Arizona
Biden administration invests in Arizona’s semiconductor industry ahead of the 2024 election
As the standoff between Chinese and U.S. trade continues, President Joe Biden’s administration is seizing the opportunity to invest in a key battleground state ahead of the 2024 election by granting direct funding and loans to advance the production of semiconductor chips in Arizona.
In March, the Biden administration announced that the Department of Commerce reached a preliminary agreement with Intel to provide $8.5 million in direct funding and $11 billion in loans under the CHIPS and Science Act. The money would go toward expanding the California-based tech company’s facilities in Arizona, New Mexico, Ohio and Oregon. Intel has a large presence in Arizona with four semiconductor factories built and two more under construction.
Then, in April the administration announced a second preliminary agreement with the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, commonly referred to as TSMC, to expand two already existing projects in Arizona and add a third.
Also, Micron recently received a $6.1 billion for their projects in New York and Idaho and Samsung received $6.4 billion for their project in Texas through the CHIPS and Science Act.
Semiconductors, a crucial piece for technology like electric vehicles, have become a focal point in trade conflict with China. The CHIPS and Science Act was passed in 2022 to combat U.S. reliance on East Asia for semiconductors. It laid out $52.7 billion for semiconductor research, development and manufacturing.
The investments by the Department of Commerce are projected to bring thousands of jobs to Arizona in manufacturing and construction. The White House estimates that TSMC will bring over 25,000 jobs to Arizona and Intel estimates their project will bring another 10,000 jobs.
“Thanks to my CHIPS and Science Act — a key part of my Investing in America Agenda — semiconductor manufacturing and jobs are making a comeback” Biden said in a written statement.
Companies invested in Arizona ahead of CHIPS Act awards
CHIPS funding landing in Arizona is no coincidence. Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz) and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) played key roles in getting the act passed in 2022 by acting as chief negotiators.
“The goal of the chips and science act is to bring microchip manufacturing back to America and at the same time create really good paying jobs and strengthen our supply chains,” said Kelly in a press release following the announcement of the investment to Intel.
Kelly, who sits on the committees for Energy and Natural Resources and Environment and Public Works, was a top recipient of contributions from the electronics manufacturing industry in the 2020 and 2022 election cycles. He has received $2.5 million over the course of his career in Congress, which began with his 2019 campaign. He won that election and entered office that year.
Sinema accepted $553,000 since her first congressional campaign in 2012, trailing behind Kelly. She served three terms in the House and was elected to the Senate in 2019. She announced her decision not to run again last month.
Intel and TSMC were among the top spenders who lobbied on electronics manufacturing and equipment in 2023. Intel spent about $6.9 million while TSMC spent nearly $3 million. In the first quarter of this year, both companies continued to lobby, with Intel spending $1.6 million and TSMC spending $690,000.
Companies are not required to disclose specifics of how this money was spent but an OpenSecrets analysis found that nine lobbyists for Intel and eight lobbyists for TSMC lobbied the Department of Commerce in 2023. Each company had eight lobbyists lobbying the department in the first quarter of 2024.
Arizona’s role in the 2024 election
With 11 electoral college votes up for grabs, Arizona could be crucial to Biden’s reelection campaign. Biden narrowly won the state by .03% in 2020.
Biden’s campaign is the top recipient of contributions from the electronics manufacturing and equipment industry. Intel ranks ninth among those contributors, with individual donations adding up to $40,000.
Intel has also invested in Arizona’s toss-up Senate race, an election that could determine whether Democrats retain their slim majority. Likely Democratic candidate Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) received over $7,000 in individual donations this cycle. He is also one of the top recipients of money from the electronics manufacturing industry for this cycle with contributions topping $257,000. He is largely outraising his likely opponent, Kari Lake, who has only received about $25,000 from the industry.
This story was originally published on May 9, 2024, by OpenSecrets, and is republished here with permission.
A new study has ranked Arizona as one of the worst states to move to for two years in a row, largely due to what it calls a poor quality of life.
The study conducted by Consumer Affairs analyzed the best states to move to in the United States, putting Arizona at the bottom of the list.
Before Arizonans get too defensive about the Grand Canyon State, Consumer Affairs used factors such as affordability, safety, economic strength and education to measure each state, leaving out factors like entertainment, retirement benefits and other considerations that may be important to people living here.
Popular states such as California and New York also landed at the bottom of the list due to their lack of affordability, even though they both have some of the best health care and education in the nation, Consumer Affairs noted.
