(The Center Square)— Three current executive deputy directors will not be submitted to the state Senate Committee on Director Nominations as part of an agreement between Gov. Katie Hobbs and the Republican-majority Arizona State Senate.
Department of Child Safety EDD David Lujan, Department of Environmental Quality EDD Karen Peters and Department of Veterans’ Services EDD Dana Allmond will not be nominated despite currently leading their respective agencies. Ben Henderson, director of operations for the Hobbs administration, was on the informal nomination notification list to lead both agencies in the interim. The governor’s office sent the memo to the legislature on Thursday.
“Governor Hobbs nominated well-qualified agency directors selected through a bipartisan process. From day one, they’ve been laser-focused on delivering results for everyday Arizonans, and state agencies will continue doing just that,” Hobbs spokesman Christian Slater stated Friday afternoon. “With the re-nominations, the Governor is delivering on her promise to put aside partisan politics and deliver sanity and stability to state government. Moving forward, she expects a fair confirmation process, not a political circus, and stands ready to work with anybody in the senate who will join her in putting everyday Arizona families over partisan games.”
The role of “Executive Deputy Directors” is legally obligated to phase out as part of a Superior Court ruling determining that Hobbs’ cabinet director picks must go through the Senate Committee of Director Nominations led by Sen. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek, who is a staunch opponent of the governor. The Hobbs administration created the title last year in order to bypass the committee that comes before an official confirmation vote by the entire Senate, which currently holds a narrow one-seat Republican majority.
The Center Square reported earlier on Friday that Allmond sent an email to agency employees saying that Deputy Director John Scott would instead be nominated for the interim.
“Governor Hobbs and her team have negotiated a resolution on how to move forward with agency director nominations. As part of an agreement with current State Senate leadership, my name will not be sent for confirmation this time,” Allmond stated.
The list of nominations, which includes the two interims, Scott and Henderson, and over a dozen others, will be formally transmitted to the Senate in January when the new legislative session starts.
The plan to submit nominations once again to the committee came as welcomed development to Republicans.
“I’m grateful we can move forward from the insanity and chaos our state agencies and our citizens have been experiencing due to the Governor’s actions, and I look forward to reinstating the confirmation process so that we can properly vet director nominations in an effort to ensure only the most qualified candidates are serving in these critical roles,” Senate President Warren Petersen stated following the agreement earlier this month.
