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Recent Articles from Hank Stephenson and Ben Giles
The state budget: potential winners, losers and question marks
Lawmakers are debating a proposed $9.58 billion budget, which for the first time in years, makes significant increases in a handful of key areas.
Budget moving down different paths in House, Senate
A Senate committee on Wednesday advanced a package of budget bills that outline a $9.58 billion spending plan, with a promise of amendments to the bills on the chamber’s floor.
Legislative leaders reach budget agreement with governor
House Speaker Pro Tem Bob Robson and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Don Shooter confirmed that a tentative deal was reached on Saturday and a budget should be introduced and approved this week.
Congressional campaign lobbying: Should lawmakers take the money?
In the past, most lawmakers who ran for Congress have avoided the dilemma of whether they could or should accept money from lobbyists by simply resigning from the Legislature.
Senate, House spreadsheets hint at modest budget increase
Senate President Andy Biggs wants to introduce a budget as early as next week, but House Republicans fear their chamber isn’t keeping up the pace, and House priorities could end up once again trampled in the Senate’s budget stampede.
Lawmakers are introducing bills aimed at more than 1,000 things they want to change
The Legislature is back in session, and lawmakers have already filed more than 350 bills. That number will swell to more than 1,000 in the coming weeks, as members of the House and Senate begin the rush to push their bills through both chambers, and up to the governor’s desk.
Year in Review: A sampling of notable bills passed by the Legislature
Of the hundreds of bills introduced by Arizona legislators in 2015, a few stood out above the rest – as odder, more controversial, resoundingly supported or panned by seemingly the entire state.
Education officials say $3.5 billion finance deal would stabilize school funding
Reaching a deal that provides a portion of court-ordered funds meets schools’ desire to stabilize and sustain funding, according to a statement released by the Arizona School Boards Association, a plaintiff in the case.
Legislative leaders have a plan to get rid of school inflation funding
Republican legislative leaders want to repeal a voter-approved law requiring that lawmakers annually adjust K-12 education funding to account for inflation, arguing that keeping up with the inflation increases year after year is unsustainable.
Lawmakers tout secrecy with little success
If a little sunshine is the best medicine, Arizona legislators seem afraid to take their proper dosage.
Lawmakers talk of fix-all bill for budget errors, unresolved issues
Gov. Doug Ducey noted with pride that less than two months after he took office, legislators approved a budget that he considers 99 percent of what he asked for, passing it out of both chambers in record time.
Lawmakers work all night to pass budget
Arizona lawmakers pulled an all-nighter and worked well past sunrise Saturday morning to approve a $9.1 billion budget proposal after Republican leadership spent the day rounding up the votes to get it across the finish line.
