Southwest
Arizona governor declares protecting groundwater, tackling school voucher costs top priorities for 2024
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs has vowed to bring accountability to a school voucher program that’s expected to top $900 million this year and update laws that allow for the nearly unfettered use of groundwater in rural areas of the drought-stricken state.
The Democratic governor, making her second annual state of the state address Monday as the Legislature began its regular session, also leveled criticism at the federal government. She blamed it for closing a key port of entry along the Arizona-Mexico border for one month because of a surge of immigrants and touted her decision to send National Guard members to the international boundary in response to the crisis.
The state is facing a $400 million shortfall in this current budget year and another $450 million deficit in the coming year. Those numbers are mainly due to the skyrocketing costs of a 2022 expansion of the voucher program and a 2021 tax cut that took full effect last year and reduced incoming tax revenues by about 30% from July through November.
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Budget analysts say the shortfall will likely grow when the state’s next revenue forecast is released later this month. Democrat lawmakers concede the tax cut won’t likely go away, but they want to overhaul the voucher program.
“We will rein in wasteful spending without sacrificing public safety and public education,” Hobbs said in the prepared text. “We will establish guardrails on unaccountable programs without hurting hard-working families.”
Gov. Katie Hobbs of Arizona arrives at the House of Representatives floor to give her State of the State address at the AZ state capitol in Phoenix on Jan. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Hobbs also called for creating a new division in state government to oversee the affordability of prescription drugs, capping prices on commonly used drugs such as insulin and preventing huge price hikes. And she promised to work to help solve Arizona’s housing crisis with initiatives including a new mortgage assistance program for working-class families.
Water will also be a focus for the Legislature amid a severe, long-term drought in the arid southwestern state. Concerns are growing in Arizona about future shortages from the Colorado River system, which supplies about 40% of the state’s water.
Hobbs noted her crackdown last year on a Saudi-operated farm that residents feared was depleting precious groundwater for thirsty alfalfa crops. And she promised to do more to protect water this year.
“For decades, rural Arizonans who have begged, demanded, and fought to protect their groundwater have been ignored,” she said. “Now, after forty years of waiting, it’s time we finally take action and update our groundwater management laws.”
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Hobbs said she had directed the Arizona Department of Water Resources to finalize a new, alternative way for water providers and communities to achieve a 100-year assured water supply through the reduction of groundwater pumping and contributions of new water sources. That would affect far-flung communities in metro Phoenix where subdivision construction has been paused due to concerns about insufficient groundwater.
Kathryn Sorensen, director of research for Arizona State University’s Kyl Center for Water Policy, said she was struck by Hobbs’ promise to legislators who have refused to act on water issues: “If you don’t, I will.”
Sorensen also said Hobbs’ call for bipartisan cooperation on the future of Arizona was important as she “reminded everyone that water is a nonpartisan issue and we can achieve more by working together.”
Regarding education, the school voucher program that Hobbs wants to rein in lets parents use public money for private-school tuition and other education costs. It started in 2011 as a small program for disabled children but was expanded repeatedly over the next decade and became available to all students in 2022.
Originally estimated to cost $64 million for the current fiscal year, the program could ultimately top $900 million, budget analysts say. Critics say the expansion is a drain on the state, while backers say the expansion lets parents choose the best school for their children.
Sen. John Kavanagh, a Republican who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, said Hobbs’ ideas for changing the voucher program won’t have any chance of getting through the Legislature.
“We are not going to regulate schools that parents choose and are working well,” Kavanagh said.
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Hobbs vowed to bring accountability when she began her term a year ago as the first Democratic governor since 2009. Despite her criticism, the budget proposals negotiated by Hobbs last year didn’t include any caps on the expansion, leading Democratic lawmakers to express dissatisfaction with the lack of action.
She’s now proposing such changes as requiring private schools that receive voucher funding have minimum education requirements for teachers and that students attend public school for 100 days before becoming eligible for the vouchers. She reiterated a desire for accountability and transparency in the program.
Before the speech, Republican Sen. Jake Hoffman said Hobbs’ approach to vouchers would “destroy an empowering program that has helped hundreds of thousands of people, not just in their academic studies, but throughout their life.”
Hobbs also lambasted what she said has been Washington’s “ongoing failure to secure our southern border -– a failure decades in the making under both Democratic and Republican administrations.”
Among the “misguided efforts” by federal officials was the recent monthlong closure of the border crossing in Lukeville, Arizona, Hobbs said.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection called the move necessary to free up personnel to help Border Patrol agents apprehend and process hundreds of migrants entering the U.S. illegally. But the closure “did nothing to actually solve our immigration crisis but did hurt businesses and families,” Hobbs said.
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She noted that she had sent National Guard troops to the border to help support overwhelmed Border Patrol agents with support duties and is now seeking funding for her Operation SECURE, an office inside the Arizona Department of Homeland Security that aims to better coordinate the state’s response to border issues.
In a video released after the governor’s speech, House Speaker Ben Toma criticized Hobbs’ approach to immigration, saying, “Her record is one of broken borders.”
The Legislature’s goal is to wrap up the legislative session within 100 days, but lawmakers typically go until May or June, especially when there are difficult problems to negotiate such as a budget shortfall.
The governor is scheduled to release her budget proposal later this week.
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Southwest
Arizona governor vetoes Charlie Kirk memorial license plate, sparking GOP outrage: ‘This bill falls short’
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Democratic Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs is facing fierce backlash after vetoing a bill that would have created a specialty license plate honoring slain Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, a move Republicans are blasting as a stunning act of partisanship after his assassination.
Kirk, who was assassinated while speaking at a Sept. 10 Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University, lived in Arizona with his wife, Erika, and two children.
The proposed specialty plate, referred to as the “Charlie Kirk memorial” plate or the “Conservative grassroots network special plate,” featured a photo of the late Kirk and the TPUSA logo in front of an American flag background.
Below the license plate number were the words “FOR CHARLIE.”
A custom Arizona license plate, featuring a Turning Point USA and Charlie Kirk design, shared by state Sen. Jake Hoffman. (Senator Jake Hoffman via X)
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Of the $25 fee required for the plate, $17 would be an annual donation deposited into the Conservative Grassroots Network Special Plate Fund, according to the legislation.
While the recipient of the Grassroots Network Special Plate Fund was not explicitly designated as TPUSA in the bill, it noted the director of the fund would allocate revenue annually to a nonprofit organization, founded in 2012, that focuses on restoring traditional values, maintaining a grassroots activist network on high school and college campuses in Arizona, and assisting college students with voter registration and absentee ballots.
People gather at a memorial to mourn Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk outside Turning Point USA headquarters Sept. 12, 2025, in Phoenix. (Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images)
TPUSA, founded by Kirk in 2012, is well known for its grassroots activist networks on high school and college campuses. It is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.
The $25 fee and annual $17 donation are consistent with the fees for the other 109 nonprofit license plates offered by the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT).
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The state Senate passed the bill, 16-2, with the House of Representatives voting 31-23 in favor prior to Hobbs’ veto.
Specialty plates in Arizona are authorized by the legislature and sent to the governor to be signed into law. They have been offered since 1989.
In a letter explaining the veto, Hobbs cited concerns with the bill “bring[ing] people together,” claiming it would “insert politics into a function of government that should remain nonpartisan.”
Democratic Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs is facing fierce backlash after vetoing a bill that would have created a specialty license plate honoring slain Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)
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“Charlie Kirk’s assassination is tragic and a horrifying act of violence,” Hobbs wrote. “In America, we resolve our political differences at the ballot box. No matter who it targets, political violence puts us all in harm’s way and damages our sacred democratic institutions.
“I will continue working toward solutions that bring people together, but this bill falls short of that standard.”
Specialty license plates with political interests already approved by the state include the “Choose Life” Plate, which benefits the Arizona Life Coalition and its mission to promote anti-abortion advocacy and education; the “In God We Trust” Plate, which benefits conservative Christian legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom; and the Arizona Realtors’ “Homes for All” Plate, which funds affordable housing projects.
Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, speaks during the Turning Point Action conference in 2023 in West Palm Beach, Fla. (Lynne Sladky/AP Photo)
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Another approved plate, “Alice Cooper’s Solid Rock Plate,” which benefits Solid Rock Teen Centers, features a portrait of the legendary musician, who has made political comments about social issues including gender identity.
Republican state Sen. Jake Hoffman, who sponsored the bill, posted a fiery statement on social media after the governor’s action, claiming her “grotesque partisanship knows no bounds.”
“Even in the wake of a global civil rights leader — an Arizona resident and her own constituent — being assassinated in broad daylight for his defense of the First Amendment, Hobbs couldn’t find the human decency to put her far-Left extremism aside simply to allow those how wish to honor him to do so,” Hoffman wrote. “Katie Hobbs will forever be known as a stain on the pages of Arizona’s story.”
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On Saturday, TPUSA COO Tyler Bowyer shared an X post that said, “Deport Katie Hobbs.”
TPUSA, Bowyer and Hobbs’ office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.
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Southwest
Air Force veteran warns ‘cartels don’t collapse — they fracture’ after notorious drug lord killed
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Nearly two weeks after Mexican forces killed notorious cartel boss Ruben “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, questions remain about how the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) will respond and whether the blow will meaningfully disrupt the flow of fentanyl into the United States.
Carlos De La Cruz, a 20-year U.S. Air Force veteran who deployed after 9/11 and later served along the southern border, told Fox News the cartel leader’s death marked a major victory, but warned Americans should not mistake it for the end of the fight.
“When I say that this is a significant win, I mean it,” De La Cruz said. “El Mencho ran one of the most violent cartels on the planet.”
Oseguera, who rose to prominence in the post–El Chapo era, oversaw CJNG’s aggressive expansion across Mexico and into key trafficking corridors feeding U.S. drug markets. Under his leadership, the cartel became a central architect of fentanyl and methamphetamine trafficking and drew a $15 million U.S. reward for information leading to his capture.
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Smoke rises from burning vehicles after a military operation that a government source said killed Mexican drug lord Nemesio Oseguera, known as “El Mencho,” in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, on Feb. 22, 2026. (Screen grab obtained from a social media video. @morelifediares via Instagram/YouTube via Reuters)
But De La Cruz cautioned that removing a cartel kingpin does not dismantle the organization.
“Cartels don’t collapse when you just cut the head off — they fracture,” he said. “And part of that fracture is going to see a lot of short-term violence while all these factions fight over territory.”
Following Oseguera’s killing on Feb. 22, the U.S. State Department issued travel alerts in multiple Mexican states, citing road blockages and criminal activity tied to security operations, underscoring concerns about instability in the aftermath.
Drawing on his military background studying enemy command structures, De La Cruz described the cartel fight as a long-term campaign requiring sustained pressure.
A mughsot of Ruben “Nemesio” Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” beside graffiti depicting the letters of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, covering the facade of an abandoned home in El Limoncito, in the Michoacan state of Mexico. (Eduardo Verdugo/AP Images; Drug Enforcement Administration)
“You don’t win a war with just one airstrike,” he said. “The goal is dismantling the networks and going after their financing.”
De La Cruz, who is running for Congress and is the brother of Texas Republican Rep. Monica De La Cruz, argued that CJNG’s Foreign Terrorist Organization designation gives U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies expanded tools to target cartel infrastructure and financial pipelines.
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A soldier stands guard by a charred vehicle after it was set on fire in Cointzio, Mexico, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, after the cartel leader’s death. (Armando Solis/AP Photo)
But he stressed that the fentanyl crisis should be viewed as a domestic security emergency, not a distant foreign problem.
“For decades, they were using their territories as launching pads to pump chemical weapons into America — because that’s exactly what fentanyl is,” he said.
