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Changes to lawmaker-replacement process shot down
An effort to give rural areas more control over filling vacancies in the Arizona Legislature was stymied by a House panel after lawmakers raised concerns that it would create more problems than it would solve.
Senate approves bill to stop roadside sale of animals
The Senate has approved a bill that would ban the sale of animals along roadways and in public parks across the state.
New senator won’t talk about state’s budget mess
Sen. David Braswell doesn't have the luxury of time, but he's trying to buy as much of it as possible. The educator and businessman was appointed to replace Sen. Pamela Gorman on Feb. 8, was assigned to his first committee on Feb. 9 and began voting on measures on Feb. 10.
State burned through stimulus money
The feds gave Arizona a $2.8 billion crutch to help the state limp through three difficult budget years. But after two years, nearly all of the stimulus money has been spent and the state remains crippled by the recession.
Liquor agency chief survives criticism, has governor’s support
Jerry Oliver said his first few years as director of the Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control were like setting up triage in a disaster zone. But while he was working on those wounds, he wasn't treating some chronic diseases that had lingered for almost a decade.
Public notices too important to be changed in haste, publisher says
Public notices are too important to Arizonans' right to know and the way they access essential information for lawmakers to act hastily in altering requirements that they run in newspapers, a publisher said Feb. 10.
Sine die: 5 of 6 bills pass
A disagreement between the Senate and the House over the timing of a bill aimed at lowering business taxes and creating jobs derailed one of the six measures the Legislature crafted during the special session.
Everything seemed to be going smoothly at first. The Senate passed all six budget bills Feb. 2 with support from both Republicans and Democrats.
Senate panel backs changes to photo enforcement
Arizona legislators say they want to make the state's groundbreaking and controversial highway speed-camera program fairer even while waiting for voters to decide whether to repeal it outright.
Bill would require colleges to publish scholarship criteria
When Derek Davis' daughter applied to Arizona State University, she was told that she wasn't eligible for the university's most lucrative merit-based scholarship because she had been homeschooled.
Legislature at impasse over amendment to last special session bill
The Senate sent a committee to the House to signal it was ready to end the special session sine die on Feb. 10, without taking action on a House-amended version of the remaining special session budget bill, S1002.
Hostile amendment slows House passage of budget bill
The fate of a bill that would delay payments to schools and universities as a deficit-closing gimmick is in question after the House of Representatives amended the measure, linking its enactment to a jobs creation and business tax cut bill that is stalled in the Senate.
Proposed school funding change flunks test
A House panel overwhelmingly rejected changing to how student counts are determined for public school funding, saying daily attendance averages wouldn't properly reflect how many students are enrolled in school.
