Follow the money. ProPublica has published a database of financial disclosures those folks in Cheeto's adminstraion

Earlier this week, ProPublica  released a database of financial disclosures from Cheeto and some of the officials in his administration.

I heartily recommend perusing it in its entirety.

It turns out that while Cheeto is not the absolute wealthiest person in his admin, he's close (note to readers from ProPublica and other media outlets: a database showing change in wealth over time for the same population would be a good thing).

From their database (note: all pics will be from ProPublica's database unless otherwise noted):

As this is an Arizona blog, I'll focus on his appointees from AZ.

Caveat: This is an incomplete list, and I know it - this list is compiled from news stories, press releases, agency bios, and Congressional records.  I almost certainly missed some folks; if a reader knows of someone who isn't included here, please leave their name and post in a comment.  Also, this is a moment in time - others will accept jobs in Cheeto's admin as time goes on.  Lastly, some folks may drop out of jobs with Cheeto, whether voluntarily or involuntarily.  I've already found two and deleted them from the list.

Kari Lake may soon join the list of folks who no longer work for Cheeto - a judge ruled she was installed as head of her agency unlawfully.

Legislative schedule - week starting 3/8/2026

 As of right now, there's only one striker being offered, but the text of that striker isn't available as yet.  And whether that total remains the same this week or committee agendas are revised to accommodate more, I expect more will be offered next week.

Read bills carefully - bills that look (relatively) harmless may contain a VERY bad provision in them that may be easy to miss.

Schedules can, and frequently do, change at any moment when the legislature is in session.  So pay attention.

Note: HHR refers to a hearing room in the House building; SHR refers to one in the Senate building.

Note2: Generally, I'll only specify bills that look to spread propaganda.  Other bills may be more conventionally b, ad (think: corrupt or other misuses of public monies and/or authority).  My recommendation is that if an agenda covers an area of interest to you, read the entire agenda.

Note3: Each chamber's respective Rules Committee meets on Monday, the House's in HHR4, generally at 1 p.m. and the Senate's in Senate Caucus Room 1, generally also at 1 p.m.  Both committees serve as rubber stamps for bills leadership wants to be advanced and gatekeepers for measures that leadership wants stopped.

Note4: Meeting start times may be listed, but are flexible.  Before journeying to the Capitol or viewing the meeting online, verify the start time.

Note5: Watch for strikers, or strike everything amendments.  Those involve inserting language that replaces the entirety of a bill.  Those can be introduced at any time and can make a previously harmless bill become a very bad one. 

On Monday, 3/9 

-

The chambers' respective Rules committees, House and Senate, will meet to consider proposals approved by other committees.

Senate Federalism meets at 1:30 p.m. in SHR2.  On the agenda: one bill.

Senate Finance meets at 1:30 p.m.in SHR1.  On the agenda: nine bills and two executive nominations.

House Health & Human Services meets at 2 p.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: 11 bills.  Includes SB1115, proposing to forbid AHCCCS from allowing any of its employees to work remotely.  The fiscal note attached to this one predicts an ongoing cost to taxpayers of $4.1 to $8.4 million per year and a one-time cost of up to $5.7 million.

House Public Safety & Law Enforcement meets at 2 p.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda: three bills. Includes a striker that will be offered by a Democrat to SB1055.  Considering that the striker will be offered by a D and is good...and the underlying bill is a "fear the other" anti-immigrant measure, I don't expect the striker to pass.

On Tuesday, 3/10 

-

Senate Appropriations, Transportation and Technology meets at 1:30 p.m. in SHR109.  On the agenda: six measures.

Senate Natural Resources meets at 1:30 p.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: 12 measures.  Most of the ones that don't read as if they were written by industry lobbyists are pure ideological propaganda.

House Commerce meets at 2 p.m. is HHR5.  On the agenda: four bills.

House Education meets at 2 p.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda: seven bills.  Includes SB1572, requiring that the state's public schools celebrate "freedom week" and craft and teach an indoctrination course  with the same topic.

House Natural Resources, Energy & Water meets at 2 p.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: five measures.  Includes SB1418, mandating that the corporation commission allow small modular nuclear reactors in small counties without more approvals/paperwork.

On Wednesday, 3/11 

-

House Government meets at 9 a.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda:  11 measures, at least five of which seem to be propaganda.

House Judiciary meets at 9 a.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: 10 bills.  Includes SB1148, a ploy to take attorney licensing away from the state bar association.

