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   From: scooter@gmail.com   
      
   This is not what the whore said last year.   
      
   PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs knows she is   
   outnumbered this legislative session, since Republicans expanded their   
   majorities in the statehouse after the last election.   
      
   But the first-term governor sees room for bipartisan compromise as she   
   looks to advance policies that have long been stymied under the   
   GOP-controlled Legislature.   
      
   While President-elect Donald Trump swept the battleground state, Hobbs   
   noted in a recent interview with The Associated Press that Arizona   
   voters also elected Democrat Ruben Gallego to the U.S. Senate, sending   
   the message that they want their political leaders to work across the   
   aisle to solve the thorniest of issues.   
      
   “The issues we’re facing — affordability for families, water security,   
   protecting our border and keeping communities safe — those are not   
   Republican or Democratic issues,” she said. “They’re just Arizona issues   
   that our elected leaders, myself included, need to work together to solve.”   
      
   On Monday, Hobbs says she’s willing to work with Republicans but will   
   veto any legislation she believes fails to provide adequate solutions to   
   the issues Arizonans are facing. In her first two years in office, she   
   vetoed 216 Republican-backed bills, which included legislation targeting   
   transgender students.   
      
   Hobbs, who will be up for reelection next year, outlined her priorities   
   when she addressed lawmakers at the start of the session Monday.   
      
   Here’s a look at key policy areas:   
      
   Border security   
   It was just two weeks after the November election when Hobbs visited the   
   Arizona-Mexico border and vowed to work with Trump’s administration on   
   issues like stopping fentanyl trafficking. But she also acknowledged   
   some families are worried about the president-elect’s deportation threats.   
      
   While not wanting to speculate, Hobbs says Arizona will focus its   
   limited law enforcement resources on keeping violent criminals off the   
   streets, regardless of their immigration status.   
      
   In her speech Monday, Hobbs renewed calls to secure the border and vowed   
   to protect Arizonans from threats like illicit drugs entering the state.   
   She touted the success of the Arizona National Guard and the U.S.   
   Customs and Border Protection in seizing more than 8 million fentanyl   
   pills and 2,000 pounds (900 kilograms) of meth, cocaine, heroin and   
   fentanyl powder since July.   
      
   “We must remain vigilant in protecting Arizonans from the cartels who   
   seek to do us harm,” she said.   
      
   GOP Senate President Warren Petersen called Hobbs’ comments on border   
   security “good” and said he loved her support of the Laken Riley Act, a   
   bill making its way through Capitol Hill that would requires federal   
   authorities to detain immigrants who aren’t lawfully in the country and   
   have been accused of certain crimes. He said he is most interested in   
   observing how she interacts with the Trump administration.   
      
   “Maybe she’s had a change of heart, we’ll see,” he said after the   
   address. “But as far as the last two years, her actions really didn’t   
   match on that issue.”   
      
   Reyna Montoya, executive director of the immigrant advocacy group   
   Aliento, said she shared Hobbs’ concern of keepings drugs and criminals   
   off the streets, but was surprised the governor didn’t say anything   
   about protecting immigrant communities, especially as Trump’s   
   inauguration is days away.   
      
   “I know that a lot of Arizona families that include Dreamers and   
   mixed-immigration status families would’ve loved to hear that the   
   governor understands that they are part of our fabric,” she said.   
      
   Arizona voters last year approved a measure empowering local police to   
   arrest people suspected of illegally crossing the border, so it’s   
   unclear what new restrictions on immigration Republicans might push   
   beyond ensuring adequate funding for law enforcement.   
      
   Water scarcity   
   Hobbs will look to pressure lawmakers again to plug regulatory holes to   
   protect groundwater sources. Her calls last year to update the state’s   
   water laws failed to win legislative approval, leaving her   
   administration to take executive action in December to curb unchecked   
   pumping in one rural area.   
      
   This time around, Hobbs is optimistic she can reach a deal with   
   lawmakers on revamping groundwater regulations. In the absence of a   
   pact, Hobbs says she won’t hesitate to act unilaterally.   
      
   “Mark my words, if this Legislature fails to act, I will again,” Hobbs   
   said in her address, which received applause from members of the   
   Democratic caucus and Gila River Indian Community Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis.   
      
   The stakes are high as Arizona grapples with long-term drought and needs   
   to come up with a plan by the end of 2026 to manage its dwindling share   
   of water from the over-tapped Colorado River.   
      
   Education   
   Reining in Arizona’s school voucher program remains on Hobbs’ wish list.   
      
   The program, which started in 2011 for disabled children and expanded to   
   all students in 2022, lets parents subsidize private-school tuition and   
   other educational costs with public money.   
      
   Hobbs and fellow Democrats have criticized the program, saying it   
   contributes to a drain on the state’s coffers. In her address, Hobbs   
   pitted the “billion-dollar boondoggle” against increasing funding for   
   additional measures of border security, and called for more   
   accountability and transparency in the “unchecked” program.   
      
   “Do we give our police a raise and secure our border — or do we continue   
   to pay for ski resort passes?” Hobbs said.   
      
   Republican lawmakers have championed the program as a cornerstone of the   
   school choice movement, and its reform is considered a nonstarter among   
   the GOP-majority Legislature.   
      
   “I think it’s fair to say that I expect her proposal to be one that   
   would fatally flaw the Empowerment Scholarship Program,” Republican Rep.   
   Matt Gress, House education committee chair, said after Hobbs’ remarks.   
      
   The budget approved by lawmakers last year after weeks of negotiations   
   with Hobbs’ office included only a small cut in spending for the program.   
      
   Unlike last year, the state isn’t facing a budget crunch. The latest   
   revenue projection for the next fiscal year is up $231 million compared   
   to the forecast last summer, according to legislative analysts.   
      
   https://apnews.com/article/arizona-governor-hobbs-border-securit   
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