Latest news with #Ducey
NBC News
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- NBC News
Federal agency axes LGBTQ festival's funding, says it 'does not align' with Trump's priorities
An annual theater festival dedicated to showcasing the work of playwrights from countries that criminalize or censor the LGBTQ community has turned to online fundraising after the National Endowment for the Arts revoked the New York festival's grant. In December, the independent federal agency awarded a $20,000 grant to the National Queer Theater, a nonprofit theater company based in Brooklyn, for its 2025 Criminal Queerness Festival. It was the third year the company was awarded an NEA grant, which made up 20% of the festival's total budget, according to Jess Ducey, co-chair of the company's board. The NEA began revoking arts funding for a number of organizations, including the National Queer Theater, on Friday. That day, the agency told the theater in an email that it 'is updating its grantmaking policy priorities to focus funding on projects that reflect the nation's rich artistic heritage and creativity as prioritized by the President,' according to a copy of the email that Ducey shared with NBC News. 'Consequently, we are terminating awards that fall outside these new priorities,' the email continued. 'The NEA will now prioritize projects that elevate the Nation's HBCUs and Hispanic Serving Institutions, celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence, foster AI competency, empower houses of worship to serve communities, assist with disaster recovery, foster skilled trade jobs, make America healthy again, support the military and veterans, support Tribal communities, make the District of Columbia safe and beautiful, and support the economic development of Asian American communities.' The Criminal Queerness Festival, the email stated, 'does not align with these priorities.' The NEA did not immediately return a request for comment. The agency is currently experiencing a broader upheaval, with several of its senior leaders stepping down this week after President Donald Trump released a proposed budget Friday that would eliminate its funding, The Washington Post reported. 'It's devastating and upsetting, because we're a very small organization,' said Ducey, who uses they/them pronouns. 'That grant is absolutely integral to the funding.' Ducey said the festival, scheduled for June 11-28, has already hired a production manager and started casting and scheduling rehearsals for the three plays it will feature, which are set in Uganda, Indonesia and Cuba. The bulk of the grant goes toward paying the 50 artists hired for the festival, they said. If the company can't make up that funding, it might have to scale back the set design for performances, pay some of the artists late and/or borrow funding intended for programs like Staging Pride, its free after-school theater program for LGBTQ youth. Ducey organized a GoFundMe fundraiser to try to make up the grant funds. 'A lot of our time and attention is now going into scrambling to get this money, rather than preparing these shows, doing all the outreach we would be doing,' they said. Ducey said the National Queer Theater suspected that it could lose the grant after it joined a lawsuit filed against the NEA by the American Civil Liberties Union in March on behalf of arts organizations over a new certification that required artists applying for 2025-26 grants to attest that they wouldn't 'promote gender ideology' with any potential funding. The NEA added the provision due to an executive order from Trump that declared there are two unchangeable sexes and prohibited the 'federal funding of gender ideology.' Days after the ACLU filed the lawsuit, the NEA removed the provision and said it will decide how to implement Trump's order. As a result, a court denied the ACLU's request for a preliminary injunction last month. The lawsuit is still active, as the ACLU expects the provision to be reinstated. Additionally, the NEA, which provides awards as reimbursements to projects rather than providing them upfront, did not remove separate new eligibility criteria that would revoke awards from any projects that appear to 'promote gender ideology.' The ACLU argues that the initial certification requirement and the eligibility criteria violate the Administrative Procedure Act, the First Amendment and the Fifth Amendment. Ducey said the theater feared that joining the lawsuit could flag its current project to the NEA and result in the funding being revoked, but that the requirements would have made it ineligible for much-needed funding in the future. 'If you care about the arts, if you care about representation, this is about more than a grant,' Ducey said. 'This is about the attack on artists and stories and the viewpoints that are considered American. The broader issue is of who's being targeted — migrants, people of color, queer and trans people, gender-nonconforming people. The arts are one avenue.'
