PHOENIX — Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes worries that the governor’s decision to use opioid settlement money to fund the Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry will cause problems in the future.

Mayes sued the state last week after the Arizona Legislature passed the budget and Gov. Katie Hobbs signed it into law. She wanted to block leaders from using $115 million in opioid settlement funds to remedy the budget deficits.

She received a temporary restraining order. However, a judge overturned it on Monday night.

“We obviously still disagree with the judge and his decision,” Mayes told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show on Wednesday. “It’s a sad day, I think, for Arizonans, especially in rural Arizona.”

Furthermore, she called the decision to sweep the opioid settlement funds into the Department of Corrections to backfill its budget an “absolute travesty.”

That spending was supposed to go throughout the state to prevent and treat opioid addiction, she said.

“They should not be allowed to do this,” Mayes added.

She said Hobbs and the Legislature could have used a $1.4 billion rainy day fund to plug the budget deficit.

“Instead, they swept these opioids funds, contrary to the consent decrees, which, by the way, were signed by six or seven different judges in Arizona,” Mayes said.

Opioid settlement money to be used to fund Arizona’s prisons

Mayes is worried that allocating opioid settlement funds to support the Arizona prison system will cause issues in the future.

After all, the millions of dollars from the opioid settlements come from pharmaceutical companies that agreed to pay to settle allegations that they perpetuated drug addiction across the U.S.

These Big Pharma powerhouses may see the Arizona budget’s use of these funds as a violation of their settlement agreements, Mayes said.

“You could see some of these pharmaceutical companies coming in to Arizona and trying to claw back their money because they believe it’s been misused,” Mayes said.

She said she plans to watch the Department of Corrections like a hawk. She wants to make sure it’s using the money to pay for services related to addiction treatment and prevention.

“I think that’s a danger,” Mayes said. “I think the Department of Corrections had better be ready to prove to me and to everybody else that they actually are spending this money on opioid addiction purposes.”

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Republicans seeking their party’s nomination in Arizona’s 8th congressional district faced off for the last time Tuesday night before early voting begins in next month’s primary election.

The seat is currently held by Debbie Lesko, who is not running for re-election.

There is a lot on the line for the five candidates. Trent Franks, who resigned from it in 2017 after sexual harassment allegations, did not participate in the debate.

Candidates mostly agreed on policy, but there was a difference on the major issue of abortion. All candidates except Hamadeh agreed that Congress should step in and pass some sort of abortion ban. Hamadeh’s position is in line with Former President Donald Trump’s, who has said abortion should be left up to the states; it’s a position that has angered anti-abortion organizations.

“I applaud President Trump for what he did. … Appreciate it’s back at the state level, now it’s going to be up to each individual state,” Hamadeh said.

Abe Hamadeh lost the attorney general’s race and still has not conceded. Current state lawmaker Anthony Kern was recently indicted on felony charges for allegedly trying to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election that Donald Trump lost.

Also seeking to represent the West Valley is Blake Masters, who lost his run for the US Senate in 2022. House Speaker Ben Toma is the author of a tough immigration measure the legislature just sent to the November ballot. Political newcomer Patrick Briody bragged about not having an endorsement.

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Arizona has been on a tear this month, picking up 13 commitments in June for its 2025 recruiting class after entering with only two. And now it already has one for the following class.

3-star offensive lineman Michael Langi committed to the UA on Tuesday night, giving the Wildcats their first pledge of the 2026 class nearly 18 months before those recruits could officially sign.

he 6-foot-3, 265-pound Langi, who goes by ‘Bobo’ rather than Michael, is ranked by 247Sports as the No. 509 player in the 2026 class. He’s also considered the No. 41 interior offensive lineman in the country and the No. 79 prospect from California.

Langi, who was offered by Arizona in January, picked the Wildcats over offers from ASU, Colorado and Penn State, among others. He is the younger brother of 3-star offensive lineman Peter Langi, a 2025 recruit whom the UA had in for an official visit last weekend.

Both Langis play for Archbishop Riordan in San Francisco, the same school where Arizona recently got a commitment from 3-star offensive lineman Losipini Tupou. They are no relation to Sam Langi, who appeared in 21 games (with four starts) on the offensive line for the Wildcats from 2020-23.