Women who seek an abortion will have to wait at least 24 hours between the time they speak to a doctor about terminating a pregnancy and the actual procedure, under legislation adopted by a Senate committee June 10. The legislation also requires the doctor who will perform the abortion procedure to speak with the woman in person to [...]

Partisan municipal elections in Arizona will vanish if legislation by Sen. Jonathan Paton is signed into law, but supporters of the bill say its ramifications would be far greater than just the removal of party affiliations on city ballots.
Paton’s proposal, S1123, passed through the Senate Judiciary Committee on June 8, on a vote of 6-1, [...]

A Senate panel has approved legislation that would allow people who have concealed-weapons permits to bring handguns into restaurants that sell alcohol.By the time the committee hearing was held June 8, though, the debate had shifted from whether to have weapons in restaurants to how best to implement the policy.The Arizona Restaurant Association is now [...]

Bills pass 16-1; Allen, Tibshraeny and nearly all Dems absent from floor vote

All of the wrangling by Republicans in the Arizona House to pass a budget devoid of tax cuts will likely be for naught if Gov. Jan Brewer follows through on expectations and vetoes the spending plan. But that doesn’t matter for many GOP legislators because the budget they passed was intended largely to send a [...]

The day after Republican Gov. Jan Brewer released her budget proposal, a conservative senator excoriated her on his chamber’s floor, accusing her of lying to voters when she signed a no-tax pledge in 2006.“Apparently, with this governor, it is only a pledge to get elected because, when push comes to shove, she is willing to [...]

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Nearly four months after she said she planned on releasing a detailed budget, Gov. Jan Brewer has done so. Her plan aims to bridge an estimated $4-billion deficit by increasing the sales and property taxes, borrowing against future Lottery revenue, mortgaging some state buildings and cutting state spending.It stands in stark contrast to the most [...]

State Treasurer Dean Martin remembers his late wife, Kerry, in a memorial service for her and their infant son, Austin. Kerry died May 25 in childbirth and Austin passed away two days later. (Photo by Bill Coates)

As family and friends gathered to mourn the deaths of Kerry and Austin Michael Martin, they heard how everyone, [...]

Kerry Martin, the wife of state Treasurer Dean Martin, died due to a ruptured tumor in her liver.
The Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office said a hepatic adenoma, a type of rare benign tumor of the liver, ruptured during childbirth on May 25, causing massive internal bleeding, according to the Yellow Sheet Report. The Martins' [...]

The Senate’s top Republican is pushing to pass a budget proposal for fiscal 2010 in the next few days — even without the buy-in of the House or the Governor’s Office.  Senate President Bob Burns told members of his caucus that now is the time to vote on the budget. Lawmakers are running out of [...]