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

In my five decades of providing medical care to Arizona children, I have realized that Medicaid (AHCCCS) and KidsCare (Arizona’s version of a Children’s Health Insurance Program, known as CHIP) are critical for low-income families. KidsCare has been frozen since 2010, and the Legislature now has the opportunity to include lifting the freeze in their budget negotiations, while the federal government picks up the tab.

Arizona heads into summer 2016 with forecasts once again showing a potentially charring fire season ahead.

The drinking water crisis in Flint, Michigan, is a stark reminder of how we need to be vigilant when it comes to managing our water supply and planning for its future.

Three weeks ago, the Arizona Legislature, heeding a call to “protect women’s health,” passed SB1324. This bill mandated that doctors adhere to an outdated medication protocol when administering drugs for a medication-induced abortion. Ignoring medical studies, scientific evidence, and the standard of care, our legislators said that in this case physicians had to follow the FDA precisely, as well as what was written on a drug label printed in 2000.

Have the Legislature and governor finally given up on Arizona’s children? Is there Department of Child Safety “DCS fatigue?” Have the Legislature’s and the governor’s frustration and disappointment in DCS with its lack of any reliable results for children rendered them powerless to do anything about it?

Government spending transparency websites give citizens and government officials the ability to monitor many aspects of state spending in order to save taxpayers money, realize more efficient government administration, enjoy more competitive bidding for public projects, and spend less staff time on information requests.

I couldn’t help but think about my former country’s experience when House Speaker David Gowan revoked reporters’ access to the chamber’s floor, a privilege journalists have enjoyed for at least four decades.

The actions of the House since January serve as strong evidence that this sweeping policy has less to do with security than it does with retribution against a reporter who dared to investigate the most powerful person in the chamber.

Like any good joke, timing is everything. House Speaker David Gowan demonstrated peculiar timing this week.

Arizona’s economic success in recent years can be attributed to our pro-business environment, fiscal conservatism and common sense approach to government regulation. But it is Arizona employees that make and keep businesses strong. Their skills and productivity are the foundation success is built upon.