By Reagan Priest | State Affairs
Gov. Katie Hobbs is banning executive branch employees from using insider information obtained from their jobs to place bets on prediction markets in an executive order signed today.
“All Arizona State executive branch employees are strictly prohibited from disclosing or using any nonpublic information obtained due to their public service to personally profit from, avoid loss from, or assist another person or entity, in profiting or avoiding loss from participation in prediction markets,” the executive order reads.
As inspiration for the prohibition, the executive order cites high-profile cases in which federal employees were indicted for using insider information to profit from prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket. The executive order does not indicate the state has any reason to believe that its employees have done the same.
The executive order does not extend to the judicial branch, Legislature, Arizona Corporation Commission or state agencies headed by other elected officials like the Secretary of State’s Office, Attorney General’s Office, the Treasurer’s Office and the Department of Education. But Hobbs is encouraging those agencies to adopt “comparable policies” for their own employees.