Senate Health and Human Services meets at 9 a.m. in SHR2.  On the agenda: seven bills.  Include HB2584, prohibiting the use of public monies to pay for genetic sequencing conducted by a company from a "foreign adversary".

Senate Regulatory Affairs and Government Efficiency meets at 9:30 a.m.in SHR109.  On the agenda: three bills; includes a proposed striker to HB2184, agenda subject: "remains; disposition; authorization; legal decision-making" (text not available as of this writing).

House Ways & Means meets at 10 a.m.in HHR3.  On the agenda: two measures, both bad.

Senate Education meets at 1:30 p.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: eight measures.  All eight seem to be propaganda.  Includes HB2318, a ploy to impose term limits on school board seats.

Senate Judiciary and Elections meets at 1:30 p.m. in SHR2.  On the agenda: seven measures, five of which are propaganda.  Includes HCR2016,  asking the voters to bar early voting centers and casting a ballot in places other than a voter's assigned precinct.

Senate Public Safety meets at 1:30 p.m. in SHR109.  On the agenda: two bills.

House Appropriations meets at 2 p.m.  in HHR1.  On the agenda: three bills.

House Federalism, Military Affairs & Elections meets at 2 p.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: one presentation (from committee chair John Gillette) and four bills.  All propaganda.

House Science & Technology meets at 2 p.m. in HHR5.  On the agenda: one bill.

House Transportation & Infrastructure meets at 2 p.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: five measures, including SB1010, a proposal to rename a Phoenix-area highway (Loop 202) after Charlie Kirk

On Thursday, 3/12 

-

House Artificial Intelligence & Innovation meets at 9 a.m.in HHR3.  On the agenda: one bill and two presentations.

It may be easy to get caught up in the tumult of an election year, but no one should sleep on school board races.

They may be decidedly unsexy (downballot, nonpartisan, unpaid, entry-level) and easy to ignore.

Most voters don't actually pay attention to them.

However, those positions are often used as resume filler for people seeking higher office.

As school board positions are low profile resume filler, they tend to be easy for anti-public education folks to infiltrate.  Particularly when they're aided and abetted by the county school superintendent.

And Maricopa County's school superintendent is Shelli Boggs, a MAGA/pro Cheeto person who seems to absolutely hate public schools.

While she isn't in charge of elections, she  *does* appoint people to fill vacancies on school boards, and she has a track record of appointing people who are less about education than they are about ideology.

One of the people she appointed was Jeremiah Cota.  I assume he attended a school at some point, but his employment history included stints working for Paul Gosar, Andy Biggs, and the Arizona Republican Party.

He was appointed by Boggs to fill a vacancy on the Phoenix Union High School Governing Board.

He has since resigned because of his attendance at a party with Nazi ties.

From the article, from the Arizona Republic, written by Erick Trevino, via the State Journal Register -

[snip]

Ceysha Napa, a Phoenix Union governing board member, said she wasn’t surprised that Cota portrayed himself as a victim. His time on the board would have been different if he wasn't so blatant about the disrespect he had for the community, she said.

"Being held accountable can also feel like persecution," Napa said. "I'm the first Indigenous person to serve on that board. Never at any point in time did I feel like I wasn't welcome."

Cota, a conservative Republican, was appointed to the Phoenix Union governing board in June by Maricopa County School Superintendent Shelli Boggs to fill a vacant seat. He represents Ward 1, which covers south Phoenix, Laveen and the Gila River Indian Community. Cota did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

[snip]

In 2025, the district solicited the community's input to fill a vacancy on the seven-member governing board, according to Napa. A list of potential candidates was shared with Boggs, but under Arizona law there is no legal obligation for the superintendent to consider any of the district's candidates.

[start sarcasm]

Nazi leanings and worked for Gosar and Biggs?

I'm shocked! Shocked! I say.

[/end sarcasm]

I'm not worried that one of Boggs' appointees will need to replaced by another appointee - I have faith in her ability (and willingness) to find another MAGA/Nazi type for the gig.

Note: Just because someone has filed a Statement of Interest (SOI) for a school board seat already does NOT mean that they will appear on a ballot, and just because someone has not filed an SOI yet does not mean that they won't appear on a ballot.

Maricopa County SOIs are here.

Pima County SOIs are here.

Pinal County SOIs are here.

Yavapai County SOIs are here. (go to the bottom of the page)

Coconino County school board candidates are here.

