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Democrats accuse GOP lawmakers of weaponizing processes against AZ agencies

State Republican lawmakers are tightening the leash on several Arizona agencies, and in some cases, seeking to abolish them altogether. Some Democrats believe that Republicans have weaponized the sunset review process.

Republican Sen. Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek) made headlines targeting the Arizona Commerce Authority, which drew his ire after questions were raised about the agency’s practice of wining and dining business executives.  

But Hoffman has his sights set on more than just the ACA.

In one recent legislative hearing alone, Hoffman recommended short two-year continuations for a bloc of nine state agencies.

“This is not an attack or an impugning of your guys' mission or what you guys are doing. This is good governance at work,” he said at the hearing. 

State government agencies, like the Department of Health Services or the Department of Economic Security, are typically audited every eight to 10 years as part of a sunset review. That’s how the Legislature reviews the purpose and function of those departments.

Lawmakers must then take a vote: either to continue an agency, revise or consolidate, or terminate.

Hear reporter Camryn Sanchez on The Show with host Lauren Gilger

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Sen. Catherine Miranda (D-Phoenix) said she sees a pattern by Republicans, like Hoffman, offering short-term continuations.

“They're going to do everything possible to distract this administration to fight against us as Democrats until what they think until they get power and they know they're very close to losing that power,” she said.

For the first time in years, Arizona has a Democratic governor, with agency and department heads appointed by and reporting to Gov. Katie Hobbs.

Miranda says there’s a direct connection to the recently-elected governor and Republicans’ desire to increase scrutiny of state government. She expects that it’s tied to the upcoming election where lawmakers are up to either get reelected or to lose their seats.  

“You're going to see extreme moves on and on until the results come out in 2025,” she said.

The governor’s office says they, too, suspect Hoffman is targeting Hobbs through shorter continuation recommendations. 

“Extremist Jake Hoffman is doing everything in his power to cause chaos for businesses, workers, tribal communities and law enforcement. Arizonans want sanity, not extremists, playing political games with critical government services that will add bureaucracy, and increase government spending and administrative bloat,” Hobbs’ spokesperson Christian Slater said in a text.

Woman wearing striped shirt
Gov. Katie Hobbs speaking with attendees at the 2024 Legislative Forecast Luncheon hosted by the Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry at Chase Field in Phoenix on Jan. 5, 2024.

Hoffman says the Democrats like Miranda are making an “absurd, conspiratorial claim.” While chairing a recent Senate Government Committee hearing, Hoffman said he’s offering shorter continuations specifically for agencies that self-audit.

“We want to ideally have the auditor general, you know, buy them the time essentially to conduct a full audit,” he said. 

Senate President Warren Petersen offered a similar response, calling the idea of Republicans weaponizing sunset reviews “ridiculous.”

“The reality is that the vast majority of sunsets sail through. Not every sunset should be rubber stamped,” Petersen said in a text.

Agency’s self-audit by internally reviewing their own practices. It’s a less comprehensive process than a report from the state Auditor General’s Office, which operates independently and makes recommendations to agencies for ways to improve their operations. 

Hoffman said he doesn’t approve of giving agencies an extension for several years’ without the information from a thorough independent report to work off of.

But Sen. Juan Mendez (D-Tempe) called the shortened continuations a waste, at least as long as auditors aren’t given the resources necessary to review every government agency.

When the auditor general’s calendar fills up, agencies are assigned self audits. State auditors have other responsibilities, which aren’t limited to state agencies. They also review school districts, universities and counties. 

“We need to guarantee that the auditor general has the calendar space to go to give these agencies the proper reviews they are warranted,” Mendez said.

He also sees a connection between last year’s Committee on Director Nominations, which Hoffman chaired, and this year’s new continuation recommendations. 

In the DINO committee, Hoffman critiqued Hobbs, rejected several of her nominees to lead government agencies, and refused to consider several others. Hobbs eventually pulled all her nominees from the committee and assigned them different titles. Republicans questioned the legality of the move and have filed a lawsuit against her. 

“He does like to weaponize things,” Mendez said of Hoffman. “So, I guess this is very similar to how he's treating the director nominations.”

Sunset reviews occur in both the Senate and the state House, where representatives are recommending agencies receive longer continuations than Hoffman’s suggested. He said he expects there will be a compromise. 

But for know, Hoffman and other Republicans’ actions have led to questions about the future of agencies like the ACA. The attorney general recently issued an opinion that the ACA violated the law by doling out millions in state dollars to those wealthy CEOs. Hobbs made a point to say she wants the agency to continue, but Hoffman filed a bill to dissolve it. 

In his Senate Government committee, Hoffman grilled the agency’s representative and recommended that the ACA be revised or consolidated rather than continued. 

Miranda said she’s wary of what that recommendation entails.

“That's the nucleus of Arizona's economy. ACA, I mean, they have a track record of successes and my concern is, does Huffman have a solution that can match these successes? ACA is phenomenal with business attraction, workforce development, entrepreneurship support and now international trade,” she said

Miranda says she doesn’t want the Legislature to rubber stamp all the governor’s agencies regardless of their performance. But without a continuation vote, agencies up for a sunset review would cease to function starting in July.

Democrats were also frustrated about seeing a shorter recommendation for the Governor’s Office on Tribal Relations, a small agency with only three employees that facilitates communications between tribal governments and the governor's office. 

“I just want us to be conscious about the work that we do here and for us not to play political games but really to look at what we’re doing with these agencies,” Sen. Sally Ann Gonzales (D-Tucson) said in a recent hearing where lawmakers discussed the office. “I feel that we are not being fair to some of these agencies.”

Unexpectedly, Hoffman’s committee declined to continue another agency — the Arizona State Board of Technical Registration. The regulating board registers professionals in certain fields including architects, geologists and home inspectors. 

Republicans on Hoffman’s committee said they see the board as too heavy-handed and questioned whether consumers can’t just rely on reviews of the professionals to decide if they’re trustworthy.

“I did not expect the Senate Government Committee of Reference (COR) to vote to impose ’less restrictive regulations,’ to make no mention of whether to continue the agency and for how long, or to not give any member of the public the opportunity to speak for or against the continuation of the BTR,” the board’s Deputy Director Kurt Winter said in an email.

Winter said he doesn’t understand which of the professions the Board has jurisdiction over are ones that the Republicans are referring to. 

He added that the Board’s executive director offered to meet with the members ahead of the hearing, but the “most vocal” lawmakers chose not to.

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Camryn Sanchez is a field correspondent at KJZZ covering everything to do with state politics.