Katie Hobbs on Government Reform

	Katie Hobbs on Government Reform

Stood up to federal plan to slash Arizona's water supply

I will continue working with everybody to find the solutions we need to ensure our water future is secure for tomorrow and for generations. There is no better example of this than the agreement I negotiated earlier this year with our neighbors, Nevada and California, to conserve at least three million acre-feet of water 2026. With this historic agreement, we stood up to the federal government's egregious plan to slash Arizona's water and we safeguarded our natural resources. Source: 2024 State of the State Address to the Arizona legislature , Jan 8, 2024

Close water poaching loophole that's being exploited

In many parts of our state, there are effectively no restrictions on groundwater pumping. A new water user can move in, dig a well, and pump as much water as possible--even if it dries up the community's aquifer. This is why you see a Saudi Arabian conglomerate pumping local groundwater nearly unchecked in La Paz County, to grow water-intensive crops and send them to the other side of the planet. Let's close this water poaching loophole and modernize the Arizona Groundwater Management Act. Source: 2023 State of the State Address to the Arizona legislature , Jan 9, 2023

Claims of election fraud with no evidence is disqualifying

KARI LAKE (R): Well, there's plenty of evidence. We had 740,000 ballots with no chain of custody. Those ballots shouldn't have been counted. There's plenty of evidence. You can find it. Well, I'm happy to send it to your team. The problem is the media won't cover it. The real issue is that the people don't trust our elections.

KATIE HOBBS (D): I think anyone running for office who continues to say there was widespread fraud, they have yet to bring any evidence forward. This is absolutely disqualifying. This is somebody who will have a level of authority over our state's elections, the ability to sign new legislation into law, the responsibility of certifying future elections. This is a basic core of our democracy. She has nothing else to run on.

Source: CNN SOTU interviews on 2022 Arizona Gubernatorial race , Oct 16, 2022

Streamline process to start a new business under one roof

Starting a business in Arizona should be straightforward. But it often involves interacting with several state agencies including the Corporation Commission, the Department of Revenue, the Secretary of State, and the Commerce Authority, on top of registering with local governments. Hobbs will streamline the process by unifying the application process under one roof so new businesses won't have to navigate a web of government bureaucracy. Source: 2022 Arizona Gubernatorial campaign website KatieHobbs.org , Dec 20, 2021

End conflicts of interest, fight for lobbying rules

Owning individual stocks and controlling certain assets has the potential to create the appearance of a financial conflict of interest. That's why Hobbs will fight to pass legislation requiring public officials to divest from stock and other assets whose value could be influenced by their legislation or employing department. Hobbs would fight for new lobbying rules to increase transparency and stop corruption. Source: 2022 Arizona Gubernatorial campaign website KatieHobbs.org , Dec 20, 2021

Disclose campaign contributions, support initiative process

Hobbs will fight to ensure all dark money groups have to disclose every dollar spent on races in Arizona--because Arizonans have the right to know who is attempting to influence our elections.

In 2017, the GOP legislature attempted to restrict the ballot initiative process. To prevent any potential attempts by the legislature to limit Arizonans' right to have their voices heard, Hobbs will veto any legislation designed to circumvent the public's right to initiatives and referendums.

Source: 2022 Arizona Gubernatorial campaign website KatieHobbs.org , Dec 20, 2021

Will veto any new voter suppression legislation

Katie will veto any new voter suppression legislation and fight to reverse the decision to ban out-of-precinct ballots from being counted. A Hobbs Administration will also continue to protect access to vote centers, early voting sites throughout the state, and access to secure ballot drop boxes in communities where mail service is not always reliable. Katie will continue to advocate for the acceptance of non-traditional addresses to make voting by mail more accessible. Source: 2022 Arizona Gubernatorial campaign website KatieHobbs.org , Dec 20, 2021

Curbing citizen initiatives is voter suppression

HB2305: Political committees [must] submit to the Secretary of State a list of all petition circulators & a copy of a criminal records check performed on each circulator.

