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Recent Articles from Bob Christie, Capitol Media Services
Prop 311 seeks to make convicted criminals pay families of slain first responders
The families of state or local police officers, firefighters and emergency medical technicians killed on the job as the result of a criminal act will get an extra $250,000 payment... […]
Prison system will boost spending, medical staffing but puts more strain on state budget
Arizona’s prison system will boost spending and medical staffing for prison healthcare by more than a third as it works to meet a federal judge's orders that it vastly improve treatment of the nearly 25,000 prisoners in state-run prisons, but the move puts added pressure on a state budget that is already deep in the red.
Hobbs rejects Republicans’ request to extend bar hours during World Series
Sports fans who want to celebrate an Arizona Diamondbacks World Series win – or drown their sorrows after a loss to the Texas Rangers – won’t have an extra hour to do so in bars across the state.
Planned Parenthood Arizona asks judge to disqualify himself from hearing abortion case
Planned Parenthood Arizona is formally asking state Supreme Court Justice William Montgomery to disqualify himself from sitting on an upcoming case brought by the abortion provider where the state’s high court will decide whether the procedure remains legal here.
Court rules counties can’t hand-count all ballots in elections
Arizona counties are prohibited by law from hand-counting all ballots in an election, even if they want to do so because county leaders have bought into conspiracy theories that say vote tabulation machines are untrustworthy, the state Court of Appeals ruled.
Republican legislative leaders face first budget crunch in nearly a decade
Republican leaders in the Arizona Legislature are facing their first budget crunch in nearly a decade and minority Democrats are pointing the finger right at the GOP, saying the pain that will be felt by state residents is a self-inflicted wound.
State GOP not giving up attempts to evade sanctions tied to lawsuit
They've lost big in court. Twice. But the Arizona Republican Party isn't giving up its efforts to evade sanctions for filing what judges have called a baseless and politically motivated lawsuit attacking election processes Maricopa County used during the November 2020 election that saw then-President Donald Trump go down in defeat.
Petersen said Legislature plans to sue Biden Administration over monument
Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen announced Monday that the Legislature plans to sue the Biden Administration over the president's declaration of a vast new national monument surrounding much of the Grand Canyon National Park.
State Republicans can vote as usual in next year’s presidential preference election
Arizona Republicans will get to vote as usual in next year's presidential preference election after the head of the state party rejected a demand from leaders of the Maricopa County GOP to cancel the state-run election and instead run the vote themselves.
GOP leader telling executive committee meeting might not be legally, logistically possible this week
The leader of the Arizona Republican Party is telling members of the party's executive committee that it may not be legally or logistically possible to hold a meeting this week to consider canceling the state-run presidential primary election.
Maricopa County Republican Committee wants state GOP to cancel Arizona’s usual presidential preference elections
The Maricopa County Republican Committee wants the state GOP to cancel Arizona's normal presidential preference election and instead hold its own vote -- one that would not include any mail-in balloting and would require anyone who wants to vote to show up and vote in-person on Election Day.
Republicans want to reach deal with Hobbs and others over extension of transportation tax
Republicans who hold the majority in the Arizona Legislature are working to strike a final deal with Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs and leaders of cities, counties and tribes in metro Phoenix over an extension of a transportation tax that has funded massive expansions of the region's freeway and roads system, bus routes and the light rail over nearly four decades.
