Recent Articles from Paulina Pineda
AG takes Tempe to court over lease agreements with developers
The Attorney General’s Office wants the Arizona Supreme Court to weigh in on whether property tax incentives in lease agreements that the City of Tempe signed with several developers violate state law.
Passing legislation requires moderation, tricks of the trade
Lawmakers passed 369 bills, 30.6 percent of the 1,206 bills introduced in the 2018 session. Of those 369 bills, Ducey signed 346, or 93.8 percent of all the bills that were approved.
Few lawmakers achieve perfect attendance, voting records
Only 19 state lawmakers, or 21 percent, made it to work every day and also registered a vote on 100 percent of the measures that went up on the board during the 53rd Legislature’s second regular session.
Big push on ballot referrals ends with just 2 passed
The Arizona Legislature referred two measures to the ballot this year, more than lawmakers referred in 2016 when they instead focused their attention on trying to defeat several citizen initiatives.
Lasting effect of grassroots movements at Capitol questioned
It was the year of the protests at the Arizona Capitol, but lawmakers and a professor disagree on whether the political movements that took hold this year will have a lasting effect.
Francisco Meneses: Works to keep Arizona’s fighters safe
Francisco Meneses, Jr., remembers watching televised boxing matches as a child with his aunts and uncles at family parties. More than 20 years later, Meneses serves as executive director of the Boxing and Mixed Martial Arts Commission
Ducey controls future of ‘dark money’ elections
Gov. Doug Ducey could upend elections in two major Arizona cities by effectively doing nothing.
Bills in Ducey veto frenzy given new life
The Legislature is working to revive 10 House bills that Gov. Doug Ducey vetoed last month as he played hardball with lawmakers over his teacher pay raise plan.
Kurt Altman: Baseball wash-up lands in law and public policy
Kurt Altman, the state director for Right on Crime, a group that pushes conservative solutions to reduce crime, went to college to play baseball, but he ended up an attorney whose career has taken him from facing down and defending criminals in county and federal courtrooms to lobbying for “Right to Try” legislation in 46 state Capitols.
Pay hike flap leaves rank and file lawmakers with little to do
As teachers around the state prepared to strike, legislators sat nearly idle for four days as they got into a stand-off with Gov. Doug Ducey over how to give teachers pay raises.
Racial slur at center of lengthy House floor debate
With little work to do on the Arizona House floor, members spent more than 90 minutes debating the offensiveness of rap lyrics.
Ducey pay plan puts Democrats in catch-22
Democratic lawmakers face a political conundrum: Vote in favor of Ducey’s proposed 20 percent teacher pay increase and give the governor a political win or fall back on a campaign promise to increase overall education funding.