Center Square News

(The Center Square) – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit has affirmed a lower court’s decision barring the Trump administration from cutting funding for medical and public health research at universities and other institutions, following a lawsuit by 22 attorneys general.

In February 2025, the Trump administration announced through its Supplemental Guidance that it would impose a 15% indirect cost across the board, affecting medical and research institutions, including the University of California and California State University.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta, as part of the coalition with 21 other attorneys general, sued the U.S Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health.

In 2023, UC received over $2 billion in NIH grant funding, and CSU campuses received roughly $158 million in NIH funds.

After the Trump administration attempted to appeal the lower court's decision, the appellate court’s decision permanently bars the administration from cutting those funds.

“We agree with the district court that it had jurisdiction over the plaintiffs' claims and that NIH's action is unlawful because it violates a statute and regulations,” the decision states.

The Center Square reached out to the HHS, but Press Secretary Emily Hilliard responded that the HHS does not comment on litigation. The NIH did not respond for comment.

The decision reached on Monday concludes that the NIH-funded research is essential and that the 15% indirect cost rate “violates the congressionally enacted appropriations rider and HHS’s duly adopted regulations.”

“My fellow attorneys general and I stepped in to stop these illegal actions. The district court sided with us, and now, the First Circuit has, too. We’re starting the new year by building on our previous successes and securing yet another important victory against the Trump Administration,” Bonta said in a news release.

In addition to California, the lawsuit was filed by Arizona, Connecticut, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.

Editor's note: This story has been updated since its initial publication to include a comment from the White House.

(The Center Square) – Secretary of War Pete Hegseth plans to reduce the Navy retirement pay for U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Arizona, following Kelly’s participation in a video telling members of the military to “refuse illegal orders.”

"These actions are based on Captain Kelly's public statements from June through December 2025 in which he characterized lawful military operations as illegal and counseled members of the Armed Forces to refuse lawful orders," Hegseth said in a post Monday on X.

Kelly said he will fight the pay cut — "with everything I’ve got — not for myself, but to send a message back that Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump don’t get to decide what Americans in this country get to say about their government.”

Hegseth accused Kelly, a retired Navy combat pilot, of “seditious statements” and a “pattern of reckless misconduct.”

The secretary said the Department of War was taking administrative action to reduce Kelly's rank at retirement, which would also mean a cut in pay. Hegseth added he issued a formal letter of censure, which will be placed in Kelly’s permanent military personnel file.

According to media reports, Kelly’s rank would decrease from captain to commander, meaning his retirement pay would fall from roughly $6,000 a month to approximately $5,000 month. The Center Square Tuesday asked the Pentagon about this detail and others about Kelly and was told there would be no comment beyond Hegseth’s post on X.

“Six weeks ago, Senator Mark Kelly — and five other members of Congress — released a reckless and seditious video that was clearly intended to undermine good order and military discipline," Hegseth wrote.

The secretary was referring to a video in which the lawmakers told service members to “refuse illegal orders.”

Hegseth previously noted four of the lawmakers are former, but not retired, military service members. He said that leaves Kelly as the only one still subject to the U.S. Code of Military Justice.

Kelly's remarks from June through December 2025 were seditious and violated the code's Articles 133 and 134, Hegseth said in Monday's post.

“As a retired Navy Captain who is still receiving a military pension, Captain Kelly knows he is still accountable to military justice," Hegseth said. "And the Department of War — and the American people — expect justice.”

After Hegseth’s announcement, Kelly, a former astronaut, said he never imagined such an action would be taken against him.

“Over twenty-five years in the U.S. Navy, thirty-nine combat missions, and four missions to space, I risked my life for this country and to defend our Constitution — including the First Amendment rights of every American to speak out,” Kelly said in a statement Monday. “I never expected that the President of the United States and the Secretary of Defense would attack me for doing exactly that.

“My rank and retirement are things that I earned through my service and sacrifice for this country,” Kelly said. “I got shot at. I missed holidays and birthdays."

He continued: “Generations of servicemembers have made these same patriotic sacrifices for this country, earning the respect, appreciation, and rank they deserve."

Kelly noted he commanded a space shuttle mission while his wife, former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords, D-Arizona, recovered from a gunshot wound to her head during a shooting that killed six people and injured 12 others on Jan. 8, 2011, at a constituent event in the Tucson area.

The Center Square reached out to Kelly’s press office for further comment, but did not get a response.

Hegseth said Kelly has been provided a notice for the action and has 30 days to submit a response. He said the retirement grade determination process will be completed in 45 days.

“Captain Kelly’s status as a sitting United States Senator does not exempt him from accountability, and further violations could result in further action,” Hegseth warned on X.

The Center Square reached out Tuesday to the White House, which commented on Kelly.

"Mark Kelly sowed doubt in a clear chain of command, which is reckless, dangerous, and deeply irresponsible for an elected official," White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told The Center Square in an email. "Actions have consequences, and, as Secretary Hegseth said, Kelly’s status as a sitting U.S. senator does not exempt him from accountability.”

(The Center Square) - The author of new Arizona legislation is attempting to strengthen child sex trafficking laws by creating penalties for online platforms.

State Sen. Mark Finchem, R-Prescott, last week pre-filed Senate Bill 1077, which creates a new Arizona criminal statute for a person or company that “keeps, manages, operates or owns an interactive computer service” such as a website or app that facilitates prostitution, pandering or child sex trafficking involving minors.

Finchem told The Center Square that he wants to make sure online platforms are not openly soliciting or promoting “the trafficking of children.”

These online platforms will send emails attempting “to get people to respond to their invitation ‘to use their service,’ ” Finchem said, adding that these platforms are “essentially phishing people.”

He noted many of these platforms are international and advertise relationships with “young girls” as a “virtual escort service.”

With the creation of the new statute, people who knowingly traffic victims between the ages of 15 and 17 will face a Class 5 felony charge, which carries a potential 2.5-year imprisonment if convicted.

SB 1077 says if the victim is under 15 years old and the perpetrators have direct knowledge, they could face a maximum sentence of 27 years. The bill would punish these people under Arizona’s dangerous crimes against children statute.

On top of this, people who run platforms that expose children to sexual material without a verification method can face a Class 4 felony charge, the bill says.

People convicted of this crime could face up to 3.75 years of imprisonment.

Finchem said age verification processes help online platforms fight child sex trafficking.

Besides this bill, Finchem told The Center Square that he will focus on reforming Arizona's family courts in the upcoming legislative session. He added that a total of eight bills could be introduced.

Finchem called these packages of bills “a pretty significant reform of family court in Arizona.”

(The Center Square) – Southwestern members of Congress reacted along party lines after the U.S. military captured Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro and his wife.

U.S. Rep. Abe Hamadeh, R-Arizona, supports the Trump administration’s actions on Saturday, which included a military strike on the capital city of Caracas and the arrest of Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. The couple was flown out of Venezuela and taken to New York City, where they pleaded not guilty Monday in a federal court to drug and weapons charges.

"As an America First Republican, I believe our foremost responsibility is to protect the safety, sovereignty and future of the American people,” Hamadeh told The Center Square. “That means confronting threats decisively, not appeasing them or allowing chaos to spill across our borders.”

Hamadeh, a former U.S. Army Reserve captain and intelligence officer, said Maduro is “not a legitimate leader.”

The congressman called Maduro “the brutal head of a criminal drug cartel masquerading as a government,” one that has “oppressed its own people and fueled the flow of deadly narcotics” into the United States.

“President Trump’s decisive action sends a clear message that the United States will defend its backyard and will not tolerate narco-dictators who destabilize our hemisphere,” Hamadeh told The Center Square. “This is peace through strength in action, confronting danger at its source before it reaches American communities. Strong leadership like this restores order, protects lives and reasserts American resolve on the world stage."

After months of airstrikes on alleged drug boats from Venezuela, the United States carried out a “large scale strike against Venezuela” in the overnight hours Saturday, capturing Maduro and his wife. President Donald Trump made the announcement in a post on Truth Social and noted the operation was “done in conjunction with U.S. Law Enforcement.”

U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Arizona, does not agree with Trump’s actions.

“The President of the United States just overthrew a foreign ruler and explained to the American people that this is about taking control of the oil reserves of a foreign nation,” Kelly said in a statement Saturday. “He said that the U.S. will 'run the country' until a proper transition can take place and went right into how U.S. oil companies will benefit from this takeover.”