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
There's 'mismanagement' in Arizona, all right. But not from us Democrats
Matt Gress has mastered the art of failing upward. But he's doing so at the expense of Arizona taxpayers, teachers, students and the developmentally disabled. Gress previously served as Gov. Doug Ducey's budget director. Now, he represents Scottsdale and Paradise Valley in the state House of Representatives. Ducey wasn't the biggest supporter of public education, but in 2020, there was a glimmer of hope for students — the passage of 'Invest in Ed,' which imposed a 3.5% surcharge on households making more than $500,000 per year. This initiative would have put an estimated $1 billion into public education, but upon passage, Gress and Ducey began working to allow Arizona's wealthiest residents to avoid the surcharge and shift wealth further toward the well-off. Once Republicans dismantled Invest in Ed, Gress' flat tax was free to sweep Arizona's progressive tax rate structure into a regressive flat rate of 2.5%, setting the stage to undercut public education, health care, and our vulnerable and elderly populations. Gress ushered this huge tax cut through the Legislature knowing full well that it would benefit the richest Arizonans. In fact, that was the inspiration. Rather than provide meaningful tax relief, households making $64,000 per year received nothing more than a single tank of gas — an annual savings that averaged just $47. Meanwhile, state revenues were cut by an estimated $2 billion a year, so that the top 1% could keep an extra $30,000 in their pockets while teachers, who were making a little more than minimum wage, were forced to buy crayons and pencils for their students. Not to mention that in 2018, when teachers, tired of being grossly underpaid, launched 'Red for Ed,' striking for higher teacher pay, competitive pay for support staff and a return to 2008 education funding levels, Gress and Ducey promised a win — a 20% raise over three years. Yet, while most districts increased pay, only 43% of districts statewide were actually able to meet the 20% goal. Most tried to smear out limited dollars like peanut butter, to raise the salaries for all dedicated employees working in our public schools. Despite these failures, Gress still plays a huge role in the future of K-12 education funding, and as the House Education Committee chairman, he's attempting to address the expiring Proposition 123, which temporarily increased funding for education from the state land trust. Once again, he's promising raises to all 'eligible teachers,' leaving out support staff entirely. He's even unwilling to consider sensible reforms for the costly school voucher expansion that he and Ducey helped usher in, which would supplement what we lost because of their decisions. Opinion: It's now even easier to rip off school voucher cash And instead of investing in education, Gress has voted for even more tax cuts, which would inevitably bleed into additional cuts for children with disabilities and group homes for foster care kids, when the agency programs are already in a shortfall. Matt Gress' DOGE mentality has left Arizona's children without what they need to succeed. While he and Republicans blame Gov. Katie Hobbs for Arizona's growing population and for rate increases to keep up with inflation, we all know who is responsible for the flat tax that artificially limits the state's ability to meet Arizona's needs. And now, to make it worse, with the proposed Trump administration cuts to Medicaid, Medicare and the Department of Education, Arizona stands to lose hundreds of millions of tax dollars that pay for school lunches, disability programming for kids, urban and rural hospitals and health care, and university research. Gress and Republicans have pushed their heads in the sand, saying they would not pass standalone legislation to cover the funding shortfall for our developmentally disabled kids. They also continue to ignore the rising $1 billion price tag for school vouchers and unmet needs in our public schools. They disregard support staff in public schools, refusing to acknowledge that the people who feed and transport our children to their public school also deserve a living wage. Then they blame 'mismanagement' for our budget hole, not our increasing population or inflation. On that, we agree. Mismanagement of our state dollars has led to our current budget predicament. We just choose to hold responsible those who created this mess. Sen. Lela Alston is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee and the Senate Democratic Caucus chair. Reach her at lalston@ This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Republicans keep blaming us for their messes in Arizona | Opinion
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Abbott asserts Legislature will pass school vouchers but keeps making sales pitch to Texans
Reaching beyond the borders of Texas to push his signature issue of the 2025 legislative session closer to the finish line, Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday tapped his former counterpart from Arizona to sell the message that a school voucher plan and fully funded public schools can go hand in hand. Sitting alongside former Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and flanked by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dustin Burrows, Abbott expressed confidence that the Republican-led Legislature will send him his long-denied voucher plan while seeming to continue persuading the public that the measure will improve education in Texas across the board. "School choice is so important for parents, it is essential for students," Abbott said during a news conference in his second-floor Capitol office suite. "If you look at the state that ranks No. 1 right now for education, it's Florida. Florida also ranks No. 1 for the largest school choice program in the United States. "If we are going to achieve our goal of being ranked the best state in America for educating our students, it starts this session by passing school choice. The stakes have never been higher." The Texas Senate in early February passed its version of the voucher bill, Senate Bill 2, as it did several times during the regular and special sessions in 2023. But in the state's last legislative session, the voucher measures sputtered and died in the House, much to the frustration of Abbott and Patrick, who presides over the Senate. More: Texas educators band together to challenge school vouchers, faculty 'censorship' Burrows, in his first term at the helm of the House, made clear that he expects his chamber to advance a school voucher proposal. The House Public Education Committee, which on March 11 convened a marathon hearing on the lower chamber's proposal, House Bill 3, is expected to approve the measure next week and send it to the full House for consideration. Ahead of Ducey's appearance with Abbott, Democratic House members circulated a July 2024 report by Pro Publica saying the voucher law signed by Ducey in 2022 "precipitated a budget meltdown" in Arizona after the two-term Republican had left office. The publication cites an analysis by the Grand Canyon Institute, a nonpartisan Arizona think tank, that found the program's projected cost of $65 million increased fivefold to $332 million in its first year. Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, told the American-Statesman that Abbott's decision to bring out-of-state reinforcement to give the voucher bill a boost is telling. "I think it's losing steam," said Talarico, noting that the House's version of the measure has yet to clear the Public Education Committee even though the 140-day session is just past the halfway mark. In a news release, Talarico echoed the points made by several other House Democrats who called the voucher proposal a "scam." More: Texas top officials predict lawmakers will pass school voucher bill: 'The votes are there' 'Arizona's voucher program has been a budget-busting, school-starving disaster, draining hundreds of millions from public schools and giving that money to wealthy parents already sending their kids to private school," he said. During the news conference with Abbott, Ducey pushed back on ProPublica's article, saying his successor, Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, was to blame for the $1.4 billion budget shortfall last year. Ducey noted that it took all eight years of his governorship to pass his voucher plan, and provided teachers in his state a 20% pay raise. When he left office, he said, Arizona had a budget surplus of $2.5 billion. "And that's with school choice," Ducey said. "Any budget challenges that they're facing today is because of irresponsible spending that's happened since 2023. So they need to not spend as much as they are spending and just allow the state to grow." Abbott and Burrows rejected Democratic House members' assertions that support for vouchers might be squishy. The governor noted that more than half the House's members have signed on as coauthors of HB 3, and the speaker amplified that message. "There will be more votes on the House floor for school choice when it passes than there are coauthors," Burrows said. Abbott's reference to Florida being the nation's top state for education likely references a survey last year by U.S. News and World Report that ranked all 50 states on an array of categories, including pre-K, K-12 and higher education. Texas ranked 29th in the report. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas governor confident Legislature will pass school voucher bill
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Speaker Dustin Burrows assures school choice legislation will pass Texas House
AUSTIN (Nexstar) — For the first time in almost six years, the 'Big 3' of Texas — Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, House Speaker Dustin Burrows — held a news conference together to show their shared support in passing school choice legislation in the Lone Star State. 'If we are going to achieve our goal of being ranked the best state in America for educating our students, it starts this session by passing school choice,' Abbott said to a packed room of media. Burrows assured the Texas House would do something it has failed to do multiple times: pass an education savings account program (ESA). 'We can fully fund public education and do school choice at the same time,' Burrows said. He added that he expects the House proposal of the ESA and public school financing bill, HB 2 and HB 3, will pass committee next week and be debated on the House floor soon. Not only would the bill pass the House floor, Burrows said, but it would be approved with more than the 76 votes needed. The bill currently has 76 coauthors. It would provide state dollars to parents to help them pay for home-schooling or private school tuition. The governor enlisted the help of former Arizona Governor Doug Ducey to help promote the positives of school choice legislation. Ducey helped pass universal school choice in his state in 2022. It was the first state in the country to do so. 'These kids are trapped in failing public schools and it's time to set these families free,' Ducey explained. Arizona's school choice program, known as the Empowerment Scholarship Account, has no cap, meaning anyone who applies can be a part of the program. According to the Arizona Joint Legislative Budget Committee, the Arizona Department of Education estimates the program will cost $864.4 million and will enroll 99,135 students by the end of the fiscal year. While the state's leaders built up school choice, opponents of school choice programs took the opportunity to critique Arizona's program. 'I'm very worried that if this voucher scam passes into law it's going to bankrupt our public education system, just like it did in Arizona,' State Representative James Talarico, D – Austin, said outside the Capitol steps Tuesday morning. Arizona is going through budgetary problems and one expert said it is being compounded by the cost of the school choice program. The state legislature was able to erase the $1.4 billion deficit over the summer, but had to cut from some important programs. Dave Wells, the research director for the Grand Canyon Institute (GCI), a nonpartisan think-tank, said the school choice program in Arizona contributed to the budget deficit, saying it added a whole new cost to the state. 'We're taking a whole bunch of children who were never going to be in a public district or charter school and now we're subsidizing them,' Wells explained. A report released by GCI over the summer last year looked at the net cost of Arizona's school choice program. The report aimed to find the costs or savings the state was taking on because of the program. In Arizona, the state partially funds district schools and fully funds charter schools and the ESA program. The ESA program pays out 90% of what a student would make if they attended a charter school. Proponents of the program say it saves the state 10% if a child leaves a charter school to go to a private school. But Wells and his team found that 80% of the students in the universal program were never a part of a district or charter school to begin with. They estimated that last fiscal year it cost the state a net $332 million and estimated that will grow this fiscal year to $429 million, although Wells said it may not get that high. Wells added the program also does not appear to be helping the children that needed the most resources when it comes to education. 