Arizona water outlook not as dire as neighboring California
Gripped by a prolonged drought, Arizona faces possible cuts to its main water supply in the next 18 months. Residents, however, face none of the restrictions that neighboring California has imposed this year.
Sold! State auctions off cop cars, baseball bats and other old stuff
Standing on back of a golf cart equipped with a platform, microphone and pair of mounted speakers, Darren Shumway cruised through the lanes of hundreds of state-owned vehicles – mostly old cop cars, heavy American work trucks and a few Jeep Cherokees.
Corporation Commission responds to critics
The Arizona Corporation Commission is pushing back against the narrative that energy regulators are beholden to the utilities.
12 years and counting: Child safety backlog continues to grow
On May 28, the director of the state Department of Child Safety acknowledged that backlogs are growing again at the agency. Greg McKay told a legislative oversight committee that the number of hotline reports the agency receives each month is greater than the number of reports the staff can close.
Regulation taking back seat at Registrar of Contractors
Recent comments and actions by the new director of the Registrar of Contractors are raising concerns that regulation and enforcement are becoming less stringent under the new administration.
State seeks to again allow ADOT to deny licenses to ‘Dreamers’
Saying the president acted illegally, an attorney for the state wants appellate judges to once again allow the director of the Arizona Department of Transportation to refuse to issue licenses to “dreamers.”
Douglas doubts timing of Ducey school finance overhaul plan
Arizona's top education official said Tuesday she has serious doubts about Gov. Doug Ducey's timeline for overhauling the state's complex school financing formulas.
Arizona hopes for more control of its water as drought deepens in West
Arizona wants more control of its water resources as the ongoing drought in Western states brings the likelihood of further shortages to the region, a state official testified Tuesday.
CCEC to take action on political committee case, but won’t say what
Following the attorney general’s decision to end the state’s appeal of a federal judge’s ruling against a key component of the state’s campaign finance laws, the Citizens Clean Elections Commission voted to take action of its own, but wouldn’t say exactly what that action will be.
Educators say legislative budget error could cost district charter schools millions
When lawmakers approved the state budget in March, they accidentally left out one key part. Because of the omission, several longstanding district-sponsored charter schools – public schools that have reorganized as charter schools to capture more state funding – will be on the hook for tens of millions of dollars in back payments.
JLBC says Education Department erred in calculating charter school funding cuts
The Joint Legislative Budget Committee on Friday revised its estimate for cuts to funding for small charter schools and said the Department of Education is wrong in its interpretation of legislation establishing the reduction.
Backlogs growing again at child safety agency, director says
The head of the state's child welfare agency wants to scrap laws and rules that require caseworkers to do a full investigation of every complaint of child neglect.