States

Checks and Balances Sends Final Demand Letter to Arizona Corporation Commission for Commissioner Stump’s Phone
2015-06-22
Watchdog Seeks Commissioner Bob Stump’s Phone to Access Content of His Text Messages June 19, 2015 – Checks and Balances Project (C&BP) announced today that it has sent a letter to the Arizona Corporation Commission to demand immediate access to Commissioner Bob Stump’s phone and other devices that use the (602) 647-0433 phone number. If the… Read more »
Read more
Arizona Corporation Commission Chairman Susan Bitter Smith Could Provide Bob Stump’s Text Message Content – If She Wants To
2015-06-8
The Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) has firmly stated that the content of Commissioner Bob Stump’s text messages are no longer available. In fact, there are ways the commission can obtain text message content, detailed below. These are public records because they are related to Stump’s job as Corporation Commissioner, a fact that is further confirmed… Read more »
Read more
Is TURN’s Relationship with California Utility Commissioner Mike Florio More Important than Consumer Protection?
2015-06-3
Checks and Balances Project did something yesterday we haven’t done before: we requested records from a well-known consumer protection nonprofit. In a letter to California’s The Utilities Reform Network (TURN), we asked the organization to voluntarily provide communications records with Mike Florio, a public utility commissioner under fire for ethical misconduct who had been its… Read more »
Read more
Nevada Minority Floor Leader’s Bill Appears to Borrow Content from Arizona’s Pinnacle West Legislation
2015-05-29
As the Nevada legislative session rolls toward its close on June 1, questions are being raised about the origins of AB330, a bill sponsored by Minority Floor Leader Marilyn Kirkpatrick (D-1). Though currently tabled, the key language of the legislation significantly overlaps a bill passed by the Arizona legislature that, according to our sources, was authored… Read more »
Read more
Citizens Clean Elections Commission Requests Text Message Data for Investigation of Arizona Corporation Commissioner Bob Stump
2015-05-22
Checks and Balances Project has received a request from Arizona’s Citizens Clean Elections Commission for text message records that indicate that Commissioner Bob Stump of the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) may have assisted with dark money funding for two winning, pro-utility candidates in last August’s primary election. Our original research that uncovered who Stump had… Read more »
Read more
Bob Stump of Arizona Corporation Commission Used Personal Email for Public Business During Hottest Period of Solar Debates
2015-05-7
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was rightly questioned for holding out on efforts to get policy-relevant emails she sent from a personal email account during her term at the U.S. State Department. So far, Commissioner Bob Stump, his Policy Advisor Amanda Ho, and the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) legal staff appear to be engaging… Read more »
Read more
Arizona Captured Regulators Controversy Grows
2015-05-5
The Arizona Republic published on Sunday, May 3, 2015, a lengthy  front-page article by Reporter Ryan Randazzo that examines continuing questions of impropriety by the Arizona Corporation Commission, including allegations by whistleblower Antonio Gill. Among the claims by Gill are that former Commission Chairman Gary Pierce took part in approximately 14 secret meetings, which Gill… Read more »
Read more
Accuracy Happens: A Fossil Fuel Pundit’s Funding Is Exposed
2015-04-29
Charles Koch?…. “His organization just sends me money.” Something unusual and encouraging just happened, and few people likely noticed. In 2013, Checks and Balances Project broke important ground by documenting the remarkable effectiveness of front groups funded by the fossil fuel lobby. In our True Ties report, we uncovered how these groups position themselves as… Read more »
Read more
Checks and Balances Project Prepares to Sue Arizona Corporation Commission to Enforce Public Access to Records
2015-04-14
Watchdog Seeks Commissioner Bob Stump’s Text Messages with APS Lobbyists, Executives about Customer Access to Low-Cost Solar  April 14, 2015 – Checks and Balances Project (C&BP) announced today that it has hired Dan Barr of Perkins-Coie to prepare a lawsuit to enforce public access to records of Commissioner Bob Stump of the Arizona Corporation Commission concerning… Read more »
Read more