In the highly competitive district of LD4, which leans slightly for Republican candidates, Marsh said bipartisanship and balance is most important to her constituents and her approach as a lawmaker. She said her experience as an educator has significantly shaped her perspective as a lawmaker. “A good teacher has to find the bridge to that reluctant child or that reluctant learner, and that same skill set translates to the Senate, trying to find some sort of common ground with as many people as possible,” Marsh said. She related reading bills that are introduced to grading essays in a classroom setting. Students are graded based on the quality of their work, she said, not the type of student they are. That is the same approach that should be taken in analyzing bills, no matter the party of their sponsor, Marsh said. “Right now, bills that are very small and would actually help people or prevent danger don’t even get a hearing,” Marsh said. For instance, she said her bill which would have required private school teachers at schools that accept Empowerment Scholarship Account funding to get fingerprint checks never got a hearing during the 2024 legislative session. Ensuring that all educators meet the basic qualifications to be near children is a “no brainer,” she continued. “I have been told, you know, flat out to my face by a Republican colleague that my bills won’t see the light of day because I’m a Democrat, and worse, that I’m in a competitive district, and that’s not the way to govern,” Marsh said. LD4 is currently represented by two Democrats and one Republican. Marsh has fended off Republican challengers in the last two election cycles, but her GOP challenger, Carine Werner, seeks to turn the seat red in November.
The Arizona Green Party says the Citizens Clean Elections Commission is “deliberately refusing” to invite Green Party candidates to participate in its debates. On X, the party said Clean Elections has not invited Eduardo Quintana, candidate for U.S. Senate, or Athena Eastman, candidate for CD 6, to its general election debates. Eight Green Party candidates qualified to be on the general election ballot in various races, but only a few appear to have been invited to Clean Elections debates. On the commission’s debate schedule, Green Party candidates Cody Hannah, Tre Rook and Scott Menor are listed under their respective seat’s debate invitees. Quintana, Eastman, Vincent Beck-Jones, Mike Cease and Nina Luxenberg do not appear on any candidate list on the debate schedule. Hannah is running for House in LD 13 and has not responded to an invitation to debate, according to the Clean Elections website, but said in a post on X that the commission is engaging in voter suppression. “Green Party candidates on the general election ballot here in AZ have every right to be included in the debates,” Hannah said in the post. Rook and Menor will be participating in debates for LD 8 and LD 14 respectively. Clean Elections did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but Lake’s campaign released a statement saying they have agreed to allow Quintana to join the Senate debate. However, the campaign said that Clean Elections is also seeking approval from Gallego to invite Quintana. As for the CD 6 debate, both Engel and Ciscomani have agreed to participate and neither have commented on Eastman’s exclusion.
Mayes and two environmental groups filed complaints against the Corporation Commission on Thursday over its June decision to exempt an energy company from an environmental review of its power plant expansion. The ACC voted in June to reverse an order from the Arizona Power Plant and Transmission Line Siting Committee requiring UniSource Energy Services to obtain a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility, known as a CEC, for its proposed expansion of the Black Mountain Generating Station near Kingman. Mayes’ office claimed in the suit that the ACC “misinterpreted key terms and made erroneous conclusions” in its decision. Mayes is asking the court to throw out the ACC’s ruling and order commissioners to deny UniSource’s request to forgo environmental review of the plant expansion. Under state law, utility companies must receive a CEC for power plants with generators of 100 megawatts or more. UniSource argued that the expansion project would add four generators that are 50 megawatts each and should not require a CEC, despite the total wattage of the expansion exceeding 100 megawatts. Western Resource Advocates and the Sierra Club both filed motions similar to the one filed by Mayes. The commission has defended its decision, saying it was only following language in state statute that left little room for interpretation. “The Commission followed the letter of the law as written,” said Tom Van Flein, ACC general counsel, in a statement on Friday. “Policy advocates wanted a different interpretation for policy reasons. That remains the purview of the Legislature.”