Mohave County SOIs are unavailable (at least, I couldn't locate them quickly)

La Paz County SOIs are here. (includes candidates for all offices; also, these may be for the primary races only)

Yuma County SOIs are here.

Cochise County SOIs are here.

Santa Cruz County SOIs are unavailable (at least, I couldn't locate them quickly)

Gils County SOIs are unavailable (at least, I couldn't locate them quickly)

Graham County SOIs are unavailable (at least, I couldn't locate them quickly)

Greenlee County SOIs are unavailable (at least, I couldn't locate them quickly)

Apache County SOIs are unavailable (at least, I couldn't locate them quickly)

Navajo County SOIs are unavailable (at least, I couldn't locate them quickly)

While I couldn't locate SOIs in every county, the counties I did locate them in covered over 85% of the state's population.

I have to reiterate and restate my previous advisory - voters should pay attention to school board races; some of the candidates for those offices will eventually be candidates for other offices.

Legislative schedule - week starting 3/1/2026

Right now, there's nary a striker to be found on this week's committee agendas, but I write that with two caveats in mind:

1. That will change as we go further into March.

2. The authors of strikers and committee chair like to spring them on short notice so opposition to them can't coalesce/organize.  In other words, check back frequently.

It *does* mean that all of the bills to be heard in committees this week, other than those going before the Rules committees, started off in the opposite chamber.  The ones that were bad there are still bad.

Read bills carefully - bills that look (relatively) harmless may contain a VERY bad provision in them that may be easy to miss.

Schedules can, and frequently do, change at any moment when the legislature is in session.  So pay attention.

Note: HHR refers to a hearing room in the House building; SHR refers to one in the Senate building.

Note2: Generally, I'll only specify bills that look to spread propaganda.  Other bills may be more conventionally b, ad (think: corrupt or other misuses of public monies and/or authority).  My recommendation is that if an agenda covers an area of interest to you, read the entire agenda.

Note3: Each chamber's respective Rules Committee meets on Monday, the House's in HHR4, generally at 1 p.m. and the Senate's in Senate Caucus Room 1, generally also at 1 p.m.  Both committees serve as rubber stamps for bills leadership wants to be advanced and gatekeepers for measures that leadership wants stopped.

Note4: Meeting start times may be listed, but are flexible.  Before journeying to the Capitol or viewing the meeting online, verify the start time.

Note5: Watch for strikers, or strike everything amendments.  Those involve inserting language that replaces the entirety of a bill.  Those can be introduced at any time and can make a previously harmless bill become a very bad one. 

On Monday, 3/2 

-

Senate Director Nomination meets at 11:30 a.m. in SHR109.  On the agenda: no bills: Jake Hoffman's vanity project will conduct an inquisition/hearing into Alix Skelpsa Ridgway for director of the state Office of Tourism.

The chambers' respective Rules committees, House and Senate, will meet to consider proposals approved by other committees.

House Health & Human Services meets at 2 p.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: four bills.

On Tuesday,  3/3 

-

Senate Appropriations, Transportation and Technology meets at 1:30 p.m. in SHR109.  On the agenda: two bills, includes HB2148, the lege's more to take "non-custodial federal monies" from the recipients so the lege can dole them out as they will. 

Senate Natural Resources meets at 1:30 p.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: three bills.  They read as if they were written by industry lobbyists when they were in the House and they still do.

House Education meets at 2 p.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda: three measures.  Includes SCR1006, a proposal to bypass a veto by Governor Hobbs' veto and have the voters approve some anti-trans people language.

House Natural Resources, Energy & Water meets at 2 p.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: no bills, one presentation.

On Wednesday, 3/4 

-

House Government meets at 9 a.m. in HHR5.  On the agenda: no bills; a few presentations/propagandafests.  I'm not kidding -

House Judiciary meets at 9 a.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: six bills, including SB1053, capping fees for Conceal Weapons Permits.

Senate Health and Human Services meets at 9 a.m. in SHR2.  On the agenda: five bills.

Senate Regulatory Affairs and Government Efficiency meets at 9 a.m. in SHR109.  On the agenda: four bills.

House Ways & Means meets at 10 a.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: four bills.

Senate Education meets at 1:30 p.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: five bills, including HB2409, mandating that an AI education course be added to AZ school curricula.  Which sounds OK...until one reads the bill.  The course must be taught with a pro-business bent and the bill is written so specifically that only one vendor may be able to fulfill its conditions.  As the bill was introduced by Rep. Alexander Kolodin, a candidate for AZSOS, it will be interesting to see if folks from that vendor funnel some "donations" to him.