Kelly, a retired Navy combat pilot who made headlines last fall for urging military service members to disobey “illegal orders,” went on to say that Trump “does not understand the risks and costs involved with these poorly thought-out decisions” that do not make Americans any safer.

“Nicolás Maduro is a brutal, illegitimate dictator who deserves to face justice,” said Kelly, a former astronaut. “I want the people of Venezuela to be free to choose their own future, but if we learned anything from the Iraq war, it’s that dropping bombs or toppling a leader does not guarantee democracy, stability or make Americans safer.”

According to Kelly, such actions more often leads to chaos or drags the U.S. into a war and lengthy occupation for which the senator does not think the Trump administration has a plan, timeline or price tag.

Kelly is not alone in his criticism. U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet, D-Colorado, and Jacky Rosen, D-Nevada, issued similar statements.

In a post on X, Bennet agreed that Maduro “is an illegitimate, brutal leader who lost, then stole the 2024 elections” in Venezuela.

“Nevertheless, as a member of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, I have seen no evidence justifying the administration acting alone without Congressional authorization,” said Bennet. “I certainly have seen no justification for putting U.S. troops on the ground to 'run the country' or rebuild and exploit Venezuela’s oil infrastructure for our own economic purposes.”

Rosen agreed with Bennet's description of Maduro and added, “The Trump administration needs to be held accountable and explain why it lied to us when it claimed in its briefings that regime change was not the U.S. goal” in Venezuela.

“Congress must also pass Senator Kaine’s bipartisan War Powers Resolution next week to prohibit Donald Trump from carrying out additional strikes without our input,” said Rosen in a press release.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Virginia, introduced the War Powers Resolution in early December to block the use of U.S. military service members to engage in hostilities within or against Venezuela unless authorized by Congress. At the time, Trump was saying that land strikes in Venezuela were imminent.

“We should not be risking the lives of our nation’s service members to engage in military action within Venezuela without a robust debate in Congress,” said Kaine in a Dec. 3 statement. “This is why the Framers gave the power to declare war to Congress, not the President.”

Co-sponsors of the War Powers Resolution on Venezuela include Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-New York; U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, and U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-California.

Schiff on Saturday commented about the U.S. strike in Venezuela.

“Nicolás Maduro was a thug and an illegitimate leader of Venezuela, terrorizing and oppressing its people for far too long and forcing many to leave the country," Schiff said in a statement.

"But starting a war to remove Maduro doesn’t just continue Donald Trump’s trampling of the Constitution, it further erodes America’s standing on the world stage and risks our adversaries mirroring this brazen illegal escalation," he said.

“Acting without Congressional approval or the buy-in of the public, Trump risks plunging a hemisphere into chaos and has broken his promise to end wars instead of starting them," Schiff said.

But U.S. Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-California, thinks Trump did America and the world a favor.

“The United States, Venezuela, and the entire Western Hemisphere and international order are immeasurably better off with Nicolás Maduro removed from power,” Kiley posted Saturday on X. “Today marks the end of Maduro’s illegitimate rule and narco terrorist reign, and the beginning of a legal process for bringing him to justice.”

Kiley also said Maduro's capture gives the people of Venezuela a chance at a new beginning with democracy, freedom and prosperity instead of dictatorship, socialism and poverty.

“The role of the United States in helping usher in that future must integrally involve Congress moving forward,” said Kiley. “Thank you to our incredible service members who carried out this operation with unmatched skill and courage.”

(The Center Square) – Sen. Janae Shamp is on a mission for 2026.

The Arizona legislator said she wants to “make pedophiles’ lives hell” and is not backing off.

“There are many different layers to how sex offenders are processed,” Shamp, R-Surprise, told The Center Square. “There's things that happen pretrial. There's plea deals that are made. Probation gets involved, and then once probation comes into it, what level of sex offender they are is then generated. So I've been working to make sure that everyone that is a sex offender, whether they're level 1, 2, or 3, are actually on the registry.”

The state senator has also been working to ensure that if someone commits a dangerous crime against a child, he or she will be punished.

In recent legislative sessions, Shamp was successful in getting several major child protection bills signed into law. These include Senate Bills 1232, 1236 and 1404.

SB 1232 classifies sexual conduct with a minor 12 or younger resulting in serious physical injury as a Class 1 felony, punishable by natural life imprisonment.

SB 1236 requires that additional Level 1 sex offenders convicted of dangerous crimes against children be listed publicly on the state sex offender website.

SB 1404 requires schools to be notified when a parent at that school is a registered sex offender convicted of DCAC.

Reform proposals from Shamp include strengthening mandatory consequences for repeated probation violations and increasing oversight of probation and treatment providers. Shamp will also explore a requirement for immediate intervention for high-risk assessments, in addition to improvements for notification systems used for schools and parents.

“We took 17 statutes. There's actually 26, but 17 really big statutes that involve sexual assault and perverse acts against children, and we elevated the punishment,” said Shamp. “So what I'm looking to do this next session is to build upon that to help protect these kids, and I've been working with the probation department, with the courts, and I've been working lots of stakeholder meetings talking about how we can keep what happened just a month or so ago from ever happening again.”

It was in November 2025 that a student at Orangewood Elementary School in Phoenix was sexually assaulted in a classroom.

Phoenix police and court documents said 25-year-old Abel Gblah followed the student into the building. Authorities add that Gblah told the student he was a doctor.

“Because there had been a tardy student, the door was unlocked, and a pedophile was able to get into the school,” Shamp told The Center Square. “This man has been convicted of human smuggling on the border. He's been convicted of raping a 16-year-old autistic girl with cerebral palsy. And here he is living two miles from the elementary school that he went to school at, so he knows the lay of the land.”

Gblah also “failed to go to 22 of his mandated counseling classes” or appointments, Shamp said.

“He has violated probation many, many times, and they had sent him to jail for 30 days, and four days after he was released is when he raped this little girl,” said Shamp. “That's not OK.”

According to Shamp, people want to blame the school, but the senator does not see it that way.

“One employee made a mistake in not getting a door locked after a tardy student had gone through,” said Shamp. “The breakdown of the entire system of probation should not then be placed on the shoulders of one employee of an elementary school, so, to me, it’s probation reform that we need.”

While investigating the allegations around Gblah, Shamp said she learned “there is a superseding indictment for him because he is illegally in the United States.”

That, said Shamp, is more reason for reform.

“The fact that he was here, he was able to go to that school, and then he was involved in our justice system to the point where Arizona taxpayers are paying for probation, we fund the probation department through our taxes, the probation department, that is criminal,” said Shamp. “That means reforms as well.”

Arizona’s legislative session begins Jan. 12.

Shamp said she believes she will have bipartisan support and is “praying that the governor will sign the measure.”

“The main bill and reform for probation is not going to have anything to do with the illegal status,” said Shamp. “That will be a separate situation, but reforming and what we’re talking about doing with probation is going to be very focused on dangerous crimes against children, and the bills that I have done over the last three sessions and now coming into this one will be the same.”

(The Center Square) - The 2026 midterm elections promise to bring fierce competition as Democrats and Republicans battle for control of Congress.

All 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives are up for election in 2026. However, analysts predict only 66 have at least a slight chance of becoming close races.

The U.S. House of Representatives is currently split 220-213 in favor of Republicans, with two vacancies.

The Cook Political Report rates 17 of the 66 races as being true political toss-ups. These include competitions in Arizona, California, Pennsylvania and Washington.

The general Midterm election is Nov. 3, 2026.

Here is a look at some of those competitions before primary elections.

Arizona

The first Congressional district in Arizona is shaping up to be a competitive race in 2026, with incumbent Republican Rep. David Schweikert running for governor.

A crowded field has emerged from those looking to fill Schweikert’s seat. Schweikert narrowly defeated Democrat Amish Shah in 2024 by a margin of about 16,500 votes, just under 4%.

Shah is running for the Congressional seat again, alongside 23 other candidates who expressed interest in running for the seat. An expression of interest is not a formal declaration of candidacy and does not mean a candidate will appear on the ballot for a particular election.

Gina Swoboda, chair of Arizona’s Republican Party, also filed an expression of interest in the congressional race. Swoboda earned an endorsement from President Donald Trump when she entered the race.

“I am deeply honored to have the endorsement of President Trump as we embark on a campaign that will be centered around the common-sense conservative principles of economic growth and prosperity, strong and secure borders, and protecting taxpayers,” Swoboda wrote in a statement.

