Arizona Capitol Times Your Inside Source for Arizona Government, Politics and Business

A judge's ruling that allows the state's Medicaid system to charge fees to some patients will generate an additional $21 million a year for Arizona's staggering budget deficits.

The trespass provisions originally included in a bill aimed at significantly altering Arizona's immigration enforcement methods were swapped out in a strike everything amendment proposed March 29.

The Legislature is moving ahead with plans to give Gov. Jan Brewer and lawmakers the authority to sue the federal government over the health care law, even though lawmakers pushing for a lawsuit were unable to fully explain the legal basis for a court challenge.

A defiant Gov. Jan Brewer today issued a call for a special session to secure the authority to sue the federal government over the health care law passed earlier this week. The special session is set for March 29.

A grassroots movement began several years ago to amend the state Constitution to allow Arizona residents the freedom to make all health care decisions without interference from government. But after years of pushing on the state level, the federal government has pushed back by passing a law that requires most Arizonans to buy health care insurance.

A new independent counsel has been appointed to review unethical conduct allegations against Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas.

A southern Arizona Indian tribe that wants to build a casino in suburban Phoenix filed suit March 22 asking a court to force the federal government to add land to its reservation.

Charges against Maricopa County Supervisor Don Stapley have been dismissed but can be refiled by a different prosecutor.

The Arizona Corporation Commission decided three years ago that homebuilders should pay the cost of extending power lines to new houses, but some lawmakers now want to go back to the way things used to be and force utility companies to foot the bill.

The system that allows Arizona residents to use government money to campaign for political office is teetering after a federal judge ruled earlier this year that a major component of the scheme is unconstitutional. Many powerful special interest groups, nonetheless, are hoping to deliver the knockout blow at the ballot box this fall, rather than wait for it to collapse on its own.