The Daily Agenda: The mutual dismantling
The Daily Agenda: The mutual dismantling
We don't think these people like each other much ... The Super Bowl came to town ... And a Shrek goes missing somewhere.
As Gov. Katie Hobbs continues to dismantle some of her predecessor’s policies, GOP lawmakers are working to dismantle Hobbs’ ability to run the executive arm of state government as she sees fit.
Last week, the hallmarks of a divided government were on full display. In a microcosm of how we can expect Hobbs and the Legislature to interact, two events showed clearly that the way the state and local governments managed COVID-19 continues to cause clashes and fall along deeply partisan lines.
The newly created Senate committee tasked with vetting Hobbs’ director nominations voted down Arizona Department of Health Services nominee, Dr. Theresa Cullen. Cullen most recently served as director of Pima County’s health department, a role that put her front and center in the county’s COVID-19 response.
Cullen, a longtime public servant and public health expert, faced intense questioning from the committee, particularly from Republican chairman Jake Hoffman, over her stance on masks, school and business closures, vaccinations and health inequities. She came heavily endorsed by the health community.
Longtime public servants with extensive backgrounds and credentials, even those who lawmakers may not agree with on specific policies, still routinely get confirmed for agency leadership. It’s a sign of respect toward an executive, allowing them to staff the government with the qualified people they want to work with, and toward the nominee, who often spends a lifetime honing their expertise before an executive nomination.
But Cullen isn’t getting the same treatment. The committee voted 3-2 to recommend Cullen be rejected by the Senate after hours of going through her health recommendations, social media activity and public statements. In explaining their votes, the three Republican members made clear they respected Cullen’s experience, but that their political stances on COVID-19 and dissatisfaction with Cullen’s lacking responses to their questions wouldn’t allow them to vote in favor of her nomination. They took swipes at Hobbs for not preparing Cullen adequately for the hearing.
“Personnel is policy,” Hoffman said in explaining his vote to reject Cullen. “These nominations are the first indication of how Katie Hobbs intends to lead the State of Arizona. And what we’re seeing is that we didn’t get a reasonable candidate here — we got an extreme candidate, a candidate with a track record of infringing on the civil liberties of Pima County.”
Hobbs stood by Cullen, calling the committee hearing “an exercise in political theater” and saying Cullen and her experience are “exactly what Arizona needs right now.” The full Senate still has to vote on her nomination.
For her part, Hobbs ended a program Gov. Doug Ducey started that had run afoul of the federal government, a move that didn’t require the input of the Legislature. Ducey used federal COVID-19 funds to financially boost K-12 schools that refused to put mitigation efforts like masking in place.
The Education Plus-Up Grant program will instead morph into a program that uses these funds in a way that complies with federal guidelines, Hobbs said, according to the Republic’s Yana Kunichoff.
The push and pull of a Democratic executive and Republican Legislature causes both sides to flex their limited power, both to advance their preferred policies and to score political points for their respective parties. Nominees like Cullen are stuck in the crossfire.
As we’ve said before, the confirmation process gives GOP lawmakers a direct way to pour cold water on Hobbs’ agenda. And Hobbs has the power of the Ninth Floor, meaning she can create executive orders and direct certain programs outside the Legislature’s purview.
They need each other to create a budget. But they can use their own limited powers and bully pulpits to work without each other. The repeated skirmishes won’t make it easy, though, when it comes time to work together.
The good sense to stay away: You might’ve seen Gov. Katie Hobbs and Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers at the Super Bowl yesterday, but that’s about it for politicians rubbing elbows with moneyed sports stars and fans, the Republic’s Corina Vanek reports. The governor is part of the host committee. Other politicians who helped get the Super Bowl to Arizona had the option to buy tickets at face value. Meanwhile, the explosion of visitors hasn’t sold out all the short-term rentals, leaving some homeowners and investors with unrented places to stay during the most expensive time to visit, the New York Times reports. And Arizona’s new sports betting law means that this year’s Super Bowl was the first time people could bet on the big game while literally at the big game, either at the on-site sportsbook at the stadium or on their phones, the Times reports.