Arizona faces another competitive race as incumbent Republican Rep. Juan Ciscomani looks to retain his seat in District 6. Nine Democrats have filed statements of interest to challenge Ciscomani for the seat. In 2024, the district went for Trump as president and Democrat Ruben Gallego for U.S. Senate.

Arizona’s primary election is Aug. 4.

California

Following the passage of Proposition 50, several candidates are vulnerable to toss-up races in California. Congressional District 13 was already seen as a swing district before approval of the redistricting measure.

In 2024, Democrat Rep. Adam Gray was elected to Congress by a margin of less than 200 votes, unseating Republican John Duarte.

Kevin Lincoln II, a Republican and former mayor of Stockton, Calif., is also running in District 13 after switching from a run in District 9 due to the passage of Proposition 50. Lincoln has received endorsements from Trump and U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson.

In the 2024 election, Lincoln lost to incumbent Democrat Josh Harder in California’s 9th Congressional District.

District 22 in California will see incumbent Republican David Valadao trying to retain the seat after the passage of Proposition 50. Democrats Jasmeet Bains, a state assemblywoman, and Randy Villegas, a school board trustee, have announced their candidacy in the area.

“I will fight for my community every day, and work with anyone, to ensure that economic opportunity reaches every part of our community, and that families have access to the essential government programs that keep children fed and healthcare accessible,” Villegas said.

California’s 48th Congressional district will also see incumbent U.S. Rep. David Issa, a Republican, face a slew of Democratic challengers for control of the redrawn district.

Ammar Campa-Najjar, a Democrat who lost to Issa in 2020, is running again.

“Ammar is uniquely positioned to flip this must-win seat from red to blue,” his campaign website reads.

California's primary election is June 2.

Pennsylvania

Districts 7 and 10 in Pennsylvania are likely to see fierce competition between Democrats and Republicans in 2026.

In 2024, Republican Ryan Mackenzie flipped the seat red. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro endorsed firefighter union head Bob Brooks, a Democrat.

“Ryan is keeping his promise to the people of the 7th Congressional District by supporting policies that grow our economy, protect taxpayers, address affordability, address illegal immigration, improve our nation’s safety, and preserve services for those who truly need them,” Mackenzie’s website reads.

District 10 will also see incumbent Republican Rep. Scott Perry defending his seat. Perry first won election to Congress in 2018. Perry narrowly defeated Democrat Janelle Stelson in 2024, retaining the seat.

Stelson is running again for the seat in Pennsylvania’s 10th district.

Pennsylvania's primary is May 19.

Washington

In Washington’s third congressional district, Republican John Braun is looking to challenge incumbent Democrat Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez.

Perez first won the seat in 2022, after defeating Republican Joe Kent. She again defeated Kent in 2024.

Braun is a fourth-term state senator and Senate minority leader in Washington.

Washington's primary election is Aug. 4.

(The Center Square) – Arizona and Utah continue to see an increase in measles cases.

Ten new cases were reported this week in Arizona, bringing this year’s total to 205.

Most of the new cases (nine) are in Mohave County, where the most cases (200) have been documented this year. The other new case is in Coconino County, which, prior to this week, had not reported any incidents.

Navajo County has seen four measles cases this year.

Nicole Witt, director of Public Health Preparedness for the Arizona Department of Health Services, said the state is recommending people get vaccinated for measles.

“The measles vaccination is the best protection against measles,” Witt told The Center Square. “The majority of our cases in Arizona as well as the majority of the cases nationally, are related to measles are related to unvaccinated individuals, so if folks are unsure of their vaccination status or have not yet received their measles vaccination, we strongly encourage the individuals get up to date as soon as possible.”

Measles is a contagious virus that usually begins with a high fever and symptoms such as a cough, runny nose and red, watery eyes.

A document issued by ADHS says that a red, blotchy rash appears two to four days later, starting at the hairline and spreading to the face, trunk and limbs. The rash usually lasts five to six days.

“Measles spreads through the air when someone with the virus coughs or sneezes,” the ADHS document states. “The virus can live in the air or on surfaces for up to 2 hours. People with measles can spread it from 4 days before the rash appears until 4 days after.”

While only eight hospitalizations have been reported in Arizona, and no deaths have occurred, ADHS says “measles can become very serious” and may lead to pneumonia, seizures, brain damage or even death.

“We are in respiratory season, and it’s the holidays, people are traveling and moving about, so we recommend that everybody take care,” said Witt. “If you are sick or ill, make sure you stay home and follow up with your healthcare provider.”

It is a similar situation in Utah, where cases are up 14 from last week, a Utah Health & Human Services spokesperson told The Center Square.

That brings the total number of cases this year to 156.

Most cases are in Southwest Utah (114). The other cases have been found in Utah County (16), Wasatch County (9), Salt Lake County (5), Bear River (4), Central Utah (3), Southeast Utah (3), and Davis County (2).

Like Arizona, Utah is recommending people get vaccinated for measles.

“The best protection against measles is vaccination,” said Dr. Leisha Nolen, an epidemiologist with the Utah Department of Health & Human Services. “We estimate over 90% of Utahans have been vaccinated to protect them from measles, so most Utahans are well protected. But we really encourage those people who have not been vaccinated, or their kids have not been vaccinated, to really talk to their health care provider and consider getting this protection for their family.”

Some Utahans who were recently vaccinated did so when cases began increasing.

“So we can see some people are taking action to protect their families, but we know there are still quite a few people that have not," said Nolen.

Another recommendation is that people with measles symptoms limit their exposure when visiting a health care facility. That recommendation extends to those who believe they might have been exposed and are seeking medical attention.

“One thing that we’ve seen is quite a few people who are sick with measles go into clinics and expose many other people in those clinics,” said Nolen.

Patients at clinics could include babies not yet eligible for the measles vaccines, Nolen said, urging anyone with measles symptoms or likely exposure to measles to call ahead before entering a clinic. Staff could direct them to come through a different door and not sit in the waiting room.

(The Center Square) – 2025 started in California with devastating wildfires, continued with immigration raids and riots protesting them, and ended with congressional redistricting.

It was a year of cliffhangers in Arizona, which almost saw its first state government shutdown, and a year of uncertainty in Nevada, where casinos saw a decline.

Here’s a look at the year's major news in the Southwest.

California

The devastating Palisades and Eaton Fires started on Jan. 7.

The Palisades Fire, which struck the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of coastal Los Angeles and nearby Malibu and rural communities, burned 23,448 acres. It destroyed 6,833 structures and killed 12 people, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection reported.

The Eaton Fire in the Altadena/Pasadena area destroyed 9,418 structures and killed 17 people, according to Cal Fire.

As the fires started, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass was part of a Biden administration delegation to the new Ghanaian president’s inauguration. Bass said she wasn’t aware of warnings before the fire started and suggested Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristen Crowley downplayed the risks. Bass later demoted Crowley and named interim and permanent fire chiefs.

In August, Crowley filed a legal claim against the city and Bass, claiming the mayor “launched a smear campaign built on falsehoods” because Crowley said the Bass' budget cuts and the city's years of neglect caused the fire department to be underfunded, understaffed and ill-equipped.

In October, the U.S. Department of Justice charged Jonathan Rinderknecht, a 29-year-old Melbourne, Fla., resident, with starting the Palisades Fire. Rinderknecht was brought to Los Angeles and is awaiting a trial set for April 21. He has pleaded not guilty.

Meanwhile, Southern California Edison, which many blamed for starting the Eaton Fire because of faulty equipment, has started a program to reimburse victims. Entities varying from the U.S. Department of Justice to the Pasadena Unified School District and the cities of Pasadena and Sierra Madre have sued Southern California Edison.

Fires weren’t the only turbulence. After the Trump administration cracked down on illegal immigration with arrests and raids, rioters took to the streets of downtown Los Angeles in June. In response, President Donald Trump deployed the California National Guard to protect federal buildings.

Besides rioters, there were peaceful protesters, some of whom told The Center Square that they were avoiding any scenes of violence and simply wanted to get their message heard.

In July, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested nearly 200 illegal immigrants during raids in marijuana fields in Southern California's Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. ICE said more than 500 rioters attempted to disrupt the raids, but United Farm Workers said several agricultural workers were critically injured and one of them died from those injuries.