Senate Judiciary and Elections meets at 1:30 p.m. in SHR2.  On the agenda:11 bills.  Most very bad.

House Federalism, Military Affairs & Elections meets at 2 p.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: eight bills.  Most very bad.

House Science & Technology meets at 2 p.m.in HHR5.  On the agenda: one bill and one presentation, subject TBA.  Seriously.  "TBA" is what was put on the agenda.

On Thursday, 3/5 

-

House Artificial Intelligence & Innovation meets at 9 a.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: no bills; one presentation. 

House Rural Economic Development meets at 9 a.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: no bills; one presentation. 

Legislative schedule - week starting 2/22/2026

As I predicted last week, there are far fewer bills under consideration in committee this week.

Read bills carefully - bills that look (relatively) harmless may contain a VERY bad provision in them that may be easy to miss.

Schedules can, and frequently do, change at any moment when the legislature is in session.  So pay attention.

Note: HHR refers to a hearing room in the House building; SHR refers to one in the Senate building.

Note2: Generally, I'll only specify bills that look to spread propaganda.  Other bills may be more conventionally b, ad (think: corrupt or other misuses of public monies and/or authority).  My recommendation is that if an agenda covers an area of interest to you, read the entire agenda.

Note3: Each chamber's respective Rules Committee meets on Monday, the House's in HHR4, generally at 1 p.m. and the Senate's in Senate Caucus Room 1, generally also at 1 p.m.  Both committees serve as rubber stamps for bills leadership wants to be advanced and gatekeepers for measures that leadership wants stopped.

Note4: Meeting start times may be listed, but are flexible.  Before journeying to the Capitol or viewing the meeting online, verify the start time.

Note5: Watch for strikers, or strike everything amendments.  Those involve inserting language that replaces the entirety of a bill.  Those can be introduced at any time and can make a previously harmless bill become a very bad one. 

On Monday, 2/23 

-

The chambers' respective Rules committees, House (1 p.m.) and Senate (8:45 a.m.), will meet to consider proposals approved by other committees.

House Appropriations meets at 10 a.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda: 13 measures. One of which is a poison pill.  HB2229 proposes to give $3 million to the Arizona Department of Health to funnel to anti-choice "pregnancy resource centers." There are other bad bills on this agenda (and some OK ones, too).  The are a few strikers on the agenda, for HB2211, HB2872, and HCR2007.

On Tuesday, 2/24 

-

Senate Appropriations, Transportation and Technology meets at 8 a.m. in SHR109.  On the agenda: 27 bills.  Includes strikers for SB1138, SB1267, SB1826, and SB1827.  The strikers for 1138 and 1267 are "interesting", to say the least.  The one for SB1138 seeks to reduce funding for the Citizens' Clean Elections Commission while the one for SB1267 seeks to eliminate minimum wage for people with disabilities.

On Wednesday, 2/25 and Thursday, 2/26 - Nada.

Legislative schedule - week starting 2/15/2026

This coming Friday (2/20) will be the last day when measures can heard in committees in their chambers of origin*.  Committee agendas will be long this week; also some committees will meet more than once this week.

* = Except the Appropriations committees in each chamber - they have slightly longer deadline.

This one took a while - there are ~400 measures on committee agendas this week; that number should be far lower next week.

Read bills carefully - bills that look (relatively) harmless may contain a VERY bad provision in them that may be easy to miss.

Schedules can, and frequently do, change at any moment when the legislature is in session.  So pay attention.

Note: HHR refers to a hearing room in the House building; SHR refers to one in the Senate building.

Note2: Generally, I'll only specify bills that look to spread propaganda.  Other bills may be more conventionally b, ad (think: corrupt or other misuses of public monies and/or authority).  My recommendation is that if an agenda covers an area of interest to you, read the entire agenda.

Note3: Each chamber's respective Rules Committee meets on Monday, the House's in HHR4, generally at 1 p.m. and the Senate's in Senate Caucus Room 1, generally also at 1 p.m.  Both committees serve as rubber stamps for bills leadership wants to be advanced and gatekeepers for measures that leadership wants stopped.

Note4: Meeting start times may be listed, but are flexible.  Before journeying to the Capitol or viewing the meeting online, verify the start time.

Note5: Watch for strikers, or strike everything amendments.  Those involve inserting language that replaces the entirety of a bill.  Those can be introduced at any time and can make a previously harmless bill become a very bad one. 

