KJZZ’s Friday NewsCap revisits some of the week’s biggest stories from Arizona and beyond. On the last Friday of 2024, we’re taking a look back at some of the year’s biggest political stories — from the state Capitol to the U.S. Capitol to the election campaign.
To review, The Show sat down with S+C Communications’ Chip Scutari and former state legislator Jen Longdon, starting with the Legislature, and what stood out most widely in this year’s session.
Highlights of conversations
A look at the Arizona Legislature in 2024
Jane London: To me, I think it was malice, right? Overall, there appears to be little chance of reaching a settlement. As was the case last year, at this point in time, I thought I would still be on duty for this period. I dropped the bills. It received 1/3 of the reading vote. I wasn’t expecting to leave the Legislature when I did, but you know it was a great opportunity for me, so, I was very involved in my new job through a lot of the Legislature.
Mark Brody: When you talk about malice, are you referring to the kind of prevalence and importance of ethics committees as well as the kind of political battles?
London: Thanks. You know, I thought it was PTSD and then I mentioned it. [LAUGHS]
Brody: Sorry.
London: Right, Chip?
Scutari chip: Yes. [LAUGHS]
London: So, yeah, I think it was, to me, it seemed like on both sides of the aisle there were a lot of internal partisan issues as well as a lack of bipartisanship. Sometimes it felt like a lack of decorum. And fitness is very important to keep things going. It’s the way you can disagree without, you know, literally hitting each other. I found that annoying and disturbing.
Scutari: Yeah, I was going to say, you know, remember former Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill had that famous saying, all politics is local. I think this has been turned on its head, as almost all politics is now national.
So we have these cultural battles and they’re not a local issue, they’re national issues, and I’m saying that because of the debate over abortion, you know, the 1864 law, I think it caught my attention because it resonated with the average public, not just the political insiders who follow the Capitol day in and day out. day.
And I agree with Jane that, you know, just a lack of civility and another example of that is, you know, Governor Katie Hobbs trying to get her agency directors confirmed, which happened when I was covering the Capitol, you know, during the Nixon White House, as you know.
Brody: That wasn’t that long ago. [LAUGHS]
Scutari: But that was a very long time ago. It was about if you were qualified and competent, you know, regardless of party, you would be confirmed. And I think that happened and it was a very rancorous debate that, you know, went to court where the governor actually lost the case in court. It’s just that you didn’t see those things, maybe a decade ago, maybe even five years ago, in front of this crew of legislators. I believe the national controversy has spilled over into the state capital, not just in Arizona but across America.
Brody: Well, I’ve got you covered [Gov. Janet] Napolitano This is the last time a Democratic governor was elected and you probably remember something different than I do. I don’t remember her having any trouble getting her agency managers confirmed.
Scutari: No, nothing at all. I mean there were a few who backed out at the last minute. I won’t say who, but there was never that they wouldn’t be confirmed because they weren’t qualified or competent.
And I, you know, Governor Napolitano was a different kind of leader, I would say, maybe more in your face and not afraid to fight or confront. And the other thing that was radically different at that time is that we had, you know, this word “mild,” which is like a bad, vulgar word that we use now, using air quotes.
We had, there were a lot of moderate Republicans like Deb Goulet, Linda Bender of Lake Havasu, and others, like Sue Gerard, who were very different. They’re probably Democrats these days, so it was a different atmosphere and a different environment for politics in the Capitol.
London: And the procedure. You know, you would go to the reference committee… to confirm. This is where policy experts held this hearing. And now we have Dino and it’s, you know, it’s all bread and circuses.
Governor versus legislature
Brody: Jane, let me ask you, when you talk about spite. You know, in the second year of Governor Hobbs’ administration, she had fewer vetoes than her first year, but as Chip pointed out, there was a lawsuit against her agency directors. I’ve tried to get around some of that. I’m curious what you make of the relationship as it now stands between Governor Hobbs and the Republicans who control the Legislature.
London: Well, I would like to see it settle down, I think in the first year it was all about those opportunities, you know, to create division, you know, throw red meat at the base, and I think in the second half of the term, people settled down and got, got to the affairs of People to some extent. And that was helpful.
I’m worried about what it will look like again. We have a whole new group of legislators who didn’t get their chance to, you know, attack the governor last year. So I think when there’s a large influx of new legislators, there’s been a big shift in the power dynamics in both bodies. I think those people are going to want, you know, it’s going to be a silly season throughout the first half of the semester. They’ll try to, you know, make their own mark, and then I think next year they’ll settle into people’s affairs.
But in the meantime, you know, we Arizonans have to deal with ridiculous extreme bills and maneuvers and things like that.
