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

Arizona’s fire districts today find themselves facing a serious public safety crisis, one that impacts more than 1.5 million Arizona residents who rely on fire districts for 911 services. Already, districts statewide have slashed scores of fire fighters and paramedics. Others have been forced to close fire stations. These cutbacks have caused emergency response times to rise, leaving the public at high risk at precisely the moment they need public safety services the most.

Last year, the state budget cut CTE programs at students’ home campuses and specialized career campuses known as JTEDS, or joint technical education districts.

There was so much hallucinogenic political spin in Governor Doug Ducey’s “State of the State” speech that it should have been labeled: “WARNING: This speech is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent much of anything.”

Last month I introduced a comprehensive sex-education bill, SB1020. No, it doesn’t give condoms to kindergartners or promote promiscuity, as some extreme social conservatives will try to tell you.

The Arizona Game and Fish Commission recently approved a fundamental restructuring of the department that more accurately reflects the department’s overall mission to conserve and protect all wildlife, not just those that are hunted or harvested.

It is the position of the Arizona Medical Association that the nursing associations’ application poses serious concerns for patient safety. This application was also strongly opposed by the Arizona Osteopathic Medical Association, every major medical specialty society in Arizona, and the Arizona Dental Association.

The Association of American Medical Colleges projects that the U.S. faces a shortage of up to 31,000 primary-care physicians by 2025. Who is going to meet our growing health care needs? In Arizona, we believe that Advanced Practice Nurses can help bridge the gap.

At 23 years old, only 18 months out of college, and with hefty pile of student debt, you could say I’m living the typical “Millennial” experience. My work is important part of my life, as are my family and social circle. However, recently a new topic has started to brew toward the forefront of many of my thoughts and decisions – retirement security.

The long-awaited release of final rules to permit equity crowdfunding under Title III of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act were finally adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Oct. 30 of this year, which may present significant opportunities for Arizona businesses.

The purpose of TANF is to help low-income adults enter the workforce. That’s why former President Bill Clinton signed the block grant law in 1997: to fulfill his promise to “end welfare as we know it.”