Across America, affordable housing is increasingly out of reach, with onerous government policies making it more difficult to build homes—driving up prices for homebuyers. But Goldwater’s Permit Freedom Act is showing the country how to fix it.
A new study by the Common Sense Institute shows that the Permit Freedom Act is working in Arizona by reducing the time it takes to get a permit to build a house and increasing supply. Under the law, cities must approve permits automatically if they fail to act within a reasonable timeframe: no more arbitrary holdups or endless design reviews. “The economic implications are clear. Faster permitting leads to more housing supply, which can help lower costs,” the Common Sense Institute reported.
Restoring common-sense principles like timely decision-making and clear, objective rules would alleviate housing shortages nationwide—and the Permit Freedom Act is the proven answer. It’s time for other states to embrace Arizona’s solution and reaffirm a fundamental American notion: freedom builds faster.
Read more here.
Victory for Tucson Property Owners
Tucson property owners won a major victory this week when a judge ruled that the City of Tucson is responsible for the unsafe and unsanitary conditions caused by a long-standing homeless encampment in the Navajo Wash.
Law-abiding residents and business owners suffered the effects of rampant drug use and illegal activity, as the city refused its obligation to enforce its own ordinances, claiming the encampment wasn’t a public nuisance because it was located in a wash basin.
This victory follows the Goldwater Institute’s success in enacting Prop 312, which allows property owners to hold cities accountable for failing to do their jobs in enforcing public nuisance ordinances. This decision should also bolster the Prop 312 claims of property owners in the area.
Find out how you can file a Prop 312 claim here.
In the private sector, bad employees get fired. In Washington, they get protected. That’s why the Goldwater Institute is backing a new proposal to reclassify thousands of federal bureaucrats as at-will employees—restoring accountability to a system plagued by dysfunction.
Career federal workers with policy power have long been shielded by civil service laws that make firing them nearly impossible—even for misconduct or incompetence. Goldwater’s formal comment to the Office of Personnel Management makes it clear: unelected bureaucrats shouldn’t have lifetime job security.
States like Arizona and Florida already use at-will rules for public workers. Washington should follow suit. It’s time to rein in the administrative state.
Read about it here.
The $37.7 million fine may be gone, but the fight isn’t over.
In 2023, the Biden administration levied an unprecedented fine against Grand Canyon University (GCU), a successful private Christian university based in Phoenix that has provided innovative solutions to many vexing problems in higher education. But the government refused to provide documents that explained why. The Goldwater Institute jumped in and sued the Biden administration to hold the government accountable and get the answers the public deserves.
As reported last week, the U.S. Department of Education rescinded the fine. That’s good news, and new leadership at the Department should be applauded for ending this appalling assault on GCU and higher education. But the fight isn’t over. The Goldwater Institute continues to seek internal emails between Biden-era Education Department officials, and for good reason. The fine was issued during a wave of federal overreach. The fine may have been withdrawn, but uncovering how this abuse of power occurred is still critical. And we intend to get to the bottom of it to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
Read more.
