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

The Senate Rules Committee has voted down a measure that would allow voters to decide whether to increase the state sales tax by 1 cent, while passing all 11 other budget bills.

The failure of the main budget bill in the Senate Appropriations Committee on June 29 signaled larger problems ahead for the state budget agreement reached last week by legislative leaders and the governor.

School districts across the state could increase in-class spending using money generated from Internet advertisements if lawmakers in the Senate were to approve a measure that was first heard in committee more than four months ago.

A bill amended to help fund research into childhood diseases is headed for the 9th Floor after the House approved the measure in a 39-12 vote June 26. The bill, S1017, expands the list of special license plates to include a "childhood cancer research plate."

Despite a series of setbacks and holdups that delayed passage of a budget deal on Saturday, June 27, Gov. Jan Brewer’s office downplayed concerns that the hard-fought compromise she reached with legislative leaders was in jeopardy because it did not have enough votes to pass.

The House on June 27 decided against voting on a budget agreement with the governor because Republican leaders were unable to round up enough votes to pass the package.

The following question was raised by an astute reader who commented on a Capitol Times story earlier today: Can the Legislature vote on a budget this Saturday, June 27, considering measures must be read in chamber three times and on different days? The ...

Looks like it's off to work for the Capitol folks tomorrow. What do you do when the boss comes in and says you've got to work Saturday? For us, it's not a matter of the boss coming in - it was just a matter of if the Legislature is working, then so are we.

Although nearly every level of state government is facing a spending cut as the state grapples with a more than $3 billion deficit, those responsible for crafting the budget didn't think the time was right to give themselves a haircut.

The Arizona House and the Senate have introduced a set of bills that will reflect any agreement between legislative leaders and Gov. Jan Brewer for a final fiscal 2010 budget. The move is largely procedural; the “trailer bills” do not ...