The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals allowed a law requiring recorders to reject federal voter registration applications without documentary proof of citizenship to go into effect. The law only applies to state registration forms. Voters can still register with the federal form without documentary proof of citizenship. A panel of judges at the appellate court granted Petersen, Toma and the RNC’s emergency request for a temporary stay on an order enjoining the enforcement of the law.  With the stay, the panel further consolidated and expedited appeals and set a deadline for briefs for cross appeals on July 25. “This is a victory for election integrity in Arizona. Only U.S. citizens should be allowed to vote in our elections. It sounds like common sense, but the radical left elected officials in our state continue to reject this notion, disrespecting the voices of our lawful Arizona voters,” Petersen said in a statement. “We are grateful the court is upholding this provision in our law, and it’s time for Congress to take action to ensure only lawful U.S. citizens are voting in federal races.” Editor’s note: This story has been corrected.

A Yavapai County judge heard arguments over whether the legislative referral allowing judges to serve indefinitely given “good behavior” and incorporating legislative oversight into the commission on Judicial Performance Review can stand given a claim it improperly amends more than one facet of the Arizona constitution. Judge John Napper heard arguments from Progress Arizona, a group working to campaign against the retention of two state supreme court justices, and an attorney for Petersen and Toma. James Barton, attorney for Progress Arizona, argued the resolution cannot stand as it improperly amends two sections of the Constitution by changing the retention election process and inserting legislative oversight into the Commission on Judicial Performance Review. Barton said the legislative oversight piece also raises separation of powers concerns. Though he was not arguing a separation of powers claim to the court at this point, Barton highlighted the two provisions as “qualitatively different.” Barton said,  “The fact that one has this dramatic constitutional concern and that the other does not, is further evidence of the fact that these are different amendments.” He further claimed requiring a voter to cast a ballot on a measure encompassing both changes would constitute “log-rolling.” But Langhofer pointed out that past voter-approved amendments in the realm of judicial retention have, like the most recent referral, been limited to a single article of the Constitution and covered commissions, retention processes and membership of the commission. “These things have all historically been a part of the package.” Napper took the matter under advisement.

PHOENIX – Attorney General Kris Mayes today filed a lawsuit against Cummins, Inc. (“Cummins”) and FCA US, LLC (“FCA”) for allegedly defrauding Arizonans by falsely advertising and selling thousands of so-called environmentally friendly, low-emission “super clean” vehicles, without disclosing to consumers that the vehicles had illegal emissions defeat devices installed in them and were not clean trucks at all. More than 23,600 Arizonans own these “super clean” Cummins and FCA trucks. The lawsuit claims that Cummins and FCA marketed and sold diesel trucks to Arizonans as “super clean” alternatives, suggesting they were more powerful and efficient than gasoline vehicles, without the same negative environmental impact. These false advertisements and material omissions led Arizona consumers to pay a premium for these vehicles under the belief they were making an eco-friendly choice. “Deceptive practices that harm our environment and deceive consumers will not be tolerated,” said Attorney General Mayes. “By promoting their vehicles as eco-friendly while secretly violating emissions standards, Cummins and FCA have betrayed the trust of Arizonans and violated our state’s consumer protection laws. I am committed to holding these companies accountable and ensuring that justice is served for the people of Arizona.” Diesel vehicles are generally more expensive than gasoline vehicles but are known for being more powerful and fuel-efficient. However, diesel engines are more harmful to the environment, with higher emissions. To meet emissions regulations, compromises in power and performance are necessary. The lawsuit alleges that the defendants used illegal defeat devices on model year 2013-2019 Dodge RAM 2500 and 3500 trucks with 6.7-liter engines to bypass EPA emissions testing, ensuring these vehicles passed the tests but did not comply with emissions standards during normal operation. Cummins and FCA also marketed their trucks as having efficient and powerful engines with adverse environmental consequences. They falsely claimed compliance with EPA emissions requirements. In reality, due to illegal defeat devices, these vehicles were neither “clean” nor eco-friendly and did not comply with EPA emissions requirements without repairs. These illegal defeat devices caused the vehicles to emit increased levels of nitrogen oxides (NOx). The Department of Justice estimates this resulted in thousands of tons of excess NOx emissions. NOx pollution contributes to smog formation, which is linked to respiratory and cardiovascular health issues and death. Cummins, the engine designer and manufacturer, allegedly knew its diesel engines included these illegal defeat devices and software. They failed to disclose this when applying for Certificates of Compliance to sell these vehicles in the United States, including Arizona. The complaint seeks injunctive relief, restitution, disgorgement, civil penalties, plus fees and costs. If you believe you have been the victim of consumer fraud, you can file a consumer complaint by visiting the Attorney General’s website . If you need a complaint form sent to you, contact the Attorney General’s Office in Phoenix at (602) 542-5763, in Tucson at (520) 628-6648, or outside the Phoenix and Tucson metro areas at (800) 352-8431. A copy of the complaint is available here.

