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Recent Articles from Hank Stephenson
Legislature to fast-track civics test legislation
The Arizona House of Representatives is fast-tracking a bill to create a new high-stakes civics test that high school students would be required to pass before they could graduate.
House undergoing $335,000 renovation
As one of his first acts as Speaker-elect, David Gowan is making some renovations to the “People’s Chamber.” Gowan has spent and accepted bids totaling more than $335,000 for a variety of renovations in the House, including a new coat of paint throughout the building, testing for asbestos and installing new carpet on the House floor and members’ lounge.
Yuma lawmaker plans e-cigarette taxation legislation
In light of devastating projections of a $1.5 billion budget shortfall in the current and next fiscal years, a Democratic lawmaker is proposing a tax on e-cigarettes, saying that the modest revenues the new tax could bring in would be a small start to bridging the deficit.
Allen takes aim at Robson with bill and promise of ethics complaint
Prosecutors dropped charges against Republican Rep. Bob Robson of Chandler for allegedly stealing a roadside political sign that was critical of him during the Republican primary, but one of his fellow GOP lawmakers isn’t letting the issue die.
Incoming freshmen get crash course in lawmaking
Soon-to-be-freshmen representatives swarmed the halls of the state House on Dec. 8 and 9 for a two-day crash course, cramming in bits and pieces of what they need to know to be successful lawmakers.
Freshmen lawmakers – notables from the class of 2015
In the upcoming 2015 legislative session, one-third of the lawmakers in the Arizona House of Representatives will be freshmen. The 21 freshmen lawmakers – including four who are returning to the Capitol after absences, some for more than a decade – come from diverse backgrounds. They include a surgeon, a dentist, two teachers, two restaurant owners, a judge and a talk show host, to name a f[...]
A man with a plan: David Gowan defies the odds to become speaker of the House
There were many long nights back in their first months as Arizona lawmakers when two ambitious southern Arizona Republicans – seatmates who were first sent to the Capitol in 2008 – would share their grandest hopes and dreams in the modest setting of their rented Scottsdale trailer.
Unlikely taxation of e-cigarettes and marijuana could bring in $60 million a year
State budget analysts say that taxing two smokeable products, one legal and the other illegal, could bring the state as much as $60 million per year – revenue that the state desperately needs in order to shrink the budget deficit and avoid new cuts to government programs.
Despite last session’s failed bill, ridesharing keeps rolling along in Arizona
When Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed a bill earlier this year that would have authorized rideshare services such as Uber and Lyft to operate in the state and regulated them differently than taxis, Uber declared that “ridesharing as we know it is dead in Arizona.”
Burgeoning beer business seeks lifeline from Legislature
There’s a battle brewing over microbreweries. For Arizona’s two largest craft beer brewing companies, business is booming. In fact, Four Peaks and San Tan brewing companies are producing so much beer that they’re pushing the boundaries of what it means to be a microbrewery. They’re brushing up against state-imposed caps on the amount of beer a microbrewery can brew.
Incoming lawmaker’s warrant quashed after friend pays fines
After getting a little help from her friend, Democratic Rep.-elect Ceci Velasquez is no longer wanted by police for a bench warrant from unpaid fines stemming from a trio of traffic tickets in 2010.
Caught in the middle: Democrats, Republicans rejoice in defeating Orr
In his attempt to walk the middle road in the highly partisan Arizona Legislature, Republican Rep. Ethan Orr of Tucson united the conservative right and the liberal left against him, creating strange bedfellows and a perfect storm that swept him out of office.