Election brain drain continues: Former Cochise County Elections Director Lisa Marra is officially done with the job, confirming to Votebeat’s Jen Fifield that the time period the county had to rectify workplace problems ran out. Marra could file a legal claim against the county for the hostility she faced at work.
Gotta learn somewhere: If you’ve struggled to keep up with the state of water in the West (like us!), this cheatsheet from the Los Angeles Times’ Ian James helps you understand the big questions facing the Colorado River states, like how we got to this point and whether states will work together to move forward. Separately, five Arizona tribes — the Ak-Chin Indian Community, Gila River Indian Community, Navajo Nation, San Carlos Apache Tribe and Tohono O’odham Nation — will receive millions from the federal government to settle their water rights claims, the Arizona Mirror’s Shondiin Silversmith reports.
Starting somewhere: If Hobbs’ agenda makes it into the state budget, it would include a cash infusion for housing, a key part of enticing more affordable housing and helping people find somewhere to live, the Arizona Capitol Times’ Nick Phillips reports. Meanwhile, Republican Rep. Steve Kaiser is again taking a crack at housing supply with a bill that would get rid of many local zoning rules, a measure that’s sure to encounter heavy resistance from cities and towns, Capitol Media Services’ Bob Christie reports.
Bill roundup: A bill with bipartisan support that would make ballot images public records passed a committee. A freshman Republican lawmaker wants to require businesses to hold lawmakers’ jobs while they’re at the Capitol. Democrats want to outlaw forced inductions of pregnant people in Arizona prisons. And a rundown of how Republicans’ anti-drag bills are so broad, they could ban children’s movies like “Mulan” and “Mrs. Doubtfire” from being shown in schools.
Police over counselors: A grant program established in 2019 for schools to hire counselors or school security officers will no longer allow schools to choose counselors if they don’t already have police on site, Republican Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne told ABC15’s Mark Phillips.
Leave them alone: Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office employees are dealing with harassing and racist phone calls in the aftermath of a local man who was recently arrested by the county sheriff’s office for allegedly killing a Mexican citizen on his property, the Nogales International’s Angela Gervasi reports.
“It’s just people calling, and, you know, expressing themselves. Cussing us out, basically,” Chief Deputy Gerardo Castillo told Gervasi, adding that one caller told him he “sounded Hispanic” and that he “hope(s) your family gets killed.”
Lamb vs. Lake?: Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb is considering a run for U.S. Senate, boosted by the multiple media channels he’s used to build up a national name for himself, Media Matters reports. If he decides to run, his “sizable presence on right-wing media and broader forays into self-help and children’s books, reality TV, and various philanthropic endeavors” will help him.
Not widely available: Dual enrollment programs that let high school students earn college credits help those students succeed in college, but access to them is lower for low-income and rural students, a new report from the ASU Helios Decision Center for Educational Excellence found. About half of high schools in the state don’t have dual enrollment options, the Arizona Capitol Times’ Kiera Riley reports.
Typical Gosar: In a U.S. House committee meeting about the border last week, U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar used terms that his Democratic colleagues say “amplif(ies) white nationalist conspiracy theories,” the Republic’s Tara Kavaler reports. Gosar called the situation at the border an “invasion” that Democrats may be using to “(change) our culture.”
Typical Charlie: The “health, wealth and happiness” event at Arizona State University that was condemned by most honors college faculty happened last week, with Turning Point USA leader Charlie Kirk becoming the main attraction and talking on stage about the backlash to the event, the Republic’s Richard Ruelas reports.
To vote or not to vote: A hospitality union-affiliated group is taking the City of Tempe to the Arizona Court of Appeals, claiming a tax break the city offered to a swank development along Tempe Town Lake should go to a public vote, 12News’ William Pitts reports. The group, Worker Power, gathered signatures to put the luxury housing-shopping-hotel-dining development on the city ballot, but Tempe rejected the petition.
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