Kelly and the delegation met with outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum—who will be sworn-in as Mexico’s first female president on October 1 st —, Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alicia Bárcena, the Minister of Finance and Public Credit Rogelio Ramírez de la O, and other Mexican dignitaries. The legislators also attended a reception with Mexican business leaders hosted by U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar.  “At a moment of change in Mexico as they prepare to inaugurate their first woman president, this visit was valuable to deepen cooperation on issues like migration, security, trade, and economic development that are critically intertwined with the United States,” said Kelly. “Mexico is one of our most important economic partners, and we see it every day in Arizona with cross-border commerce and travel along our ports of entry that we are working to upgrade. I look forward to partnering with President-elect Sheinbaum and her cabinet to address our shared challenges as we continue strengthening the historic relationship between both of our nations.”  On Monday, Kelly and the delegation held a meeting with President López Obrador to discuss regional coordination on economic projects, U.S.-Mexico engagement to address migration, improving security in the region, and efforts to address drug trafficking along the border, particularly of fentanyl. Ambassador Salazar and Secretary Bárcena were part of the conversation.  On Tuesday, Kelly and the group spoke to President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum about measures to address migration and security along the countries’ shared border. Kelly took the opportunity to raise the importance of both countries working together to strengthen port infrastructure in Arizona, which Kelly funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.  That same day, the delegation visited a Catholic-run migrant shelter in Mexico City that serves families, women, and minors. In talking to staff, Kelly heard about the aid provided to migrants and asylum seekers and learned more about changes in the current migration flow at the shelter.  In addition to Kelly, the delegation included Senators Tom Carper (D-DE), Todd Young (R-IN), and Laphonza Butler (D-CA), as well as Representatives Joaquin Castro (D-TX-20), Lou Correa (D-CA-46), Jesús “Chuy” García (D-IL-4), Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX-34), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA-37), Greg Stanton (D-AZ-4) and Juan Vargas (D-CA-51).

Phoenix, Ariz. – The Arizona Corporation Commission is aware of Liberty Utilities (Litchfield Park Water and Sewer) Corp. customers’ concerns regarding the implementation of Stage 2 of the utility’s Curtailment Plan Tariff. The Commission is actively monitoring the situation and working with Liberty Utilities on this matter.  Our Utilities Division staff has been meeting regularly with the Company through the summer to ensure that Liberty Utilities remains in compliance with the Commission’s Decision and Rules to avoid a repeat of what occurred last summer. Liberty Utilities notified the Commission on July 8, 2024, that it planned to activate Stage 2 on July 9, 2024, of the updated Curtailment Plan, which allows the utility to ask its customers to VOLUNTARILY conserve water in response to increased water demand and extreme temperatures.  The Company also called on the interconnection with the City of Goodyear to supplement their own water supplies, which is part of the plan that the Commission approved in February.  It is the Commission’s understanding that this is a temporary measure.   Liberty Utilities is making progress in improving its water system, addressing previous low water pressure incidents and has shared with the Commission its plans to invest in new infrastructure to increase its water system supply in the coming months. To view documents related to this issue, go to the Commission’s Online docket at https://edocket.azcc.gov and enter docket W-01427A-24-0001.

