Fourth Estate 48

Legislators Cash In: Big Pay for Minimal Work Some Arizona House members earned over $75K — with perfect pay, but far from perfect attendance.

Arizona lawmakers were paid for 166 days this session — but some only showed up for 60.

They still got full per diem, mileage, and their $24K salary. One lawmaker with lower attendance brought in $78K total.

This story is now free for everyone. Thank you to all of our new subscribers — both paid and free. If you want to join them, do so at the link!

Contracts, Cannabis, and Cronies Taxpayers are footing the legal bill while key records stay sealed — and insiders profit.

NEW: Gov. Hobbs’ office denies involvement in the secret cannabis license reversal — but texts, contracts, and campaign donations tell a different story.

The deal was signed Feb. 14 — just 12 days after Trulieve’s lobbyist thanked Hobbs’ chief of staff.

Read the investigation:

Fourth Estate 48 just cracked the Top 60 on Substack — ranked #54 among rising newsletters.

Built on public records, persistence, and one too many redacted PDFs.

Subscribe to keep us growing at fourthestate48.substack.com

Eight Years of the Grand Ave Billboard Project Take a look at many of the iterations that have graced the desert sky.

One billboard. Eight years. Countless takedowns.

The Grand Avenue Billboard Project has dragged Trump through every stage of protest art — and it's still going strong.

Swipe through every chaotic, glorious version from 2017 to now.

More Than $49 Million in Inactive ESA Accounts as Total Unspent Funds Soar to $444 Million 23 inactive accounts have around or more than $100,000.

If you save every dollar from a universal ESA starting in kindergarten, your child could graduate high school with $90,000 to over $110k — all taxpayer-funded and eligible for college expenses.

That’s how much Arizona’s ESA program can accumulate over 13 years with minimal use.

Amended Chase Field Deal Still Favors Team, Raises Long-Term Taxpayer Burden We’re covering this story for taxpayer transparency.

The Arizona Senate just advanced a Chase Field deal that could divert up to $1.2B in public taxes over 30 years — with no binding requirement the Dbacks pay their $250M share. The team gets flexibility, taxpayers get the bill. Our breakdown: fourthestate48.substack.com/p/amended-ch...

Behind the Barbed Wire ADCRR's Stonewalling of the Press Revealed in Long-Delayed Records

990 days. That’s how long it took Arizona’s prison agency to release records showing they blacklisted a reporter — and coordinated with a prison labor contractor to spin the story.
This is what stonewalling the press looks like. fourthestate48.substack.com/p/behind-the...

Subscribe to Fourth Estate 48 Fourth Estate 48 is an investigative newsletter dedicated to exposing government actions in Arizona through public records, ensuring transparency and accountability. Click to read Fourth Estate 48, a ...

We’re the first outlet in Arizona to report that Avelo Airlines has begun deportation flights to Guatemala out of Mesa under a new DHS contract.

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$5/month or $50/year
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From Mesa to Guatemala... and back Avelo Airlines' first international charter operation since its partnership with ICE and DHS.

On May 19, an Avelo Airlines flight from Mesa to Guatemala City marked the first known international deportation flight since the airline signed a federal contract with DHS. No terminal. No public notice.

Chase Field's $500 Million Gamble What the Records Don’t Show — and Why Arizonans Should Care

Today, for the first time, the Governor’s Office, Phoenix, Maricopa County & the Diamondbacks are all meeting about the Chase Field plan.

We dug through 7 years of financial records and found routine maintenance, but not a $500 million emergency.

fourthestate48.substack.com/p/chase-fiel...

Cannabis giant Trulieve paid a lobbyist to get the governor’s office to essentially give them a dual dispensary license worth up to $10 mil after multiple courts rejected them. The lobbyist also gave the governor’s campaign $5,000 before the meeting. fourthestate48.substack.com/p/power-pot-...

Well, he already filed a statement of interest

Jay Feely Once Preached Purpose Over Politics. Now He’s (likely) in the Game Looking into his voting history and likely candidacy.