In Los Angeles, local officials and others accused ICE of detaining U.S. citizens and mistreating illegal immigrants during various operations. But Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin repeatedly told The Center Square that demonizing ICE was leading to a huge increase of assaults on agents.

As all this went on, California continued its growing number of lawsuits against the Trump administration on issues varying from immigration to food assistance. By the end of the year, California had filed 51 lawsuits. State Attorney General Rob Bonta joined or co-led a coalition of Democratic attorneys general in the suits.

Against the news was the backdrop of the 2026 midterm election, in which the party in the White House historically loses control of at least one chamber of Congress. At Trump's urging, the Texas Legislature redrew congressional districts to pick up five Republican seats in the House. The Democratic supermajority in the California Legislature and Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom responded by putting Proposition 50 on the November general election ballot to redraw congressional districts to pick up five Democratic seats. Nearly 65% of California voters approved Proposition 50.

Plaintiffs, including Assemblymember David Tangipa, a Fresno Republican on the Assembly Election Committee, and the U.S. Department of Justice, responded with a lawsuit accusing California of illegal racial gerrymandering. The defendants, who include Newsom, contend the gerrymandering was political-partisan, which is legal. A decision is expected soon from the U.S. District Court for Central California in Los Angeles. Tangipa told The Center Square he expects the suit to go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, regardless of who wins in the lower courts.

In the realm of more normal politics, Democrats dropped in and out of a crowded field in the open 2026 gubernatorial race, in which a couple Republicans are running. Former Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democrat living in Los Angeles, decided against joining the race, raising speculation about her yet-to-be-announced plans, if any, for 2028.

Newsom, who said he will consider a run for president in 2028, will be termed out.

Democratic gubernatorial candidates vary from former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to Tom Steyer, the billionaire who financed the campaign to pass Prop. 50.

It was also a year for movie studio mergers. Skydance bought Paramount Studios in Hollywood, and Netflix was all set to purchase Warner Bros. in Burbank, but is being challenged by a hostile bid from the newly merged Paramount Skydance.

Arizona

It takes three to tango.

That was according to state Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, then the chair of the Arizona Senate Appropriations Committee, about getting the state Senate and House to agree on a $17.6 billion budget that Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs would sign. Ultimately the two Republican-controlled chambers agreed on a budget, and Hobbs signed it, just days before Arizona in June would have shut down its state government for the first time. Kavanagh went on to become the Senate's majority leader.

“By working together, we have secured pay raises for state police and firefighters, made child care more affordable and accessible, taken action to stop drug smuggling and human trafficking, and invested in public education from kindergarten through higher ed,” Hobbs said.

The year's drama persisted with the Dragon Bravo Fire, one of Arizona’s largest blazes at 145,504 acres. It struck the Grand Canyon National Park’s Northern Rim.

The blaze started July 4 and was 100% contained by late September when the rim partially reopened. Seasonal closure started Nov. 14. The National Park Service said the Northern Rim is tentatively scheduled to reopen on May 15.

Defense issues also dominated headlines in 2025. U.S. Rep. Abe Hamadeh, R-Arizona, urged Secretary of War Pete Hegseth not to downgrade Luke Air Force Base near Phoenix.

Also in 2025, U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Arizona, went to Ukraine to watch pilots training on U.S. jets and voice his support for NATO and Ukraine's defense against Russia.

Kelly, though, found himself at odds with Trump and Hegseth when he participated, along with other lawmakers, in a video urging military members to disobey illegal orders from the Trump administration. Hegseth said Kelly, a retired Navy combat pilot, could be called back into service for a court-martial, but Kelly said he wouldn’t be silenced.

There were high-profile deaths this year in the Southwest. Among them was the Sept. 10 assassination of conservative leader Charlie Kirk when he spoke at a rally at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.

Kirk, who lived in Scottsdale, Ariz., was the founder and CEO of Phoenix-based Turning Point USA. His widow, Erika Kirk, stressed forgiveness during a memorial service at State Farm Stadium in Phoenix, where those speaking on Kirk’s behalf included Trump.

Meanwhile, Tyler James Robinson, 22, is in jail waiting to be tried on seven counts, six of which are felonies that include aggravated murder of Charlie Kirk. Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray said he will seek the death penalty if Robinson is convicted of murder. The next in-person hearing is set for Jan. 16 in Utah County's Fourth Judicial Court in Provo.

In politics, Hobbs announced she would seek reelection in 2026. Trump, meanwhile, has endorsed two Republicans running for governor: Freedom Caucus member U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs and Karrin Taylor Robson, who lost the 2024 U.S. Senate primary to Republican Kari Lake. On Sept. 30, a third Republican announced he was running for governor: U.S. Rep. David Schweikert of Phoenix.

Nevada

The $687 million gambling industry saw a decline in 2025 from 2024 on the Las Vegas Strip, along with a continued decrease in tourism.

You couldn’t bet this year on government websites always working. A cyberattack left the state’s executive branch without functioning websites in late August and early September.

In other news, the Democratic majority in the Legislature killed all of Republican Lt. Gov. Stavros Anthony’s bills in 2026. The reason, as reported exclusively by The Center Square, was because of Anthony’s stance on keeping boys out of girls’ sports, according to a source who worked for Anthony’s office.

The blocking of the legislation meant the end of the state Office of Small Business Advocacy. Business owners who felt they were hurt by that move talked to The Center Square. They said the office helped them to navigate through the maze of government regulations.

In politics, Nevada’s 2026 gubernatorial race is neck to neck. An Emerson College poll this year shows Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo and the leading Democratic challenger, state Attorney General Aaron Ford, are tied at 41%. As the two sides campaigned, a former Clark County deputy district attorney, Bernard Zadrowski, talked to The Center Square about an ethics complaint he filed against Ford for allegedly using the Attorney General’s Office social media account on X to campaign.

And in economic news, the Legislature failed to pass a tax incentives bill that would have resulted in a new movie studio in Las Vegas. Assembly Bill 5, also known as the Nevada Studio Infrastructure Jobs and Workforce Training Act, passed in the Assembly but didn't get enough votes in the Senate.

The bill would have brought California studios to Nevada. Warner Bros. Discovery, which operates the historic Burbank-based Warner Bros. movie studio, and Sony Pictures Entertainment, whose Culver City movie lot was once home to MGM classics, would invest in the Las Vegas studio. Another investor is the Howard Hughes Corp., a real estate company based in The Woodlands, Texas.

The Center Square's Southwest team contributed to this report.

(The Center Square) - The number of Arizona’s licensed child care providers fell by 46% from 2002 to 2024, according to a recent report.

Common Sense Institute Arizona released a report highlighting the state's shortage of child care providers. In 2002, Arizona had 5,126 providers, but 22 years later, that number had diminished to 2,779.

Katie Ratlief, CSI’s executive director, told The Center Square that the decline in the state's licensed child care providers has been ongoing “for a long time,” but accelerated after 2018.

From 2018 to 2022, the report found the number of people becoming licensed child care providers in Arizona decreased by over 9% annually.

In 2002, there were 1.11 child care workers per 1,000 people in Arizona, but in 2024 that number fell to 0.82, the report noted.

Ratlief noted it has gotten “much more expensive to start and to continue to operate a child care facility.”

There have been increases in the state's licensing fees, requirements for ongoing training and the number of hours of experience required to get a child care license, she told The Center Square. She noted all of that has contributed to a decline in the number of child care providers.

Ratlief said it is hard to know what has led to the increase in fees and regulations over the years.

According to the report, between 2018 and 2024, families have seen the cost of child care skyrocket over 60% for “some provider models and age groups.” Specifically, the cost of infant child care has increased 42% over this time span, the report noted.

A minimum-wage worker in Arizona would need to work 90 hours a month to afford child care costs, the report stated.

Ratlief said this is not a “sustainable model for the economy.”

Of the estimated 460,882 children under 6 years old in Arizona, only 256,267 licensed child care slots are available to them, the report stated.

In Arizona’s rural areas, circumstances for child care providers are “dramatically more pronounced,” the executive director said. The report examined Santa Cruz County, which has a population of 48,000.

In Santa Cruz County, infant daily costs have increased 52% between 2018 and 2024, the report stated.

The county has only one child care slot for every four children under 6 years old, the report found.

Another rural county, Apache, has one child care slot for every seven children under 6 years old, according to the report.

A solution to help address the child care provider disparity in rural areas is home-based child care, Ratlief said.