Central Arizona Fire and Medical Authority Fire Chief Scott Freitag responded to a unanimous censure vote from the International Association of Fire Fighters. He told our reporter on Friday the accusations against him are “malicious and baseless.” Freitag was censured by the association for allegedly refusing to implement modern cancer prevention improvements and failing to establish a four-person minimum per engine staffing recommended by the National Fire Protection Association, as well as allegations he bullied his staff. Freitag said he was shocked and disappointed to see the censure after what he thought was a “great” working relationship with the union. He said he believes the censure against him was brought on after the fire district’s attorney filed complaints against a behavioral and mental health firm that is affiliated with the firefighter’s union. Freitag’s agency also declined to get a quote from the United Arizona Fire Fighters Healthcare Trust for health insurance due to community concerns with Blue Cross Blue Shield, and he said he and other leaders wanted to wait until the upcoming fiscal year to address the issue. “There’s definitely a strain with the relationship at this point (with the union),” Freitag said. “We need to rebuild the trust and part of that trust is both sides have to come to the table, however, to date, they haven’t been willing to do that nor have they been willing to communicate directly with me or any of our staff with their concerns.” The Central Arizona Fire and Medical Authority published a news release Thursday evening directly responding to the censure and the allegations against Freitag to address the “misinformation” from the International Association of Fire Fighters. “The agency provides a comprehensive cancer screening program at no cost to our firefighters and supports firefighter cancer initiatives through the Congressional Fire Services Institute,” according to the release. In June, Freitag was accused of bullying and harassing staff. A human resources investigation is anticipated to be complete by next week, and the agency is confident that Freitag will be fully cleared of wrongdoing. The news release also lists several cancer prevention measures that have been implemented at fire stations and operating buildings. “The Fire Board expects a high level of professionalism from all CAFMA personnel,” said Matt Zurcher, Central Arizona Fire and Medical Authority’s Board Chairperson. “We take all complaints and grievances against the organization and its members seriously and as such, we have been working with legalcounsel through every step of the investigative process. As Board Chair, I am disturbed that these baseless accusations have been made against our organization and its leadership.” Freitag also told our reporter the staffing issues that he’s been accused of are not an uncommon problem that many fire districts across the country face due to a reliance on taxpayer funds. “If not having four-person staffing on a regular basis is a basis for censure, then nearly every fire chief outside of the Phoenix valley throughout the state of Arizona and across the country should be censured,” he said. The fire agency currently has four five-person crews, 20 four-person crews, and seven three-person crews, according to the news release.
“This would be way after my term concluded,” Holcomb said during a Friday news conference. “If you look at past examples of crimes that have been committed, agreed to, etc., this would be years down the road.”
On Monday, Noel pleaded guilty to 27 felony charges, which included theft, money laundering, official misconduct, tax evasion and obstruction of justice. The embattled Republican political leader is accused by the state of running a scheme to enrich himself and his family at taxpayers’ expense. The judge in the case has not yet scheduled a sentencing hearing.
Holcomb said the state’s legal process would likely leave the matter to his successor if Noel were convicted and sought a pardon.
Holcomb compared the situation to one he encountered when he first became governor. In February 2017, Holcomb pardoned Keith Cooper. In 1997, Cooper was convicted of a robbery, but, later, DNA evidence indicated someone else had committed the crime, and witnesses recanted their testimony.
“I had the opportunity of reviewing the facts and then applying them to the authority that was granted to the governor,” Holcomb said of his decision to pardon Cooper. “My successor will be in that same situation [for] a number of cases, not just this one.”
In 2016, Noel and other members of the committee chose Holcomb as a gubernatorial candidate to replace then-Gov. Mike Pence on the ballot. After Holcomb’s victory, Noel was appointed to the governor’s transition team. In 2020, he was tapped to serve as chairman of Holcomb’s reelection campaign.
“Never once did he utter one unethical word to me in that friendship,” Holcomb said.
State police raided Noel’s Jeffersonville home last year after current Clark County Sheriff Scottie Maples notified them of department irregularities.
In 1964, Georgia lawmakers retooled the state’s election process to create a “one person, one vote” systemafter the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed the “county unit system” that held sway over Peach State politics for nearly half a century.
Until then, politicians hoping to win primaries in Georgia had to capture entire counties, not just individual votes. Under the county unit system, formally known as the Neill Primary Act, the votes of Georgians living in Atlanta and other major cities didn’t count as much as those of residents in rural areas, since there were eight urban counties, 30 town counties and 121 rural counties.
“It was a rough approximation of the Electoral College,” University of Georgia political science professor and authority on Georgia politics Charles Bullock III told State Affairs.
In addition to creating a more equitable statewide electoral system, the revamped process led to the formation of a board intended to help the state’s top election chief ensure voting protocols were followed. The State Election Board, led by the Secretary of State, would develop rules, investigate election irregularities and make recommendations to state legislators.
For most of its 60 years, the State Election Board has done just that.
