Last Week This Morning: Ducey-stacked court
By TJ Hernandez
Judge dismisses lawsuit. An Arizona Superior Court judge dismissed the lawsuits brought by Arizona voters to disqualify U.S. Reps. Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar, and state Rep. Mark Finchem from running for reelection. The suits were brought on the basis that these lawmakers are ineligible to hold public office due to their support and involvement with the January 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. The dismissal will now be appealed to the Arizona Supreme Court.
Cleaner school buses. Schools on the White Mountain Apache Reservation and Glendale Union High School District have been awarded funding through a federal grant. The funding will be used to convert from diesel to electric school buses and will have health benefits in addition to positive environmental impacts. Thanks to environmental groups like Chispa Arizona for their efforts to make this funding happen.
Voters have no say in tax cut. The Ducey-stacked Arizona Supreme Court ruled that voters can have no say in the $2 billion tax cut passed last year that disproportionately benefits Arizona’s highest earners. Voters had collected over 215K signatures to put the tax break on the ballot. The tax cut will negatively impact education funding, as it reduces state revenue by $2 billion, and half of the state’s spending goes to education. Arizona’s highest earners will save as much as $350K per year, while Arizona’s lowest earners will save only about $4 per year. This is yet another attack on education and voters in Arizona, who should be able to democratically weigh in on the tax cut.
Our storytelling series. We just launched our new series designed to highlight the stories of real Arizonans impacted by the bills being passed at the Arizona Legislature. Don’t miss the first video in the series featuring Melissa, a teacher and parent of a trans child, discussing the recent wave of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.
Virtual town hall. GOP legislators are chipping away at our freedom to vote. Join our virtual town hall Monday, March 25 and learn the impacts of these bills on you as a voter and how you can get involved to help protect voting rights.