or 367 individuals.
The Senate Republicans’ “X” account noted that Democrats had voted against “protecting our citizens from border related crimes, providing law enforcement with tools to keep our communities safe, preventing known terrorists from entering Arizona, tougher punishments for criminals trafficking deadly fentanyl across the border, and preventing those who enter Arizona illegally from benefiting from your hard-earned taxpayer dollars and public resources meant for law-abiding citizens.”
The efforts from Arizona legislators to send this referral to state voters comes more than two months after Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed SB 1231, the Arizona Border Invasion Act, which would have “ma[de] it unlawful for a person who is an alien (unlawful immigrant) to enter Arizona from a foreign nation at any location other than a lawful port of entry and outline[d] penalties for violations of illegally entering Arizona and provide[d] immunity from civil liability and indemnification for state and local government officials, employees and contractors who enforce this prohibition” – according to the purpose from the state Senate.
In her veto letter to Senate President Warren Petersen, Hobbs said, “This bill does not secure our border, will be harmful for communities and businesses in our state, and burdensome for law enforcement personnel and the state judicial system. Further, this bill presents significant constitutional concerns and would be certain to mire the State in costly and protracted litigation.”
The Democrat governor has helped to lead the opposition against this measure since its inception a few weeks ago.
Senator Janae Shamp, the sponsor of SB 1231, pushed back on the governor’s opposition, saying, “The people of Arizona have had enough with Democrats turning a blind eye to the border invasion. The chaos Governor Hobbs and Democrat lawmakers are perpetuating from Biden’s open border fiasco needs to stop, and I’m confident it will, when voters make their voices heard in November.”
To ensure that all sixteen Republicans stayed together on final passage of HCR 2060, an amendment was introduced and passed on the Senate floor ahead of the vote to send the measure to the Arizona House. The amendment, in part, “specifie[d] that being a DACA recipient is not an affirmative defense to illegal entry if the program is cancelled or a federal court has issued a final order determining that the program is unlawful, and any appeals of the final order have been exhausted.”
Before the vote on the amended version, Senate Democrats attempted to preempt the Republicans’ efforts to clarify certain provisions of the measure. The Caucus’ “X” account stated that HCR 2060’s “current form is an unfunded mandate that will give near-unlimited immunity for ANY law enforcement officer across the state to arrest someone they suspect has entered the country illegally.”
HCR 2060 now heads to the Arizona House of Representatives, where it is expected to receive expedited consideration from Speaker Ben Toma, who is the sponsor of its original form.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | May 22, 2024 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
Arizona legislative Republicans are again standing for election integrity.
Last week, Senate President Warren Petersen, House Speaker Ben Toma, and the Republican National Committee (RNC) filed a motion “for a partial stay of the injunction against the enforcement of those provisions of HB 2492 that:
1. Prohibit registered voters who have not provided documentary proof of citizenship (DPOC) from voting for President of the United States;
2. Prohibit registered voters who have not provided DPOC from voting by mail; or
3. Are inconsistent with the consent degree entered in League of United Latin American Citizens of Arizona v. Reagan.”
The case that the Arizona Legislature and the RNC weighed in on was Mi Familia Vota v. Fontes.
The Arizona State Senate Republican Caucus wrote, “Biden’s open border policies are causing chaos and eroding confidence in Arizona’s elections. Seems like common sense, but only American citizens should have the right to cast a ballot in our elections. Senate President Warren Petersen is fighting to block individuals who do not provide proof of citizenship from this privilege. Election integrity is being compromised, and we will not sit idly by while our state and country are run into the ground by flawed election practices. Today, we filed a motion asking a U.S. District Court to allow Arizona to enforce its laws that limit voting for president and voting by mail to only those who provide proof of citizenship.”
Speaker Toma added, “Arizona voting laws that require proof of citizenship are common-sense regulations & critical to ensuring confidence in Arizona elections. I intervened in the Mi Familia case last year to fully defend these laws in federal court. Today I asked the court to stay its injunction and allow Arizona to enforce its citizenship requirements in the 2024 election.”
“It’s common sense,” said President Petersen in an exclusive comment to AZ Free News. “If you are not a legal citizen, you should not have the right to vote in the US. Other countries prohibit non-citizens, and we should too. It is unfathomable that the Democrats and the judicial branch are fighting us on this issue.”
In a press release, the Republican National Committee noted the joint court filing, stating that it had “filed a motion to stay the court’s order, pending our appeal, that ruled Arizona cannot require proof of citizenship in mail voting and presidential elections. If successful, this means Arizona would require documentary proof of citizenship ahead of this year’s election as we fight the issue on appeal. This is a consequential legal step to stopping non-citizen voting in Arizona.”
In their brief, the intervenor-defendants argued that “the Ninth Circuit is likely to find that neither the NVRA nor the LULAC Consent Decree preempts HB 2492, [that] the partial nullification of HB 2492 irreparably injures the legislative intervenors as representatives of the state and of the legislative institution and inflicts a competitive injury on the RNC, [and that] the balance of equities and public policy support a partial stay.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | May 18, 2024 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
Members of Arizona’s Republican legislative leadership are again taking action against harmful energy policies for their state.
Earlier this week, Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen and House Speaker Ben Toma sued the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over select regulations targeting gas-powered vehicles. The two legislative leaders also signed onto another lawsuit, which was led by a coalition of state attorneys general from across the nation, that challenged a California rule that would also have adverse effects in Arizona.
Joining Petersen and Toma on the legal filings in federal court against the EPA was the Arizona Trucking Association.
“These rules exceed the EPA’s statutory authority, are arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of discretion,” said Senate President Warren Petersen. “In the absence of our Attorney General holding the Biden Administration accountable, the Legislature will gladly protect our citizens from this egregious abuse of power.”
In an exclusive comment to AZ Free News, Speaker Ben Toma said, “This latest California regulation attempts to override federal law, threatens to mandate the use of battery-electric vehicles, and targets owners and operators of trucking fleets. Arizona is among the top states that Californians have fled to in recent years. I joined this lawsuit to protect Arizona’s growing economy, business-friendly policies, and interstate commerce that produces fuel tax revenues for the state.”
“The EPA’s tailpipe emissions rules prioritize politics over science, posing a greater threat to public health by inflating the cost of essential and everyday goods,” said Tony Bradley, President & CEO of the Arizona Trucking Association. “Despite the trucking industry’s remarkable progress—already reducing 98.5% of emissions—we’re dedicated to further advancements through innovation and investment. Yet, the EPA’s impractical mandates, targeting a mere 1.5% of remaining emissions, burden us with unrealistic expectations and exorbitant costs. We proudly join the Arizona Legislature in challenging these detrimental regulations.”
One of the lawsuits asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to “declare [the] EPA’s final action (Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards for Heavy-Duty Vehicles – Phase 3) unlawful and vacate it.” The other took legal aim at the EPA’s final rule for Multi-Pollutant Emissions Standards for Model Years 2027 and Later Light-Duty and Medium-Duty Vehicles.
According to Arizona Senate Republicans, these regulations from the EPA “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.”
The California lawsuit was led by the State of Nebraska and challenged California’s “ban [on] internal-combustion engines in medium- and heavy-duty vehicles.” Arizona Senate Republicans pointed out that “the rule applies to any fleets headquartered in Arizona, if they operate within California, which will create dire impacts to the supply chain and dramatically raise costs for Arizona trucking companies that will inevitably be passed onto their customers.”
“The climate change agenda from Democrats imposes expensive and unattainable goals on the automotive and trucking industries, which will undoubtedly lead to soaring consumer prices,” said Senator Frank Carroll, vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Transportation, Technology & Missing Children. “We don’t have the infrastructure to power these vehicles, and the average working-class citizen or trucking business can’t afford to purchase them.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | May 5, 2024 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
Arizonans will likely have the opportunity to bolster their state’s protections against illegal immigration in the November 2024 election.
This week, Senate President Warren Petersen announced that Arizona legislators would soon be passing HCR 2060, the Secure the Border Act. Arizona Senate Republicans will “adopt a strike everything amendment to HCR 2060,” giving them the legislative vehicle to consider and pass the ballot referral for the November General Election.
“Arizona Democrats in power have shown us time after time, with every ‘no’ vote and veto of our border security legislation, that they are not concerned for the safety and well-being of our citizens, nor do they have any care for the wasted taxpayer dollars being used to mitigate the fallout from Biden’s border invasion,” said Senate President Warren Petersen. “Their priorities are tone deaf to the realities Arizonans are facing, and this will be confirmed when voters have the chance to take matters into their own hands this November. Republicans are committed to securing the border and returning sanity to our state after the chaos Democrats have willfully perpetuated with our current Governor leading the charge.”
According to Petersen’s press release, the ballot referral will be heard in committee this upcoming Wednesday, and it is expected on the Senate floor the following week.
The revelation of this push from Arizona legislators to send this referral to state voters comes almost two months after Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed SB 1231, the Arizona Border Invasion Act, which would have “ma[de] it unlawful for a person who is an alien (unlawful immigrant) to enter Arizona from a foreign nation at any location other than a lawful port of entry and outline[d] penalties for violations of illegally entering Arizona and provide[d] immunity from civil liability and indemnification for state and local government officials, employees and contractors who enforce this prohibition” – according to the purpose from the state Senate.
In her veto letter to Senate President Warren Petersen, Hobbs said, “This bill does not secure our border, will be harmful for communities and businesses in our state, and burdensome for law enforcement personnel and the state judicial system. Further, this bill presents significant constitutional concerns and would be certain to mire the State in costly and protracted litigation.”
Senator Janae Shamp, the sponsor of SB 1231, vowed that members of her party would continue to push forward solutions to combat the border crisis, saying, “The Republican-controlled Legislature will continue to prioritize closing our border and providing law enforcement with the tools they need. This veto is a slap in the face to them, Arizona’s victims of border-related crimes, and other citizens who will inevitably feel the wrath of this border invasion in one way, shape, or form at the hands of Hobbs and Biden.”
Earlier this spring, a group of legislative Republicans signed a letter to request that House Speaker Ben Toma and Senate President Warren Petersen “convene a special committee hearing, whereby Texas-style border security legislation can be promptly advanced and placed on the ballot.”
Democrats were quick to react to the latest news from President Petersen, signaling their adamant opposition to these efforts. Representative Nancy Gutierrez said, “They can feel the majority slipping away. Instead of working in a bipartisan manner, they choose to be petty and vindictive.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