On Monday, 2/16  -

House Health & Human Services meets at 9 a.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda:.23 measures Includes HCR2013, wherein the legislature decries the voters putting the right to an abortion in the state constitution and creating a "celebrate life month".  It seems to be an ode to hypocrisy - the members who support this are also probably support the torture and murder or civilians by ICE.

House Public Safety & Law Enforcement meets at 9 a.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda: 12 measures,  Includes a proposed striker for HB4018, specifying that county sheriffs have exclusive and executive authority over reserve units/sheriff's posses.  Also includes HCR2059, which is about the legislature expressing support for county sheriffs, which sounds harmless...until one realizes they put in a poison pill clause, a pro-"constitutional sheriff movement" clause.

The chambers' respective Rules committees, House and Senate, will meet to consider proposals approved by other committees.

Senate Federalism meets at 1:30 p.m. in SHR2.  On the agenda: a propaganda-fest, with one presentation and one bill. The presentation is titled "Influence of Federal Money on Arizona Universities" and the bill is SB1683, which is about barring a "foreign adversary" from acquiring real property in Arizona.

Senate Finance meets at 1:30 p.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: 10 bills.

Senate Military Affairs and Border Security meets at 1:30 p.m. in SHR109.  On the agenda: five bills.  Includes a striker for SB1365, agenda subject "property tax; exemption; veterans; disabilities".

House Health & Human Services meets (again) at 2 p.m. in HHR4.  22 measures. Same agenda as the morning session, with one exception - HB2307, and its striker,  are not on the afternoon agenda. Subject (from the A.M. agenda): "dangerous incompetent defendants; outof-state facilities".

House Land, Agriculture & Rural Affairs meets at 2 p.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: seven measures, at least five of which seem to be bad,  Includes HB2334, mandating that no livestock or produce used for food in AZ receive an mRNA vaccine.

House Public Safety & Law Enforcement meets (again) at 2 p.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda: nine bills.  The p.m. agenda does not have a proposed striker for HB2675, HB4129, and HCR2059 (which I've already discussed).

On Tuesday, 2/17 

-

Senate Appropriations, Transportation and Technology meets at 1:30 p.m. in SHR109.  On the agenda: 17 bills.  Includes SB1332, a ploy to bar the expansion of light rail in Maricopa County.

Senate Natural Resources meets at 1:30 p.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: two executive nomination and 12 measures. 

House Commerce meets at 2 p.m.in HHR5.  On the agenda: 21 measures.  Includes a striker to HB2991 (a proposal to impose age verification requirements on technology companies).

House Education meets at 2 p.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda: 21 measures. Includes a striker to HB4056, exempting state legislators from fees for public records requests.

House Natural Resources, Energy & Water meets at 2 p.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: 18 measures, most read as if they were written by industry lobbyists.

On Wednesday, 2/18 

-

Senate Government meets at 7 a.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: 16 measures. Lots of bad here.  Includes a striker for SB1571.  Also includes SCR1023, a proposal to have the voters 1. increase the number of members of the Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC), increase the number of members from Maricopa County, and decrease the influence of minority political parties in determining the membership of the IRC.  Oh, and add "Fair" to the name of the IRC.

House Government meets at 8 a.m. in HHR5.  On the agenda:  22 measures.  Lot of ugly here.

House International Trade meets at 8:30 a.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda: one presentation and four bills.

House Judiciary meets at 9 a.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: 14 bills.  Includes HB4117, a proposal to criminalize "disturbing a religious service."

Senate Health and Human Services meets at 9 a.m. in SHR2.  On the agenda: 26 bills.. Some bad, some propaganda.  Includes SB1214, a propaganda bill to bar the use of stem cells from abortions.

Senate Regulatory Affairs and Government Efficiency meets at 9 a.m. in SHR109.  On the agenda: 14 bills.

House Ways & Means meets at 10 a.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: seven bills.  Includes proposed strikers for HB2273 (agenda subject as the text isn't available as yet - "income tax credit; net revenues") and HB2784 ("school district tax levy")

Senate Education meets at 1:30 p.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: 25 measures.  Lots of ugly on this one.  There are three proposed strikers: for SB1004 (agenda subject: "school attendance"), for SB1497 ("school insurance"), and for SB1798 ("high school FAFSA").  Includes SB1684, limiting school liability in bullying matters to only case where the victim suffered "serious physical injury", if certain reports were filed, and the school failed to follow up on those reports.

