Entering year three of divided government, our expectations for the 2025 legislative session were admittedly not high. With Katie Hobbs occupying the governor’s office and demonstrating that her only skill set is setting new veto records of good public policy, it can be difficult to muster a lot of optimism.
Yet even in politics there is room to be pleasantly surprised and in fact there are several, though likely underappreciated, wins to be celebrated from the first session of the 57th legislature.
Freedom to Move is on the Ballot
After three sessions of introducing a ballot referral to protect every Arizonan’s freedom to move, finally, 2026 voters will have the chance to vote on SCR1004. The timing couldn’t be better as several states are moving forward with the imposition of their own tax per vehicle mile. Most ironically, in Massachusetts lawmakers have introduced legislation which in a masterclass in Double Speak they are calling “The Freedom to Move Act” as well. Every objection The Club has put on the record to VMT targets and taxes is being heralded by the radical liberals in Massachusetts as the benefits to passing the legislation. They proudly claim VMT taxes as a method to achieving their Net Zero goals, forcing people to “choose” other modes of travel like biking and public transit, and though they say there are no “prohibitions” in the bill, they give themselves away when they admit that the state may “facilitate reductions in vehicle miles travelled” in other words driving rations. With the passage of SCR1004, Arizona could be the first state in the country to cut this freedom-crushing policy off at the pass.
Closing the Revolving Door at the Corporation Commission
In an event that was probably rarer than a blue moon or maybe a solar eclipse (whichever is rarer), Governor Hobbs actually signed a bill that The Club supported and advocated for all session long. You knew HB2518 was unique legislation when The Club, the Republican Liberty Caucus and the Sierra Club (yikes) supported the bill, but sometimes the right and left can agree on issues, especially when it comes to reining in regulatory capture by monopoly-controlled utilities. And that’s exactly what HB 2518 accomplished, putting forth a prohibition on any person elected to the Arizona Corporation Commission from getting a job with the very utilities they are supposed to regulate. We won’t nominate ourselves for the Nobel Peace Prize yet, though it was a stunning moment of political harmony, save the disgruntled feelings of a couple dissatisfied Commissioners…
Stopping Katie Hobbs and the Swamp
Sure, it is always great to score points by getting common sense legislation through, but equally important is stopping the rolling trash pile of bad legislation that inevitably accumulates every session. And with a Democrat Governor, many of the bad bills that had to be stopped were swampy ideas adopted as part of the Hobbs agenda.
HB2660 Swampy Subsidies
Top of that pile was the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program that was set to sunset at the end of the year barring legislative renewal. This was especially astounding because once bad ideas take root, they are much harder to repeal, which is why a special interest lobbyist will always be happier to get a small appropriation and short sunset window to just get something on the books. Being an existing program paired with it being a top priority of the Govenor’s office and Senate Democratic leadership and still procuring a Republican sponsor for it, the fact that it went away is a rather significant victory. A program that is already ethically challenged given its susceptibility to fraud, waste, and abuse, its demise was helped along by the fact that Katie Hobbs’ Director of the Department of Housing wired $2M to fraudsters due to lack of systems that would prevent such an embarrassing blunder from taking place. Though no doubt there will be an aggressive push to revive this dead (good riddance) program, for now we will enjoy the taxpayers’ victory!
HB2873 New Unconstitutional Taxes
Next on the list is an unconstitutional tax (or assessment as the proponents prefer to call it), sponsored by Representative Wilmeth as HB2873. HB2873 is the reengineered bad bill of 2021 (because bad ideas never die) which would have allowed a host of private hoteliers form a quasi-private, quasi-governmental association, compel membership of minority hotels and then tax them in order to direct and pad their marketing budgets. Unfortunately, none of the changes to the original concept made HB2623 any more constitutional this go around, so its early defeat in session saved us on legal bills in the future.
SB1129 Funding Mayor Gallegos Political Aspirations
HB2623 which became SB1129 would have allowed candidates in local nonpartisan races, such as for school board and city council, to amass campaign funds to be used later in their climb for higher, partisan office. Letting non-descript candidates accumulate funding from developers and zoning attorneys to take their almost assuredly liberal ideas to the legislature is bad policy. And just because a voter thinks you might be good at filling the city’s potholes, doesn’t mean they agree with you on your positions on a whole host of issues that would never show up on the docket at town hall. This bill just wouldn’t die and kept moving in its resurrected state until the middle of June before the Senate shoved it in a drawer.