Home-based child care offers more flexibility and is more likely to provide year-round services than center-based child care, she said.

Ratlief noted home-based child care providers “represent a very small minority” of Arizona’s child care providers. The report found that center-based child care accounts for more than 80% of the state's child care facilities and more than 98% of available child care slots.

Home-based child care providers are subject to the same regulations as center-based child care providers. But home-based child care is much cheaper to start because owners don't have to purchase a building, the Common Sense Institute Arizona executive director said.

The report said the daily cost of home-based child care was upward of 43% lower than that of center-based child care.

According to Ratlief, the lack of child care providers is having a huge effect on Arizona’s economy.

The report said if the child care provider gap were closed, it would allow 51,000 people to return to the workforce and increase Arizona’s economy by up to 5%.

Closing the child care provider gap in five years could help Arizona create up to 233,600 jobs, $31 billion in state gross domestic product and nearly $700 million in new state tax revenue, the report showed.

“The fact that so many people in [Arizona’s] economy are not participating in the workforce because they cannot find affordable child care is a huge economic issue,” Ratlief said.

To help address this, Ratlief said the report encourages policymakers to look at ways to make becoming a child care provider less difficult and expensive without “simply subsidizing the costs.”

Arizona needs to be more innovative in how it starts these facilities because the state doesn’t have enough of them, Ratlief said, adding that the health and safety of children and families should be protected during this process.

(The Center Square) - The Arizona Senate majority leader has pre-filed a 2026 bill designed to protect the information of small-dollar donors.

Under Senate Bill 1006, campaign finance reports won't include personal information on donors who give $200 or less. The only exception would happen if donors give their permission.

Majority Leader John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, who sponsored SB 1006, said Arizona's current law protects the identity of people who donate $100 or less. SB 1006 raises that to $200.

“Campaign finance disclosure laws try to balance the public’s need to know who is influencing elections with the privacy of donors," Kavanagh told The Center Square. "The question is what donations should be known?”

Most people would agree big donors should be known, Kavanagh said. But he added there's no need to disclose donors of small sums.

“I think small players should have their privacy,” the senator said.

Privacy of small donors needs to be protected because if a person’s name, address and employer are publicly available, it opens them up to harassment, he said.

Kavanagh cited an incident of supporters of Proposition 8 in California being doxed and harassed. Californians voted to approve Proposition 8 in 2008, keeping marriage defined as the union of a man and a woman, by a margin of 52% to 48%.

The New York Times reported in February 2009 that the names of donors who backed traditional marriage saw their names appear on a website that listed their personal information.

The Times said these donors faced death threats and “received envelopes containing a powdery white substance.” On top of this, people boycotted the businesses of donors, the Times stated.

Prop. 8 was overturned when the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013 let a lower court ruling stand in Hollingsworth v. Perry. That effectively ended Prop. 8 and allowed same-sex marriage to resume.

Kavanagh, meanwhile, doesn't plan to introduce any other bills related to campaign finance law in 2026.

In November 2022, Arizona voters approved Proposition 211, which required public disclosure of political donations of at least $5,000 if the money is given to an entity spending at least $50,000 on campaign media for a statewide campaign. It also applies to an entity spending at least $25,000 on campaign media for a local campaign. This is different from Kavanagh's bill because the focus was on donations for spending for campaign media, which includes political ads.

The measure, which was also known as the Voters Right to Know Act, passed with support of 72% of voters.

However, it faced a legal challenge just one month later when the several plaintiffs sued the state, alleging the law infringed on free speech and privacy. The case was dismissed in June 2023 by Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix, the state's capital.

But in October 2023, Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, and House Speaker Ben Toma, R-Peoria, filed their lawsuit alleging that the proposition is unconstitutional. In December 2023, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge ruled there wasn't sufficient evidence to support the plaintiffs' lawyers' argument that the law has no guardrails and lacks oversight from the Legislature.

Toma and Petersen appealed. Since then, Toma has left the Legislature, and current House Speaker Steve Montenegro, a Republican, replaced him as a plaintiff.

The case resumed after the Arizona Supreme Court in September overturned a trial court's ruling that the Republican lawmakers hadn't been harmed and lacked standing to sue. The case has gone back to a trial court judge for review.

(The Center Square) – In President Donald Trump’s first year in office, illegal border crossings in Arizona plummeted to record lows.

They represent roughly a 92% drop from illegal entries and a record number of gotaways reported in Arizona during the Biden administration.

Under the Trump administration, illegal entries in Arizona this year were 66% less than the total number of gotaways that Border Patrol agents reported in Arizona during the Biden years, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data and gotaway data exclusively obtained by The Center Square.

In fiscal 2025, 65,813 illegal border crossers were apprehended in Arizona, excluding gotaways, according to CBP data. The fiscal year goes from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30.

By comparison, more than 775,000 illegal border crossers were reported in fiscal 2023, including nearly 577,000 reported by CBP and nearly 200,000 gotaways that Border Patrol agents reported and exclusively obtained by The Center Square at the time.

Fiscal 2025 apprehensions represent a fraction of those apprehended in previous years, including 564,215 in fiscal 2024, 576,901 in fiscal 2023 and 571,720 in fiscal 2022, according to CBP data.

These totals exclude gotaways, the official CBP term for those who illegally enter between ports of entry to evade capture, don’t file immigration claims and don’t return to Mexico. CBP doesn’t publicly report this data. The Center Square obtained gotaway data from Border Patrol agents, reporting it each month. At least two million gotaways were reported during the Biden administration nationwide, The Center Square exclusively reported.

Many gotaways are known to have criminal records. Some are on the terrorist watchlist and many have previously been deported, law enforcement officers told The Center Square.

Arizona and Texas CBP sectors were among the hardest hit during the Biden administration, each reporting unprecedented numbers.

Arizona’s 378 miles of shared border with Mexico are divided into two CBP sectors: Tucson and Yuma. Tucson Sector’s 262-border miles extend from the Yuma County line to the Arizona-New Mexico state line. Yuma Sector’s nearly 182,000 square miles of primarily desert terrain extends from Imperial Sand Dunes in California to the Yuma-Pima County line.

For the majority of 2022 and 2023, three of Yuma Sector’s interior checkpoints were down, Deputy Chief Border Patrol Agent Dustin Caudle told Congress, expressing concerns about gotaways, The Center Square reported. The checkpoints are critical for interdicting gotaways but because agents were pulled from the field to process illegal border crossers into the U.S., the checkpoints were closed, leaving the border wide open and unmanned, he said.

In 2023, the Tucson Sector reported the third-highest number of illegal entries along the southwest border, behind the top two sectors of El Paso and Del Rio in Texas. Border Patrol agents apprehended 373,625 people and reported at least 185,866 gotaways – nearly half as many as who were apprehended, or 49%, The Center Square reported.

Tucson Sector Border Patrol Chief John Modlin testified before Congress that the majority of gotaways were single military age men working for transnational criminal human and drug smuggling organizations, The Center Square reported.

Modlin described the tactics they used to pull agents from patrolling the border and interdicting illegal crossers, called “task saturation.” It refers to when “smuggling organizations split large groups of migrants into many smaller groups [and direct them] to illegally cross the border all at once at different locations, effectively saturating the area with migrants and exhausting our response capability.” This overwhelms Border Patrol agents’ response, enabling illicit contraband and criminal gotaways to move through another area of the border without getting caught, he explained.

By 2024, the situation in the Tucson Sector reported more apprehensions than other southwest border sectors, The Center Square reported.

That changed this year after Trump implemented a series of border security policies that resulted in record low illegal crossings at the southwest border, The Center Square reported.

Under Trump’s direction, Arizona Border Patrol agents are now in the field, assisted by the National Guard and Coast Guard members. They’re no longer releasing illegal border crossers into the interior but processing them for expedited removal. The Department of Homeland Security is expanding smart wall construction and the Department of War is expanding border barrier infrastructure in Arizona. DOW, DHS, CBP and Border Patrol recruitment also reached record highs this year, including in Arizona, The Center Square reported.

(The Center Square) - Arizona was ranked the eighth least charitable state in America, according to a recent report by WalletHub.

Chip Lupo, an analyst for WalletHub, told The Center Square the company measured two factors: volunteering/service and charitable giving.

Lupo said Arizona’s ranking is “not a very good score.”

Arizona ranked 31st in volunteer and service and 49th in charitable giving, the report said.

