Queen Creek, Arizona — Governor Katie Hobbs has signed an executive order that bars Arizona executive-branch employees from using confidential government information to make money on prediction markets.
The order, signed July 9, marks that kind of inside information as confidential for these purposes and forbids executive-branch staff from sharing or trading on it to gain financially, limit losses, or help anyone else place bets. Workers who break the rule can face removal, additional penalties, and a referral to law enforcement. Hobbs also urged the state's other elected leaders, its independent agencies and commissions, and the courts and the legislature to put similar policies in place.
The step follows news reports and federal criminal cases that, according to the governor's office, showed public employees elsewhere had used inside information to win large sums betting on government decisions, including overseas military actions.
"Arizonans deserve a state government that works for them, not one where insiders exploit public service for their own gain," Hobbs said.