Senate Judiciary and Elections meets at 1:30 p.m. in SHR2.  On the agenda: 54 measures.  With that number, one should expect LOTS of ugly here and those expectations are fulfilled.  Includes proposed strikers for: SB1285 (agenda subject - "narcotic drugs; kratom"), SB1413 ("moving violation; restitution cap removal"), SB1568 "elections systems; software; timekeeping; requirements"), and SB1570 ("security; polling places; citizenship").

Senate Public Safety meets at 1:30 p.m. in SHR109.  On the agenda: 14 measures.  Lots of bad here.  Includes SB1751 and SCR1049, bringing back the (potential) use of firing squads for administering capital punishment and mandating its use when the murder victim is a law enforcement officer.

House Appropriations meets at 2 p.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda: 10 bills.

House Federalism, Military Affairs & Elections meets at 2 p.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: eight measures.  What this agenda lacks in volume of ugly, it makes up for in percentage of it - at least seven of the measures qualify.

House Transportation & Infrastructure meets at 2 p.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: three presentations and 28 measures.  Includes HB4027, a proposal to name Loop 202 (a Phoenix-area highway) after Charlie Kirk.

On Thursday, 2/19 

-

Senate Government meets (again) at 8 a.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: 17 measures.  Pretty much a rerun of Wednesday's agenda, but this one includes a striker to SCR1032 (agenda subject - "teacher pay; protection; highest priority")

Senate Health and Human Services meets (again)  at 8:30 a.m. in SHR2.  On the agenda:26 bills.  A rerun of Wednesday's agenda.

House Rural Economic Development meets at 9 a.m.  On the agenda: one presentation and four bills.  Includes HB2107, an anti-poor people/SNAP recipients bill.

House Health & Human Services meets at 10 a.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: nine bills.

House Government meets (again) at 10:30 a.m.(per the agenda) or 5 p.m. (per the online calendar {see the above pic]).  On the agenda: six bills.  Different agenda than Wednesday's.

On Friday, 2/20 

-

Senate Judiciary and Elections meets (again) at 8 a.m. in SHR2.  On the agenda: 56 measures.  Similar to the agenda for Wednesday's meeting, but adds strikers for SB1012 (agenda subject: "defamations; functions") and SB1099 ("defamations; factors").

Gina Swoboda, former chair of the AZGOP, causes tumult in not one, but *two* races

...and she did that by switching the office that she's seeking.

Note: I received a head's up on this from watching AZ Family's Politics Unplugged (YouTube link)

She WAS a candidate in Congressional District 1 (CD1), one of the many people looking to replace David Schweikert, who's running for Governor this year.

For a long time, she and Joe Chaplik, a Republican state legislator from that area, were the biggest "names" in R primary in CD1.

Then former NFL placekicker Jay Feely went district shopping and jumped out of the CD5 contest, vying to replace Andy Biggs (like Schweikert, he's also running for Governor) and jumped into the CD1 contest.

So Swoboda looked at the race for Arizona Secretary of State (AZSOS).

By filing a statement of interest, she can collect nominating signatures.

While the panelists on Politics Unplugged weren't sure she that she actually intends to enter the AZSOS race, but I think she does - she formed a committee for a run, so she can spend money in order to campaign for the office.

She does have one major problem - nominating sigs.  The signatures needed in order to run for for a statewide office (as AZSOS is) are significantly higher than they are for a CD, and the ones she has collect so far cannot be transferred.

From the sig requirements page -

She has approximately seven weeks to collect almost 7600 sigs (they're due by 3/23), and that will get her to just the minimum number required.  It won't be easy.

And if she turns in just the minimum, that will almost certainly result in one of the other AZSOS candidates filing a challenge.

My guesstimate is that she will need to submit nearly 11K sigs in order to withstand any challenges.

Is the popcorn concession at the office of the Arizona Secretary of State available?  😃

An open letter to Arizona governor Katie Hobbs

Dear Governor Hobbs.

Arizona Democrats have a long history of fielding candidates who are R-lite in general election races.

Arizona Democrats have a long history of losing those races.

Your consultants and advisers may tell you otherwise, but don't be R-lite.

People who face a choice between R and R-lite candidates will almost always vote for the authentic thing.

On January 20, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes observed that Arizona's "stand your ground" laws  and gun culture could help turn encounters between Arizonans and ICE agents violent.

On January 29, Arizona's Senate Republicans enthusiastically clutched their pearls and approved SR1036, calling on Mayes to retract her comments and resign her position.

