The Attorney General’s Office today confirmed that it is investigating whether House Speaker David Gowan misused state vehicles and improperly billed the state for miles he shouldn’t have been reimbursed for.
Read More »Lesko’s odyssey: State senator takes turbulent journey toward pension reform
In her quest to reform the state’s public safety pension system, Sen. Debbie Lesko has been credited with accomplishing a Herculean task.
Read More »All eyes on the House after Senate approves pension reform 
A jubilant Senate claimed victory on a historic public safety pension overhaul on Thursday, passing a long-awaited and hard-bargained package of reform bill out of the chamber with unanimous support.
Read More »Senate seeks speedy pension reform, but House wary 
Flanked by Senate President Andy Biggs, local officials and a coalition of various public safety groups, Republican Sen. Debbie Lesko on Tuesday publicly unveiled the much-anticipated legislation to overhaul the Public Safety Personnel Pension System.
Read More »House reportedly working on competing pension reform measure 
A few hours before a landmark overhaul of the state’s pension system for police officers and fire fighters was set to be publicly unveiled by a senator who negotiated the legislation with union and city officials over the past year, some stakeholders were summoned to a meeting in the House, where multiple sources said competing legislation might be offered.
Read More »Democrats’ conundrum: support or oppose the school finance deal 
Each year without failure since the onset of the Great Recession, Democrats have denounced cuts to public education and clamored for more funding for K-12 schools, a demand that has gotten louder as the state’s economy improves.
Read More »Support remains unclear for school finance deal 
The Arizona Capitol today turned into a beehive of activity, as Republican and Democratic legislators were briefed about the details of a proposed plan to settle a five-year lawsuit over education funding.
Read More »Gay marriage settled, but political fights remain 
Arguing it would strengthen rather than diminish the institution of marriage, a divided U.S. Supreme Court today ruled that same-sex couples have a right to marry anywhere in America.
Read More »Report: Universities faced nation’s deepest cuts even before latest reductions 
Arizona sits atop the list of states that have made the deepest cuts to higher education and have enacted the largest tuition increases in the nation since the start of the recession.
Read More »Lawmakers’ legal troubles 
All 90 lawmakers kept their noses clean through the legislative session, marking 2014 as one of the rare years when a personal legal trouble didn’t become an issue at the Capitol.
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