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Senate budget: A bargaining chip?
Despite all the raw emotions it stirred and all the opposition it encountered, the Senate’s budget-slashing and gimmicks-busting proposal isn’t going to be state’s final spending plan.
Its most contentious aspects, more likely than not, will be softened and its most ragged edges smoothed out before it wins support in the House of Representatives and with Gov. Jan Brewer.
House panel approves ending Clean Elections
The House Judiciary Committee today passed legislation that would allow voters to effectively end a public campaign finance system they approved more than a decade ago.
Senate rejects immigration bills
The Senate today resoundingly rejected five controversial immigration bills, including a proposal that supporters say is aimed at getting the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit the issue of American citizenship.
Senate Republicans finally pass budget
In a move that potentially sets the stage for a showdown with Gov. Jan Brewer, the Senate late Wednesday passed a budget proposal that cuts more than what the governor called for in January and rejects many of her accounting maneuvers to erase the fiscal deficit.
Brewer’s new plan: freeze AHCCCS without the cuts
Gov. Jan Brewer changed tracks on her plans to overhaul the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, announcing a new plan that would freeze enrollment for childless adults but wouldn’t impose the massive cuts she’d long advocated.
Bundgaard is out, Biggs is in
Sen. Andy Biggs, an eloquent speaker and conservative legislator from Gilbert, emerged as the new majority leader following a closed-door meeting this afternoon.
Senate budget plan deliberately ends FY11 in the red; Republicans call it transparent, honest
Instead of balancing the budget by borrowing money, deferring payment to schools or resorting to any other accounting maneuver, the Senate is proposing to cut spending as much it can, even if it means the current fiscal year ends with the state in the red.
Republicans advance immigration bills
A slew of immigration measures, including legislation that supporters say would get the U.S. Supreme Court to decide the issue of American citizenship, survived rigorous questioning on Tuesday, when senators conferred with party-mates to discuss them.
Critics say partisan fights take new shape in ‘independent’ redistricting
Placing the “I” word in front of Redistricting Commission doesn’t mean it’s really independent.
Now that the commission is fully constituted, they'll soon begin redrawing the state's legislative and congressional lines. At stake is the state's political landscape for the next ten years. And while most everyone agrees on the gravity of task, disagreements abound on just how "inde[...]
Immigration on the agenda
On the heels of saying he expects the Senate to vote on a budget as soon as tomorrow, Senate President Russell Pearce yesterday added three controversial immigration bills to the docket for today’s caucus discussions, signaling the bills may soon be debated by the entire body.
Senate may revisit Bundgaard issue Tuesday
Senate Republicans are expected to revisit on Tuesday the issue surrounding calls by some members for Senate Majority Leader Scott Bundgaard to relinquish his leadership position following a physical altercation with his then-girlfriend, Aubry Ballard, last month.
Sources: Senate looking to pass budget this week
The Senate leadership is pushing to officially introduce and pass a budget proposal this week, multiple sources told the Arizona Capitol Times on Monday.
