House prepares to rip Senate budget apart, rebuild it from scratch
Building a budget that can gain support from the majority of lawmakers in both legislative chambers and get it signed by the governor takes a delicate balance.
Tobin fighting to hold caucus together, keep the budget in GOP handsh
A fight is brewing in the House that Speaker Andy Tobin didn’t ask for, and he’s trying to keep his caucus members from tearing each other apart over Medicaid expansion – and stop the budget from getting hijacked.
Will Medicaid matter in 2014? Potential candidates for governor offer their thoughts
The intraparty battle raging in Republican circles over Gov. Jan Brewer’s Medicaid expansion plan has not yet extended into the race to succeed her.
After losing control of Senate, Biggs looks on as new majority emerges
The Arizona Senate’s passage of a budget plan that includes Medicaid expansion on May 16 was a tremendous victory for Gov. Jan Brewer, as well as the lawmakers who stuck their necks out for the governor — most notably Senate Majority Leader John McComish, who sponsored the amendment that added expansion to the budget plan.
Votes are there for Medicaid expansion, but not without Speaker Tobin
House Speaker Andy Tobin has steadfastly said there aren’t enough votes to pass Medicaid expansion through the House, although he seems to be the only one who still thinks that.
Most lawmakers, even ardent Medicaid expansion opponents, acknowledge there are enough votes to pass Medicaid expansion in the House, and that they have been there for several weeks.
But Tobin said [...]
Brewer changes Medicaid plan to ease critics’ concerns
Some of the concerns raised in the Legislature regarding Gov. Jan Brewer’s Medicaid expansion plan haven’t fallen on deaf ears.
In the amendment that included Brewer’s expansion plan in the Senate’s budget on May 16, the Ninth Floor included several changes aimed at alleviating concerns over her proposal.
Senate plan would provide nearly $1 million annually to Navajo college based in New Mexico
A New Mexico-based college that recently cut its ties with a foundation led by state Rep. Catherine Miranda to enroll undocumented immigrants would get nearly $1 million a year under a Senate spending plan.
AG would get $500,000 from indigent defense fund to prosecute death penalty cases
The spending proposal that passed the Senate on May 16 allows the Arizona Attorney General’s Office to tap into a state fund for indigent defendants to pay for prosecuting certain death-penalty proceedings.
Rooftop solar debate flares as utility regulators take up changes to incentives sought by APS
As summer dawns and temperatures rise, the struggle over Arizona’s solar energy policies promises to heat up in coming months.
The state’s largest utility company is preparing to ask government regulators to change the way a key solar energy incentive is structured.
TPT plan gets Arizona closer, but not close enough for online sales tax
Even if Gov. Jan Brewer’s sales tax reform bill passes this year, Arizona will still have some work to do before it can reap the benefits of proposed federal legislation allowing states to collect sales taxes for online purchases.
JLBC: New sales tax reform plan will increase revenue
The newest incarnation of Gov. Jan Brewer’s sales tax reform plan will be a net positive to the state’s general fund that could bring in nearly $37 million in new revenue next year, according to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee.
Brewer follows through on threat, vetoes bills
Gov. Jan Brewer wasn’t kidding around when she told the Legislature to stop sending her bills.