But today what started as a safeguard for free and fair elections has, in the eyes of some, morphed into a political machine with broad overreach of powers.
“We’ve had this board go from infrequent meetings where they would hear cases that were four or five years old to taking on this incredibly proactive rulemaking approach, which has led us to where we are,” said Michelle McClafferty, a political law attorney with the Atlanta firm Lawrence & Bundy.
The KanCare contract implementation process will continue after a Shawnee County District Court judge denied Aetna’s motion to halt the action during legal proceedings.
Judge Thomas Luedke on Thursday ruled against Aetna Better Health, in part because he said the company didn’t show its harm would be more burdensome than “the delay and uncertainty” contractors would face with a temporary injunction.
“The harm resulting from granting the relief requested by Aetna would be potentially the same as the harm Aetna itself contends it will suffer,” Luedke wrote. “Given these considerations, the Court finds the potential harm to the State and the Intervenors is not outweighed by the potential harm to Aetna.”
In May, Kansas selected Sunflower Health Plan, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan and Healthy Blue as the KanCare managed care organizations starting Jan. 1, 2025.
Luedke ruled Monday that the three contractors could intervene in Aetna’s lawsuit. Aetna withdrew its opposition to the parties entering the case at a hearing last week.
The next hearing is scheduled for Sept. 17, another factor in Luedke’s decision.
“Finally, the Court would note that the expedited briefing and hearing on the merits of this case will largely, if not completely, ameliorate the potential harm to Aetna,” the judge wrote.
Aetna requested that the court make Kansas award the company with one of the three contracts, saying in court documents that the state’s errors led to a fourth-place finish. If the court doesn’t take that action, the company requested that the state award a fourth contract or re-bid the KanCare contracts.
Aetna, a current KanCare contractor, has focused its argument on Healthy Blue, which the state selected in a tiebreaker after both companies scored 522 out of a possible 1,000.
Aetna said in court filings the state should have disqualified Healthy Blue for failing to disclose it hired the former Kansas Medicaid director and for its previous performance as a KanCare contractor.
Aetna replaced Healthy Blue — then known as Amerigroup Kansas — as a KanCare contractor in 2018. Amerigroup changed its name to Community Care Health Plan of Kansas Inc., Healthy Blue’s official business name, in 2021.
Attorneys for state agencies involved in the litigation referred to the documents as “individual evaluation notes” at the Bethell Joint Committee on Home and Community Based Services and KanCare Oversight meeting on Tuesday.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment confirmed to Mercer, a consulting firm used for the bid process, that those documents were destroyed March 7 based on the consultant’s recommendation, according to email records Aetna requested.
Various committee members said destroying the documents created a transparency issue. Rep. Brenda Landwehr, R-Wichita, said the committee would discuss in October a potential fix it would propose for the upcoming session.
State leaders convened Thursday at the Lois G. Britt Agricultural Service Center in Kenansville to discuss North Carolina’s vulnerability to hurricanes and flooding and explore measures to prepare for future calamities.
“North Carolina is no stranger to storms,” Reide Corbett, dean of Integrated Coastal Programs at East Carolina University, said. “The trend is that we are seeing more and more billion-dollar events. Now some of that is because of [rising costs and more development]. It’s not just a product that the storms are worse; I’m not suggesting that. But the fact is these storms cost more today than they did in the past; the storms are different than they were in the ’80s.”
Corbett recapped three of North Carolina’s most recent catastrophes — Hurricanes Floyd, Matthew and Florence — to provide context for the effects of flooding in the state to the Agriculture and Forestry Awareness Study Commission.
Increased precipitation in the summer can lead to more water in North Carolina’s eight river basins, which account for 70% of the flood plains and river basins in the state.
The state received 13 inches of rain in July, as much as the previous eight months of the year in total. Extreme flooding seen with major hurricanes is often compounded by other ecological events, such as heavy precipitation, according to Corbett.
In September 1999, Hurricane Floyd produced the most flooding the state had ever seen. It caused 36 deaths and the destruction of over 7,000 homes. The Tar River crested 24 feet above its flood stage.
Hurricane Matthew in October 2016 was a “wake-up call,” Corbett said. It caused 31 deaths, all in counties that didn’t touch saltwater, and $5 billion in damage. The Lumber River crested four feet above its previous record height. Emergency services conducted over 2,300 water rescues.
