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

The balance sheets of Arizona cities, towns and counties will look very different next year simply because of changes in some key accounting rules. While accounting rules generally do not raise the interest of taxpayers, the new accounting standards on public pensions will require local governments to publish their long-term pension obligations. Addressing the long-term costs of public pensions has been a major focus of many conservative groups and this new disclosure may add new fuel to their interest.

By requiring that pet stores in the city acquire dogs only from humane sources, the Phoenix City Council took an important step toward helping to protect the millions of dogs suffering in puppy mills. The ordinance will help shrink the supply of puppy mill dogs flowing into our market, thereby boosting adoptions for homeless animals and increasing sales for responsible dog breeders.

“You do the adult crime, you do the adult time.” This is the motto of many judges, prosecutors, and even community members here in Arizona.

In her Dec. 1 op-ed on AZ Central, Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk echoed a misleading statement from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) website claiming that the agency "permits or funds studies on therapeutic benefits of marijuana."

Even as Obamacare is trying to self-destruct, its advocates suggest a détente in which “Republicans recognize the conservative nature of the law,” in the words of Austin Frakt in Bloomberg News.

I just have to comment on “Arizona: Know your health insurance options and rights” by Diane E Brown (Arizona Capitol Times, Dec. 13, 2013).

When children are at risk, we all have two basic responsibilities. We’ve got to strengthen families, so we can prevent abuse or neglect whenever possible. And, when abuse or neglect happens, we must take swift but thoughtful actions that give kids the best possible chance to grow up in a safe and loving permanent family. Today, we are failing. But we can do better.

CPS in Arizona is in greater crisis and chaos than any time in memory. A perfect storm of recessionary budget cutbacks, historical neglect, increasing referrals, neglected cases and backlog, an out-of-control foster care caseload, and chaotic management have put thousands of children at risk, left families without support, and created an unprecedented crisis for Arizona’s vulnerable children without any clear vision or immediate resolution in sight.

While we spend millions of dollars to invite people from around the world to enjoy our climate and our hospitality, the message we send is quite different when it comes to immigration and those who make their way into this state in a desperate effort to feed and care for their families. Focusing exclusively on border security postpones the search for long-term, comprehensive solutions to our broken immigration system and places millions across this country in a state of limbo.

For conservatives, the pending lawsuit over contribution limits poses a difficult question: Should the original meaning of a constitutional provision, or the goal of small government and liberty, have greater weight? The question pits two strands of conservatism against each other.