Arizona Capitol Times Your Inside Track to Arizona Politics

Washington’s top regulatory cop is at it again. The Environmental Protection Agency is pushing an obscure regulation that aims to duplicate the responsibilities of other federal agencies and preempt state authority, potentially driving an important industry out of business.

Mr. Mesnard’s decision to send his proposal only to Republicans is highly exclusive and only propagates the dysfunction that is inherent in a system government that considers only one point of view, like the Arizona Legislature.

Obamacare is proving to be very effective. Just not for the reasons Obama hoped it would. There is a revolution taking place among businesses all over the country. Small businesses especially are serving as “laboratories” – experimenting and innovating with new technologies and new processes – and doing away with the rules of arcane institutions that have controlled the health care industry for decades.

There’s a lot that’s right about Arizona! But not enough of us are talking about the good stuff. Maybe too few of us are aware of just how progressive the Grand Canyon State is in terms of creating healthy communities that foster environmental quality and economic prosperity.

Back in 2008, Arizonans voted 2:1 to stop payday lending in our state. Ever since the payday lender’s defeat at the ballot box, the industry has heavily lobbied to reinstate triple-digit interest rates.

Crafting public policy that effectively considers both the human impacts and economic considerations of immigration in Arizona has proven challenging.

All Arizonans have been impacted by a porous health safety net and too many in our community lack access to oral health services.

When Arizona enacted a law in 1972 effectively preventing farmworkers from organizing, Cesar Chavez and I met with local Latino leaders here who were skeptical that change could ever happen in the state.

I wanted to take a few moments to respond to your letter to me dated August 15, 2016. Based on your stated interpretation of my position expressed in the August 11th Commission Staff Meeting, I believe you may be drawing an incorrect conclusion.

This week the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation released the news that there will not be a shortage on the Colorado River in 2017. This positive declaration can be attributed to water left behind in Lake Mead by CAP and its partners. However, Reclamation’s projection shows that without additional conservation actions, 2018 could be the first year of shortage on the Colorado River.