Lupo noted Arizona ranked seventh among states for volunteer hours.

A factor in Arizona's lower ranking in charitable giving is the number of snowbirds and retirees who come to the state for part of the year, according to Lupo.

He added that another reason for this disparity is that many retirees are “on fixed incomes” in today’s economy, which means they don’t have much “disposable income.”

“Arizonans are eager to give up their time, but for whatever reason, [they] aren’t able to give as much out of their own pockets,” Lupo told The Center Square.

On top of this, Arizona ranked 10th overall in the country for having “top-ranked charities per capita,” Lupo said, describing this as a “good number.”

The states that had the highest scores in the list were Wyoming (No. 1), Utah (No. 2) and Maryland (No. 3).

Lupo said Wyoming and Utah had high percentages of residents who volunteered. People in these states live in small towns where there “seems to be more of a sense of community,” the analyst noted.

“ Everyone, for the most part, knows each other. So there's more of a willingness to be able to come together to do volunteer work for a specific cause, whether it's raising money for an organization or maybe a family who's in distress,” he explained.

Lupo said the states that tended to be more “conservative” and “traditional” had higher rates of “community engagement” and “volunteer numbers.”

The states with the lowest ranking on the list were Mississippi (No. 48), Nevada (No. 49) and New Mexico (No. 50).

(The Center Square) - About every 14 minutes, it happens.

Someone moves to Arizona.

That's according to a new report in which Arizona ranked among the top states where people are moving to in 2025. It gives credit for Arizona's popularity to its tax system.

The National Taxpayers Union Foundation recently released the report, which showed how often people migrated in and out of states.

The report found Arizona ranked seventh, with a person moving to the state every 14 minutes and 19 seconds.

And residents moving into Arizona this year will contribute an estimated $607 million in additional revenue, according to Andrew Wilford, the foundation’s interstate commerce initiative director.

“Arizona is doing a good job crafting a tax system that makes [it] more appealing than a lot of neighboring states,” Wilford told The Center Square.

Wilford noted the state’s 2.5% flat tax rate is a “big factor” for people moving to the area.

Of the new residents moving to Arizona, 86% are from California, Wilford estimated.

According to Wilford, people from Washington, Illinois, Nevada and Oregon are also moving to Arizona. The state ranks higher than neighboring states in the foundation's list of popular states for new residents.

Utah and Nevada ranked within the top 25, with more people moving to those states than leaving.

However, California, New Mexico and Colorado saw more people leaving than arriving.

California ranked the worst in the country, with someone moving away from the state every 1 minute and 44 seconds.

Because of those departures, the Golden State is going to lose around $4.5 billion in revenue this year, Wilford said.

A common trend from the report showed that blue states were losing people to red states.

In addition to California, Wilford said the states that lost the most people were New York, Illinois, Massachusetts and New Jersey.

All these states heavily tax their residents and treat them “like cash cows,” he noted.

At the top of the list, Wilford said the states that gained the most residents were Florida, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

These states “don’t treat their residents” as “endless sources of revenue,” he said.

Wilford said taxes are the top factor in where people want to live, along with cost of living, housing availability and job market.

A state’s tax structure affects its cost of living, housing availability and job market, he added.

Besides blue states losing people to red states, the report also showed that red states were losing residents to other red states.

Wilford said there is “tax competition” between red states as well.

To illustrate, Ohio and Indiana border each other. Ohio is ranked 36th with a person leaving the state every 1 hour, 27 minutes and 35 seconds. In Indiana, the state ranked 19th with someone relocating to the state every 1 hour, 22 minutes and 36 seconds.

An Ohio resident may see Indiana as having a better “tax structure than Ohio, so that person decides to move,” Wilford noted.

Ohio has a corporate tax structure that tends to drive businesses out of the state, he added.

“It’s not as simple as if you’re a Republican state, you get a ton of residents. It still matters how you craft your taxes,” Wilford explained.

(The Center Square) – An Arizona legislator wants voters to decide whether school sports are designated male, female or co-ed.

The Protect Girls’ Sports in Arizona Act (HCR2003) is from state Rep. Selina Bliss, R-Prescott. Bliss said it reinstates and strengthens the Save Women’s Sports Act of 2022 (Senate Bill 1165), which bans transgender athletes from competing in girls' sports. Implementation of SB1165 has been delayed by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

“What my ballot referral will do to complement that is to expand the provisions of SB1165 by including all schools and sports associations, so there’s the difference,” Bliss told The Center Square. “It gets it out of the legal court tie up, which is supposed to be determined next year, but it takes it straight to the voters to take care of this once and for all.”

It also helps Arizona’s Republican-controlled Legislature avoid a possible veto by Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs. Republicans don't have enough seats to override her vetoes.

“We have a slim majority of Republicans in the House and Senate, but we have a Democrat in the governor’s seat, so the only way to get around the governor is to go straight to the ballot,” Bliss told The Center Square. “There’s two ways: A legislative referendum, which is what this is, to put it on the ballot, or a citizens’ initiative to put a citizens’ petition on the ballot.”

The ballot referral from Bliss would need approval in the House and Senate, something she believes she has at this time. If the Legislature approves the measure, the issue will go before voters in the Nov. 3, 2026 general election.

But how would it work exactly?

“You need a birth certificate if there’s doubt of the gender,” Bliss told The Center Square. “It would designate, not divide, sports teams as male, female and co-ed, so a biological male could compete in a male sport or a co-ed sport, but not a female sport.”

Schools, both public and private, would be responsible for taking care of all the designations. Bliss said there is no change there, adding that is how schools currently do those things.

Bliss noted she felt motivated to work on the referendum because she was an athlete in middle school and high school.

“Not only did it build my self-esteem and confidence, but it (sports) helped with potentially getting scholarships,” Bliss told The Center Square. “It is a competitive area to start with, female athletics, so the idea of allowing bio males to compete on female teams just makes it that much more challenging.”

Bliss was also a Girl Scout leader and volunteered as a coach for her daughter’s volleyball team.

“So I saw what it was like to have male and female sports at the school and to be an active participant in that, and I just want to support our kids like I was supported, and I supported my daughter as well, and her friends," she said.

Bliss added she learned early on from athlete-turned-activist Riley Gaines, the former University of Kentucky swimmer that has been speaking against efforts allowing transgender athletes in female sports. Gaines visited Arizona, where lawmakers passed the Save Women’s Sports Act.

“Judge Jennifer Zipps, in Tucson, heard a case that is tied up in the 9th Circuit on a pair of siblings, biological males that enrolled in a female sports team,” said Bliss. “So it is definitely an issue with our growing population, so it is time to address this issue with transparency, and that is what it is. It is just to be transparent as a parent when you enroll your child in a sports team, you are indicating I want my child to be on a female or male or co-ed team.”

The Center Square reached out to the Human Rights Campaign and did not receive a response. The American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona said it was closed until Jan. 5.

(The Center Square) - A think tank predicts a busy year for Arizona’s legislative session in 2026.

Katie Ratlief, executive director of Common Sense Institute Arizona, said there are many issues that will require urgency on the part of the Legislature and Gov. Katie Hobbs.

The first big issue that CSI Arizona is watching has to do with the state budget.

“There’s been a lot of talk about how much money there may or may not be for legislators and the governor to spend on new projects, but something we’ve been really focused on over the last couple of years is just how much the state budget has grown,” Ratlief told The Center Square.

Ten years ago, Arizona’s budget was $10 billion.

Today, it is nearly $18 billion.

Of the increase, $6 billion came just in the last five years.

“So the fact that there isn’t a lot of money to spend isn’t because revenues have not grown. They’ve grown rapidly, and they have stayed at a very high level. It’s because spending has started to outpace that growth,” said Ratlief. “So that is something that we’ll be keeping an eye on, whether or not legislators can 1) start to rein in these spending increases and 2) whether or not they’re interested in going back and looking at, the governor too, some of the spending that has sort of just added up over the last few years, and if there is willingness to revisit that and see if it’s still necessary.”

Housing is another issue that CSI Arizona is watching.

While Ratlief said there is a lot the state can do, she thinks “a lot of the holdup is on the cities’ side.”

For example, Ratlief said cities are not issuing permits fast enough.

“We track this data by county, and we have more than one county in Arizona who is not approving enough new housing permits to ever close their housing shortage,” said Ratlief.

Meanwhile, CSI Arizona has recommended state and local leaders consider making state lands within 10 miles of various cities available for use.