Here’s why the study says you shouldn’t move to Arizona. Do you agree?
Why you shouldn’t move to Arizona
Arizona ranked No. 10 out of the worst states to move to, scoring especially poorly in quality of life.
Quality of life was measured by the state’s Social Progress Index, average air quality, weather, environmental protection and number of national parks. Due to Arizona’s extreme summers and Phoenix’s consistently poor air quality, it’s easy to see why Arizona ranked No. 44 in quality of life out of 50 states, even though the Grand Canyon is one of the most popular national parks in the nation.
However, Arizona also ranked poorly in other categories, sitting at No. 42 in health care and education, No. 41 in safety and No. 34 in affordability out of 50 states.
There was one category Arizona did impressively well in, ranking No. 5 in economic strength even as one of the youngest states in the country. Still, Arizona’s economic power wasn’t enough to boost its ranking.
Top 10 worst states to move to
Arizona wasn’t alone; some of the biggest states in the country were also considered the worst states to move to in 2026.
- New Mexico
- Louisiana
- California
- Arkansas
- Oklahoma
- Nevada
- Alaska
- Mississippi
- Oregon
- Arizona
Top 10 best states to move to
- Utah
- New Hampshire
- Idaho
- Minnesota
- Massachusetts
- Maine
- North Dakota
- Pennsylvania
- Iowa
- South Dakota
PHOENIX — Arizona’s ACA marketplace enrollment fell from 363,000 to just over 255,000 in a single year — a nearly 30% decline and the third-largest annual drop in the country.
Rising premiums and expired tax credits are driving the trend, with the average benchmark plan premium in Arizona now at $532 — up 30% from 2025.
In the player above, ABC15 Data Analyst Garrett Archer takes a look inside the numbers on how healthcare premiums are impacting health insurance enrollment.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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Arizona
Arizona man pleads guilty after illegally living in forest for years among ‘1,000lbs of trash’
A man in Arizona has pleaded guilty to violating federal fire restrictions and unlawfully residing in a national forest, after authorities said he spent years living at a makeshift campsite surrounded by what officials described as “approximately 1,000 pounds of trash”.
Mark Aaron Gatz was arrested on 25 June at his illegal campsite in Arizona’s Tonto national forest, according to court records. A United States Forest Service (USFS) officer wrote in documents submitted to court that Gatz had been operating an “illegal campsite” with a “hot wood burning campfire” despite fire restrictions and that he had told investigators that he had been living in the forest for about eight years.
The officer wrote that a records check found that Gatz had previously received multiple citations and was the subject of six outstanding federal arrest warrants for earlier violations, including for building fires during fire restrictions, constructing on national forest service lands, unsanitary conditions and occupying national forest as a residence.
Gatz “said that he knew about current fire restrictions but had to have fire to eat”, authorities said. The documents show that USFS officers made contact with Gatz multiple times over the last year or so, and issued him warnings as well as a violation notice for having campfires during fire restrictions.
Notes from officers’ previous encounters with Gatz earlier this year, submitted into the court docket, state that authorities observed “trash such as clothing, pans, tools, and plastic cups scattered throughout the campsite along with a structure that was four feet in height build using wood panels”.
During an encounter with Gatz in May, officers reported observing “approximately 1,000 pounds of trash” at the site, which they said included tires, plastic bags, trash bags, aluminum cans and other items. They also wrote that they found that the campfire site had been left unattended by Gatz the previous day while still hot.
In a separate report filed by law enforcement from an encounter in February, one officer wrote that “upon arrival at the camp, I was flabbergasted by the amount of debris in the area”.
Investigators said that during that encounter, the debris consisted of three ladders, six to eight totes “overfilled with debris”, five 55-gallon drums, eight tires, multiple bicycle frames, 5 gallons of motor oil, plywood and other “miscellaneous lumber”, and they wrote that trash was scattered over approximately half an acre of Forest Service land and creating what officers described as public safety concerns.
In a separate report from July 2025, officers said they observed what they described as a “large messy campsite” while patrolling the area due to complaints “from the district office abut one large messy camp”.
“There was roughly half an acre of resources ruined due to so much trash and goods on the ground for an extended period of time,” the officer wrote.
This week, after Gatz pleaded guilty, he was sentenced to time served and three years of probation, according to court records.
A representative for Gatz did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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