by admin | Jan 31, 2025 | Elections, News and Updates
Another election has come and gone, and once again Arizona showed the nation that it doesn’t know how to count votes. Like a bad movie we are forced to watch every two years, rampant delays in processing early ballots left voters waiting over a week to find out who won key races in the state.
Virtually everyone around the country watching our slow-motion election train wreck, from major media outlets to national pundits, agreed that fixing Arizona’s tabulation process is long overdue.
Everyone, that is, except Governor Katie Hobbs and her partisan Democrat allies in the legislature.
This shouldn’t be a total shock to those who have followed previous attempts to reform our election system. Over the last couple of years, Democrats have opposed popular election reforms like requiring basic proof of citizenship to vote, all while millions were pouring in illegally through the southern border. They argued against commonsense voter ID laws, claiming our elections are safe and secure without them (and California democrats even banned voter ID outright).
And now, after Arizona was again one of the last states to finish ballot processing, the Democrats remain opposed to ensuring we have election night results.
So, what’s the Democrats’ excuse? Curiously, Governor Katie Hobbs omitted any mention of fixing our broken election system in her state of the state address. Her allies in the legislature, when pressed on the issue, have resorted to calling demands for election night results a “manufactured crisis.”
Arizona has become the laughingstock of the country, and Arizona Democrats seemingly want to keep it that way.
It’s their choice if they want to represent a fringe minority that doesn’t care how badly our elections operate. But the rest of us want reform, and that is what our organization is fighting for at the state legislature.
At the top of the list is moving the current deadline for returning early ballots. Currently, every voter in Arizona is eligible to receive a mail-in ballot, and that ballot may be returned at any time until 7PM on election day. The problem with this system is that ballots returned within the last couple days cannot be processed and tabulated by election night. This past election several hundred thousand ballots were dropped off on election day, causing a weeklong delay in processing the results.
Simply setting a deadline – Friday before the election – would immediately eliminate this delay. Voters would still have more than three weeks to fill out their ballots and either return them by mail or drop them off with the county. And voters can still vote in person – early and on election day.
And if we want to add even more ease, access, and security to our process, the silver bullet is on-site tabulation of ballots at the polling location. Want accessible elections? Allow for on-site tabulation. Want secure elections? Allow for on-site tabulation. Want efficient election results? Allow for on-site tabulation. It is a win-win-win, for the voters, and for the state.
Voters that enjoy the convenience of filling out their ballot on their own time in their own home, can continue to do so. But if they do not want to leave it to the post office to deliver their ballot, and they don’t want to drop it off, or they do not drop it off by the Friday cutoff, then they can show up at a polling place and tabulate their ballot themselves. This means more voters showing ID before casting their ballot, and it means their ballots are tabulated immediately.
These reforms have proven to work in other states like Florida. And they shouldn’t be new ideas to lawmakers or Katie Hobbs, since these are ideas our organization has promoted for years.
We have the opportunity to increase access, increase security, and increase the efficiency of our elections. In other words, we could finally no longer be the laughingstock of the country in the next election and all to come. The question is, will Arizona Democrats and Katie Hobbs stand in the way?
Help Protect Freedom in Arizona by Joining Our Grassroots Network
Arizona needs to have a unified voice promoting economic freedom and prosperity, and the Free Enterprise Club is committed to making that happen. But we can’t do it alone. We need YOU!
Join our FREE Grassroots Action List to stay up to date on the latest battles against big government and how YOU can help influence crucial bills at the Arizona State Legislature.
by admin | Jan 29, 2025 | News and Updates
PHOENIX, ARIZONA – The Arizona Free Enterprise Club has again emerged as one of the prolific defenders of the state’s values and principles against the onslaught of the radical agenda proposed by Governor Katie Hobbs in her latest budget for Fiscal Year 2026. Scot Mussi, President of the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, issued the following statement:
“In the first month of this new year, Governor Hobbs and her regime on the Ninth Floor have continued to push one of the most radical agendas in our state’s storied history. We have seen another nonsensical budget proposal from this incompetent administration that certainly does not reflect the will of the Arizona people. For example, the governor’s budget draft results in a staggering $390 million deficit in 2028, extends and expands a state level low-income tax credit program that is rife with fraud and abuse, attacks Arizona’s historic school choice opportunities for thousands of children, and purposefully neglects to support President Donald J. Trump’s efforts to secure our border and enforce our immigration laws. One might think, when reading Hobbs’ proposals, that she was the chief executive of California or Illinois – not Arizona.”