“We hadn’t had a storm like this in 17 years. I’m not saying we were complacent,” Corbett continued. “The amount of damage, the amount of water that we saw across eastern North Carolina, I think, really made people realize we hadn’t done a whole lot since Floyd. We are potentially extremely vulnerable. … We started seeing these storms packing a bigger punch — they had more rain they were letting down compared to previous storms.”
According to the North Carolina Climate Science Report released in 2020, extreme precipitation frequency and intensity in the state will very likely increase due to increases in atmospheric water vapor content.
“Heavy precipitation accompanying hurricanes that pass near or over North Carolina is very likely to increase, which would in turn increase the potential for freshwater flooding in the state,” the report states.
In September 2018, Hurricane Florence caused unprecedented rain and flooding in the state. More than 2,500 roads were cut off and parts of Interstate 40 and Interstate 95 were underwater for a week.
“Florence has made Wilmington, N.C., an island cut off from the rest of the world,” a headline from The Washington Post read. Florence produced an estimated 36 inches of rain near Elizabethtown. The storm killed 52 people and caused $17 billion in damage.
Because of those storms, Corbett said, changes have been made resulting in better emergency response and mitigation.
The creation of a local recovery manager position has established a point person who understands the surrounding community. Flood and surge maps have been updated, and the state has undertaken a Flood Resiliency Blueprint.
These precautions are necessary based on the near certainty that extreme precipitation will become more commonplace due to a warmer climate and more moisture in the air, Corbett said.
“We are very likely to see more events that [produce] more than three inches in a single day,” he said. “Those rain events that have that much rain are what drive a lot of storms for us.”
Over the past 80 years, the state has seen a one-foot rise in sea level. Over the next 30 years, by 2050, there will be another one-foot rise in sea level.
“That is something you can bet on,” Corbett said. “Plan on it.”
Corbett said the goal of his presentation was to showcase an understanding of the state’s vulnerabilities and present an awareness of the hazards.
“We can’t base our numbers on yesterday, last year, previous years,” Corbett said. “….We need to understand our vulnerability today and hold on to what we know about what these storms are going to look like tomorrow.”
Rep. Jimmy Dixon, R-Duplin, chairman of the commission, agreed with Corbett and added he wants these meetings to move away from history and show what’s being done.
“North Carolina is no stranger to storms,” Reide Corbett, dean of Integrated Coastal Programs at East Carolina University, said.
David Williams, director of the state Division of Soil and Water Conservation, said the Streamflow Rehabilitation Assistance Program has made major inroads on measures to prevent flooding.
“We recognized that we had issues with drainage ways that were blocked. Water was backed up, soils were saturated because the water couldn’t get out prior to the storm,” Williams said. “If the soil is already saturated prior to the storm, the flooding is going to be worse.”
Counties, municipalities and nonprofits are eligible grantees of the Streamflow Rehabilitation Assistance Program (StRAP), which was established in the 2021 budget.
The program was allocated $38 million in funding from the General Assembly. There was statewide interest in the program, with over 200 submitted project applications requesting $311 million.
So far, the program has removed debris from 612 miles of primarily eastern North Carolina waterways, with another 330 miles planned from its initial round of funding.
“It’s a shame that we can’t do more, and we’re going to have to do more — there’s no question about that,” Commissioner of Agriculture Steve Troxler, said. “I congratulate the Legislature on doing something when they [funded] this StRAP program. Before, we had trouble getting partners [due to a matching grant requirement that was eliminated].”
Troxler acknowledged these efforts are expensive but said recovery from Hurricanes Matthew and Florence totaled $22 billion.
“Could we have spent a billion or two billion dollars in state and federal funds and prevented some of that? Absolutely,” he stated.
Troxler said water coming out of the Piedmont due to deforestation and development will only increase the water seeping downhill into eastern North Carolina. He recalled when Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore attended a meeting of the commission shortly after Hurricane Florence.
“We have talked about it, talked about it, talked about it,” Troxler said. “Let’s get on with the program and let’s stop some of the damage that this water is doing where we can, and it needs to happen now.”
The Soil and Water Conservation division is “nowhere near fully staffed” and engineers are hard to come by, Troxler said. He also said the Department of Environmental Quality has the same issue. He said a water management agency needs to be created in the state to handle the flooding issues.
“Somebody has got to think about this and do something about it every day,” Troxler said. “The more we stall, the next big one is coming.” He added that the state dodged a bullet with the recent Hurricane Debby.
Rep. Dixon said he and his fellow committee members understand the urgency and would support efforts to address flooding concerns.
“I personally don’t believe that we ever recovered from Hurricane Hazel in 1954,” Dixon said.