Ahead of former AZ Cardinals Kicker Jay Feely’s likely confessional announcement today, we wrote this about him. fourthestate48.substack.com/p/jay-feely-...

Nearly $70 Million in settlements; you paid the tab Digging into Maricopa County's lawsuit settlements since 2010.

Maricopa County has paid nearly $70M in settlements since 2010. Wrongful deaths. False arrests. A fictional gang.
All of it funded by your tax dollars — and it doesn’t include legal fees.

fourthestate48.substack.com/p/nearly-70-...

Subscribers of Fourth Estate 48 learned yesterday that Supervisor Steve Gallardo could be a name to look out for as a replacement to Adrian Fontes as SOS if he runs for Congress. Subscribe now so you can keep getting info first in your inboxes. fourthestate48.substack.com/p/fontes-eye...

Arizona Senate Salaries: A Look at 2025 Compensation Here is who is earning the most money from taxpayers in the Arizona Senate

And the Arizona Senate staffers too: fourthestate48.substack.com/p/arizona-se...

Arizona House Salaries: A Look at 2025 Compensation Here is who is earning the most money from taxpayers in the Arizona House.

How much do Arizona House staffers make? We got those records here: fourthestate48.substack.com/p/arizona-ho...

"Former White House senior adviser Jared Kushner was reportedly behind his father-in-law US President Donald Trump’s plan, announced yesterday, for the US to take over Gaza and clear it of Palestinians."

www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_ent...

To those who missed the announcement just now, Gov Katie Hobbs appointed Maria Elena Cruz to the Arizona Supreme Court. We predicted this would happen last year. fourthestate48.substack.com/p/hobbs-futu...

Who will Hobbs pick for the Supreme Court? Taking a look at the recommendations each of the final five candidates received.

We anticipated the Arizona Supreme Court appointment today, so subscribers read this story before the breaking news: open.substack.com/pub/fourthes...

Are you paying ATTENTION, yet? 👇

Well, are you?!

Usually teach Lord of the Flies at the end of the year but decided to move it up to February because, yeah, I dunno, felt like a good time to explore fascism and masculinity as brutality.

I hear the emdash is considered a ChatGPT signature and like...what? I know waaaaay too many good writers with an emdash addiction for that to be any kind of tell.

ABOR set to approve Kenny Dillingham contract extension We got ahold of the extension details for ASU football coach Kenny Dillingham.

The Arizona Board of Regents voted to approve ASU Football coach Kenny Dillingham's contract five years with a significant pay increase. It moves him from one of the lowest paid coaches in the Big 12 to one of the highest.

fourthestate48.substack.com/p/abor-set-t...

This piece does not mention that Musk has funneled billions to his foundation, securing tax breaks, but Musk’s foundation has not donated the legal minimum to actual charitable causes

www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-ma...

An email from Fourth Estate 48 managing editor to the Arizona governor's office and senior staff about fulfilling all records requests from 2024. The office did not fulfill any of the seven requests from the outlet during the calendar year which wraps up in eleven days.

It's been a rather slow year for us, but that doesn't excuse Gov. Katie Hobbs' office from not fulfilling a single records request we sent in 2024. We believe in transparency at Fourth Estate 48 so this is the email our managing editor sent to the governor's office and senior staff:

She says this like she isn't getting paid $15,000/month by the AZ Senate GOP at the expense of taxpayers. Background: fourthestate48.substack.com/p/arizona-se...

How Disney conspired with government officials to steal over $100 million from theme park workers Working at the "Happiest Place on Earth" can be a nightmare.

1. Disney conspired with government officials to STEAL OVER $100 MILLION IN WAGES from Disneyland workers

After 5+ years, the scheme has finally fallen apart and the workers will be paid what they are owed

Follow this thread for details

🧵

We applaud any and all victories for public records. The settlement amount is $27,500. If you like to read about settlement news, you should definitely subscribe for some big stories coming soon. fourthestate48.substack.com/subscribe