News & Views 1/26
Phoenix leaders just informed the Justice Department that the city can operate its own law enforcement activities without federal oversight. The leaders understand that spending untold millions of taxpayer dollars for the overreaching federal oversight of local law enforcement is ineffective at bringing change and often makes residents of the city less safe.
RELATED: Task force wants law changes to put more cops in schools
A special task force wants to expand state laws that fund school resource officers to also let districts spend grant dollars on safety hardware, including artificial intelligence to spot would-be shooters.
Mayes threatens feds with court over state tax rebate
The Internal Revenue Service has no right to force 750,000 Arizona families who got a state income tax rebate last year to now pay federal taxes on the funds, Attorney General Kris Mayes said Thursday.
RELATED; ‘Primary culprit’ in Arizona’s $1.7 billion budget hole is sagging income tax
Arizona lawmakers must address a $1.7 billion deficit in the coming months as they craft legislation to patch up the current year’s budget and develop a spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year, budget analysts said Thursday.
RELATED; Governor’s wish list depends on cuts to GOP-favored programs, spending
Governor Katie Hobbs proposed a $16.2 billion spending plan built on cuts to GOP-favored programs. The plan includes cuts to vouchers and the elimination of a tax credit program for private school tuition.
RELATED: Representative Ruben Gallego hosts roundtable on cutting costs for Arizonans
Gallego worked to address Arizona first-time home buyers, seniors, and veterans who are being priced out by introducing legislation at a federal level.
Gov. Katie Hobbs cited an Arizona Republic investigation on issues behind the University of Arizona’s multimillion-dollar budget shortfall in calling for action to reverse the university’s “lack of accountability, transparency and leadership.”
RELATED: UA President Robbins OK’d online school deal despite red flags. It’s costing the university $265M
When the University of Arizona announced its acquisition of Ashford University, a for-profit online college with a history of fraudulent marketing practices that saddled students with debt and questionable degrees, administrators assuaged dissenters with a promise: The beleaguered school would increase student diversity and provide a guaranteed source of revenue.
Bill to make school board elections partisan advances
A bill to make school district elections explicitly partisan passed the Senate Education Committee on party lines, though the sponsor already noted the need to strike a provision requiring board members to run in partisan primaries.
.Will the Supreme Court’s case on Trump’s eligibility impact Arizona candidates? Maybe
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in a case surrounding the fate of his name appearing on the 2024 Colorado presidential ballot.
RELATED: Donald Trump cancels visit to Arizona, cites scheduling conflict with a court hearing
Former President Donald Trump has canceled his Friday visit to Arizona, which was intended to help raise money for the state Republican Party, which is now in turmoil following the abrupt resignation on Wednesday of its chair, Jeff DeWit
RELATED: Trump calls for states to deploy National Guard to Texas amid border feud
RELATED: Romney: ‘Appalling’ Trump wants to kill border bill so he can ‘blame Biden’
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) on Thursday took aim at former President Trump for pushing Republican lawmakers to oppose a border deal so that he could use the issue to campaign against President Biden in the 2024 presidential election.
‘She’s walking a tightrope’: How will Kari Lake’s close ties to Trump play in Senate race?
A fork in the road for Lake’s Senate campaign?
Kari Lake and Jeff DeWit set the Arizona GOP on self-destruct mode
Opinion: Lake releases a secret recording she sat on for 10 months and takes down state GOP chair Jeff DeWit. So much for the party righting itself.
Sullied ex-AZ GOP chair Jeff DeWit should rat out ‘powerful people’ behind Kari Lake offer
Opinion: He knows who was behind the lucrative job offer he made on a leaked tape to Kari Lake if she quit the U.S. Senate race. And they know that he knows.
Kari Lake did not just topple the head of the Arizona Republican Party
Opinion: Kari Lake channels her inner Richard Nixon and leaves us with important lessons about her and the Arizona Republican Party.
Panel cites local control to kill 2 transportation bills
Democrats killed two pieces of legislation on Jan. 22 with the help of a GOP senator — one proposing a ban on photo radar and the other seeking to eliminate bicycle lanes in municipal plans.
Some big solar farm operators could face new Arizona tax
A proposed bill would require counties to establish a royalty on every dollar received by companies that operate solar farms for commercial use.
RELATED:Salt River Project is raking in record revenue
If profit amounts hold through the next five months, customers would likely benefit in the long-term
Gilbert Mayor Brigette Peterson halts reelection bid; some critics say she should go now
Gilbert politicians Thursday were left to process the implications of the sudden announcement that Gilbert Mayor Brigette Peterson will not seek reelection to a second term after all.
RELATED: Peoria councilmember quits reelection, cites ‘deception and dishonesty’ in politics
Disillusioned with politics, Peoria Councilmember Brad Shafer plans to step away from office at the end of the year, announcing this week that he will not seek reelection for his seat as the city’s Mesquite District representative.
RELATED: Jennifer Longdon, a champion for gun-violence prevention, resigns from Arizona Legislature
State Rep. Jennifer Longdon, a Democrat representing central to north Phoenix, is leaving the Legislature effective Friday.
Ethics panel probes Sun’s alleged death threats
Two witnesses testified Jan. 25 to a House ethics panel alleging they directly heard a Democratic representative threaten the life of a Tolleson city employee.
RELATED: Tucson man sentenced to unsupervised probation after threatening Mark Finchem
A Tucson man was sentenced to a year of unsupervised probation after he was found guilty of threatening Mark Finchem, a former state representative who unsuccessfully ran for Arizona secretary of state in 2022.
Election distrust in Cochise County runs deep, and change is slow to come
A commotion over the midterm election in the rural Arizona county attracted national attention. Now, there are efforts to connect and rebuild.
Yellow Sheet
HERE’S ONE NAME MAKING THE RUMOR MILL FOR AZGOP CHAIR: A flier advertising the“ultra-grassroots”candidates for theAZGOP statecommittee is making the rounds and listing. Corp Comm chair Jim O’Connor as a potential predecessor to DeWit. O’Connor previously told our reporter he would not be seeking re-election for the AZ Corporation Commission. O’Connor unsuccessfully ran for AZGOP chair in 2017.. . more
JUST DON’T WRITE YOUR WINNING BRIEF WITH CHAPGPT: The Arizona Supreme Court put together a steering committee to evaluate the impact and integration of artificial intelligence into the judicial system, noting the potential “to improve the efficiency of business processes, reduce case backlogs, enhance overall operational effectiveness, and improve access.” Chief Justice Robert Brutinel is slated to chair the committee with membership spanning superior and municipal courts, clerk’s offices, universities and the public. . . more