Also on January 29, you emulated, but went milder than them and called for her to retract her comments.

She shouldn't retract a damn thing - she wasn't wrong.

Also, while there may be Rs worthy of being emulated, AZ Senate Rs aren't among them - they're profoundly lousy public servants and wastes of DNA as human beings.

By going R-lite, you are all but guaranteeing that the person who emerges from the R primary for governor will be victorious in the general election.

Right now, I think that will be Andy Biggs.  Not because I think that he's their strongest candidate electorally, but because he's the worst human being among their "Big Three" (the other two aren't decent human beings, but Biggs is worse).

And R voters have a track record of choosing the lousiest people in their primaries.

Me

Legislative schedule - week starting 2/8/2026

While many committee agendas have at least one bill on it that qualifies as bad, or shameless propaganda, one bill(s) stands out as being very bad for most Arizonans.  Both SB1418 and HB2456 would allow nuclear reactors in AZ without approval.

FWIW, I believe that there are actually more bills on committee agendas this week than there were last week, and there were over 200 last week

Read bills carefully - bills that look (relatively) harmless may contain a VERY bad provision in them that may be easy to miss.

Schedules can, and frequently do, change at any moment when the legislature is in session.  So pay attention.

Note: HHR refers to a hearing room in the House building; SHR refers to one in the Senate building.

Note2: Generally, I'll only specify bills that look to spread propaganda.  Other bills may be more conventionally b, ad (think: corrupt or other misuses of public monies and/or authority).  My recommendation is that if an agenda covers an area of interest to you, read the entire agenda.

Note3: Each chamber's respective Rules Committee meets on Monday, the House's in HHR4, generally at 1 p.m. and the Senate's in Senate Caucus Room 1, generally also at 1 p.m.  Both committees serve as rubber stamps for bills leadership wants to be advanced and gatekeepers for measures that leadership wants stopped.

Note4: Meeting start times may be listed, but are flexible.  Before journeying to the Capitol or viewing the meeting online, verify the start time.

Note5: Watch for strikers, or strike everything amendments.  Those involve inserting language that replaces the entirety of a bill.  Those can be introduced at any time and can make a previously harmless bill become a very bad one. 

On Monday, 2/9 

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The chambers' respective Rules committees, House and Senate, will meet to consider proposals approved by other committees.

Arizona Off-Highway Vehicle Study Committee meets at 11 a.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda for this joint committee: no bills; three presentations.

Senate Federalism meets at 1:30 p.m. in SHR2.  On the agenda: one bill.  SB1281 proposes to require legislative approval of acquisition in AZ of real property by the federal government

Senate Finance meets at 1:30 p.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: nine bills. Includes a striker to SB1090 from Vince Leach that seeks to reduce municipal revenue by exempting items that can be purchased with SNAP or WIC benefits.

Senate Military Affairs and Border Security meets at 1:30 p.m. in SHR109.  On the agenda: six bills, three of which are bad (OK, they're vile); of those, two are anti-immigrant screeds from Wendy Rogers and Mark Finchem.  My (least) favorite: SB1421, which proposes to limit financial services accessible to immigrants by limiting the forms of identification that can used for such services.

House Health & Human Services meets at 2 p.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: 14 bills.

House Land, Agriculture & Rural Affairs meets at 2 p.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: 10 measures.  Many bills that look to be written by industry lobbyists.  The other bad bills include HB2787, proposing to nullify federal law regarding the reintroduction of the Mexican Gray Wolf into Arizona.

House Public Safety & Law Enforcement meets at 2 p.m.in HHR1.  On the agenda: three bills.  Includes HB2904, declaring that border security is lax and that it constitutes a health crisis.

On Tuesday, 2/10 

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Senate Appropriations, Transportation and Technology meets at 1:30 in SHR109.  On the agenda: . 17 bills.  Some bad here.  Includes SB1551, a proposal to redirect certain funds from the budget stabilization fund (rainy day fund) to the statewide infrastructure trust fund.

Senate Natural Resources meets at 1:30 p.m.in SHR1.  On the agenda: 11 bills. Includes SB1418, which would allow the construction of small modular reactors in AZ without further approval.

House Commerce meets at 2 p.m. in HHR5.  On the agenda: seven bills.

House Education meets at 2 p.m.in HHR1.  On the agenda:12 bills.  Not all bad, but the vast majority are.

