Hobbs appointee caught between federal law and GOP opposition to diversity programs

Yahoo

5 days ago

Carlos Contreras, Gov. Katie Hobbs' pick to head the Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity is grilled by Sen. Jake Hoffman during a Senate Director Nominations Committee meeting on May 28, 2025. Screenshot via azleg.gov
The far-right Republican senator who already blocked several of Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs' picks to lead state agencies has accused another nominee of lying and violating the Arizona Constitution.
The nominee's transgression? Adhering to grant requirements that were already baked into Arizona's federally required state workforce plans by Hobbs' Republican predecessor. Ignoring those federal requirements would put the grant money at risk.
But that didn't stop Sen. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek, from grilling Carlos Contreras, Hobbs' nominee to head up the Office of Economic Opportunity, during a May 28 Director Nominations Committee hearing. When Contreras answered that he was following the rules stipulating the use of the federal grant money, Hoffman said that was not good enough.
'Hoffman is just trying to find excuses to villainize these highly qualified public servants,' Sen. Analise Ortiz, a Phoenix Democrat and member of the committee, told the Arizona Mirror. 'And, in this case, he was just flatly wrong, spewing misinformation and thinking that anything he says goes, when that is just not the case.'
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Hoffman, who leads the far-right Arizona Freedom Caucus, is the chairman of the Arizona Senate's Director Nominations Committee, which was created in 2023 specifically to scrutinize Hobbs' director nominees. It has held numerous contentious and combative nomination hearings since then, and its Republican members refused to confirm several of the governor's nominees. Some of the nominees backed out prior to a confirmation committee hearing that they knew wasn't going to go their way.
State law requires the state Senate confirm a governor's agency directors, but before Hobbs took office in 2023, confirmations occurred with little fanfare following brief interviews with relevant legislative committees.
After Hobbs struggled to get committee approval for many of her director nominees in 2023, she attempted to bypass the Senate by leaving director posts vacant and instead appointing deputy directors who essentially served as directors. Agency directors are subject to Senate approval, but deputy directors are not.
But Senate Republicans sued and a judge ruled that the move violated state law, so Hobbs agreed to once again submit her director nominees for committee approval.
Contreras, who spent 25 years working for Intel, including as its U.S. education manager, has headed the Office of Economic Opportunity since 2023. Part of the office's mission is to coordinate the state's workforce development strategy.
During Contreras' May 28 Director Nominations Committee hearing, Hoffman repeatedly questioned the nominee about the scoring system used to award grants via the BuilditAZ apprenticeship program. The program helps to fund earn-while-you-learn apprenticeships in construction, an area with an increasing need for skilled workers.
'Why is your agency awarding higher scores for programs based on race, sex, or identity of their participants?' Hoffman asked.
Led by President Donald Trump, Republicans both nationally and locally have been on a crusade to rid diversity, equity and inclusion requirements from government, education and the private sector.
'You don't have statutory authority to select based on race, sex or English language learner status, yet you did it anyway,' Hoffman said, accusing Contreras of violating the Arizona Constitution and state statute.
Contreras initially answered that his office was following U.S. Department of Labor grant requirements, but Hoffman dismissed that explanation, arguing that the OEO doesn't have to participate in a grant program with what he called discriminatory requirements.
Ortiz called the suggestion that the state forgo federal grants that have requirements that Hoffman disagrees with 'ridiculous.'
'We are in a situation as a state where we need to look for opportunities for funding anywhere that we can,' she said. 'The purpose of these federal grant programs is to provide that additional support for states in order to strengthen our economies, strengthen our workforce.'
As Hoffman became increasingly hostile, Contreras struggled to answer the chairman's numerous versions of the same question about the grant scoring process, saying that the office did not select grant winners based solely on race.
'You're gonna struggle if you keep up obfuscating like this. OK?' Hoffman said. 'Your own documents say that you award greater points for those characteristics.'
The scoring system for BuilditAZ grant proposals does give priority to 'certain demographic groups to ensure equitable access to workforce development programs and services.' But that's not an idea that Contreras came up with on his own: It's a requirement of the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, which funded the grants.
One of the main goals of the WIOA is to help groups who face barriers to employment obtain high-quality jobs. The first several times Hoffman asked Contreras about the points system, the senator only mentioned the categories of race, sex and English language learners, but the list is much more extensive than that.
It includes people with low incomes, those with disabilities, young people, displaced workers and military veterans.
Hoffman's focus on race, sex and English proficiency, while leaving out so many other groups, was telling, Ortiz said.
'I think it makes it very clear that Chairman Hoffman believes that certain jobs should only be for certain people,' she said. 'And that is a racist and sexist viewpoint that does not make our workforce stronger. If we're leaving out crucial demographic groups and we are leaving out different perspectives, then we are going to be at a disadvantage as a state.'
All of the groups mentioned in the BuilditAZ grant scoring rubric were outlined as priority groups in Arizona's Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act state plan for 2020-2023, which was created under the direction of then-Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican.
Ortiz told the Mirror that the usage of the same language in plans created by a GOP governor showed that the criticism was not actually based on the grant language, but was just a way to go after the Democratic governor.
'That is just further evidence of this process being politicized in a way that it should not be,' Ortiz said. 'And who is paying for that? It is our hardworking public servants.'
As Hoffman repeatedly told Contreras that his office had violated anti-discrimination laws in both the Arizona Constitution and state statute, Ortiz interjected to request input from one of the Senate's nonpartisan attorneys.
Hoffman quickly cut her off, saying that she should have asked more hard-hitting questions when it was her turn.
Ortiz told the Mirror that, as an elected Senator, she should have the same authority to call points of order and to request clarification as anyone else on the committee, but that has not been the case.
'(Hoffman) has been so patronizing and has treated every member of that committee like we are children that I have to sit there and bite my tongue and not call points of orders when I know that he's wrong,' Ortiz said.
Hoffman was adamant that federal law doesn't supersede state law in this case, and that it was not acceptable that the grant scoring rubric 'directly conflicts with provisions of the Arizona Constitution.'
The Arizona Constitution states that the state 'shall not grant preferential treatment to or discriminate against any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education or public contracting.'
However, just two lines down in the same section, the constitution stipulates that those rules do not 'Prohibit action that must be taken to establish or maintain eligibility for any federal program, if ineligibility would result in a loss of federal monies to this state.'
The Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution says that, when they conflict, federal law generally supersedes state law.
At the request of Sen. John Kavanagh, a Fountain Hills Republican and the vice chairman of the committee, Hoffman agreed to adjourn the meeting without making any recommendation on the nomination to give time for Contreras and members of the committee to consult with attorneys about the legality of the grant scoring system and what to do if state and federal law pertaining to it conflict.
Legislative Council, the legislature's in-house division of attorneys, did not respond to the Mirror's request for clarification of the state and federal laws and how they intersect.
Ortiz said that it was unfortunate that Hoffman 'unnecessarily' delayed Contreras' confirmation.
'I hope that Chairman Hoffman comes more prepared (to the next committee hearing), understanding the Supremacy Clause and understanding our state constitution before dragging all of us through this dog and pony show,' she said, 'because not only is it a waste of our time, it is a waste of precious state resources.'
Hoffman suggested that all interested parties reach out to the U.S. Department of Labor for updated guidance on grant requirements since they have likely changed since Trump took office in January.
SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE