Photo credit Gage Skidmore
In a stunning reversal of the Arizona Legislature’s budget process and LD1 Rep Quang Nguyen’s misguided effort to funnel state money to a private entity, a Maricopa County Judge has ruled that a $15.3M appropriation to Prescott Frontiers Day Inc. (PFD), violates the Arizona Constitution’s Gift Clause, (Article IX, Section 7).
In a nine page ruling dated May 29, 2025, (appended to this article), District Court Judge Scott A. Blaney, granted summary judgment to Prescott Plaintiffs Howard Mechanic and others who sought to block the release of the funds through a declaratory judgment that the appropriation was illegal. The effect of the court’s ruling means that the appropriation is disallowed and the State Treasurer will not be permitted to release the funds. They will remain in the state treasury and available for appropriation in the future. In a further rebuff to the Treasurer’s Office, State Treasurer Kimberly Yee’s effort to intervene in the litigation was disallowed as untimely.
The lawsuit was filed following the 2023 legislative session. As a result of a budget surplus and in an effort to reach a budget agreement between Governor Hobbs and House Republicans, each legislator was allowed millions of dollars of discretionary funding, otherwise known as ‘pork’. Rep Nguyen earmarked $15.3M to Prescott Frontier Days Inc.
Photo credit Ron Williams
The Gift Clause of the Arizona Constitution prohibits allocating public money to private entities. To many, the appropriation was legally questionable from the outset. In an effort to defend his actions, Nguyen, who serves as Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, claimed that he had checked with the Office of Legislative Council and gotten an OK. According to newspaper reports, the then Chief of the Office, Michael Braun, did not confirm Rep Nguyen’s account.
According to a report posted on Azcentral, after being informed of Judge Blaney’s ruling, which is likely to result in legal costs to the state of many hundreds of thousands of dollars, Rep Nguyen remained unrepentant, insisting that the appropriation did not violate the law. Rep Nguyen, an immigrant who speaks English as a second language, has no formal training in American law.
In an interview with Prescott eNews on July 9, 2023, lead plaintiff Howard Mechanic stated that whatever advice Rep Nguyen may or may not have received is irrelevant to the legal question the court must decide. A review of the court’s ruling indicates that the language of the appropriation disguised Prescott Frontier Days Inc. as the intended recipient of the money, referring instead to “…..an organization that operates a rodeo at the Yavapai county fairgrounds.” The ruling further notes that the appropriation was unrestricted and did not require that it be spent for any particular purpose or even that it be spent at all.
After a detailed analysis of the controlling law, Judge Blaney concluded as follows:
“THE COURT FINDS that Plaintiffs have established that the Rodeo Appropriation violates the Arizona Constitution’s Gift Clause. Indeed, although an expenditure need only fail one prong of the Gift Clause test to constitute a Gift Clause violation, the Rodeo Appropriation fails both prongs.”
The Court’s grant of Summary Judgment means the plaintiffs have won and the case is over. However, Judge Blaney’ ruling constitutes a ‘final order’ that may be appealed. An effort by LD1 State Senator Mark Finchem to revive the appropriation in the state senate appears to be stalled. However, while the legislature remains in session, it is not impossible that another effort to appropriate funds for the Prescott rodeo could be attempted through the budget process. Any such appropriation would be subject to the approval of Governor Hobbs.
Judge Blaney Ruling
5 thoughts on “Court Rules Against Prescott Rodeo: 2024 Appropriation Violated Arizona Constitution’s Gift Clause – David Stringer, Publisher”
Thank you, eNews for publishing this and including the Judge’s ruling. The lawsuit was filed nearly two years ago but you are the first news source to give local readers the backstory.
Our state legislators indicate they will not try again to get public money for the rodeo. Moreover, sponsors will need to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees to compensate the AZ Center for the Public Interest.
This was a misadventure from the beginning. The rodeo will need to raise its own money for its activities. We are too accustomed here to using public money to benefit private interests. The judge ruled wisely.
Its been obvious from the beginning there was something fishy about the rodeo appropriation. But until now we didn’t know the extent of the malfeasance. I notice the last lines of the court ruling talk about legal fees. Too bad it won’t come out of Rep Quang Nguyen’s pocket.
Good report as far as it goes. But as I read the court’s ruling, the language of the appropriation was so broad that it could have been paid in salaries to the rodeo owners or even used to set up a Political Action Committee or make direct contributions to a political campaign. Was this a little brown hand in the cookie jar?
The articles of incorporation prohibit this type of action
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