“It may not take any legislation to do it,” said Ratlief. “It could just be the state land department deciding to move land more quickly, but it could be a combination of legislation, you know, ballot initiative, and the state land department’s cooperation.”

Ratlief estimated this could make land available for “a couple hundred thousand new housing units,” something she said would go a long way in helping Arizona’s housing shortage and helping bring down the cost of housing.

Ratlief added that water will remain an issue in Arizona in 2026.

Colorado River negotiations are ongoing, and Arizona is unique in that the Legislature will have to give the Department of Water Resources the authority to sign onto any Colorado River agreement.

“So expect that issue of the Colorado River - if the states can come to agreement - to come to the Legislature and to be debated through the legislative process as well,” said Ratlief.

(The Center Square) – A natural gas pipeline from Permian Basin in west Texas to the Phoenix, Arizona area will get a capacity boost 50% larger than originally planned to meet strong market demand, oil and gas transportation company Energy Transfer announced.A 48-inch diameter pipe will be used in the construction of the Transwestern Desert Southwest pipeline instead of the 42-inch pipe previously announced in August, Energy Transfer said in a statement. The change will expand the pipeline’s maximum capacity from 1.5 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas to 2.3 billion cubic feet a day.The increase follows strong interest from Arizona utilities to secure additional long-term supplies of natural gas to power artificial intelligence data centers and advanced industrial operations, which prompted Energy Transfer to commit to an investment of $5.6 billion, up $300 million from the $5.3 billion announced in August. “Transwestern’s Desert Southwest pipeline expansion is an important critical source of natural gas,” said Ted Geisler, president of Arizona Public Service, the state's largest electric utility. “We look forward to Energy Transfer enhancing this project to enable greater resources across the region."Most of the additional gas supplies will go to the Phoenix area and central Arizona to power the fast-growing AI data center market and industrial users. Arizona is home to 164 data centers, ranking seventh among all states, according to the online tracking platform Data Center Map.Arizona Public Service, the pipelines’ anchor customer in Arizona, will use additional gas to power electricity plants serving data centers and industrial users, Geisler said in an Aug. 6 earnings call.Arizona Public Service has almost 4.5 gigawatts of committed high-load customer demand in its interconnection queue and an additional 20 gigawatts of uncommitted, potential large-load customers, Geisler said in an interview with Utility Dive in August. For perspective, Geisler said, consider that Arizona Public Service set a peak demand record of about 8.5 gigawatts on July 9, up 300 megawatts from the previous year’s peak.According to the U.S. Department of Energy, generating 20 gigawatts of electricity at gas-fired electricity plants would consume about 1.482 billion feet of natural gas in 2023, the last year for which data is available.Arizona Public Service announced in November it plans to build a new 2-gigawatt natural gas power plant in Gila Bend, southwest of Phoenix, designed in part to supply Arizona’s data center market. The Desert Sun Power plant is expected to come online in 2030 or 2031, following the completion of the Transwestern Pipeline in late 2029.Arizona Public Service plans to pay for the second phase of plant construction by requiring large-load customers to sign long-term contracts at rates that cover the capital costs associated with building the additional power generation.Patrick Ledger, CEO of Arizona G&T Cooperatives, a nonprofit wholesale power and transmission provider that primarily serves rural Arizona, welcomed Energy Transfer’s decision to upsize the pipeline.“We applaud the announcement of additional pipeline capacity along the Desert Southwest expansion project,” said Ledger. “This infrastructure is urgently needed to power the growth and business development taking place in rural Arizona.”Energy Transfer estimates 5,000 workers will be employed during the construction of the 516-mile-long pipeline expansion project, and only American-made steel will be used. In 2006, when Energy Transfer bought the Transwestern Pipeline from CCE Holdings, maximum capacity was at about 0.7 billion cubic feet per day.In 2024, 45% of Arizona's total in-state electricity generation came from natural gas, 27% from nuclear power, 13% solar energy, 8% from coal and 4% from hydroelectric power while wind was at 2%.“Natural gas generation is an important part of SRP’s all-of-the-above approach to ensuring reliability and affordability for our customers,” said Bobby Olsen, associate general manager and chief power system executive of the Salt River Project, a not-for-profit public utility serving approximately 1.1 million electric customers in the Phoenix metropolitan area.“The Transwestern Desert Southwest Pipeline expansion will help enable us to meet the region’s growing power needs and strengthen Arizona’s energy infrastructure,” said Olsen.

(The Center Square) – Rain is expected to hit California, Arizona and Nevada on Wednesday and Christmas, along with no rain but unseasonal, record-breaking heat in Colorado.

California

Rain is expected throughout California, with the brunt of it starting at midnight Tuesday and continuing through Friday, according to the National Weather Service. In Southern California, the agency predicted between 3 to 6 inches of rain in the coastal and valley areas and 5 to 11 inches in the foothills and mountains.

"A powerful winter storm will bring heavy rain and strong winds to the area through Christmas Day," the National Weather Service said. "Significant flooding issues are likely along with the potential for strong thunderstorms."

There's a moderate risk of debris flows in the burn areas from January's wildfires, according to the Los Angeles County Public Works Department.

“Be aware: It will take less and less rain for there to be more and more impact as the week progresses,” the National Weather Service said on its website. The agency’s office in Oxnard, which serves Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, couldn’t be reached for further comment.

A flash flood watch went into effect at 4 p.m. Tuesday and was scheduled to last through 10 p.m. Christmas, according to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’ office.

“An evacuation warning is now in effect through 11 p.m. on Thursday for the Palisades, Sunset and Hurst burn scar areas,” Bass’ office said in an email sent to The Center Square and other media.

“All Angelenos – especially those in burn scar areas – are encouraged to stay informed and use caution while driving on the roads, which could see flooding,” the office said.

On its website, Los Angeles County urged caution in scar areas that are susceptible to mud and debris flows.

The Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department knocked on doors at vulnerable residents’ homes to advise them of evacuation warnings.

While the heaviest of the rain will end on Christmas, the weather service said there would be a "cool and showery pattern" on Friday and Saturday.

Nevada

Rain is expected to hit Las Vegas Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service. The forecast calls for rain mainly through Friday. The weather service said a 24-hour flood watch would start at 4 a.m. Wednesday.

The chance of rain is put at 100% up north in Carson City on Wednesday, with snow expected at the 6,800-foot altitude. The snow level will fall to 5,800 feet by Thursday, the weather service said.

Between a quarter and a half of an inch of rain is possible in Carson City on Christmas Day, the weather service said.

Arizona

Showers are expected before 1 a.m. Wednesday in Phoenix, according to the National Weather Service. There’s a 30% chance of rain Wednesday in the Arizona capital, but that increases to 70% by Wednesday night. Showers are likely before 11 a.m. on Christmas, the weather service said.

The chance of showers will fall to 20% by Friday morning.

Elsewhere in Southern Arizona, Tucson is expected to have a 50% chance of showers, mainly after 11 p.m. Tuesday, followed by 40% on Wednesday and 50% on Christmas.

Rain is more likely up north in Flagstaff, the weather service said, with the chance of precipitation at 80% on Wednesday and 90% on Wednesday night and Christmas Day. A chance of rain and snow showers was forecast for Christmas night and Friday. There's a 50% chance of snow showers on Saturday.

Colorado

Colorado is known for its snow-capped Rockies, skiing and usually much cooler December temperatures than Southern California. But this week, it’s known for something else: unseasonal, record-breaking heat.

A high near 70, along with mostly sunny skies, was expected Tuesday in Denver, according to the National Weather Service. The forecast for the area is partly sunny on Wednesday, with a high near 67, and mostly sunny on Christmas Day with a high near 70.

A high near 71 was predicted for Pueblo on Tuesday, with a high near 70 on Wednesday. Tuesday is sunny, and Wednesday is expectedly to be partly sunny. Christmas Day will be mostly sunny, the National Weather Service said.

Conditions will continue to vary from mostly cloudy to mostly sunny in Denver and Pueblo, but temperatures will fall to a high near the mid-60s and a more seasonal mid-50s on Saturday.

Boulder on Monday saw a record-breaking high of 72. The previous record for Dec. 22 was 70, set in 1955.

Statewide, records highs were set on Dec. 11, according to media reports.

Typically Colorado sees highs in the 40s in December.

