Recent Articles from Caitlin Coakley Beckner
Adams trails opponent in fundraising last quarter
Former House Speaker Kirk Adams raised $52,425 in the fourth quarter of 2011, about $100,000 less than his primary opponent, former Congressman Matt Salmon, raked in.
Schweikert supporting Salmon in congressional race
Congressman David Schweikert has endorsed his former colleague Matt Salmon in the race to replace U.S. Rep. Jeff Flake.
Bills to lower capital gains tax moving forward
Three bills to eliminate or reduce the capital gains tax cleared a House committee today, despite objections from Democrats that a reduction would be too costly for the state.
Salmon hauls in $470K in 2011
Former Congressman Matt Salmon raised $152,514 during the last quarter of 2011, bringing his total haul to $470,439 for the year.
Push for transparency focuses on campaign spending, gift giving
In the wake of two of Arizona’s biggest political shake-ups of last year, lawmakers are hoping a little sunshine will help clean up the mess.
Shadowy groups involved in the recall of then-Senate President Russell Pearce brought to light some of the flaws in the current financial disclosure requirements. Meanwhile, the Fiesta Bowl scandal brought to light ethical questions about what s[...]
House GOP looks to rule change for spending limit
House Republicans are trying to get around one of last year’s vetoes by amending the Legislature’s procedural rules.
Democratic lawmakers pushing for abortion rights
Democratic lawmakers have introduced a resolution intended to expose “hypocrisy” of small-government advocates who support laws limiting access to abortion.
Brewer open to reducing capital gains taxes – with caveats
With the budget stabilizing and the economy needing another boost, some lawmakers have set their eyes on drastic tax reductions, including proposals to lower or eliminate the capital gains tax.
Q&A with House Speaker Andy Tobin
The timing for Andy Tobin’s ascension to speaker of the House was pretty favorable. The state is beginning to see an uptick in revenues due to a recovering economy, so the battle over the budget is likely to be less adversarial this session than it was in previous years.
But Tobin cautions against anyone getting the impression that the state has money to burn. As long as the state has[...]
Q&A with House Minority Leader Chad Campbell
It hasn’t been a banner past couple years for the Democrats. Faced with a Republican supermajority, their power at the Legislature has been limited.
Assessing this year’s session, House Minority Leader Chad Campbell has a similarly dim outlook. Democrats are still outnumbered two-to-one, and a looming election may mean lawmakers focus on more ideological issues. But there are some p[...]
Lawmakers, group want to hand big tax break to businesses
Businesses planning on purchasing new machinery in 2013 or later may get some tax relief under a referendum at the state Legislature. HCR 2009, sponsored by Rep. Jack Harper, R-Surprise, and developed by the Arizona chapter of the National Federation of Independent Businesses would exempt the first $2.4 million of new equipment or machinery purchased after 2013 from the business personal proper[...]
Yee running for Senate
Adding to the list of lawmakers who hope to switch chambers, Rep. Kimberly Yee announced today that she will be running for the Senate this year.