HB2939 Liberal AND Swampy
And because we take special pride in our role in thwarting Katie Hobbs’ agenda, it was very gratifying to see Hobbs’ top priority bill that would have provided handouts to corporations to subsidize more welfare never get a hearing.
Don’t Take the Victory Lap Yet
These were all great wins to be celebrated (thanks to conservative grassroots!) in what was a long and fairly contentious 2025 legislative session. And although we shouldn’t spare the hand clapping and back pats, there is no reason to lower our defenses. Despite Hobbs continued dysfunction this session (and the two before that), we should never underestimate her, or the Republicans ability to self-implode. For now, we will slow-walk the victory lap with a prudent eye on the 2026 legislative session.
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Seven months into Trump’s return to office, the wreckage of the Biden administration continues to surface—especially in America’s transportation infrastructure. Previously, we highlighted the troubling impact of Pete Buttigieg’s tenure as Secretary of Transportation. His legacy of failure is becoming increasingly clear and public as new coverage reveals how his ideological grant programs, neglect of core responsibilities, and blatant mismanagement have damaged our economy, harmed communities, and sabotaged our personal freedoms.
As covered by the New York Post, Buttigieg, who was charged for four years to oversee the world’s most significant infrastructure network, instead made it his mission to “reimagine” the entire system, framing it as irredeemably racist and in need of dismantling as he famously told Al Sharpton in his “roads are racist” interview. Buttigieg funded his radical agenda through a series of state and local grants. Programs like “Reconnecting Communities” funded the removal of functional highways based on the claim they were originally designed to displace minority neighborhoods, even though those highways are used today by people of all races.
These weren’t transportation programs—they were anti-transportation programs. They prioritized “road diets,” bike lanes, and leveling roads in the name of equity while Americans sat in traffic and airports collapsed under system failures.
The AZ Free Enterprise Club was one of the only organizations sounding the alarm about the ideological hijacking of the USDOT which even despite mainstream knowledge of the corrosive teachings of critical race theory in k-12 education brought to light after COVID, seemed far-fetched to many. We documented how seemingly harmless programs like Vision Zero and the Safe Systems Approach—heavily funded through federal transportation grants—were actually vehicles for social engineering.
Now it is clear how thoroughly he indoctrinated the administration. While Buttigieg ignored the need to replace out of date air traffic control systems, he had plenty of time to spend appointing an equity advisory board. Buttigieg couldn’t be bothered with addressing the personnel staffing shortage at the Federal Aviation Administration, but had no problem finding the time to approve 400 DEI grants totaling over $80 Billion dollars.
Our organization flagged the anti-vehicle woke agenda that had seeped into every aspect of USDOT’s operations. It was clear that Buttigieg wasn’t about making travel easier for Americans – but a radical social and environmental paradigm that would have people limiting where and how much they travel.
The New York Post uncovered communications in which Buttigieg explicitly rejected modernizing air traffic control systems. His reasoning? Updating the systems would “just allow them to fly more planes,” and, as he told industry executives, “why would that be in [his] interest?”
In fact, Buttigieg’s radical agenda at USDOT influenced several transportation reforms spearheaded by our organization, including:
Legislation to Protect the freedom to move in Arizona, which would prohibit the taxing, tracking, and rationing of our vehicle miles traveled if passed by voters in 2026.
Bills to stop the integration of woke transportation jargon and other radical social justice ideas into local transportation planning.
Proposals to halt the deluge of road diets that served no other purpose than to make driving your car a miserable experience.
Thankfully, Pete Buttigieg is now far – though still not far enough – away from the important work being done at the US Department of Transportation. Under Secretary Sean Duffy, the agency has refreshingly abandoned nearly every endeavor championed by the previous administration. America’s infrastructure, and the freedom of mobility it protects, is finally back on track.
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This year, the tax cuts from the Trump Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 were set to expire. Failing to extend the cuts would have resulted in a 22% tax hike for the average taxpayer. For Arizonans, it would have meant an average tax increase of $2,824. And there would have been an even larger tax increase for Arizona small businesses. Thankfully, earlier this summer Congress finally passed Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB), not only extending the personal income tax cuts from 2017 but making them permanent.
The OBBB also included several new tax provisions as well, such as no tax on tips and overtime, an increase in the standard deduction, full expensing and special depreciation for business, just to name a few. This assortment of changes to federal tax law now leaves states like Arizona with a big decision to make: provide partial conformity tax relief, full tax relief, or do nothing and provide no conformity tax relief at all.