AJO, Ariz., July 17, 2024 – Pima County Administrator Jan Lesher said today the state and the County would be sending more cooling resources to Ajo to help community members protect themselves from the heat this summer. The Arizona Department of Health Services is delivering a “COOLtainer” to Ajo July 18 that is similar to the ones recently set up in Tucson. The COOLtainer is a fully ADA accessible, air-conditioned repurposed shipping container that operates off solar power. The state is deploying 18 of the centers around Arizona, including two in Tucson. “The new cooling resources for Ajo and the surrounding community is much needed and welcome news since electrical outages are unfortunately frequent occurrences during the monsoon season,” said District 3 Pima County Supervisor Dr. Sylvia Lee . “District 3 is unique in that many of the communities we serve are rural which can make providing resources more challenging. We are thrilled that cooling services will be provided seven days a week.” The Salazar-Ajo Public Library , in the historic Ajo Plaza , serves as a cooling center in the unincorporated community about 130 miles west of downtown Tucson. The library will provide extended hours and no longer close from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. each weekday. It will remain open from 11 a.m.-7 p.m. on Mondays, and 9 a.m. -5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. The new COOLtainer will be open Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The County is placing the new weekend cooling resource next to the County pool at E.S. “Bud” Walker Park , 290 W. 5 th Street. Community Health Workers from the County Health Department will staff the facility, which will be open to anyone who needs to get out of the heat. It is expected to open for service July 20 and be open every weekend through the rest of this summer. “Sometimes, just a couple hours out of the heat in a cool place is all that’s needed to prevent injury due to heat or for someone at risk of a heat injury to recover,” said Pima County Health Department Director Dr. Theresa Cullen. The state and county health departments this year have launched aggressive public awareness campaigns about the rising threat of heat injury and illness due to a warming planet. The County and the city of Tucson are cooperating in promoting cooling centers in the metro area as part of that effort. While extremely high temperatures happen every year, the threat of increased heat is tied to its persistence. It gets hotter sooner, stays hot longer, and doesn’t cool off much at night. “The body never has a chance to recover. That’s why it’s so important for people who may have limited financial resources to run their air conditioning all day, or their AC breaks down, or someone who is unhoused, to have the opportunity to go somewhere to cool off. It could be the difference between life and death,” Cullen said.  While pets are not allowed at the Library during the week, the COOLtainer will have a few kennels inside the container to keep pets cool, too. Pima Animal Care Center Director Monica Dangler said persistent high heat also is a health threat for animals, who likewise benefit from respite in a cool place. The County is in discussions with other Ajo community agencies to find more resources for pets, especially during power outages. A COOLtainer isn’t’ the only resource on its way to Ajo. The County is installing a generator at the Walker Park Community Center to provide power in the event of a power outage and allow the Community Center to serve as a larger cooling site during emergencies. Earlier this month, a protracted power outage affected the Library, causing its closure. The Community Center will now be able to fill that need during protracted power outages. The Community Center is being retrofitted to support the generator switchover and the Center won’t be available as an emergency shelter until that work is completed in the next week or so.  Lesher said a more permanent solution for Ajo and Western Pima County will come with the opening of the Curley School gym early next year. The County is renovating the historic building which will be used for multiple purposes, including as a heat respite center and emergency shelter. All of the new assets arriving in Ajo or under construction will be available for use by residents in the nearby Western Pima County communities of Why and Lukeville, as well as residents of the far western Tohono O’odham Nation. To help keep Ajo and Western Pima County residents informed about County programs and services, and about heat resilience and resources, the County Communications Office has created a Ajo and Western Pima County Facebook page.

