Sign In
Free Newsletter
Brewer sends a message of her own
In her 27 years in elected office, Gov. Jan Brewer said she has never seen a budget process run the way the Legislature is doing things this year.
Getting 16 Senate votes for the budget wasn’t easy
There were a lot of behind-the-scenes maneuvers and drama leading to the Senate’s budget vote on June 4. Senate President Bob Burns and House Speaker Kirk Adams met with Sen. John Nelson, a Republican from Glendale, in Burns’ office to try to get his buy-in.
Burns refers 250 bills to committees, more coming
Senate President Bob Burns changed strategy on June 4 by referring 250 bills to committees in one swoop and saying he plans to refer more in the coming days.
Burns tells colleagues to pass fiscal 2010 budget — now
The Senate’s top Republican is pushing to pass a budget proposal for fiscal 2010 in the next few days — even without the buy-in of the House or the Governor’s Office. Senate President Bob Burns told members of his caucus that now is the time to vote on the budget.
Quelland says he’ll challenge removal from House
While the Citizens Clean Elections Commission was voting on May 15 to remove Rep. Doug Quelland from office, the north Phoenix lawmaker was hitting the links in a legislative golf tournament. He didn’t bother to provide a reason for his absence from the May 15 hearing.
Top GOP lawmakers forming campaign committees separate from state party
Top Republican leaders in the House and Senate have created independent campaign committees aimed at electing Republican lawmakers and raising money outside the state Republican Party structure.
Dems stockpiling political ammunition for 2010
Democrats have tried nearly every conceivable strategy in the past four months and have, at times, sounded like a broken record as they seek an invitation from Republicans to negotiate the fiscal 2010 budget.
With $650-million budget hole fixed, lawmakers tackle the Big One
Now that the fiscal 2009 budget gap has been readjusted — hopefully for the last time — leaders will hunker down and try once more to hammer out a deal on the fiscal 2010 budget. “We got a lot to do on (fiscal 2010) yet,” Senate President Bob Burns said May 13, the day the Legislature fixed a $650-million hole in the fiscal 2009 budget.
Quelland removed from office, fined $45K
The Citizens Clean Elections Commission voted this morning to remove Rep. Doug Quelland from the Legislature for violating campaign spending rules. The Phoenix Republican was also fined $45,000. The commission voted 4-1 to kick Quelland out of office for spending more than he was allowed to under Clean Elections rules. The commission determined Quelland had hired a political consultant but did [...]
Brewer: latest budget fix highlights need for tax hike
The use of federal stimulus dollars to help balance the budget may help keep Arizona's public schools afloat through the end of the fiscal year, but Gov. Jan Brewer believes it underscores the need for the controversial tax hike she is proposing.
Legislature fixes $650M deficit in fiscal 2009
The Senate and the House approved a plan on May 13 that suspends a payment of $300 million to school districts until the next fiscal year and instead allows them to tap into their excess cash balances to cover ongoing expenses. The plan is part of a two-bill package aimed at solving a $650-million budget deficit in fiscal 2009.
House panel advances latest budget fix, filling $650M gap
Lawmakers on a House panel generally agreed an emergency measure intended to repair the fiscal 2009 budget amounts to bad policy, but the bill still managed to gain approval along a party-line vote. One by one, legislators explained their objection to using accounting gimmicks and raiding funding in schools' bank accounts.
