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“Top-two” proposal may favor centrist candidates, but critics fear unintended consequences
In a state where most campaigns are decided in the primary, a group of would-be reformers wants to force political discourse to the center by upending the entire election system.
Feds give approval for AHCCCS freeze
The Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System finally received approval from the federal government for its partial enrollment freeze, though the one-day delay will push back freeze by an extra week.
Will elimination of matching funds leave a mark on state politics?
Local political consultants and operatives disagree on what effect the U.S. Supreme Court ruling against the matching funds component of Arizona’s public campaign finance option will have on politics.
Redistricting panel hires D.C.-based, Democratically connected mapping firm
Arizona’s Independent Redistricting Commission decided Wednesday to hire Strategic Telemetry, a Washington D.C.-based mapping firm, to serve as the group’s mapping consultant.
Prop 13 again files initiative to cap property taxes
A group espousing California-style property tax limits has renewed its drive, filing another citizen initiative after failing to qualify for last year’s ballot.
Mormon lawmakers split over LDS position on illegal immigration
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recently joined an increasingly loud chorus of voices calling for a nuanced and humane solution to this complex problem.
The church boasts a perceived conservatism and politically prominent members, but how the LDS statement will precisely influence immigration legislation remains to be seen.
Pearce, Tobin enter AHCCCS funding fight
Lawmakers made a difficult decision when they cut more than $200 million from the state’s health care system for the poor, but doing so wasn’t unconstitutional, Senate President Russell Pearce and House Speaker Andy Tobin argued yesterday in a brief opposing a lawsuit that aims to block the cuts.
Rural GOP legislators torn between ideology and helping jobless constituents
Not all Republicans are celebrating the special session as a victory over federal spending.
For representatives from rural areas, where unemployment is more than 20 percent in some pockets, it can be frustrating to hear their colleagues from urban centers like Phoenix denounce efforts to help the unemployed as unnecessary spending.
Relationship strained? Special session fiasco may be sign of things to come
After back-to-back legislative sessions in which Gov. Jan Brewer and GOP lawmakers appeared to put their differences behind them, work as a team and strive for a common agenda, the failed special session on unemployment benefits threatens to poison a relationship that has already seen its share of discord.
Legislature adjourns without extending unemployment aid
By the time Republicans called it a day, it almost seemed like a textbook case of what to do — if you don’t want a special session to succeed.
Brewer: Special session a ‘total meltdown’
Failing to deliver an extension to unemployment benefits, the first day of the special session instead ended in recrimination that is once again threatening the fragile relationship between Gov. Jan Brewer and the Republican-led Legislature.
Unemployment benefits special session: No vote today
Arizona lawmakers have convened a special session to address extending unemployment benefits for those who have been out of work for more than a year, but there won’t be a vote today.
