Rooting out the competition

Need a holographic ballot? … Always a way around a veto … And Tom Hanks triggers Avondale.

Arizona has an intricate process for figuring out who it will pay for state services.

But not if lawmakers make it so only one company can get the contract.

Procurement is purposely complicated and bureaucratic to ensure transparency and oversight in how taxpayer funds are spent and to mitigate fraud. But state lawmakers have found ways to carry out sole source procurements using a tactic known as a “vendor bill.”

State agencies can use a process called sole-source procurement to pay for services if “there is only one source for the required material, service or construction item.”

There’s a high bar for subverting the usual competitive bidding process. A sole source contract can only be issued if “no reasonable alternative sources exist,” and Arizona only has 71 sole source contracts out of its 6,060 active ones, per the state Department of Administration.

Vendor bills, or sole-source legislation, are bills that force the state to contract for a product or service that’s so specific that only one company could fulfill the task.

For example, lawmakers couldn’t write a law saying the state must sign a $10 million contract with the Arizona Agenda to publicize all its press releases. That would violate the state Constitution’s special legislation clause, which bars the state from giving any special or exclusive privileges to a corporation, association, or individual. (It could also violate the Constitution’s gift clause, which bars the state from offering a gift to private entities.)

But lawmakers could write a law saying the state must contract with a newsletter with more than 10,000 but less than 15,000 subscribers that publishes Monday through Friday at 6 a.m. Perhaps there’s only one newsletter that fits the bill, but technically any newsletter that meets the qualifications could get that contract.

@arizonasenatedems“Think our legislators should be able to write bills that force the State of Arizona into contracts with specific vendors? Ya, me neither.” Hear directly from Senator Lauren Kuby on why she will be voting NO on SB1123. #azleg

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That’s essentially what Republican Sen. Mark Finchem is doing with his SB1123.

After losing his bid for Arizona Secretary of State in 2022, Finchem, an election conspiracist, returned to the Legislature this year with an on-brand agenda.

He’s resurrected a bill he sponsored as a representative in 2021 to use ballot paper with anti-fraud measures like holograms, watermarks and unique barcodes. Finchem happens to have ties to a company — seemingly the only company — that meets those very specific requirements.

His bill calls for ballots to include at least three of 10 fraud deterrents like “secure holographic foil” that the anti-counterfeiting company Authentix specializes in. That company has partnered with Finchem to deploy its ballot paper in Arizona.

Last year, Finchem took his watermarked ballot crusade to Cochise County, where he found friendly company in a board where two county supervisors were hit with felony charges for refusing to certify midterm election results.

In 2022, state lawmakers allocated $1 million for counties to test ballot paper. Only Cochise County applied for the funding, and Finchem worked with then-County Recorder David Stevens to get the county to contract with Authentix.

VoteBeat found one of the company’s founders worked for Finchem’s nonprofit. The lawmaker also pioneered efforts to get Arizona and Cochise County politicians on board with the company and invited state legislators to a ballot demonstration in the Capitol basement.

Cochise County Supervisors soured on approving a contract with Authentix after VoteBeat reported the company’s political maneuvering.

This year, Finchem’s ballot bill passed the Senate Judiciary and Elections Committee on a party-line vote. Democratic Sens. Lauren Kuby and Analise Ortiz grilled him on his ties to a company that, if the bill passed, could uniquely fulfill its requirements.

Ortiz pointedly asked Finchem: “Do you know of any companies that could meet this standard that we're trying to set in this bill?

Finchem called his association with Authentix a “red herring” and minimized his ties to the company as “merely a business acquaintance” he has no financial interest in.

The senator is in good company when it comes to lawmakers running bills for friends.

Other vendor bills

• In 2014, legislators pushed a bill to make the state buy computer software for English learners with specific requirements a Utah-based firm happened to use in its programming. A lobbyist admitted the bill’s language was based on that firm’s program.

• Lawmakers approved more than $2 million for “virtual training for law enforcement officers” in 2016. The legislation calls for a “competitive bid process” for a company that can put trainees in a “three hundred degree screen environment.” Those very narrow parameters were perfectly suited for VirTra Inc. to put police in simulated active shooter situations.

Only one person for the job

Sole source procurement is rare, but there’s a legal path for it outside of legislative maneuvering, especially in the executive office.

• Former Republican Gov. Doug Ducey’s administration used the governor’s declaration of a state of emergency on the border to subvert a standard bidding process and give a Florida contractor $195 million to place empty shipping containers along the southern border, then take them back down after a federal lawsuit. The estimated cost in the original no-bid contract was $65 million.

• Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs’ program to use $30 million to pay off some Arizonans’ medical debt was carried out through a no-bid contract with the nonprofit RIP Medical Debt. There was no competitive bidding process — only a four-day comment period for other bidders to come forward. No one else did.

That doesn’t look good

Lawmakers don’t only run bills to benefit a certain company — they also push policies that benefit themselves. Arizona’s lawmakers are subject to lax conflict of interest rules that say a law isn’t a conflict if more than 10 people benefit from it.

• Republican Sen. Kevin Payne has repeatedly sponsored bills to loosen food truck regulations. He owns the K Star BBQ food truck and wants food trucks to be allowed to set up shop in residential areas.

• Republican Sen. David Gowan always wants to ignite Arizona’s fireworks industry through his legislation, such as allowing “mine and shell” fireworks in the desert. He’s also a fireworks salesman.

