Hank Stephenson

Arizona

Co-Founder and Reporter at The Arizona Agenda

Co-Founder and Reporter at Tucson Agenda

The Arizona Agenda is a daily insider publication for political outsiders, run by two longtime local journalists. @TucsonAgenda is our little sister.

Articles

Legislative spring break!

1 week ago | arizonaagenda.com | Hank Stephenson |Nicole Ludden

Arizona's lawmakers have once again slammed their laptops shut and peaced out — the House is off until a week from Tuesday, and the Senate won’t be back until May 28. Officially, they're "back in their districts," listening to constituents. Unofficially, it's lawmakers' spring break — many are probably pounding margaritas on some lobbyist's tab at a beachside bar somewhere.
Slow burn

1 week ago | arizonaagenda.com | Peter Aleshire |Nicole Ludden |Hank Stephenson

Republican Rep. David Marshall opened a sobering ad hoc study committee hearing on fire preparedness last week with harrowing memories of 2002, when the Rodeo-Chedeski Fire incinerated 550,000 acres — and came close to swallowing up Show Low. “When the Rodeo-Chedeski Fire hit, I was manager at the Walmart in Show Low,” Marshall told members of the blue ribbon committee he leads. “We had one way in and one way out. It took three hours to evacuate that part of the mountain.
Can they do that?

1 week ago | arizonaagenda.com | Hank Stephenson |Nicole Ludden

Lawmakers are considering a plan to embed protection for Arizona school vouchers into the state constitution by strapping it to a renewal of Prop 123, which provides about $300 million per year in additional money for schools from the state land trust. We wrote all about it in last week’s edition of the Education Agenda. (Subscribe!) The issue has blown up since then. But one big question we didn’t address is: Can they do that? We don’t mean politically. We mean legally.
The VP of AZ

1 week ago | arizonaagenda.com | Hank Stephenson |Nicole Ludden

Political prognosticators are already labeling Arizona’s 2026 governor’s race a “toss-up” and debating the strengths and weaknesses of Gov. Katie Hobbs and her two potential challengers, Republicans Karrin Taylor Robson and Andy Biggs. But the 2026 gubernatorial election will be played by a whole different set of rules than Arizona politicos are used to.
That’s a good question

1 week ago | arizonaagenda.com | Curt Prendergast |Hank Stephenson

The other day, a reader asked us a question that got at something we’ve been discussing behind the scenes at the Agendaverse for a while. Why did we say President Donald Trumpwas trying to “dismantle civil society”? Is that really what we think the president is trying to do? The question came from a conservative perspective and appeared to be made in good faith. It’s also a question that liberal readers who are curious about how we’re handling this historic moment might want clarified.
Doubling down

2 weeks ago | arizonaagenda.com | Curt Prendergast |Hank Stephenson

If 50 judges said your policy was on the wrong track, you might consider changing course. But in true Trumpian fashion, federal officials are doubling down instead. Over the past two months, the Trump administration revoked the visas of several thousand international students at over 200 universities, including more than 100 students at Arizona State University and the University of Arizona. That led to a lot of stressed-out students, widespread public condemnation and dozens of irritated judges.
Dynasties, drama and Deja

2 weeks ago | arizonaagenda.com | Hank Stephenson |Curt Prendergast

As summer temperatures set in, the race to replace the late U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva is heating up. Replacing Grijalva is a tall order. The man spent more than 22 years representing Arizona in D.C., making him Arizona’s most senior member of Congress (not to mention his decades of local public service before heading to DC). But more than that, he was a progressive icon.
Too vague for their own good

2 weeks ago | arizonaagenda.com | Curt Prendergast |Hank Stephenson

Tom Horne isn’t giving up. Last week, three federal judges smacked down an anti-DEI policy that the Trump administration was pushing and that Arizona’s superintendent of public instruction adamantly supported. Undeterred, Horne posted a list of school districts that refused to comply with that policy on the Arizona Department of Education website this week. “Those districts or charters who certified complains will be listed as IN COMPLIANCE WITH FEDERAL CIVIL RIGHTS LAW.
Working hard, or hardly working?

2 weeks ago | arizonaagenda.com | Hank Stephenson |Nicole Ludden

The state Senate took Monday off, which means the Capitol is officially entering slowdown workweek season. That’s the calm before the storm when lawmakers only work three days per week because there’s not much left to do besides the budget — and most of them aren’t invited into budget negotiations and don’t understand much about the budget anyway. So yesterday, we spent most of the morning chasing down rumors about state budget negotiations. But from what we hear, there’s not much to report.
Total Recall!

2 weeks ago | arizonaagenda.com | Hank Stephenson |Nicole Ludden

Arizona lawmakers came to a bipartisan compromise last week to narrowly avert disaster by funding the Parents as Paid Caregivers program, which thousands of families of disabled kids rely upon. But Gov. Katie Hobbs’ signature on the bill to fund the program hasn’t stopped parents and her Democratic allies from targeting a handful of Republicans who initially dragged their feet on solving the crisis. The recall campaign against Republican Reps.