De La Cruz, who said he worked side by side with Customs agents while deployed to the border, warned that cartel networks are highly adaptive and that any gains could be temporary without sustained follow-through.
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Smoke rises after violence hit Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. (Courtesy of Scott Posilkin)
“These networks, they’re going to adjust. They’re going to adapt and they’re going to adapt quickly,” he said. “We have to continue to go after the money launderers, especially on our side of the border, because that’s the full fight.”
While Oseguera’s death removes one of the most dominant figures in Mexico’s criminal underworld, De La Cruz said the mission is personal.
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“I took an oath to defend this country,” he said. “And I intend to stand by that oath.”
Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner contributed to this report.
Stepheny Price covers crime, including missing persons, homicides and migrant crime. Send story tips to stepheny.price@fox.com.
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TUCSON, Ariz. — More than five weeks after the suspected abduction of Nancy Guthrie — the 84-year-old mother of “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie — Arizona authorities say cadaver dogs used earlier in the investigation are not currently being deployed as the search continues.
The elder Guthrie is believed to have been kidnapped from her home in the Catalina Foothills in northern Tucson around 2:30 a.m. on Feb. 1.
While no suspects have been publicly identified, and she has not been found, cadaver dogs had been deployed earlier in the case, according to Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos. They have not been visible in weeks.
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A member of the Pima County Sheriff’s Office remains outside of Nancy Guthrie’s home, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026 in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil; Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images)
“They are available if needed in the future,” he told Fox News Digital.
There are a number of reasons not to be using cadaver dogs at this stage in the investigation, according to Betsy Brantner Smith, a retired police sergeant and spokeswoman for the National Police Association.
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Savannah Guthrie visits the Today show at Rockefeller Plaza in New York on Thursday, March 5, 2026. (Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)
One would be if there’s credible information that Guthrie is still alive.
“Anything is possible,” Nanos told Fox News Digital last week, adding that he would not discuss specific leads or evidence in the case.
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Brantner Smith, who is not involved in the case, said departments may hold back K-9 resources for several reasons. Those could be that authorities don’t have a good idea of where to search, they think she might be concealed in a place where dogs would have a hard time detecting her, or they believe she’s been taken to Mexico, according to Brantner Smith.
Law enforcement agents walk around the neighborhood where Annie Guthrie, whose mother Nancy Guthrie has been missing for more than a week, lives just outside Tucson, Ariz. (Ty ONeil/AP Photo)
“I do believe that the sheriff’s department has much more information that they are not releasing to the public,” she told Fox News Digital. “And I’m not sure at this point why that would be, unless they have a solid suspect and don’t want to tip them off.”
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Most departments, including the Pima County Sheriff’s, don’t have their own cadaver dogs and borrow them from state and federal authorities or neighboring jurisdictions.
An investigator looks inside a culvert in the neighborhood where Annie Guthrie, whose mother Nancy Guthrie has been missing for more than a week, lives just outside Tucson, Ariz., on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (Ty ONeil/AP Photo)
In Guthrie’s case, the sheriff’s department sought K-9 assistance from the local Border Patrol office earlier in the investigation.
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PCSD deferred further comment on the K-9s to Customs and Border Protection, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A member of the Pima County Sheriff’s Office walks around Nancy Guthrie’s home on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026 in Tucson, Ariz. (Ty ONeil/AP Photo)
The biggest lead so far has been Nest camera video showing a masked intruder on Guthrie’s doorstep the morning of her abduction.
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He is described as about 5 feet, 9 inches to 5 feet, 10 inches tall and of medium build.
Nancy Guthrie, 84, has been missing from her Arizona home since Jan. 31, 2026. (Don Arnold/WireImage/Getty Images)
He was wearing a black Ozark Trail backpack.
Authorities have said they won’t consider the case cold until they run out of viable leads to follow up on — and tens of thousands have come in so far.
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Savannah Guthrie has asked anyone with information to dial 1-800-CALL-FBI.
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There’s a combined reward of more than $1.2 million for information that leads to her mother’s recovery.
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