It’s back to square one for the Arizona Bankers Association.

A tenuous deal to alter Arizona laws that govern home foreclosures was struck down by lawmakers on Nov. 18 after objections were raised by the homebuilding industry. The agreement had been struck by the Bankers Association and the Arizona Association of Realtors.

During a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Nov. 18, Sen. Russell Pearce, a Republican from Mesa who chairs the committee, offered an amendment that would have dictated how Pima and Maricopa counties would have to pay $22 million to the state.

In almost staccato fashion, senators approved a package of bills to reduce state spending by about $300 million on Nov. 18 – first in committee and then on the floor.

Senators attempted several amendments, both in committee and during Committee of the Whole.

Gov. Jan Brewer is on the road, just as lawmakers are convening for their fourth special session.

Brewer left town this morning (Nov. 18) for a scheduled trip to Austin, Texas, where she will attend the 2009 conference of the Republican Governors Association. Spokeswoman Kim Sabow said the governor plans to attend both days of the conference, but will return to Arizona on Nov. 19.

The Arizona Budget Coalition, representing organizations against a budget solution that relies heavily on spending cuts, proposed alternative means of raising revenue while lawmakers attended Day 2 of the special session.

The budget fix to eliminate a portion of the state’s $2 billion deficit is moving through Senate committees while the House is on hold until Nov. 19.

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved four bills after a relatively short deliberation on Nov. 18. Some of the bills received bipartisan support.

Two municipalities are challenging the authority of one of the state’s largest utilities and are now asking a Maricopa County court to order Salt River Project (SRP) to turn over records under the state’s public records law.

Senate Democrats are pushing to give schools on American Indian reservations the ability to access federal impact aid money to make up for state budget cuts to schools. A handful of Senate Democrats want the schools to have permission to use the federal money in fiscal 2010 to essentially maintain the funding levels that were [...]

WINDOW ROCK – An investigation into whether the leader of the country’s largest American Indian reservation and others broke any laws in connection with two companies that operated on the Navajo Nation is moving forward.

The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office has launched its 13th immigration and crime sweep and reported 27 arrests by the evening of Nov. 16. Officials say 18 of the people in custody are suspected of being illegal immigrants with the other nine arrested on various charges.