House Natural Resources, Energy & Water meets at 2 p.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: 19 measures.  All appear to have been written by industry lobbyists.

On Wednesday, 2/11 

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House Government meets at 9 a.m. in HHR5.  On the agenda: 15 bills,  Includes a rerun of HB2745, held in committee last week.  What I wrote last week (the measure hasn't changed): "making failure to comply with a legislative subpoena a criminal act solely at the discretion of the chair of the committee somebody was subpoenaed to appear before; also, all testimony given under such a subpoena would be considered to be under oath (subject to the penalties for perjury).

House International Trade meets at 9 a.m.in HHR1.  On the agenda: one presentation and four bills.

House Judiciary meets at 9 a.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: 10 bills.  Includes HB2862, making wearing a mask to a public gathering a crime...but with a specific carve out exempting law enforcement officers from that.

Senate Government meets at 9 a.m.in SHR1.  On the agenda: nine measures, at least six of which are bad. Includes a striker for SB1571 (text not available as yet.  Subject (from the agenda): "affordability; utilities; marketing expenses"  Also includes not one but *two* measures from committee chair Jake Hoffman to divide up Maricopa County into new counties, SB1433 and SB1434.

Senate Health and Human Service meets at 9 a.m. in SHR2.  On the agenda: 12 bills.

Senate Regulatory Affairs and Government Efficiency meets at 9 a.m. in SHR109.  On the agenda: one executive nomination and 16 bills.  Includes a striker for SB1366 (text not available as yet.  Subject (from the agenda): "towing."  Also includes SB1241, a rerun of a bill held over from last week.  What I wrote last week - "Shawnna Bolick's ploy to supplant municipal project permitting processes by replacing them with private permitting providers."

House Ways & Means meets at 10 a.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: four measures.  Includes two measures that would serve to inhibit revenue accrued by municipalities and counties, HB4030 and HCR2052.  If approved, they would limit municipal and county taxes and fees at 2026 levels.

Senate Education meets at 1:30 p.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: one presentation and seven bills.  Includes SB1572, a propaganda indoctrination bill that would require all public schools to "celebrate freedom week."

Senate Judiciary and Elections meets at 1:30 p.m. in SHR2.  On the agenda: 24 measures.  May be the worst agenda of the week - 15 look to be bad.  Includes Includes a striker for SB1687 (text not available as yet.  Subject (from the agenda): "voter access; elections; primary date." Also includes SB1573, an anti-Sharia propaganda bill that  only uses "Sharia" once. It's also anti-Catholic (and anti-any form of Christianity that isn't fundie/born-again) and SB1635, making it a crime for one person to inform another person of a pending arrest or law enforcement  activity in the area of the 2nd person.  This a direct slap at Sen. Analise Ortiz for notifying her neighbors/constituents about ICE activity

Senate Public Safety meets at 1:30 p.m. in SHR109.  On the agenda: 18 bills.  Includes SB1624, capping penalties for civil traffic violations resulting from photo radar at $75; in addition, records of such violations cannot be used to determine if the driver's license of the person responsible should be revoked or suspended or be used in determining the insurance rate for that person.

House Appropriations meets at 2 p.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda: one presentation and eight bills.  Includes HB2500. giving $1million to the Department of Education for the administration of the state ESA (school voucher)

House Federalism, Military Affairs & Elections meets at 2 p.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: five bills.  Includes HB2908, making it a class 2 felony to be a "faithless delegate" to a US constitutional convention.  Putting it on par with aggravated assault and sexual assault of a minor (and other things).

House Science & Technology meets at 2 p.m. in HHR5.  On the agenda: two presentations and three bills.  Includes two measures about blocking online content and HB2809, which is ostensibly about mandating certain requirements for a statewide cybersecurity system but seems to be written so specifically that there's only one potential vendor.  So the agenda is all bad.

House Transportation & Infrastructure meets at 2 p.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: seven bills.

On Thursday, 2/12 

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House Artificial Intelligence & Innovation meets at 8:30 a.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: seven bills.  Includes HB2456, which would allow the construction of small modular reactors in AZ without further approval.  The measure was introduced by Justin Wilmeth, the chair of this committee.  Expect it to pass.

House Rural Economic Development meets a 9 a.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: one presentation and six bills.

House Natural Resources, Energy & Water meets at 12:30 p.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda for the 2nd meeting of the week for this company: 16 bills, most bad.  My (least) favorite - HB2267, declaring that renewable energy projects are public nuisances and should be shut down by the state's Attorney General.