This should be an easy choice, as choosing the non-conformity option would leave Arizona taxpayers with one big ugly tax bill to pay.
How big of a tax bill? According to nonpartisan budget analysts for the legislature, $425 million. That’s why the legislature and Governor Hobbs need to commit to full conformity tax relief as the starting point for the budget next session.
What does full conformity tax relief look like? At least $425 million in tax relief for Arizona taxpayers. Anything less is a tax increase on Arizona families and taxpayers.
Conforming to the tax relief provided by the OBBB doesn’t mean lawmakers need to align exactly to every provision of the OBBB. For example, the OBBB included a special new tax deduction designed to help seniors lower their social security tax bill, but Arizonans already are exempt from paying state taxes on social security.
As an alternative, Arizona lawmakers could instead adopt a reform introduced by Senator Mesnard last session that would allow for seniors to subtract their other retirement income (401ks and IRAs) from their taxable income up to the current standard deduction. It would even protect younger workers looking to save by extending this deduction to Roth accounts as well. Arizona should take full advantage of the opportunity provided by the OBBB and look to get out of the business of taxing our retirement savings.
Other provisions in the OBBB are critical for Arizona to adopt as well. The increased standard deduction, ending taxes on tips and rolling back taxes on overtime are just a few of the provisions that must be included in the conformity package. It makes little sense to provide this tax relief to hardworking taxpayers on the federal tax form, only to see it yanked away and taxed by the state.
The truth is that Arizonans have been overtaxed for decades, and the numbers prove it. Though 2021 brought a landmark, across the board tax cut for Arizonans with the adoption of the lowest flat tax rate in the country, no major tax cuts have been adopted since, and revenues are still nearly double what they were less than 10 years ago (as is spending).
President Trump and Congress delivered, preventing the potentially largest tax hike in generations by permanently cementing the 2017 tax cuts into law, and going even further. Now, Arizona lawmakers must deliver too, ensuring Arizonans get to enjoy the full benefits of the OBBB by fully conforming in an amount of at least $425 million, lest Arizona taxpayers foot the bill to fill the state coffers.
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15 months. That is how much time we have left until Arizona can elect a new governor, and it couldn’t come soon enough.
Since taking office in 2023, Katie Hobbs has been a complete disaster. The heights of her corruption have certainly been well documented. From her illegal use of public resources to solicit money for her inauguration, to an alleged pay-to-play scheme between Hobbs and an Arizona group home that donated to her inauguration, to shelling out $700,000 to a company owned by the brother of the now-former Office of Tourism Director to create a new state logo, Hobbs has proven that the people of Arizona are her lowest priority. And there are no signs that will change any time soon.
In the latest reveal of her efforts to turn her office into a jobs program for her political friends, it was discovered that Hobbs handed out nearly $600,000 in taxpayer money to a former Democrat politician and her assistant for two newly created jobs. These just add to the long line of other phony baloney jobs Hobbs has created so that her buddies can get paid six-figure salaries to sit around and do nothing on your dime. In fact, just last year, she added six new jobs in the newly created Office of Resiliency (whatever that is), four new employees in the Office of Tribal Relations, and three new in-house attorneys, to name a few. All total, Hobbs has increased executive employment costs by over 50%!
With all these new government jobs, you would think Arizona must be leading the way in the nation for job creation, but no. It’s just the opposite. Since Hobbs became Governor of Arizona, our state has fallen from 4th in the nation for job growth to 47th. But what do you expect from a governor who has made it her top priority to attack educational freedom all while blowing a hole in the state’s budget?
The reality is that Katie Hobbs has had plenty of time and opportunities to ensure Arizona is headed in the right direction both economically and more. Instead, she’s been happy to serve as the ultimate obstructionist governor, spending all her time putting Arizona behind other states by blockading meaningful reforms.
In 2023, Hobbs broke Arizona’s veto record with 143 vetoes, blasting the previous record of 58 set in 2005 by another Democrat Governor, Janet Napolitano. But apparently, that was only scratching the surface. This year, Hobbs followed up with 178 vetoes. That’s 35 more than her own record two years ago and more than triple the amount of Napolitano in her record-setting year!
Surely, there must have been a good reason for these vetoes, right? Wrong.