Mussi added, “These priorities – and others – from the governor should be a non-starter for the Arizona Legislature. Thankfully, we have majorities in both the state House of Representatives and Senate that understand the importance of rejecting this budget proposal and the rest of the Hobbs’ agenda. The Arizona Free Enterprise Club has been proud to stand against this agenda since the beginning of the Hobbs administration, and we will continue to oppose the radical policies that are being championed by the Governor’s Office. We look forward to seeing a budget from state legislators that better reflects the desires of Arizonans.”
Help Protect Freedom in Arizona by Joining Our Grassroots Network
Arizona needs to have a unified voice promoting economic freedom and prosperity, and the Free Enterprise Club is committed to making that happen. But we can’t do it alone. We need YOU!
Join our FREE Grassroots Action List to stay up to date on the latest battles against big government and how YOU can help influence crucial bills at the Arizona State Legislature.
by admin | Jan 24, 2025 | Corporate Welfare, News and Updates, Tax
As President Trump gets to work cleaning up Joe Biden’s failed economy, the last thing the people of Arizona need is to be sending their hard-earned dollars to woke Hollywood. But that’s exactly what’s happening.
Thanks to a law passed in 2022, movie companies that film in Arizona will begin receiving refundable tax credit subsidies this year—up to 15 percent if they spend up to $10 million in production costs, 17.5 percent if they spend between $10 million and $35 million, and 20 percent if they spend over $35 million. Then, to top it all off, these movie companies can get an additional 2.5 percent if they meet other criteria.
But here’s the real kicker. The keyword in all of this is “refundable.” This essentially means that if a movie company qualifies for more credits than they owe in taxes, the State of Arizona sends them a check!
So, how much does this outrageous tax scheme cost the people of Arizona?
Up to $125 million each year!
For that kind of money, there must be at least some kind of return on this investment, right? Nope.
If a company comes to Arizona, films a movie, mentions our state in the credits but decides not to release or distribute the film, it still receives the money.
Yes. You read that right. Arizona taxpayers could be funding Hollywood movies that won’t ever see the light of day. Who came up with this scheme?
This is not only absurd, it’s unconstitutional. That’s why the Goldwater Institute filed a lawsuit against these Hollywood handouts last week.
The Arizona Constitution’s Gift Clause is clear. The state cannot handout subsidies or cash for private purposes unless taxpayers receive a direct benefit. And the Arizona Supreme Court even ruled in 2021 that the government cannot include “anticipated indirect benefits” such as projected sales and tax revenue as part of the consideration with a private party under the Gift Clause in the Arizona Constitution. In other words, Hollywood dazzling our state’s leaders with projected economic development leading to increased tax revenue is an “irrelevant indirect benefit” that can’t be included in the consideration.
While Goldwater litigates the issue, the Arizona legislature needs to get to work as well. Movie production is a multi-billion-dollar industry. They do not need a subsidy. And if that’s not enough of a reason, consider this. Our state has been down this road before.
Years ago, Arizona lawmakers passed an “incentive” program similar to this one that cost us millions of dollars. And guess what happened? It offered no benefits to the people of Arizona and was allowed to expire. On top of that, other states like New York, Louisiana, Georgia, Connecticut, and Massachusetts have enacted Hollywood subsidies. But a recent study showed that despite $10 billion in taxpayer spending, there wasn’t even a statistically significant impact on employment.
It’s time to stop this terrible tax policy in our state. The people of Arizona don’t want to subsidize Hollywood’s woke movies while thousands of liberal California voters are shipped to our state. Arizona’s lawmakers need to do taxpayers a favor and repeal this awful program before the court is forced to shut it down.
Help Protect Freedom in Arizona by Joining Our Grassroots Network
Arizona needs to have a unified voice promoting economic freedom and prosperity, and the Free Enterprise Club is committed to making that happen. But we can’t do it alone. We need YOU!
Join our FREE Grassroots Action List to stay up to date on the latest battles against big government and how YOU can help influence crucial bills at the Arizona State Legislature.
by admin | Jan 16, 2025 | Misc, News and Updates
With the new year here and the 2025 legislative session officially underway, Democrats are already proving they can’t learn a lesson. Led by Governor Katie Hobbs, one of their primary targets is once again…you guessed it…Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program. Stop us if you’ve heard this before.
You would think that Democrats would find a different target after getting trounced in an election where teachers’ unions and other anti-school choice groups made it a referendum on school choice. But no. After 2 ½ years and multiple failures trying to overturn school choice, they’d rather double down on their same tired and out-of-touch policies.