Scutari: I think if we were sitting here six months ago, a lot of people would have expected that the Democrats would either control the House or the Senate, and the Republicans have done much better than anyone expected, so now they control that. House of Representatives and State Senate. So, if anything, they’ll be emboldened to send more bills to Governor Hobbs’ office perhaps just to get veto power over them for social media purposes or to attract clicks.
But the one issue they have to deal with or prepare for immediately is Proposition 123, which is the issue of funding education from state lands. I think they want to get this done by the end of January because the 10-year expiration date is May 2025.
Brody: It should be reauthorized by voters.
Scutari: Yes, so you should go to a special election. So, this is something that Governor Hobbs and the Republicans and Democrats in the Capitol have to address very quickly or else it will be a real fiscal cliff for the schools. So, that’s the one thing I don’t think they can do politics with. They could, but it would be a huge blow to our school and our kids.
Hobbs goes to the year 2025
Brody: Chip, where do you see Governor Hobbs now? Because as you pointed out, the Legislature is now more Republican than it was before, and Governor Hobbs has invested a lot and a lot of money in trying to elect more Democrats to flip one or both chambers, since not only has she done that, but the Republicans have done better than Expected elections this year. Where does that leave the governor?
Scutari: Yes, this is just my humble opinion, and she won’t listen to me, but I will present it to the KJZZ audience. I think she has to pick three or four key areas, education, water, elections, you know, and health care, where she’s going to lead, you know, where she’s going to put forward a bold agenda that starts with the state of the state.
And we talked about Governor Napolitano when I was covering the Capitol, she was a Democratic House governor and a Republican Senate governor, and she led on different topics and she was like, this is my red line in the sand. Here’s what we’ll do. So I think the governor has a golden opportunity to do that, you know, with respect to affordable housing on the water, the urban zoning bill, the election, and get common sense solutions where we can speed up the vote count but not disenfranchisement. So, there is a golden opportunity for her, but she has to make her mark immediately from the state.
Brody: Jane, what do you think about that? I mean, where do you see Governor Hobbs politically now given that she’s halfway through her term and she’s spent a lot of time and effort and money trying to win the Legislature and she hasn’t.
London: Yes, I think this was a national issue all around. I don’t think this is a particular weakness of this ruler. And as Chip was talking, I was wondering, you know, I joined the largest Democratic freshman class in two decades just six years ago. And were we having these conversations about, you know, government? [Doug] Did you know that in the midterms Ducey lost power because we showed up?
I think Governor Hobbs has learned a lot, you know, in the first half of her first term, and I’m looking forward to her second term. I think she is ready to play.
Scutari: Yeah, and also, the backdrop to that, as we all know, is going to be 2025. It’s a year before the statewide election. There are already Republican candidates, you know, getting their teams together and getting ready to go. Everything you do at the Capitol, Governor Hobbs, will be under the microscope, leading up to his 2026 re-election campaign.
Housing in 2024 and moving forward
Brody: So Gene, Chip mentioned a couple of the issues that Governor Hobbs will likely drive, and many of them are issues that the Legislature has dealt with this year as well related to housing, water, and education. Were there one or maybe two issues that really caught your attention this year where those issues on your mind dominated the discussion at the Capitol?
London: Well, I think dealing with provincial bans on abortion certainly took up a lot of oxygen in the Legislature this term, and that was important. But fundamentally I think housing has probably been one of the big issues and, you know, I think they’ve really taken a good swing at some things. No one got exactly what they wanted.
You know, they’ve passed some bills that will increase inventory, require cities of a certain size to modify their building codes so that you can put in accessory dwelling units, accessory dwelling units, apartments, mother-in-law apartments, whatever you want to call them. Or build what looks like up to four houses in some places. The thing they haven’t done is make it affordable housing, so there are places where we might see more luxury housing, you know, luxury apartments, and I say that in air quotes, built. But again, adding to the inventory will ultimately bring down the cost of apartments and housing in the state.
Scutari: And I think this is going to be a really good year, a much better year for affordable housing in 2025. The reason I say that is because if you look at some of the recent stories that portray Phoenix as an area for housing again, you know, there’s, you know, more inventory. Available. Our vacancy rate was really low. The percentage was 2.4%. That is, this is such a historically low level. This will crash.
I think there will be more opportunities for cities and towns to partner with the governor on affordable housing, and I think the housing pipeline will improve dramatically. And I think again the governor can lead this by setting a framework, putting forward a vision that we want, you know, people like first responders and nurses and teachers to all be able to afford or either rent or own, you know, a place.
KJZZ’s The Show scripts are being created by deadline. This text has been edited for length and clarity, and may not be in its final form. The official record of KJZZ programming is the audio recording.