Many of Hobbs’ vetoes this past legislative session were particularly egregious. Just take a look for yourself at this small sampling. In 2025, Hobbs:
Vetoed SB 1003, which would have protected women from using the same restroom as men in public schools.
Vetoed over a half dozen election integrity bills, including popular legislation (HB 2703) that would have ensured that Arizona gets election results on election night.
Vetoed HB 2099, which would have required state cooperation with ICE related to immigration enforcement.
Vetoed HB 2121 and HB 2122, which would have allowed Arizona to establish work requirements for SNAP (food stamps) and also prevented SNAP from being used to buy soda.
Vetoed a bill (HB 2867), which would have prohibited antisemitism from being taught in Arizona’s schools.
Hobbs vetoed parental rights bills, 2nd Amendment bills, water legislation, tax relief, and more. The list could go on and on and on. (You can see for yourself.)
It’s been a bad look for a governor who claimed to be seeking “common ground” with the legislature going into this year. That’s probably why she’s resorted to another attempt to buy votes with her latest stunt to “pay off medical debt.” But just like last time, it’s another one of her latest schemes that’s sure to end in controversy.
The people of Arizona are tired of it. They’re tired of the lies. They’re tired of the corruption. And they’re tired of being Katie Hobbs’ last priority.
It’s time for a new governor. November 2026 can’t come soon enough.
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!
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Following President Trump’s directive to scrub divisive Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs, practices, and language from public institutions, the U.S. Department of Education sent a letter to the Arizona Department of Education (DOE) to ensure that schools comply with these requirements.
The Arizona DOE notified every school district and charter public school that they must submit a completed certification confirming compliance with the federal civil rights law. A public website was developed to track which districts and schools have completed the certification and which have not. Though the majority of schools are listed as “in compliance,” the question remains: have they all truly purged their websites and learning environments of DEI practices? A quick review and some basic research suggest that not all these schools are fully committed to the removal of this woke material.
Alhambra Elementary School District in Phoenix has a subcommittee titled “Culture, Conditions, & Climate” with a stated need to “increase its Diversity, Equity, Inclusion capacity to ensure it is an inclusive environment.” The district plans to achieve this by subjecting staff to DEI trainings designed to establish that these adults teaching your children become anti-racist activists.
Recently, Scottsdale Unified School District has been the center of controversy surrounding their adoption of new textbooks that teach about George Floyd, Black Lives Matter, and anti-law enforcement rhetoric. Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne has spoken out against this anti-American, DEI-infested curriculum, emphasizing that schools must steer clear of promoting an “unbalanced political agenda.”
In Glendale, the Washington Elementary School District has published a “Statement of Commitment to Educational Equity,” in which it outlines how DEI principles are integrated into its educational framework.
In an application for federal charter school start-up grants for 2024-2028, Desert Sage High School in Tucson declares its commitment to “diversity, equity, inclusion, anti-bias education, and social justice.” Among its goals is increasing the percentage of Hispanic and Native American students—an effort aimed more at virtue signaling just to demonstrate how unbiased they really are.
And these are just the districts and schools that claim to comply with the federal civil rights law.
On the “Out of Compliance” list, the Flagstaff Unified School District website promotes an “Anti-Racism and Anti-Bias Advisory Committee” and Task Force. This Task Force’s job is to identify bias, racism, and inequity within the school district and recommend “solutions.” After they determined that the district’s staff was not diverse enough, they established a 10 percent diversity quota. Although the Task Force was originally created in 2020 as a six-month initiative, the hope was that the policies they put in place would have a lasting effect, meaning they eliminate racism—or the biggest problem: “whiteness.” In their 2020 report, a list of definitions includes the statement, “Whiteness gets in the way of our goals for educational equity and bias-free, anti-racist schools.” In other words, if you’re white, you are a problem. And the district plans to mandate other “anti-racism curriculum at all grade levels.” So apparently, even your six-year-old needs to understand how their “whiteness” is a barrier.
Kyrene School District in Tempe shares concerns similar to Flagstaff’s, namely the idea that even young kids are inherently racist, so they are kind enough to provide some helpful links on how to talk to kids about racism. The district hosts a whole page dedicated to “Equity in Education” and outlines its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. The stated goal is to develop trainings for the purpose of “leveraging diversity” and promoting “cultural competency.” According to this page, inequity leads to opportunity and achievement gaps. Kyrene School District, which only consists of elementary and middle schools, is a textbook example of the toxic racist ideology Trump’s Executive Order is looking to quash.
The Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) remains out of compliance with current federal law by maintaining an “Equity, Diversity, and Inclusiveness (EDI)” page on their website. This shouldn’t surprise anyone given their longstanding history of thwarting anti-discrimination laws. Along with a DEI “Preamble,” their EDI page outlines a mission to pursue “desegregation” by eradicating the “manifestations of racism, discrimination, and prejudice.” This statement relates to TUSD’s mandated desegregation efforts from the 1970s ,which were only just deemed fulfilled in January of this year by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, releasing them from federal oversight. It would seem the district has exchanged one form of illegal discrimination for another.
At least these school districts were truthful in their refusal to certify compliance. Many that claim to be compliant are just lying. And this is only what can be found on their websites. If these districts are comfortable publicly advertising their illegal DEI pledges and racial quota programs, what more are they doing behind the scenes? These districts and schools need to be investigated and held to account.
Parents have been fighting these battles on their own for a long time, like the parents in Scottsdale and Deer Valley. The American people voted to stop progressive indoctrination in our public schools. That resistance will continue to happen until schools return to the pro-American, pro-Constitution institutions of edification they are designed to be.
The Arizona Free Enterprise Club will continue to actively monitor and report schools and districts to the Department of Justice for noncompliance with federal civil rights laws until all DEI programs are eliminated.
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!
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Among many issues, the past two elections have been a referendum on the public school system throughout our country. And that’s especially true here in Arizona. The people have shown that they are tired of the leftist indoctrination, wasted taxpayer dollars on declining test scores, attacks on parental rights, and more.
Immediately after his inauguration, President Trump proved that cleaning up our schools wasn’t just a campaign talking point. He issued an executive order (EO) ending radical indoctrination in K-12 schooling, and the U.S. Department of Education took action to eliminate harmful Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives. It’s been a breath of fresh air, frankly, but the woke crazies in our state are not going down without a fight.
Back in February, a teacher at Marana High School was suspended after he challenged President Trump’s denial of the existence of more than two genders during a classroom lecture. Then, in May, an advocacy group released audio from inside a Catalina Foothills School District (CFSD) ninth grade health classroom where an alleged teacher gave a “lesson” on LGBTQ issues and criticized religious texts. What any of this has to do with “health” is beyond us, but it certainly shows the lengths these crazies are willing to go in order to push their radical message.
Not wanting to be outdone, Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) also decided to get into the mix. But instead of relying on leftist teachers to spearhead the work, the district itself adopted a curriculum that contains lessons on Black Lives Matter, January 6th, climate change, LGBTQ rights, illegal immigration, police brutality, and more. The move even prompted local law enforcement to push back, with one police officer association president sending a letter to SUSD asking them to reject the anti-police propaganda.
On top of all this, we’ve seen school districts like Deer Valley Unified School District buck at the Trump administration’s directive to end DEI. And there’s Kyrene School District, which voted to openly defy Trump’s guidance by adopting a policy that further embeds DEI into its day-to-day operations.
Clearly the left is undeterred in its efforts to use our K-12 system as a liberal indoctrination camp. And while President Trump’s efforts to fight back have been swift and bold, we can’t stop there.
Right now, it is critical for conservatives throughout our state to stay vigilant at both the state and local level. That means partnering with the Trump administration in identifying schools that are not in compliance with the president’s EOs. It means fighting back against leftist school boards looking to adopt radical curriculum and other woke policies. But most importantly, it means defending school choice at every turn against attacks from Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs and the radical left.
Since then-Governor Doug Ducey signed universal school choice into law back in 2022, Arizona’s teachers’ unions, the radical left, and other anti-school choice groups have been doing everything they can to attack the popular program. When they began gathering signatures for a ballot initiative aimed at overturning Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESA), conservatives met them every step of the way. When Hobbs came into legislative session in both 2023 and 2024 with her top priority being to regulate ESAs out of existence, conservatives fought back with only minor changes being made through the budget. And when the far left spent millions to push state legislature candidates with a long track record of being anti-school choice, conservatives mobilized and crushed them in the 2024 election.
We can’t sit back now and expect President Trump to solve all our problems. Over 85,000 students are currently enrolled in the ESA program. It continues to grow in popularity while serving as a model policy for states across the country. That’s why the left wants to tear it down.
Stay vigilant, conservatives. And remember, as the left continues to push its craziness on our students, they’re no match for us when we stand up, speak up, and fight back.
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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