PHOENIX- Former Arizona House of Representatives member Lorenzo Sierra has joined Matters of State Strategies as Vice President of Public Affairs where he will spearhead public affairs at the local, state, and federal levels. “While I’m no longer an elected official, I’ve been drawn back into the political arena,” said Sierra, “I am excited to join the team at Matters of State where I can continue to make a difference in the community.” “Lorenzo has proven to be an amazing leader in Arizona. We couldn’t be more thrilled to have him join the team,” said Matters of State Partner Matt Grodsky. Sierra’s work has touched people in every part of our state. He advocated bringing Hispanic Heritage Month to Gilbert and has worked alongside organizations such as the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Chicanos Por La Causa, Xico, and Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone’s Leadership Committee to address existing and emerging issues. Sierra entered the political arena in 2015. As a member of the Avondale City Council, he served on the Maricopa Association of Governments’ (MAG) Economic Development Committee. He led efforts that earned Avondale the coveted “All-America City” honors and MAG’s “Top Economic Development City in Maricopa County” Award. Following his municipal work, he served two terms as a member of Arizona’s House of Representatives, securing $45 million in Pre-K funding. He was the committee swing vote that brought the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company to Arizona, creating tens of thousands of new high-paying jobs. He served as treasurer of the Arizona Legislative Latino Caucus and as immigration co-chair for the National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators. Sierra was one of four Arizonans named to Joe Biden’s national Latino Leadership Committee during the 2020 presidential campaign. He was also instrumental in crafting and passing Arizona’s first bipartisan budget in more than a generation in 2022. Sierra is the author of the book, “Fight Like Hell: Love, Politics, and the Will to Live,” which is set to be released in 2025 and is about his wife’s cancer fight and his COVID fight, both in the shadow of recent American history. He lives in Avondale with his wife, Rhonda, and two rescue dogs, Teddy and Hilda. They are parents to three adult children: Megan, Adam, and Roman.

PHOENIX – Drivers traveling along southbound Interstate 17 during the overnight hours next week should plan for closures of I-17 at Bumble Bee Road (milepost 248) for ongoing work to reconstruct the southbound Bumble Bee bridge as part of the I-17 Improvement Project .  The full southbound closures will occur from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. the nights of Monday, July 22, Tuesday, July 23, Wednesday, July 24, and Thursday, July 25, with work finishing up the morning of Friday, July 26.  Beginning at 8 p.m. each night, southbound traffic on I-17 will be reduced to one lane just south of Sunset Point (milepost 252), then diverted off the mainline at the Bumble Bee Road exit. The detour route will follow Bumble Bee Road around the bridge work, then traffic will reconnect with southbound I-17 approximately three-quarters of a mile from the Bumble Bee Road exit. The speed limit along the detour route is 25 mph for the safety of the traveling public and highway crews. The northbound I-17 off-ramp at Bumble Bee Road will be closed during the same days and times.  The overnight closures are necessary to accommodate the work at the Bumble Bee Road bridge over southbound I-17 and to keep the traveling public safe. Girders will be placed and other bridge work will occur during the four nights of next week’s closures. Additional weeknight overnight closures in this area will be necessary during the upcoming months as the Bumble Bee Road bridge over southbound I-17 is reconstructed to prepare for the flex lanes being added as part of the I-17 Improvement Project. The work includes building a new bridge north of the existing bridge and taking down the old bridge. The entire 23-mile stretch between Anthem Way and Sunset Point remains under construction throughout 2024 and 2025, as the new lanes are constructed and paved and a dozen bridges are either widened or replaced. The 15 miles of new lanes between Anthem Way and Black Canyon City are expected to open by the end of 2024, and the eight miles of flex lanes between Black Canyon City and Sunset Point are expected to open in 2025.  Once fully complete in 2025, this major design-build project will help alleviate congestion and improve safety and traffic flow along a Key Commerce Corridor that is crucial to the state’s travel, tourism and economic development opportunities.  As a reminder to all drivers, ADOT lowered the speed limit to 65 mph along the entire 23-mile construction zone between Anthem Way and Sunset Point as a safety measure to reduce crashes due to excessive speed. The Arizona Department of Public Safety is partnering with ADOT to enforce the reduced speed limit. Both agencies strongly urge drivers to slow down, pay attention in the work zone, and watch for construction workers, vehicles and equipment.  For more information about the I-17 Improvement Project or to sign up for the weekly traffic alerts, visit improvingi17.com . For the latest information on highway closures and conditions, visit az511.com.

