Lillie Boudreaux
Lillie Boudreaux lihl-iy boo-droh (she/her/hers)
News Reporter, Washington, D.C.

Lillie Boudreaux expects to graduate in May 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a minor in global studies. She was a social justice reporter at the Cronkite News Washington, D.C., bureau and a 2023 White House Correspondents’ Association scholarship recipient. She has interned at Al Arabiya News and the Phoenix Committee on Foreign Relations. She also worked as a reporter for ASU News and on the Arizona PBS digital team.

Latest from Lillie Boudreaux

‘Downwinder’ renewal left out of massive budget bill rushed through Congress

PHOENIX - The $1.2 trillion budget that Congress was working to pass Friday included protection for gas stoves to restrictions on payments to the Chinese government. What it didn't include was renewal of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act for "downwinders."


Feds award Intel $8.5 billion; money to expand Chandler, other chip plants

CHANDLER - President Joe Biden announced the award of $8.5 billion to chipmaker Intel on Wednesday, along with $11 billion in loans that will help the semiconductor manufacturer expand operations in Arizona and three other states.


Despite lingering challenges, Trump, Biden cruise to victories in Arizona

PHOENIX - President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump cruised to victory in Arizona's presidential preference election Tuesday, easily outdistancing challengers despite an organized protest vote and former challengers who were still on the ballot.


Horne calls for more funding for teachers, more discipline for students

PHOENIX - Arizona Schools Superintendent Tom Horne told lawmakers Tuesday that the state faces a crisis in teacher retention, with low salaries and a lack of support leading to a loss of thousands of teachers every year.


Abortion opponents rally at Capitol during ‘crucial time in Arizona’

PHOENIX – Abortion opponents packed the plaza outside the Arizona Capitol on Friday in an impassioned display of anti-abortion advocacy at what one advocate called "a crucial time in Arizona" for the abortion fight.


Feds OK state plan to expand KidsCare eligibility, pay parent caregivers

PHOENIX - Arizona will expand income eligibility for the state's KidsCare program, potentially adding10,000 children to the low-cost health care program, and will make permanent a pandemic-era program to pay parents who act as caregivers for their disabled children.


New July 30 primary date will mean new deadlines for voters, candidates

PHOENIX - State lawmakers pushed through a bipartisan, last-minute plan to give election officials more time to cope with expected mandatory recounts this year by pushing the primary up to July 30 - but it also gives voters and candidates less time in the process.


GOP bill would strike ‘gender’ from state law, limit sex to male, female

PHOENIX - GOP senators want to rewrite state law to define sex as only male and female and not a "subjective sense of self," a move they said will protect women and girls from "unwanted intrusions" by transgender women. Opponents call it another "LGBTQ+ Erasure Act."


Lawmakers approve $8 million to continue busing asylum seekers from border

PHOENIX - Legislators approved an additional $8 million for a Department of Emergency and Military Affairs program that buses migrants away from border communities. More than 81,000 people have been transported since the program launched in 2022.


After 51 years of fighting, abortion in Arizona comes down to next 10 months

PHOENIX - In the 51 years since the Supreme Court recognized - then reversed - federal abortion protections, advocates and opponents have fought over the boundaries of that right. That fight continues today, with Arizona now at the forefront of the national battle.


Phoenix hosts ‘National’ Women’s March, as abortion debate moves to Arizona

PHOENIX - Chanting "bans off our bodies" and "my body, my choice," protesters marched on the Arizona Capitol Saturday as the National Women's March was held in Phoenix to highlight the state's role as the next battleground over abortion.


Hobbs targets transportation, ESA program to close $889 million budget hole

PHOENIX - Gov. Katie Hobbs unveiled a $16.3 billion fiscal 2025 budget proposal that would close a projected $889 million revenue shortfall by cutting transportation projects and reining in the Empowerment Scholarship Accounts to make room fir $488 million in new initiatives.


Maternal mortality soars in U.S., state; Black, Native women hardest hit

WASHINGTON - Maternal death rates more than doubled over the past 20 years in the U.S., with Black and Indigenous women continuing to see mortality rates that far exceeded other groups - a pattern that was repeated in Arizona, according to a recent study.