'What these programs do is they primarily seem to elevate the needs of higher income parents over the needs of lower income parents,' Wells said. Ducey was asked by reporters about the budget deficit during the news conference at the Capitol. Ducey said the deficit happened after he left office and blamed irresponsible spending by the current legislature. Wells said the biggest contributing factor to the deficit in Arizona was due to a flat tax that lowered the tax revenue in the state. A policy passed during Ducey's tenure. It is hard to compare what happened in Arizona and what could happen in Texas. For one, the program in Arizona is different than the proposals in the Texas legislature currently. Arizona does not put a cap on how many students can be in the program, while both Texas proposals cap the spending on the program to $1 billion. The Legislative Budget Board (LBB) released its fiscal note on the Senate's ESA proposal and said it would cost the state nearly $4 billion by 2030. It's one of the biggest talking points from opponents of the bill who say the cost of the program will balloon over the years. Abbott was asked about that fiscal note during Tuesday's news conference and said the LBB's estimates were based on nothing but fiction. The governor said the program will have to be appropriated every session by state lawmakers. He said the program will not automatically grow every biennium, but instead can only grow as large as the legislature will allow it. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
The COVID-19 pandemic is 5 years old. Here's how Arizona fared
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, on March 11, 2020, declared a state of emergency over a new respiratory virus. At the time there had been nine cases reported in Arizona. The same day that Ducey issued his declaration, the World Health Organization said that novel coronavirus was a worldwide pandemic. Since that time, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, became known as COVID-19. The federal tally of COVID-19 deaths in Arizona since 2020, as reported by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is 31,333. Nationally, the tally is 1.2 million, the CDC says. Worldwide, the death count is 7.1 million and the U.S. has had more COVID-19 deaths than any other country, followed by Brazil and India. Here are five facts about COVID-19 in Arizona: The first Arizona case — the fifth in the U.S. — was confirmed in a 26-year-old Maricopa County man on Jan. 26, 2020. Back then, the virus did not have a name and was often being referred to as the new coronavirus or novel coronavirus. The advice from public health officials at the time was to take precautions similar to preventing the flu. Not long after a March 7 religious rally in the Navajo community of Chilchinbeto in Northern Arizona, patients with low oxygen saturation rates, fever and trouble breathing began seeking care at tribal health facilities. State health officials called the surge in tribal cases a "significant outbreak" and the case numbers made headlines across the country as a hotspot for infections. By April 16, the Navajo Nation, which has reservation land in Arizona, Utah and New Mexico and about 180,000 residents, had reported 838 positive cases and 33 known deaths. Most of the positive cases — 543 — were in Arizona, the tribe reported. Also, by mid-April, the Arizona Department of Heath Services reported Native Americans comprised 21% of COVID-19 deaths where race and ethnicity was known, even though about 4.6% of Arizonans are American Indian or Alaska Native. In a joint statement, Maricopa County and the Arizona Department of Health Services on March 20, 2020, announced that a man in his 50s who had underlying health conditions had died of COVID-19. The Arizona Republic confirmed through an autopsy report that the man who died was Trevor Bui, a 50-year-old deputy Phoenix aviation director. Bui died at his Chandler home March 17, 2020, Maricopa County Medical Examiner records say, and never knew he was positive for COVID-19. Viruses: It's been a severe flu season in Arizona. How much longer will it linger? When the COVID-19 vaccine first became widely available in 2021, there was a huge rush to get appointments. Demand constantly exceeded supply. But by June of that year, interest in getting vaccinated had waned and deaths continued. "It's very clear that the serious cases, the ones that become hospitalized, or worse, death — those are the ones that are unvaccinated," David Engelthaler, director of the infectious disease branch of the Arizona-based Translational Genomics Research Institute said in July 2021. There are well-documented cases of deaths connected with the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, as well as cases of serious side effects from all of the COVID-19 vaccines. But taken as a whole, the COVID-19 vaccine is extremely effective at preventing infection, hospitalization and death. Misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine proliferated in Arizona and across the U.S. and Arizona's COVID-19 vaccination rate lagged the rest of the country throughout the pandemic. Many Republicans argued that mitigation measures impinged on individual freedoms. "I was really surprised at how political all this got," said Will Humble, executive director of the Arizona Public Health Association. "When the COVID-19 vaccine first came out and people were rushing to get it, I thought the anti-vax movement would be gone for sure. My jaw dropped when I saw it made it worse." During the past three months, 206 Arizonans have died from COVID-19, the CDC says. Those at highest risk are people with weakened immune systems, including elderly people. Reach health care reporter Stephanie Innes at or follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @stephanieinnes. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Overview of Arizona's handling of COVID-19 pandemic 5 years later
