(The Center Square) — A new law taking effect Sept. 26 in Arizona will help protect its state government from outside ideological influences.
Senate Bill 1735 will prohibit state agencies from employing people whose salaries are paid with private funds. Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, signed this bill into law last month.
Senate President Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, told The Center Square that this bill came about because people were concerned this money “was being used with an ideology.”
Petersen referenced when Mark Zuckerberg came in and gave money to local governments to assist with the 2020 election. Zuckerberg’s nonprofit, the Center for Tech and Civic Life, gave $350 million to 2,500 local election jurisdictions nationwide for that election.
The state Senate president said this bill will prevent conservative and liberal organizations from “funding public employees at public entities.”
“Arizona will not tolerate lawfare for hire, where outside billionaires fund shadow attorneys to quietly steer public policy behind closed doors,” Petersen explained. “Taxpayers deserve to know who’s working on their behalf, and who’s really pulling the strings.”
Petersen added that this new law upholds transparency, fortifies legislative oversight and ensures that Arizona citizens, rather than out-of-state ideologies, are controlling their state government.
Specifically, Petersen cited “radical environmentalist employees” at state agencies that are being funded by groups tied to Democratic billionaire Michael Bloomberg.
To illustrate, Petersen said the attorney general’s office has positions that are not funded by the state, but rather private funds.
The attorney general’s office currently has a job opening called the “Special Assistant Attorney General-Senior Litigation Counsel.” This is a two-year fellowship position sponsored by the New York University School of Law’s State Energy & Environmental Impact Center. The position’s salary is between $110,000 $145,000.
Bloomberg Philanthropies, the foundation established by the New York billionaire, helped create this environmental impact center by providing an initial grant of almost $6 million in 2017.
“Money is influence and power,” the state Senate president said.
Petersen, who is running for Arizona attorney general, said these privately funded outside positions are “working against the majority of the [Arizona] taxpayers.”
Once this law takes effect, instead of having private entities fund certain employees at state agencies, Petersen said they will now need to be financed by state money.
