Tuesday, March 18, 2025

Arizona Lawmakers say Vance's comments on zoning illustrate the need for a controversial housing bill

Lawmakers say Vance's comments on zoning illustrate the need for a controversial AZ housing bill

KJZZ | By Camryn Sanchez

Published March 18, 2025 at 3:38 PM MST

U.S. Sen. JD Vance speaking in Detroit, Michigan, in June 2024.

Vice President JD Vance is giving voice to the ideas behind a controversial housing bill making its way through the Arizona Legislature.

The Starter Homes Act is a bipartisan bill designed to increase Arizona’s affordable housing supply by getting rid of certain zoning restrictions.

During a speech at the National League of Cities Conference on March 10, Vance said that’s what the Trump administration wants to do.

“On his first day in office, the president issued an executive order making it a priority to bring down prices for new buyers,” Vance said. “Now, part of that will come from slashing needless regulations, which according to some estimates, account for about 25% of a new single-family built today.”

Arizona Senate Republican leaders used Vance’s comments on housing and zoning to drum up support for the Starter Homes Act which is making its way through the legislative process.

“Vice President Vance Highlights Why Bipartisan Arizona Starter Homes Act is Needed to Help Citizens Achieve American Dream of Homeownership,” Senate Republicans stated in a press release.

In Arizona, the Starter Homes Act faces opposition on several fronts.

1. Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed a version of the bill last year. This year’s version of the bill is opposed by the lobbying arm for Arizona municipalities, and faces opposition from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

2. Beyond the Capitol, some MAGA faithful have voiced their own opposition to the Starter Homes Act and accused Vance’s comments on social media. Tyler Bowyer with Turning Point Action, an Arizona-based political action committee focused on mobilizing young conservatives, called the bill “lobbyist filth” on Monday.

“Misusing @JDVance to promote ghetto tiny homes is not the American dream,” Bowyer posted.

3. Arizona Sen. Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek) reposted Bowyer’s comments.

4. But some in Senate leadership, including Senate President Warren Petersen (R-Gilbert) applauded Vance’s comments and reiterated their support for the Starter Homes Act.

Petersen recently met with officials in the Trump administration to discuss his priorities, but said he didn’t speak with Vance and doesn’t believe the vice president’s comments were in response to the visit.

"Private property rights have always been what has separated America from the rest of the world," Petersen said in a statement. "Unfortunately, local bureaucrats have implemented a disastrous amount of red tape, resulting in an entire generation of Arizonans being unable to purchase their own piece of the American Dream."

Camryn Sanchez

Camryn Sanchez is a field correspondent at KJZZ covering everything to do with state politics.

Prior to joining KJZZ, Sanchez worked for two years at the Arizona Capitol Times covering the state Legislature, with a focus on the Arizona Senate.

Sanchez studied journalism at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York.
In college, she interned at the East Bay Express in Oakland, ELLE Magazine in New York, and the Yonkers Times in Yonkers, New York.
She then worked at the Arizona Republic as a Pulliam Fellow covering the city of Phoenix before entering the state politics reporting arena.

Sanchez was recently given the Society for Professional Journalists’ presidential award for her work investigating a state senator’s residency, after the senator in question filed an injunction against Sanchez, which was struck down in court.
Sanchez was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area and is now a proud California transplant.
Out of the office, she can be found playing volleyball, drinking coffee and/or still talking about politics.
She can be reached at csanchez@kjzz.org.

See stories by Camryn Sanchez

Mesa Democrats Choose 3 Candidates to Replace Former Sen. Eva Burch

Arizona State Sen. Eva Burch, D, Mesa, walks across the Senate floor at the Capitol on April 10, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Jamar Younger, Arizona Capitol Times//March 18, 2025

Editor’s note: This story has been revised to include information about Ryan Winkle’s 2017 drunken driving arrest and subsequent dismissal from the Mesa City Council.

The Arizona Legislative District 9 Democrats chose three candidates Monday night to potentially fill the Senate seat vacated by former Sen. Eva Burch, who resigned on March 14.
Ryan Winkle, Laura Metcalfe and Kiana Sears all received the most votes as the nominees to replace Burch.

Now it’s up to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to appoint one to the legislature.

Maricopa County supervisors plan to audit elections, but they say it's not the same as 2021

Winkle is currently the executive director at the Arizona Fair Housing Center. He is also a former Mesa City Council member and mayoral candidate who lost in the election primary last year. The Mesa City Council booted Winkle from the council in August 2017, just a few months after a drunken driving arrest.

During his speech to the committee, Winkle described his policy as “people first” and touted his work to bolster small businesses and affordable housing in the community.

“We all know that things are confusing right now, everyone’s angry, everyone’s doing crazy things, but of all things, what we want to do is fill this seat with somebody that’s going to represent people,” he said.

Metcalfe is an adjunct professor, experienced school administrator and former teacher who lost the election for Maricopa County School Superintendent to Republican Shelli Boggs last fall. She currently serves as a governing board member for the East Valley Institute of Technology.

Metcalfe would use her experience running campaigns and her decades of education experience to improve teacher retention and pay, as well as tackle housing affordability, she said.

“I understand … the affordability crisis faced by Arizonans right now and wholeheartedly support policies that will build a more affordable Arizona for education,” she said.

Kiana Sears served on the Mesa Public Schools governing board for eight years before her term expired in December. Sears ran for justice of the peace for the North Mesa Justice Court last year, losing the race to Republican Kyle Jones.

Sears is currently the assistant director of Faith Based Outreach and Community Partnerships at Arizona State University.

“When it comes to water rights, when it comes to clean energy, when it comes to the political process, when it comes to standing up, I’m a person who won’t back down,” Sears said.

She advocated working with Democrats to take a “policy-driven” approach at the legislature.

“There’s legislation that we won’t be able to put forward, but we can stop bad policies,” she said.

Elon Musk Dealt Huge Blow as U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang Rules USAID Cuts Unconstitutional

U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang ordered Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency to immediately give USAID employees access to their "email, payment, security notification, and all other electronic systems," and ordered a pause on any efforts to shut down USAID.

Judge says dismantling of USAID was unconstitutional, orders Musk to restore access for employees - ABC News

Yahoo

Update] Elon Musk shuts down USAID, calls it a 'ball of worms'

15 hours ago

Judge says dismantling of USAID was unconstitutional, orders Musk to restore access for employees

The judge ordered a pause on any efforts to shut down USAID.

By Lucien Bruggeman and Peter Charalambous

March 18, 2025, 12:33 PM

Elon Musk's attempt to unilaterally dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development likely violated the United States Constitution, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday.

Judge Chuang wrote that Musk's takeover "usurped the authority of the public's elected representatives in Congress to make decisions on whether, when, and how to eliminate a federal government agency, and of Officers of the United States duly appointed under the Constitution to exercise the authority entrusted to them."

While Judge Chuang rebuked Musk's role within the Trump administration, the exact implications of the decision on the operations of USAID are unclear.

DOGE and Musk were also ordered to submit a written agreement within two weeks that ensures USAID can reoccupy its former headquarters in the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C.

The foreign aid agency was among the first government agencies DOGE slashed in its effort to scale back or dismantle much of the federal government. The Trump administration has laid off thousands of employees, revoked funding for more than 80% of its programs, and shed its Washington, D.C. headquarters.

Critics of the Trump administration say its efforts to nullify the agency will cripple American influence overseas and carry devastating effects for some of the most vulnerable populations in the world, which relied on U.S. funding for health care, food, and other basic needs.

Judge rules DOGE's dismantling of USAID likely unconstitutional, blocks further cuts