Gov. Katie Hobbs fundraising mystery: Arizona Republicans plan bills to force disclosure

Two Arizona Republican lawmakers have harmonized competing bills dealing with public reporting of political fundraising, advancing a version that would require Gov. Katie Hobbs to divulge details later this year.

That means the public could see who is funding Hobbs' political operation, and how she is spending that money, this summer, roughly two years sooner than required under existing Arizona law.

Two Republican lawmakers — Rep. Matt Gress of Phoenix and Sen. T.J. Shope of Coolidge — introduced bills earlier this year in response to reporting by The Arizona Republic that highlighted a three-year gap in reporting requirements. The bills included different reporting deadlines until Thursday, when Gress amended Shope's bill to bring them in line.

"This is a bipartisan issue," Gress told The Republic. "I hope that it continues to receive bipartisan support. Arizona has plenty of sunlight, so let's shine it on elected officials' campaign accounts."

Currently, four-year officeholders who will seek a second term in office do not have to file public reports until early in the reelection year. For example, Hobbs, a Democrat who was elected in 2022 and is fundraising for her reelection in 2026, has no legal requirement to make public her fundraising and spending details until January 2026.

Under the bill that advanced Thursday, Senate Bill 1571, Hobbs and others seeking four-year offices will be required to report their political fundraising and spending four times a year in each of the years between an election. Because the bill has an emergency clause, it would go into effect immediately once the governor signs it.

That could happen quickly. The amended version of Shope's bill needs to win majority support in the House, and a vote in the Senate concurring with the changes, both of which could occur next week. Given overwhelming bipartisan support in prior votes on the slightly different measures, the bill is likely to pass and land on Hobbs' desk.

Hobbs has said she will sign it.

As introduced, the prior version of Shope's bill required more reporting but only in the two years before an election.

Shope said he believed the version of the bill moving forward would carry out the will of Arizonans who favor transparency, citing the overwhelming voter approval of last year's Voters' Right to Know Act mandating more disclosure of the groups funding political advertising.

“It seems very clear the people want to know who is influencing elections," Shope said. "Not just elections, but in some cases, who has influence, period.”

Candidates for office have to file periodic campaign finance reports that give the public insight into political spending and to help prevent corruption or the appearance of it. The reports can reveal who is trying to influence powerful elected officials and policymakers. Campaign finance experts said Arizona's law allowing the three-year gap without any reporting was unique in the nation.

Though the gap in reporting is allowed by current law, Hobbs stood apart from other elected officials in taking advantage of it. Other officeholders including Hobbs' fellow Democrats Attorney General Kris Mayes and Secretary of State Adrian Fontes filed an annual report disclosing political finances earlier this year though it wasn't required.

The governor's political war chest has drawn more attention after Hobbs pledged to use it to elect more Democrats to the Legislature who could support her agenda and unseat slim GOP majorities. Those Republican majorities have served as a roadblock to most of Hobbs' policy goals and erected hurdles last year as Hobbs tried to get her agency directors in place.

GOP lawmakers have criticized Hobbs for not keeping up with her campaign commitments to be accountable and transparent, concerns that grew from the governor's secret inaugural fundraising into a dark money group that does not reveal its donors. The Hobbs campaign ultimately disclosed those donors under public pressure to do so.

If it passes, the amended campaign finance bill would require four-year officeholders and candidates to file public reports more often than state lawmakers. Lawmakers are elected every two years and file quarterly reports only in the year of an election. For the off year, only an annual accounting is required.

Gress said statewide officeholders should disclose their donors more frequently because of their immense executive power, including to award contracts that spend taxpayer dollars and implement programs.

"I oversee half of an assistant, that's all I oversee," Gress said.

"You have these executive branch officials overseeing hundreds of people, and having them carry out their agenda that they've been elected to pursue. So we are very different in terms of our role."

Reach reporter Stacey Barchenger at [email protected] or 480-416-5669.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Republican bills merge to force Hobbs to disclose fundraising