By Howard Fischer
Capitol Media Services
PHOENIX -- As secretary of state, Katie Hobbs blasted then-Gov. Doug Ducey in 2022 when he spent about $100 million erecting a "wall'' of storage containers along the border, calling it a "publicity stunt.''
And her assessment continued after the state was forced to remove them -- at a cost of $70 million more -- after the Biden administration filed suit charging that the barriers were illegal.
But Hobbs, who replaced Ducey in January 2023, said she now wants the federal government to reimburse Arizona for all the money spent by her predecessor.
The governor noted that the just-approved federal legislation -- originally dubbed the Big Beautiful Bill -- has $10 billion available for grants to states that paid for border barriers or other security measures gong back to Jan. 20, 2021. That date is not random: It is when President Joe Biden was inaugurated.
Federal lawmakers inserted the provision into the new legislation largely at the behest of senators from Texas which alone claims it spent more than $11 billion for border security. But Hobbs said Thursday while she is still studying what's in the federal legislation she believes Arizona is entitled to a share.
"I can't imagine us not asking,'' the governor said.
"Arizonans paid nearly $200 million for putting up that container wall and taking it down and storing,'' she said. "I think we deserve some of those funds back.''
Hobbs did not address the fact that the "wall'' of containers was removed to settle the lawsuit with the Biden administration which had declared the construction illegal. But she did point out that all this happened under the prior Ducey administration -- and over her objections.
"I believe I've said many times my predecessor misspent that money,'' the governor said. But that, she said, is irrelevant to her next move.
"Hopefully the feds will reimburse us,'' Hobbs said.
And what does the former governor think of the bid for reimbursement of his would-be border barrier?
"Let's hope she uses the funds for border security and public safety, as it was intended,'' said Daniel Scarpinato who was chief of staff for Ducey, responding on his behalf. "But given her track record, we won't be holding our breath.''
At the heart of the issue was the decision by the Republican-controlled Legislature to approve a $335 million Arizona Border Security Fund in 2022. Those dollars had strings, including requirements that they be spent to erect a barrier.
Ducey used $95 million of that to pay AshBritt Management & Logistics to obtain and use old storage contains to erect the ersatz border barrier with a double-high wall.
The Biden administration responded by citing a 1907 proclamation by then President Theodore Roosevelt declaring a 60-foot wide strip just inside the border belongs not to the state but the federal government. And that was precisely where Ducey had started to put up the containers in Cochise and Yuma counties.
In the end, Ducey agreed to remove the containers -- at additional cost to the state. Plus the state paid another $2.1 million to the Forest Service to remediate the damage done by the containers in the first place.
All that resulted in dismissal of all pending litigation.
Hobbs said Thursday that the money she will seek may go beyond the costs of the erection and dismantling of the border barrier.
In late 2023 she billed the Biden administration for $512.5 million to cover what she said what the state had spent on border security "including migrant transportation, drug interdiction, and law enforcement.
"I look forward to your prompt response,'' she wrote to the president.
The state has yet to get that cash. In fact, Hobbs said Thursday that the total "is a lot more now'' than her original request, though she had no figures.
That leaves the question of whether the money in the newly enacted federal legislation covers those costs, too, and not just the border barrier.
"We're still sorting through all of the implications of the bill,'' she said, including not just reimbursement for border expenses but also "the things are going to harm Arizonans, the things that are going to help Arizonans.''
"I don't know the answer to that yet,'' Hobbs said.
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