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Recent Articles from Luige del Puerto
Cap Times Q&A: Former Mesa Mayor Scott Smith reflects on politicians, big game hunting and life’s lessons
A few hours before he sat down for a Q&A one humid August afternoon at a coffee shop, former Mesa mayor and one-time gubernatorial candidate Scott Smith had flown a plane, delivering a supply of blood to northern Arizona.
New APS solar fee: Do you have $21 to spare?
With $21, you can buy at least two LED 60-watt light bulbs and reduce your electricity bill over time. Or visit the Phoenix Zoo for $20. Or read Jim Collins’ “Good to Great,” which sells at $17.85 on Barnes & Noble. Or take your spouse to the movies. If the Arizona Public Service had its way, however, that money would go toward paying a monthly fee – that is, if you happen to h[...]
Dems hire former Obama field organizer as state director
The Arizona Democratic Party has hired a battle-tested campaign veteran to run the state party. Sheila Healy, who worked for President Barack Obama’s campaigns in 2008 and 2012, starts today as the state party’s executive director.
Revenue boost means state won’t have to dip into rainy day fund
Strong revenue collections turned a $132 million shortfall into a $266 million cash balance at the end fiscal 2015, a preliminary analysis shows.
Stump Q&A: ‘I certainly wish the text messages still existed’
Arizona Corporation Commissioner Bob Stump, who is under fire for deleting text messages on his commission-issued phone, including content that was considered public records, has finally answered one the most pressing questions in the controversy: Why?
AG’s office bolsters communications staff
The Attorney General’s Office has beefed up its communications unit with two new hires this month.
2 Corporation commissioners tell utilities: stay out of 2016 campaign
Incessant allegations that Arizona Public Service, the state’s largest utility and one of its largest employers, spent heavily to influence the elections of its regulators last year are weighing heavily on the minds of some of those same regulators.
AG seeks to drop appeal in ‘political committee’ case
The Attorney General last week asked the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to moot the state’s appeal in Galassini v. Fountain Hills, which invalidated Arizona’s old definition of political committee.
Supreme Court ruling allows 126K Arizonans to retain health insurance subsidies
In a major victory for the Obama administration, the U.S. Supreme Court today ruled that the Affordable Care Act allows federal exchanges to offer subsidies, thereby preserving the insurance coverage of roughly 6.4 million Americans, including 126,000 Arizonans.
Ducey’s options would be limited if Supreme Court rules against Obamacare
Gov. Doug Ducey is guarded about what his administration plans to do, if anything, once the U.S. Supreme Court rules on whether subsidies may be legally offered on the federal exchanges.
Stump deleted public phone records, discarded phone belonging to Corporation Commission
Energy regulator Bob Stump routinely deleted text messages on his cellphones, including public records that cannot be retrieved, the Arizona Corporation Commission disclosed.
Beneath the rhetoric: Numbers show decline in state support for education
Arizona’s policymakers often proclaim education as a priority, but a review of years of fiscal data shows that the rhetoric doesn’t match up to the reality.