This time, Hobbs and the Dems say they want to roll back ESAs because of all the supposed “fraud” in the program. Never mind the fact that the rate of waste, fraud, and abuse in the ESA program is extremely low. Never mind the fact that ESAs have proven to be far more financially accountable than other government programs. Democrats don’t care about facts. Instead, they want to regulate this popular program while Arizona’s Democrat Attorney General Kris Mayes asks for more funding to investigate ESA fraud.
But here’s a message for Hobbs, Mayes, and the rest of the Democrats:
If you care so much about fraud, why not investigate Arizona’s public school districts?
They could start with Isaac Elementary School District (IESD).
Earlier this week, IESD was placed under a state receivership after it was determined that it had a budget shortfall of over $12 million! And this didn’t come as a surprise. The Auditor General has been trying to stop the mismanagement of funds in this school district for five years!
A $12 million budget shortfall in just one school district is mind-blowing, but IESD is certainly not alone. School districts throughout our state have been mismanaging millions, going into default, and committing fraud for years.
Back in 2022, Mesa Public Schools (MPS) failed to explain where $32.3 million of their federal emergency funds slated for COVID expenses went. The investigation came after reports that MPS teachers were asking parents to donate basic school supplies they were running out of because the district wouldn’t cover them. But instead of having a clear explanation for the money that was buried under expenses listed as “other,” “indirect costs,” and “etc.,” MPS officials dodged the question and claimed no records existed for those categories.
Also, in 2022, a former superintendent and another employee from Toltec Elementary School District were indicted for fraudulent schemes, misuse of public monies, and theft. This came after the employees secretly used their personal monies to fraudulently inflate their Arizona State Retirement System benefits.
Then, there’s Higley Unified School District (HUSD). Back in 2021, HUSD’s now-former superintendent, Dr. Denise Birdwell, was indicted on 18 counts related to procurement fraud, misuse of public monies, fraudulent schemes and practices, and more. This came after the Auditor General found that Dr. Birdwell conspired with employees of Education Facilities Development Services (EFDS) to circumvent school district procurement rules to improperly award the group with a $2.5 million project development service contract for the construction of two new schools. On top of that, the Auditor General also found that Dr. Birdwell misused public monies when she authorized the unlawful use of $6 million in restricted public funds toward the construction of the schools.
And let’s not forget what happened in Yuma County toward the end of last year when a former superintendent secretary with the Hyder Elementary School District was indicted for theft, misuse of public monies, and forgery. The indictment came just eight weeks after the same woman was arrested in Scottsdale in connection with an elaborate scheme against the Cocopah Middle School Association of Parents and Teachers.
You won’t hear about any of this type of fraud from Hobbs, Mayes, or other Democrats because this isn’t about fraud. It never was. They just want to find any way they can to regulate our state’s historic school choice program—all to protect their buddies in the teachers’ unions.
But here’s a message for Hobbs and Mayes. Whether you like it or not, school choice is here to stay in Arizona. And we will keep fighting back with this winning message because every student in our state deserves the best education possible and the funding to make it happen. Instead of griping about ESAs, which have way more oversight than the typical school district, show us that you really care about fraud and start investigating our public schools.
Help Protect Freedom in Arizona by Joining Our Grassroots Network
Arizona needs to have a unified voice promoting economic freedom and prosperity, and the Free Enterprise Club is committed to making that happen. But we can’t do it alone. We need YOU!
Join our FREE Grassroots Action List to stay up to date on the latest battles against big government and how YOU can help influence crucial bills at the Arizona State Legislature.
by admin | Jan 15, 2025 | News and Updates
PHOENIX, ARIZONA – This week, the Arizona Legislature commenced its 57th Regular Session with Opening Day ceremonies for both the state House and Senate and the State of the State from Governor Katie Hobbs. Scot Mussi, President of the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, issued the following statement:
“It’s another year, but Governor Katie Hobbs continues to push her tired and out-of-touch policies on hardworking taxpayers of this state. During her address on Monday, Hobbs discussed her relentless desire to regulate the state’s historic school choice program and to waste funds on housing tax credits that we cannot afford. Our organization is again committed to being the tip of the spear in opposition to the governor’s radical agenda as we stand with state legislators at the Arizona Capitol. Future generations are depending on our efforts to stand for freedom, prosperity, and opportunity for all Arizonans.”
Help Protect Freedom in Arizona by Joining Our Grassroots Network
Arizona needs to have a unified voice promoting economic freedom and prosperity, and the Free Enterprise Club is committed to making that happen. But we can’t do it alone. We need YOU!
Join our FREE Grassroots Action List to stay up to date on the latest battles against big government and how YOU can help influence crucial bills at the Arizona State Legislature.
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