Arizona

Arizona’s wild legislative session saw bipartisan results

Published

1 year ago

August 4, 2023

Arizona’s wild legislative session saw bipartisan results

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) — State lawmakers wrapped up the longest legislative in state history this week. But it wasn’t the only record to be broken in 2023. When Gov. Katie Hobbs kicked off the 56th Legislature in January, she ushered in the first era of divided government in nearly 15 years. And the numbers bear out the political tension. Over the 204 days, the Republican-controlled Legislature passed 348 bills and then watched as the Democratic governor vetoed 142 of them, setting a record for a single year.

Hobbs and Republican leaders eventually set aside their differences. In May, the governor signed a nearly $18 billion budget that boosted school funding, deposited money into the “Housing Trust Fund,” and gave Arizona parents a $250 tax rebate for every child.

Beyond the budget, Hobbs and the Legislature compromised to kill a rental tax and let Maricopa County voters extend or reject a decades-old transportation tax next year. “It was a great session proving that with a divided government, we can still produce legislation that works that keep the economy going,” said Danny Siden, the head of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce.

While the state’s business community was mostly pleased with the session’s outcome, education activists and teachers appeared far less satisfied. Even though the governor got more school funding, Republicans refused to curb the explosive growth of the state’s school voucher program. The Empowerment Scholarship Account program, commonly called ESAs, allows parents to send their kids to private schools with taxpayer money.

Recent estimates show the costs ballooning to over $1 billion and threatening to blow a hole in the budget. Beth Lewis, the executive director for Save Our Schools Arizona, slammed the Legislature for not addressing the program’s growing costs. “I would say the entire Legislature spent the entire session tilting at windmills and culture wars and didn’t accomplish anything. Got a very modest into one-time spending issues and didn’t move the needle whatsoever and also didn’t address ESA,” Lewis said.

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Arizona

Minnesota Vikings vs Los Angeles Rams tickets in Arizona: How to buy NFL playoff seats

Published

5 hours ago

January 10, 2025

Press Room

Minnesota Vikings vs Los Angeles Rams tickets in Arizona: How to buy NFL playoff seats

The Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Rams’ NFL playoff game has been moved to Arizona in the wake of the fires in Southern California.

The game is still scheduled to be played at 6 p.m. MST (8 p.m. ET) on Monday, Jan. 13, but it will no longer be played at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., and will now be played at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, the home of the Arizona Cardinals.

Here’s what to know about how to purchase tickets and how much seats currently cost for the relocated NFL playoff game, the final NFL postseason game of the wild-card round.

Purchase Vikings-Rams ticket on StubHub

How to buy Minnesota Vikings vs Los Angeles Rams tickets

Tickets for the game will go on sale at 11 a.m. MST (1 p.m. ET) Friday through SeatGeek for Los Angeles Rams season ticket members and 1 p.m. MST (3 p.m. ET) for the general public.

If you don’t want to wait, however, tickets are already on sale on the resale market, including via Stubhub.

Minnesota Vikings vs Los Angeles Rams ticket prices

As of Thursday evening StubHub had terrace-level tickets at State Farm Stadium for Monday’s Vikings vs Rams NFL playoff game listed for as low as $265, including fees. Tickets in the 400 level started at $395, including fees.

Lower-level tickets were listed starting at $601 each.

To see a full list of ticket prices, visit StubHub.

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Reach Jeremy Cluff at jeremy.cluff@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter @Jeremy_Cluff.

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Arizona

NFL moves Vikings-Rams playoff game to Arizona

Published

13 hours ago

January 9, 2025

Press Room

NFL moves Vikings-Rams playoff game to Arizona

As wildfires continue to rage in Los Angeles, the NFL has made the only decision it could.

Monday’s Wild Card playoff game between the Vikings and Rams has been moved to Arizona. The NFL announced the relocation of the game on Thursday night.

“The decision was made in consultation with public officials, the participating clubs and the NFLPA,” the league said in a statement.

The game still begins on Monday at 8:00 p.m. ET.

Tickets will go on sale at 10:00 a.m. PT on Friday through Seatgeek.com, for Rams season-ticket holders. At 12:00 p.m. PT, the tickets will be available to the general public.

The 10-7 Rams had earned home-field advantage by winning the NFC West. The 14-3 Vikings are the NFC’s No. 5 seed.