(The Center Square) - Motorists can expect long security lines and backed-up highways as Americans get on the move for some of the year's biggest travel days.

More than one-third of Americans will travel for Christmas this year, with the Southwest a top destination, according to AAA.

“AAA is predicting record travel this year – about 400,000 more Americans than we saw last year over the holiday season,” AAA Mountain West Senior Communications Specialist John Treanor told The Center Square Monday. “Which means if you're flying, the airports are going to be busy, and if you're driving, the roadways are going to be busy.”

The Southwest is expected to be one of the busiest regions this year as much of the country escapes harsh winter weather. Los Angeles ranks fourth for destination cities within the U.S. this year; Las Vegas, 10th.

“The Southwest, particularly around the wintertime, is a big destination for people who are deciding to use this as a vacation week, and certainly a lot of people are,” said Treanor.

“Southern California and Las Vegas are very popular destinations, as they are every year in the wintertime when people want to escape some winter weather in the Northeast," he added. "That’s good news for tourism sectors, but it also means it's going to be very congested.”

AAA projects 122.4 million Americans will travel between Dec. 13 and Jan. 1. The vast majority, 89%, will be on the road. In Colorado, where a Christmas to New Year's snowstorm is projected, Treanor warned travelers for additional precautions.

In the air, people should consider traveler’s insurance, and for those traveling by car, additional time for the possibility of weather delays, he said.

“Be flexible with your travel because it will make you more adaptable to really bad situations,” said Treanor. “We’re going to have a lot of tow trucks out this week, and we want people to be aware that you should really prepare your car and pack for the destination you're going to, not necessarily the one you're leaving from.”

On the flip side for drivers, the national average for gas prices dropped below $3 this month, for the first time in four years.

“That’s a really welcome relief for travelers,” said Treanor, adding later, “That's going to help people as they take their trip out because they're saving a considerable amount.”

Treanor advises motorists to drive safely.

“Really think about your passengers, and think about the other cars on the roadway,” said Treanor. “We want to ensure a safe holiday this year.”

At airports, Americans are expected to travel in record numbers, despite a 7% increase in ticket prices from 2024.

“We've seen cost increases, but it has not deterred people from traveling,” said Treanor. “When people do take trips, they might change what they do on their trip … But getting to their destination has not changed, regardless of cost.”

In the post-pandemic era, cruises are expected to be more popular than usual this holiday season, as people put more emphasis on value deals.

“It’s become a really attractive thing, and we are seeing record numbers of cruises this year,” said Treanor.

(The Center Square) - Democratic attorneys general from 22 jurisdictions sued the Trump administration Monday over its plans to defund the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

“We won’t stand by as consumer protections are dismantled,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said during a virtual news conference Monday with the attorneys general from Oregon, Colorado and New Jersey.

“The Trump administration’s latest effort to destroy the CFPB means that hundreds of thousands of consumer complaints will fall on deaf ears,” Bonta said. “If you have ever had issues with your car loan, mortgage loans or bank fees, if you have ever disputed a credit score error and expected to have the federal government on your side, this impacts you.”

The attorneys general emphasized the CFPB’s success in getting back $20 billion across the nation into the pockets of consumers who were treated unfairly by businesses.

"The CFPB is the only federal agency authorized to supervise the nation’s largest banks for their compliance with the federal consumer financial protection laws," according to the suit, filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for Oregon in Eugene.

The CFPB gave notice on Nov. 10 that it would not request funding from the Federal Reserve to continue its operations. The bureau also said it had enough money to continue to operate until at least Dec. 31, after which it’s expected to close its operations.

The lawsuit challenges CFPB Acting Director Russel Vought’s refusal to request necessary funding from the Federal Reserve. The bureau's action was based on a U.S. Department of Justice analysis that said money is taken from the Federal Reserve's profits, which currently don't exist.

The lawsuit says the Dodd-Frank Act refers to the Federal Reserve's gross revenues, not the profits. The suit refers to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's testimony before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs that the Federal Reserve is required to fund the bureau even when the reserve is operating at a loss.

The suit argues Vought's decision is contrary to congressional mandates and violates the Administrative Procedure Act and the U.S. Constitution.

Congress, not the Trump administration, holds the power of the purse, attorneys general said during Monday's news conference.

“We’re defending Congress,” Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said. “We have to act because Congress isn’t acting.”

The Center Square reached out to the White House Monday, but did not get a response before press time.

California, Colorado, Oregon, New Jersey and New York are the states leading the coalition. The other plaintiffs are the attorneys general of Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin.

In other litigation news Monday, Bonta discussed the lawsuit challenging California’s congressional redistricting measure, Proposition 50. The case, filed by plaintiffs such as state Assemblymember David Tangipa, R-Fresno, and the U.S. Department of Justice, was heard by a three-judge panel last week in the U.S. District Court for Central California in Los Angeles.

“I think we’re going to get a ruling soon,” Bonta said, answering a question from The Center Square. “I think the evidence came in very well for the state of California for the durability and sustainability and legality for Proposition 50.”

He said he believes the federal judges will rule that proposition is a political-partisan gerrymander, which is legal, and not a racial gerrymander, which is illegal.

Tangipa told The Center Square he expects the case to go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

If that happens, California will likely prevail, based on the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling upholding congressional redistricting in Texas, Bonta said. He pointed to Justice Samuel Alito’s comments in a concurring opinion that described the California redistricting as a political-partisan gerrymander.

The Democratic supermajority in the California Legislature proposed the new congressional districts to pick up five Democratic seats in the U.S. House during the 2026 midterm election. That’s intended to offset the five seats that Texas Republicans expect to pick up in the same election after that state’s redistricting.

(The Center Square) – A state legislator wants to eliminate specific daytime speed limits on Arizona’s rural interstates.

House Bill 2059, also known as the Reasonable and Prudent Interstate Driving (RAPID) Act, is from state Rep. Nick Kupper, R-Surprise. Kupper's legislation would enable the Arizona Department of Transportation to authorize de-restricted speed zones for non-commercial vehicles during the daytime on qualifying rural interstate highways.

Under the bill, there would be no speed limit during the daytime. Instead, the bill says, "A person shall not drive a vehicle on a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable and prudent" with attention paid to road conditions and hazards.

At night, a maximum speed limit of 80 mph would be in place.

Meanwhile, Arizona’s Department of Public Safety would have a public education effort to help drivers be aware of and understand things such as lane discipline and passing rules before entering a zone.

Kupper said the purpose of his bill is to decrease fatalities on the road.

“An initial pilot program would be applied on Interstate 8 in the segment that would be chosen by the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) director,” Kupper told The Center Square. “If the pilot program goes well, it could expand to other rural highways or interstates so long as they meet all the other qualifying factors in the bill, such as they meet the interstate standards, their safety profile is better over the average of the last five years than the rest of the highways on average in the state, things like that.”

Pointing to Montana, where the state instituted no-speed zones for a few years in the mid-1990s, Kupper said officials were finding two to three times fewer fatalities per vehicle mile traveled than in their speed zones.

“Germany, which has done the Autobahn for 90 years now, in their no speed zones, they’ve seen the same thing,” said Kupper, whose district includes portions of Maricopa, Yuma and La Paz counties.

When asked what reaction has been like to his bill, Kupper described it as “a mixed bag.” There are people who support the idea, and people who criticized the idea.

“The majority of support that I’ve gotten have been from traffic engineers and the like who say, ‘I’m glad you filed the bill, I’ve been looking at this for decades, this is something we should have been doing for a long time,’” said Kupper. “The people who tend to say ‘Oh, this is a horrible idea, you’re going to cause more deaths,’ for one, they very much tend to not realize it’s only in rural areas. They tend to think of downtown Phoenix. That’s not where it’s going to apply.”

Kupper also estimated that “probably 99.5% of Arizona drivers have never driven in a no-speed zone,” such as the Autobahn.

“They don’t understand how it works,” said Kupper.

Prior to 1974, Montana had a speed limit of “reasonable and prudent.” That went away for 20 years while the national 55 mph speed limit was enforced. When the national limit was eliminated, Montana went back to what it called the "reasonable and prudent" speed limit in 1995. Things stayed that way until 1998 when cattleman Rudy Stanko appealed a guilty verdict for failing to drive in a reasonable and prudent manner. Stanko argued the law was vague, and his conviction was overturned.

In 1999, Montana instituted a 75-mph speed limit. Since that time, highway fatalities have increased in Montana.