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State prepares for possible shutdown, but full impact unclear
Prisoners won’t run free and cops won’t disappear from the highways if the budget crisis leads to a shutdown of Arizona state government. But many of the services Arizonans rely on will be conspicuously absent, as will the paychecks of those who provide them.
Phoenix Councilwoman Baier named state land commissioner
Gov. Jan Brewer named Phoenix City Councilwoman Maria Baier as the new state land commissioner. "(Baier) brings numerous years of outstanding experience in the public and private sectors, with expertise in the areas of land use, natural resource management, growth and development and environmental quality," Brewer stated in a press release June 16.
Voters might have last word in Clean Elections
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted June 15 to advance a measure that would allow voters to decide the fate of Arizona's system of publicly funded campaigns known as Clean Elections.
Transcript of memo calling for contingency plan
Following is a transcript of the memorandum from Department of Administration Director William Bell, explaining to department heads and state boards and commissions the steps that need to be taken if there is no budget in place by this year's fiscal deadline.
Two-way attack waged on Clean Elections matching funds
While attorneys prepare for a summer showdown over the constitutionality of a segment of Arizona's system of public campaign financing, a committee of legislators will decide whether to give voters the opportunity to ban publicly funded campaigns entirely.
It’s ‘Christmas tree’ time in June
The budget approved last week by lawmakers was stuffed with dozens of policy changes that have little, if anything at all, to do with solving the state’s massive deficit.
Charges against GOP director dropped
A West Valley justice of the peace on June 2 dismissed criminal speeding charges filed against Brett Mecum. Mecum, the executive director of the Arizona Republican Party, was arrested at work and charged with criminal speeding and reckless driving last month after photo enforcement cameras captured images of Mecum driving more than 100 miles per hour on a Valley freeway.
Lawmakers compromise with Brewer on health care spending
A five-month battle over health care spending between Gov. Jan Brewer and Republican leadership reached a breaking point early this week after Brewer asked lawmakers to set aside hundreds of millions of dollars of additional spending for state-run health care programs.
State Supreme Court declines to intervene in suit against DES
The Arizona Supreme Court has refused to stop the state from cutting millions of dollars from health care programs that serve developmentally disabled people. On June 1, the high court declined without comment to review a Court of Appeals ruling that erased a preliminary injunction issued by a trial judge.
From science to scents, animal trackers get creative
Biologists have long sought ways to pull back the curtain on wildlife. Over the past century, they have gone from banding birds to tracking whales with satellites.
Supreme Court to hear challenge of First Things First fund sweep
The Arizona Supreme Court has agreed to hear a challenge of a legislative fund sweep that targeted money generated by a tobacco tax and intended to pay for children's health care. But in the same stroke on June 1, justices declined to address a dispute of a fund sweep protested by a state labor commission.
Court of Appeals rules against MCSO’s public records request
A panel of Arizona Court of Appeals judges has ruled unanimously that the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office is not entitled to review thousands of documents and e-mails sent by senior officials and staff of the Maricopa County Superior Court.
