Law & Government
AZGOP’s senator of the year: 9/11 ‘never added up’ and was an ‘inside job’
On the 22nd anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Tucson Republican state Sen. Justine Wadsack shared a fake transcript from United Flight 93 and liked multiple posts on social media alluding to the events of the day being a “false flag” and an “inside job.” “It was an inside job, a false flag, to […]
Abortion advocates appeal rejected injunction of 2021 fetal abnormality abortion ban
A panel of federal judges on Monday heard arguments in the case to block a 2021 law that criminalizes doctors who perform abortions of fetuses with genetic abnormalities. The ban was previously put on hold by an injunction shortly after it went into effect two years ago, but the U.S. Supreme Court later ruled to […]
A group of far-right Christian lawmakers aims to merge church and state
LYNCHBURG, Va. – In the harshly lit breakfast bar of a Fairfield Inn, a dozen men and women sit hunched over microwaved eggs and steaming cups of coffee. The guests are a distinctive group: a collection of legislators and local government officials with one unifying purpose. Among them are an Arizona House member, a North Carolina […]
Hobbs, Horne spar over federal COVID aid for private schools
Nearly $27 million in federal pandemic aid for private schools is in limbo while the Arizona Department of Education and the Governor’s Office spar over who has the authority to spend it. On Friday, Gov. Katie Hobbs sent a letter to Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne, accusing him of dragging his feet when it […]
Arizona Senate plans to sue Biden to block the Grand Canyon national monument
Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen announced Friday that he is giving the “greenlight” to the Arizona Senate to file a lawsuit against the Biden administration for last month’s designation of a national monument near the Grand Canyon, which he said was an unconstitutional “land grab.” “President Biden’s attempt to cloak his unconstitutional land grab in […]
AZ Republicans say Big Tech bias against conservatives costs them elections
Kari Lake told the small crowd gathered in a Arizona House of Representative meeting room on Monday that Google has “more power than any entity in the world when it comes to choosing our leaders here in America,” just before state Rep. Alexander Kolodin declared that he sees modern America as a “nascent totalitarian society.” […]
Phoenix’s onerous parking requirements are stifling affordable housing projects
Phoenix’s working families are struggling to afford decent, safe housing, and the problem has been amplified over the past decade. Every Phoenician knows someone struggling to find a home or worried about being priced out — if not directly experiencing this distress themselves. Phoenix’s shortage of affordable housing is a full-scale crisis and needs immediate […]
It may have just gotten harder to protect minority communities from pollution
In recent years, some states have invested in air quality monitoring, applied extra scrutiny to permitting decisions and steered cleanup funding to minority communities that have borne the brunt of pollution for decades. Now, in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision striking down race-conscious college admissions policies, state lawmakers are facing a […]
Auditors: MVD lack of oversight may put Arizonans in danger
The Arizona Department of Transportation’s Motor Vehicle Division is potentially putting the public — including school children — at risk by not providing the proper oversight to contractors that have issued licenses to people who were not qualified. Following two audits by the Arizona Auditor General, one looking at ADOT’s oversight of third-party companies that […]
Pregnant workers have new protections. Here’s what to expect from your boss.
Almost two months after workplace accommodations for pregnant workers became law, the rules surrounding what employers can and cannot do have yet to be finalized — but that doesn’t mean the protections are not in place. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s proposed regulations are expected to offer more clarity once finalized, but workers can still […]
Survey: gender-affirming care bans hurt LGBTQ people, increase fears about personal safety
Bans on gender-affirming care, pushed by Republican politicians as necessary protections for trans youth, are making LGBTQ people feel less safe. A national survey from the Human Rights Campaign, the country’s largest LGBTQ advocacy group, found that the proliferation of gender-affirming care bans negatively affects the mental and physical health of about 80% of trans […]
The Arizona Supreme Court will consider reviving a Civil War-era abortion ban
The Arizona Supreme Court has agreed to consider the petition of an anti-abortion doctor who argues that a near-total abortion ban from 1864 should be the law of the land. In March, Dr. Eric Hazelrigg, medical director of a chain of anti-abortion clinics, filed an appeal with the state’s high court, urging the justices to […]