Troxler agreed, saying people still talk about the dams that burst due to that storm.
“We’re learning and we’re going to do better,” Troxler said. “We just need to get on with it right now and not tarry another year.”
The General Assembly might need to change state statutes regarding child passenger safety to reflect best practice recommended by national organizations and combat a rise in youth-involved vehicular fatalities.
Beverly Hopps, a coalition coordinator at Safe Kids Western North Carolina, is an instructor for the organization’s child passenger safety curriculum.
“When I’m dealing with caregivers and they ask me the question, ‘Oh, when can my child go forward-facing?’ I teach the caregiver best practice,” Hopps said to the Unintentional Death Committee of the Child Fatality Task Force Thursday. “I try not to really mention the [North Carolina] law unless they specifically ask me what North Carolina law says.”
Under North Carolina law, children under the age of 5 are required to be properly restrained in a rear seat, but best practice recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is to raise the age to 13 when the vehicle has a passenger-side front air bag and an available rear seat.
According to Child Fatality Task Force executive director Kella Hatcher, states are “all over the place” when it comes to this statute. She added that most of the the surrounding states of North Carolina state the recommended age for this statute is 8 years old Hatcher said no other lead agency is working on this particular issue.
The Child Fatality Task Force advanced child passenger-related legislation in 1994, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008.
Other recommendations by the committee include modifying the language to require infants and toddlers to ride in rear-facing seats and to clarify the height at which a child can transition away from a booster seat.
“Motor vehicle deaths to children are a leading cause of death, so we always like to get data updates on what we’re seeing with the trends and break that down by ages,” Hatcher said at the meeting. “We still have children under 8 riding in the front seat, and we still have children who are probably too young to be out of child restraints at all who are not in a child restraint system.”
North Carolina has reported fewer car crashes each year since 2019 but an increase in overall fatalities. State Traffic Safety Engineer Shawn Troy attributes that statistic to aggressive drivers willing to take more risks on the open road.
Youth, defined as children aged 0 to 17, were involved in 6.2% of the roughly 275,000 crashes reported in North Carolina last year, according to data shared with the committee.
There were 74 car accident fatalities involving youth in North Carolina in 2019. That figure has steadily risen to 105 in 2022 and 104 in 2023.
In 42% of youth-related fatalities, the victim was unbelted. Unbelted children are 28 times more likely to be killed in a car crash and 18 times more likely to be injured, according to North Carolina Department of Transportation data. Young people seated in the third row of the vehicle are more likely to be unbelted.
There’s been an accompanying increase in severe injuries to children in vehicular accidents since 2019. In 2023, 488 children were seriously injured in crashes.
The Child Fatality Task Force opted to repeat its 2023 recommendations regarding child safety laws in its upcoming report to the General Assembly.
U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan has declined to debate Republican challenger Randy Niemeyer, the latter’s campaign said.
In early July, Niemeyer invited Mrvan to three debates. Later that month, Niemeyer worked with local media outlets and organizations to arrange the debates. When the League of Women Voters, in partnership with Lakeshore Public Media, offered to host a debate in late September or October, Niemeyer accepted.
However, Mrvan’s team said he was unavailable either month, according to Niemeyer’s campaign.
In a campaign statement, Niemeyer urged Mrvan to “stop dodging the voters and answer for his radical, hyperpartisan left-wing record,” adding, “Frank Mrvan is hiding from his record and refusing to debate. He’s been an enabler of the disastrous Biden-Harris agenda, which has led to skyrocketing inflation, open borders that allow a massive influx of crime and drugs into our communities, the destruction of energy jobs and soaring energy costs. If he’s so proud of his record, why is he hiding from the voters he was elected to represent? The voters deserve answers. They deserve a representative who is willing to face them, answer their questions, and defend their actions.”
Mrvan’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Williams to head ISTA
The Indiana State Teachers Association announced Nate Williams will join the union as its next executive director Sept. 9. Williams has extensive experience in union leadership and education, recently serving as deputy director of the Community Schools and Extended Learning Bureau at the New Mexico Public Education Department. Williams also has a foundation in the labor movement, having been a UniServ director in Ohio and California and a director of Collective Bargaining & Research for the Maine Education Association.
“I’m eager to join ISTA and collaborate with its passionate staff and members,” Williams said in a statement. “Together, we have a unique opportunity to drive the Association forward, making a lasting and meaningful impact on our profession and the future of public education in Indiana.”
