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Brewer vetoes Barto’s health care price transparency bill
Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed legislation aimed at forcing health care providers to publicly show their prices, a move that the bill’s sponsor said was disappointing and surprising considering the Ninth Floor’s lack of objections while she and the governor’s staff worked on the bill throughout the session.
Predicting Brewer vetoes is difficult; reasons vary
Figuring out how to avoid Gov. Jan Brewer’s veto pen is a guessing game that leaves even some of the most seasoned veterans at the Capitol perplexed.
Many lawmakers and lobbyists say there are no hard and fast guidelines for avoiding a veto from a governor who vetoed 91 bills in her first four legislative sessions.
Lawmakers pass bill to raise campaign contribution limits
A bill that would raise the caps on Arizona’s campaign contributions is ready for the governor’s signature after the state Senate approved the measure in a 17-13 vote Tuesday afternoon.
Legislation slows as bickering continues over Medicaid expansion, other key bills
The legislative process at the Arizona Capitol has slowed to a crawl in recent weeks after Gov. Jan Brewer warned lawmakers to focus on her own legislative priorities, first and foremost Medicaid expansion.
Senate president indicates he will allow Medicaid vote
State Senate President Andy Biggs strongly indicated today he will allow a vote on Gov. Jan Brewer’s Medicaid expansion plan even though he’s adamantly opposed to it.
Senate rejects texting while driving amendment
The Arizona Senate has rejected an effort to create a statewide ban on texting while driving by amending an existing House bill.
Optimism abounds on revenue districts, but Biggs still has his doubts
Advocates of a financing mechanism that would allow cities to bond against future tax revenues to fund special projects are hoping 2013 will be a year of success after running into roadblocks in the past several legislative sessions. But the foe who blocked a similar proposal two years ago appears poised to strike it down once again.
Pro-life dispute: Conflicting definitions further complicate Brewer’s Medicaid expansion proposal
Gov. Jan Brewer forcefully declared that her proposal to expand the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System to hundreds of thousands of new patients is a pro-life plan. As a pro-life governor, she said, she will not sit idly by while people suffer. Since then, opponents of her plan have taken up the pro-life mantle in the Legislature.
Judges hear GOP redistricting map challenge
Federal judges hearing a civil suit brought by Republican voters who claim the state's new legislative maps were illegally drawn to benefit Democrats questioned lawyers Friday about whether some members of the commission that made the maps were free of political influence.
Senate split leaves little room for error
Unlike the supermajority Senate Republicans enjoyed under the leadership of Russell Pearce and Steve Pierce in 2011 and 2012, Senate President Andy Biggs has been forced to work with the chamber’s slimmest majority in years, leaving little room for error on the Senate floor.
‘Firestorm’ over new school standards embroils Republican lawmakers
As Arizona ramps up efforts to invest in Common Core, a tide of opposition has defeated one of the first legislative efforts to implement the new education standards by likening them to a national takeover of Arizona’s school curriculum.
Brewer tells Biggs to slow down the pace
Little progress has been made on Gov. Jan Brewer’s agenda for the legislative session, and she’s sending a clear signal that she wants to see some movement on her priorities before she deals with theirs. But the Ninth Floor says Brewer isn’t threatening to dust off the veto stamp.