Gallego touts Phoenix’s efforts during White House meeting on heat emergency

WASHINGTON - Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego told President Joe Biden Thursday that even in a town that knows who to cope with hot weather, this summer's record-breaking heat is posing a challenge.


Crane’s use of ‘colored people’ in House debate brings swift condemnation

WASHINGTON - Reaction to Rep. Eli Crane's use of the term "colored people" during a House floor debate included "utter shock" and calling it a "dog whistle to white nationalists." What it did not include was much defense for the Oro Valley GOP freshman, who said he misspoke.


Navajo president presses Congress for more time, money, for water project

WASHINGTON - Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren asked senators Wednesday for more funding, and time, for a pipeline project that would create a reliable water supply for 250,000 people across Arizona and New Mexico.


Supreme Court nixes Biden plan for $430 billion in student-loan relief

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court on Friday struck down a Biden administration student-debt relief plan that would have aided more than 40 million people, 916,000 of whom live in Arizona and currently hold a total of $32.6 billion in loans.


Supreme Court rules race-based college admissions unconstitutional

WASHNGTON - A divided Supreme Court said that race-based college admissions policies are unconstitutional violations of the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause. Arizona universities do not believe it will affect them, but advocates called it "a shameful day."


A year later, uncertainty from Dobbs lingers over Arizona abortion care

WASHINGTON Clinics are open, the law is clear and Arizona abortion numbers are climbing to levels of last year, before the Supreme Court overturned the right to an abortion. It may feel like a return to normal, but Arizona abortion providers say there is "an environment of fear."


Supreme Court says treaty does not require feds to secure Navajo water rights

WASHINGTON – A divided Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the federal government is not required to take "affirmative steps" to guarantee water for the Navajo Nation beyond the water rights that were granted in an 1868 treaty.


Putting the rough in the diamond: Lawmakers meet for annual baseball game

WASHINGTON - When lawmakers faced off for the annual Congressional Baseball Game, it wasn't to show off their athleticism. It was to raise money for charity and have fun, but mostly it was to relax and relate to each other in a friendlier atmosphere, if only for a night.


GOP lawmakers call for ‘war,’ Democrats for justice after Trump indictment

WASHINGTON - Arizona lawmakers' reacted swiftly to the historic indictment of former President Donald Trump for allegedly hoarding classified intelligence documents. Democrats said the legal process needs to play out, while Republicans called the indictment politically motivated.


Landless San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe could finally get its own homeland

WASHINGTON - For more than 160 years, the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe has lived on Navajo Nation land, and for 23 years it has had a pending treaty that would give the tribe its own lands. It's long past time for Congress to ratify the treaty, the tribe's president testified.


Senate passes 11th-hour debt ceiling bill, heading off threat of default

WASHINGTON - The Senate gave final approval late Thursday to a bill to suspend the debt ceiling, just days before Monday's "X-date" when Treasury officials said the government would run out of money and default on its debts.


Sinema sides with GOP on bill blocking Biden’s student debt relief plan

WASHINGTON - Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema joined two Democrats and all Senate Republicans Thursday to narrowly approve a bill overturning a federal program that would provide student debt relief to 16 million people, including more than 300,000 in Arizona.


Ranchers hail, environmentalists fear Supreme Court clean water ruling

WASHINGTON - Ranchers and GOP lawmakers say a Supreme Court ruling that narrows which waters are subject to federal regulation is a win for private property rights, But environmentalist call the ruling in Sackett v. EPA "disastrous for Arizona, where water is rare."


Flags for the fallen: Annual ‘flags-in’ readies Arlington for Memorial Day

ARLINGTON, Va. - In the predawn chill at Arlington National Cemetery, more than 1,000 service members hoisted backpacks and headed into the rows of headstones. Their mission: Plant thousands of small American flags at the graves of the country's fallen heroes.


Prescott resident decries hurdles veterans face trying to start a business

WASHINGTON - An Arizona veteran who started a string of Prescott businesses after his military service ended told lawmakers Wednesday that reducing barriers and streamlining federal loan applications are essential to helping other vets become business owners.