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Arizona

Water, climate, justice: Environmental groups outline priorities for 2025 Legislature

Published

21 hours ago

January 9, 2025

Press Room

Water, climate, justice: Environmental groups outline priorities for 2025 Legislature

A coalition of environmental organizations has described what it wants to see from Arizona lawmakers this year.

During a news conference on Wednesday, the coalition of 35 organizations laid out its vision for Arizona’s 2025 legislative session. The group, coordinated by the Sierra Club, also released a written set of priorities.

Sandy Bahr, director of the Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon Chapter, said the organizations are already working on legislation to address most of the stated priorities. Many organizations in the coalition regularly advocate their policy preferences at the state capitol and work with legislators on new laws.

“We will collaborate with our elected leadership at every level to work towards having cleaner air and heat mitigation efforts to ensure a future where Arizonans don’t face extreme heat for longer periods of time in the years ahead,” said Vania Guevara, advocacy and political director at Chispa Arizona.

Organizations and some lawmakers bemoaned what they described as a pattern of inaction from Arizona’s historically Republican-dominated Legislature.

“I call on my Republican counterparts, as the majority in this Legislature, to hear the bills we introduce … and to pass them. Will this session in 2025 be a departure from prior activity?” said Arizona Senate Democrat and Minority Leader Priya Sundareshan of Tucson.

No Republican lawmakers spoke at the conference.

The coalition, which includes some faith-based and social issue groups as well as environmental organizations, called on the Legislature to address climate change, protect the state’s water resources, protect vulnerable populations, and add more environmental considerations to state and local government actions.

Arizona’s legislative session begins Monday. Republicans will have a 17-13 majority in the Senate and a 33-27 majority in the House, making both bodies redder than they were in 2024.

Climate, water, environmental justice are on the list

The coalition’s specific priorities include:

Support Gov. Katie Hobbs’s Office of Resiliency. The coalition wants legislators to put more money toward the governor’s response to extreme heat and the office’s work to develop a climate action plan for the state. The groups would also like the removal of Arizona laws keeping the state from measuring or limiting greenhouse gas emissions.
Electrify transportation. The coalition wants Arizona lawmakers to pass bills that promote investment in transportation electrification, including electric school and transit buses and more robust electric-vehicle charging infrastructure.
Regulate rural groundwater: The coalition wants laws enabling the measurement and limitation of groundwater pumping throughout Arizona, including in rural areas where pumping has contributed to land subsidence and depleted stream flows. Bahr told The Arizona Republic in an email that the coalition is involved with a bill to accomplish this goal.
Protect riparian ecosystems: The coalition wants amendments to Arizona laws to protect water in Arizona’s waterways specifically to support local ecosystems. Specifically, the groups want the Legislature to modify the state’s surface water quality program to include seasonal streams and washes. The group also wants lawmakers to appropriate more funding for the state to address a backlog of polluted water systems and put them on a path to meeting water quality standards. The coalition is working on legislation to accomplish these goals and to establish “ecological” flows in streams and rivers as a beneficial use, so water rights holders can legally use their water to prop up ecosystems.
Support vulnerable groups: The organizations want a state-level version of the Biden Administration’s Justice40 Initiative, ensuring that 40% of state investments in areas like renewable energy and housing go to communities already grappling with pollution and/or a historic lack of investment. The groups also want the state to pass legislation that defines “overburdened communities” in Arizona as those with “with significant non-white, non‒English-speaking, or low-income populations” and require companies seeking air quality, waste, and water quality permits in those communities to prepare “Environmental Justice Impact Statements.” The coalition is working on a bill to do that, according to Bahr.
Consider environmental impacts to government actions: The groups want a state-level version of the federal National Environmental Policy Act, which would require the state and local governments to assess the environmental impacts of proposed actions before committing to them. Those processes would involve public participation and consultation with tribes. The groups also want a state-level endangered species program to protect species not addressed under the federal Endangered Species Act.

Austin Corona covers environmental issues for The Arizona Republic and azcentral. Laura Gersony covers national politics for The Arizona Republic and azcentral. Send tips or questions to austin.corona@arizonarepublic.com or laura.gersony@gannett.com.

Environmental coverage on azcentral.com and in The Arizona Republic is supported by a grant from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.

Sign up for AZ Climate, our weekly environment newsletter, and follow The Republic environmental reporting team at environment.azcentral.com and @azcenvironment on Facebook and Instagram.

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