The Daily Agenda: Let the session begin
Welp, almost none of that is happening ... The radical woke agenda ain't what it used to ... And let's all walk out.
Gov. Katie Hobbs’ first State of the State address largely focused on dismantling some of her predecessor’s priorities while foreshadowing some of the spending we’ll see in her budget this Friday.
She again told lawmakers she wanted to work with them, provided they didn’t come to her with conspiracy theories and other assorted nonsense. And for a former elections official, Hobbs didn’t really mention that topic in Monday’s remarks.
“Let’s work together to make a significant impact in the lives of the families and communities of this state today and for years to come by lowering costs, investing in public education, securing our water future, tackling the affordable housing crisis and other real issues that are holding back too many,” Hobbs said.
Despite the pleas for collaboration in her speech, some GOP lawmakers already protested, either by walking out or turning their backs to the new governor (more on that in today’s laugh).
And the speech didn’t offer a lot of room for across-the-aisle collaboration. She mostly defended access to abortion, sought more accountability for charter and private schools, wanted to provide better support for low-income families and announced plans for a college program for Dreamers. In other words, it was a Democratic governor’s speech.
Here are the major initiatives Hobbs outlined on Monday.
Education:
Rolling back results-based funding, a Gov. Doug Ducey program that gave more money to schools that got good test scores and letter grades
Creating a teacher retention task force
Giving more funding for the state’s new college promise program, including money for helping 10,000 more students and $40 million for a promise program for Dreamers
Adding more oversight of any schools with state funding
Lifting the school spending cap, specifically giving a shoutout to a bill from Republican Rep. David Cook to do so on a one-time basis
Economy:
Investing $150 million more into the Housing Trust Fund
Creating a state-level child tax credit with $50 million
Exempting diapers and feminine hygiene products from sales taxes
Environment:
Announcing an executive order to launch the Governor’s Water Policy Council to modernize and expand the Arizona Groundwater Management Act
Ending loopholes that allow Saudi farms to pump water at cheap rates
Releasing a report, kept secret by the Ducey administration, from the Arizona Department of Water Resources that shows some parts of West Valley don’t have their required water supply
Re-establishing the Governor’s Energy Office
Seeking funds to help rural communities set up Active Management Areas
Other ideas:
Asking U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas to visit the border with her
Matching federal funds the state receives that provide reproductive health care services and family planning medication
Most of Hobbs’ policy plans will require approval from the Arizona Legislature, which has in the past resisted stricter water regulations, prioritized school spending for high-achieving schools, and refused to suspend taxes on diapers and tampons.
It’s going to be a long legislative session.
Define “radical woke agenda”: One of Hobbs’ first executive orders already has the Arizona Freedom Caucus threatening a lawsuit. At a press conference before Monday’s State of the State, the freedom caucus called an order to prevent discrimination against state employees part of a “radical woke agenda,” Capitol Media Services’ Howie Fischer reports. Caucus leader Rep. Jake Hoffman said they would hire a lawyer to attack the order.
Moderates required: The Arizona Mirror’s Jim Small and Caitlin Sievers take us back to 2004, when GOP leaders rejected then-Gov. Janet Napolitano’s budget negotiations, leading a coalition of moderates to join Democrats in coming up with a budget deal. They also include advice from lawmakers and lobbyists who were around during the last bipartisan years, who basically said giving in to the extreme flanks of the party won’t work for actual governing.
Hostile dinosaurs: As city cleanups of the Phoenix homeless encampment resumed, metal dinosaur sculptures put up nearby to prevent camping still have not been taken down, despite a deadline set by the city for their removal, the Phoenix New Times’ Katya Schwenk reports. The city believes the dinos were placed by Maker Kitchens, a ghost kitchen company in the area.
Not Phoenix’s finest: Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego apologized to the Wall Street Journal reporter who was detained by Phoenix Police while he was reporting at a bank in Phoenix, ABC15’s Dave Biscobing reports. She told WSJ reporter Dion Rabouin that she’d made Phoenix Police Chief Michael Sullivan “aware of (her) displeasure.”
About time: Phoenix’s dormant ethics commission may finally get appointees that allow it to actually do something after years of council members failing to actually appoint members to the body, the Republic’s Taylor Seely reports. Gallego said she intends to appoint members soon, who could then take up the issue of council members using a city suite for Phoenix Suns games. And, in case you missed it, Phoenix has a new vice mayor in Yassamin Ansari after efforts to make outgoing conservative council member Sal DiCiccio vice mayor failed.
Camping forever: Unable to afford rising housing costs, some have started to permanently camp on public lands in northern Arizona, which makes nearby communities and forest officials worry about potential for wildfires, garbage and safety, the Republic’s Juliette Ruhl reports.
In with the old: Fourth Estate 48 on Substack runs through the new staff and their salaries in Superintendent Tom Horne’s office, showing some familiar faces from Horne’s past public jobs, like Art Harding and Margaret Garcia Dugan. Former lawmaker Michelle Udall, who ran for the superintendent job but lost in the primary, is also on staff as an associate superintendent for school improvement.
This session’s anti-LGBTQ bills started early: Lookout, a new Substack devoted to LGBTQ+ issues in Arizona, writes about Republican Sen. John Kavanagh’s Senate Bill 1001, which limits educators’ ability to use pronouns for students other than what’s on their birth certificate. They also published a full interview for their paid subscribers with Kavanagh about the bill and his efforts to limit drag shows.
Lengthy degree: The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with a former Grand Canyon University student, who sued the college for breach of contract because he wasn’t given the tools needed to complete his doctoral program, which he argued made him to pay more money to finish, Courthouse News Service reports.
Power couples: Several new members of the House are dating people you’ve probably heard of, they announced from the floor yesterday. Democratic Rep. Analise Ortiz introduced as her guest her partner, Republic reporter Jimmy Jenkins, while new Republican Rep. Matt Gress introduced his partner, Daniel Scarpinato, Ducey’s former chief of staff.