Arizona Capitol Times Your Inside Source for Arizona Government, Politics and Business

Gov. Jan Brewer’s proposal to simplify the state’s sales tax system could increase state revenues slightly or carry a hefty price tag depending on which estimate of the Legislature’s budget research arm proves correct.

Unable to get any traction at the state Capitol, union foes are preparing to bring the fight to the 2014 ballot and let Arizonans decide whether automatic paycheck deductions should be banned.

A group called Protect Employee Paychecks recently filed an initiative with the Secretary of State. Unlike the proposals that are stuck in the Legislature, the initiative would affect both public and private unions.

The outlines of a potential compromise between municipalities and supporters of a bill that seeks to simplify the state’s sales tax system emerged this month, a few days after the governor’s office pitched the idea to mayors.

Two environmental activist groups are seeking to intervene in the lawsuit that Arizona filed against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over regional haze.

More than six weeks after Gov. Jan Brewer surprised fellow Republicans by announcing her plan to push for Medicaid expansion, the proposal has yet to be formally introduced in the Legislature.

Farmers and businessmen from Yuma said House Speaker Andy Tobin invited them to a meeting Thursday to discuss his proposed comprehensive long-term water plan for Arizona – but then he stood them up.

Reversing its stance just a year ago, the Senate today rejected – three times – a proposal to prohibit automatic paycheck deductions for union dues.

The state collected $915 million in taxes last month, four percent greater than in the prior year, the state’s budget analysts reported.

A centrist research group has concluded that tax cuts, in the long term, haven’t boosted Arizona’s economy and have instead led to fewer government resources.

When his son was two years old, Rep. Phil Lovas, R-Peoria, and his wife, Corrine, watched in horror when he began to itch, his eyes became watery and his face began to “blow up” after eating peanut butter.