Arizona Clips 11/9/21

Arizona Republic: Chicanos por la Causa’s hiring of multiple lawmakers draws surprise, raises ethics questions

A powerful nonprofit’s pitch to legislators for COVID-19 relief funds took a surprising turn when the group’s top executive said he needed to disclose something: It had four members of the Arizona House of Representatives on its payroll. 

David Adame, CEO of Chicanos por la Causa, broke the news at the state Senate’s Democratic caucus in August as the Democrats sought to divide $90 million in funds that Gov. Doug Ducey had made available.

The social services nonprofit had been barred from seeking any funds from the House.

Arizona lawmakers earn a base salary of $24,000 a year and many have other jobs, but the number of lawmakers on the CPLC payroll was a revelation. And CPLC, one of the largest Latino nonprofit organizations in the country, has frequent business before the Legislature.

Arizona Mirror: Hobbs: Parents should be ‘partners’ in the education system, not adversaries

Katie Hobbs avoided a mistake that contributed to her party’s upset loss in Virginia last week, saying that Arizona parents should have a great deal of input into what their children learn in school.

Asked about parental control and the effect the issue had on the Virginia governor’s race, Hobbs, the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination in next year’s gubernatorial race, told reporters during a press conference Tuesday that curriculum is a local issue — and one that school districts and school boards should work with parents to determine.

“We absolutely need parents as partners in our education system. We need to do everything we can to make sure that every student in Arizona, no matter where they live, has access to high-quality public education, and that starts with bringing our teachers and our parents together to work together to make that happen,” Hobbs told reporters.