The Senate granted a plea by two rural hospital districts to hold special elections in June to continue receiving property tax revenue that pays for ongoing operations. The Senate passed the emergency legislation on May 27, by a vote of 24-3.The bill’s next stop is the Arizona House, which had already approved a different version [...]

Rapid increases in government spending, permanent tax cuts for individuals and woefully inadequate levels of savings have put Arizona on a treacherous financial path during the past 15 years. Now, lawmakers are trying to detangle the state’s twisted finances and unwind one of the biggest budget knots in state history.The state has the second-worst budget [...]

A Maricopa County Sheriff’s captain was fined $450 on May 26 after failing to convince an administrative law judge that he should be allowed to withhold the names of individual contributors to a group that gave a six-figure donation to the Arizona Republican Party last year. But that might just be the first phase of penalties against Capt. Joel Fox, who faces additional fines [...]

Dean and Kerry Martin are shown together in this Arizona Capitol Times file photo from 2007. Kerry Martin, the wife of state Treasurer Dean Martin, died on Memorial Day due to complications from childbirth, according to the Treasurer's Office. Kerry, 34, died the evening of May 25 after giving birth to the couple's son, Austin Michael Martin. [...]

Top Republican leaders in the House and Senate have created independent campaign committees aimed at electing Republican lawmakers and raising money outside the state Republican Party structure.House Speaker Kirk Adams said he helped organize an independent expenditure committee named Republican House Victory, which was formed officially on May 13. Senate President Bob Burns is the [...]

A Senate committee advanced legislation on May 20 that would allow two rural hospital districts to hold special elections before June 30, in an effort to continue a property tax that pays for ongoing operations.The bill, which contains an emergency clause, is expected to pass with support from both parties. The goal is to allow [...]

There are no saguaros growing on the banks of the Potomac, but Washington, D.C., is starting to look a lot like Phoenix — at least at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has brought what some political insiders say is an unusually large coterie with her to DHS. The exact [...]

With several of its members pushing for legislation that would eliminate so-called “sanctuary city” policies in Arizona, the Senate Appropriations Committee heard hours of testimony on why some of the state’s most prominent law enforcement officials believe such policies are contributing to an epidemic of crime.The May 21 hearing featured testimony from some of the [...]

The Goldwater Institute renewed its criticism of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, this time accusing the agency of reporting faulty criminal investigation statistics to federal authorities.In December, the public-policy group reported that Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s “misplaced priorities,” specifically his attention-grabbing crime sweeps targeting illegal immigrants, had led to rising crime rates, a glut of outstanding [...]

School payment delays, stimulus money close $650M gap