: Analysis by The Arizona Republic (Apr. 16, 2017):ÿ Four years ago, Arizona lawmakers passed an ambitious plan to curb citizen initiatives and make other substantial changes to elections. They said new rules were needed to reduce voter fraud and streamline elections. That didn't sell with a coalition of citizen groups. They called the bill voter suppression, and set out to block it. They got the bill referred to the 2014 ballot; coalition members were confident voters would kill it. So were lawmakers; they repealed the measure [but re-passed it in parts].

Legislative Outcome: Passed House 33-26-1 on Jun/13/13; Passed Senate 16-13-1 on Jun/13/13; State Sen. Katie Hobbs voted NO; Signed by Governor Jan Brewer on Jun/19/13.

Source: The Arizona Republic on Arizona voting record HB2305 , Jun 13, 2013

Click here for definitions & background information on Government Reform. Click here for a summary of all issue stances of Katie Hobbs. Click here for a Wikipedia profile of Katie Hobbs. Click here for a Ballotpedia profile of Katie Hobbs. Click here for VoteMatch responses by Katie Hobbs. Click here for issue positions of other AZ politicians. Click here for AZ primary archives. Click here for AZ secondary archives.
*Other governors on Government Reform:*			*Katie Hobbs on other issues:*
[Title7]	*Gubernatorial Debates 2023:* KY: Incumbent Andy Beshear(D) vs.State A.G. Daniel Cameron(R) vs.Ambassador Kelly Craft(R) vs.State Auditor Mike Harmon(R) LA: Incumbent John Bel Edwards(D,term-limited) vs.Jeff Landry(R) vs.Shawn Wilson(D) vs.John Schroder(R) vs.Sharon Hewitt(R) MS: Incumbent Tate Reeves(R) vs.Bill Waller(R,withdrew) vs.Brandon Presley(D) *Gubernatorial Debates 2024:* DE: Gov. John Carney (D, term-limited); Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long (D) vs. Matt Meyer (D) IN: Gov. Eric Holcomb (R, term-limited); Sen. Mike Braun (R) vs. Suzanne Crouch (R) vs. Jennifer McCormick (D) MO: Gov. Mike Parson (R, term-limited): Jay Ashcroft (R) vs. Bill Eigel (R) vs. Mike Kehoe (R) vs. Crystal Quade (D) MT: Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) vs. Tanner Smith (R) vs. Ryan Busse (D)	*Gubernatorial Debates 2024 (continued):* NC: Gov. Roy Cooper (D, term-limited); Dale Folwell (R) vs. Michael Morgan (D) vs. Mark Robinson (R) vs. Josh Stein (D) vs. Andy Wells (R) ND: Gov. Doug Burgum (R) vs. State Rep. Rick Becker (R) NH: Gov. Chris Sununu (R, retiring) vs. Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R) vs. Joyce Craig (D) vs. Chuck Morse (R) vs. Cinde Warmington (D) UT: Gov. Spencer Cox (R) vs. State Rep. Phil Lyman (R) VT: Gov. Phil Scott (R) unopposed WA: Gov. Jay Inslee (D, retiring); Hilary Franz (D, withdrew) vs. State Sen. Mark Mullet (D) vs. County Chair Semi Bird (R) vs. WA Attorney General Bob Ferguson (D) WV: Gov. Jim Justice (R, term-limited); vs. WV State Auditor JB McCuskey (R, withdrew) vs. WV Secretary of State Mac Warner (R) vs. State Del. Moore Capito (R) vs. WV Attorney General Patrick Morrisey (R) vs. Huntington Mayor Steve Williams (D)	Abortion Budget/Economy Civil Rights Corporations Crime Drugs Education Energy/Oil Environment Families/Children Foreign Policy Free Trade Govt. Reform Gun Control Health Care Homeland Security Immigration Infrastructure/Technology Jobs Local Issues Principles/Values Social Security Tax Reform War/Iraq/Mideast Welfare/Poverty [Title9]