Howard Fischer
Capitol Media Services
Senate President Warren Petersen is suing Gov. Katie Hobbs over what he says is her end-run around state laws giving the Senate the power to confirm, or reject, her picks to head state agencies.
In a new lawsuit filed Wednesday, the Gilbert Republican said state law allows a governor to choose agency directors. But he said that is conditional on Senate approval, something that has yet to be given for 13 of her nominees.
The governor, however, chose not to wait, deciding in September to withdraw the pending nominations and then have each of them reappointed as “executive deputy directors” of those same agencies. And since each agency has no actual director, the governor contends that gives each of the deputies the same powers as if they were in charge, and all without the need to get required Senate approval.
Now Petersen wants Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Joseph Mikitish to order Hobbs to send her nominations to the Senate by Jan. 12, the end of the first full week of the upcoming legislative session.
Thomas Basile, one of Petersen’s attorneys, said what Hobbs is doing is illegal.