• Republican Senate President Warren Petersen called for an Attorney General investigation into Paradise Valley’s short-term rental regulations, which affects all cities' regulations. He owned a million-dollar Airbnb in Gilbert at the time.

• Former Republican lawmaker Eddie Farnsworth pushed to exempt charter schools from state oversight while boosting charter schools’ per-pupil funding while he ran a four-school charter chain.

Former Republican Senate President Steve Yarbrough championed Arizona’s School Tuition Organization (STO) program as he headed the Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization, which received $116 million from the state-issued tax credits.

Dusting off the veto stamp: Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed the first bill of this legislative session in turning down Republicans’ attempts to speed up election results by no longer letting voters drop off their ballots on Election Day, per the Republic’s Stacey Barchenger. The governor said the bill would make voting more difficult and called a provision to force schools to serve as polling places a “nonstarter.” Republicans have already advanced a separate ballot referral to bypass the governor’s veto and send the same question to the voters for the final say in 2026. And if voters do approve it at the ballot, it’ll be almost impossible to change thanks to the “Voter Protection Act.”

One step closer: The “Arizona ICE Act” cleared a hurdle this week when lawmakers on the Arizona Senate’s Military Affairs and Border Security Committee gave the bill a green light, the Arizona Mirror’s Gloria Rebecca Gomez reports. The bill would require local and state law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration officials, as the Trump administration launches a widespread crackdown. A similar bill to require cities, counties, the governor and the attorney general to enforce federal actions, orders, and programs related to federal immigration laws, cleared the full House on a party-line vote yesterday. That bill automatically repeals in 2029, when Donald Trump’s term as president runs out.

Citizens, not residents: State Sen. Jake Hoffman says state officials should take over the counting for the decennial census, at an estimated cost of $158 million, Capitol scribe Howie Fischer reports. He wants to get a measure on the 2026 ballot for voters to decide whether non-citizens should be included in the count, even though the census is meant to include all residents, not just citizens. Senate Minority Leader Priya Sundareshan called it “gerrymandering,” while Sen. Lauren Kuby, also a Democrat, said officials knocking on doors and asking if people are citizens could have a “chilling” effect on people responding to the census.

Bribes at DES: Two former employees at the Arizona Department of Economic Security pleaded guilty to accepting bribes, the Republic’s Perry Vandell reports. The bribes led to the approval of unqualified unemployment and pandemic assistance claims. On top of that, they also embezzled more than $3 million. The charges were brought by Arizona’s top federal prosecutor, U.S. Attorney Gary Restaino, who was fired by the Trump administration this week, KTAR’s Kevin Stone reports. It’s common for new presidents to replace U.S. attorneys early on in their administrations. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Rachel C. Hernandez is now the acting U.S. attorney. She might be in that role for a while. Last time around, Trump waited more than a year to nominate somebody to serve as U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona.

We know about Trump waiting so long to appoint a U.S. attorney because Curt covered federal courts back in 2018.
Institutional knowledge and seasoned reporters are worth every penny.

Legal camping: As local governments try to deal with homelessness, Tucson officials may take a cue from their counterparts in Phoenix, the Arizona Luminaria’s Yana Kunichoff reports. Tucson officials are eyeing Phoenix’s city-run campground that provides storage for belongings and more flexible policies for pets. Since 2023, Phoenix officials have housed more than 1,300 people at the “Safe Outdoor Zone,” which is not the same as “The Zone” that Phoenix Police cleared in 2023.

Nothing to see here: New Maricopa County Sheriff Jerry Sheridan decided jail employees shouldn’t be scanned for contraband in mid-January. Already in February, 12 inmates suffered drug overdoses (one was fatal) at the women-only Estrella Jail, Phoenix New Times’ TJ L’Heureux reports. Officials claim there is no connection between the new policy and the alarmingly high number of overdoses.

HB2235: “Slowpoke” bill

Sponsor: Republican Rep. Teresa Martinez

• What would it do?: Officials would put signs on interstate highways telling slow drivers to stay out of the farthest left lane and impose a $200 civil penalty for violators.

  • State and local authorities would place signs on portions of I-8, I-10, and I-40 that have two or more lanes in the same direction. The bill does not apply to I-17.

  • Impose a civil penalty of $200 for slower traffic driving in the farthest left lane. (An earlier version of the bill included a $500 fine.)

• Status: The bill is alive and moving.

  • The House passed the bill on Monday by a 47-12 vote, with one abstention. It’s now ready for the Senate.

• Big picture: This is the second year in a row that lawmakers have tried to impose a fine for slow driving.

  • Last year, lawmakers tried unsuccessfully to impose a fine with SB1681, but it died in the Senate.

• Get involved: Use our grassroots advocacy tool, Wolfpack, to howl at lawmakers about the bill.

  • If you like the idea, send an email to your lawmakers by clicking here.

  • If you hate the idea, click here instead.

A “Saturday Night Live” skit really got under the skin of Avondale City Councilwoman Jeannette Garcia.

Tom Hanks played a racist contestant on SNL’s “Black Jeopardy” skit while wearing a red MAGA hat. Garcia went off, calling Hanks a “pedo” and an “a**hole.”

Then it spun even more out of control.

Elon Musk retweeted Garcia, then reporter Brahm Resnik pointed out Garcia is an elected official.

When somebody posted her office contact information (which is public record), Garcia said she started receiving threats. She contacted the Phoenix Police Department and said the person who posted her office information works for a Phoenix City Council member.