WASHINGTON – Arizona Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly announced that $36,000,000 will be invested in airport terminal upgrades at Phoenix Sky Harbor from the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs law led by Sinema and shaped by Kelly. Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport will receive $36 million through the Airport Terminal Program – a program created by Sinema and Kelly’s bipartisan infrastructure law to provide grants for airport terminal development projects. “Thanks to our bipartisan infrastructure law, we’re delivering $36 million to improve safety, efficiency, and accessibility at Phoenix Sky Harbor – allowing Arizonans to safely travel with ease and peace of mind,” said Sinema, co-author and lead negotiator of the bipartisan infrastructure law. “Our historic bipartisan infrastructure law continues to deliver for Arizona communities,” said Kelly . “This investment allows for crucial renovations to Phoenix Sky Harbor, upgrading one of our most important economic drivers and ensuring Arizonans have access to safe and reliable travel.”  Phoenix Sky Harbor will use the $36 million grant to replace equipment used for cooling Terminal 4’s main building, eight concourses and connector bridges, among other crucial modernization projects. The bipartisan infrastructure law includes a historic $25 billion in additional investments for aviation infrastructure. The bipartisan law provides $15 billion in priority projects at every airport in the United States, $5 billion in competitive grants for terminal development and other landslide projects, and $5 billion in grants for strengthening Air Traffic Control towers and infrastructure. Sinema led bipartisan Senate negotiations with Republican Senator Rob Portman of Ohio that included Senator Kelly and senators from both parties. The bipartisan infrastructure law was supported by groups including The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Business Roundtable, The National Association of Manufacturers, The AFL-CIO, The National Retail Federation, The Bipartisan Policy Center, North America’s Building Trades Unions, the Outdoor Industry Association, The American Hotel and Lodging Association, The National Education Association, as well as hundreds of mayors across all 50 states.

PHOENIX – Today, Rep. Ruben Gallego (AZ-03) , a senior member of the House Natural Resources Committee, released the following statement highlighting his support for the bipartisan, bicameral Yavapai-Apache Nation Water Rights Settlement Act. “As a member of the Water, Wildlife, and Fisheries Subcommittee and former Chair of the Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples, securing tribal water rights has long been one of my top priorities,” said Rep. Gallego . “I’m proud to back this bipartisan legislation which will not only secure the Yavapai-Apache Nation’s water future but will also protect the flow of the Verde River and benefit the surrounding community.” The Yavapai-Apache Nation Water Rights Settlement Act would ratify and fund the Yavapai-Apache Nation Water Rights Settlement Agreement that will resolve the Nation’s water rights claims, bring additional water supplies to the Verde Valley, and help keep the Verde River flowing.   The Yavapai-Apache Nation Water Rights Settlement Act authorizes $1.039 billion to build and maintain essential water infrastructure, including the Cragin-Verde Pipeline and a Surface Water Drinking Plant. The settlement will provide the Yavapai-Apache Nation with confirmed rights to 4,610 acre-feet per year of water, promote water conservation, and protect the flow of the Verde River. Additionally, it includes a land exchange with the Forest Service to secure lands contiguous to the Middle Verde Reservation, enhancing community resilience and environmental stewardship. Today’s statement comes after Rep. Gallego touted his support for the bipartisan, bicameral Northeastern Arizona Indian Water Rights Settlement Act of 2024 yesterday.