Ducey endorses Romney
Treasurer Doug Ducey endorsed Mitt Romney today, adding another name to the growing list of Arizona elected officials who are backing the GOP frontrunner.
Giffords aide Barber jumps into special election
Ron Barber, an aide to former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords who was wounded in the shooting attack that forced her resignation from Congress, announced his candidacy today for the special election to finish the congresswoman’s term.
Brewer’s personnel plan seeks to ease firing, hiring state workers
Gov. Jan Brewer is seeking to fundamentally alter the way state employees are hired, fired and managed.
In short, the governor wants to make it easier for administrators to hire and fire workers.
In a two-page outline of her “personnel reform” proposal, obtained by the Arizona Capitol Times today, newly hired rank-and-file employees would no longer be considered [...]
In looming budget fight, Pierce says GOP caucus is ‘further to the right’ than Brewer realizes
The political tango over the shape of the state’s budget for the next few years has begun.
Legislative leaders met with Gov. Jan Brewer Tuesday, but the two sides couldn’t yet agree on how to proceed with crafting the state’s spending plan.
Lawmaker: Have voter-approved measures face reauthorization
In 1998, Arizona voters decided to bar the Legislature from making changes to initiatives and referendums without a three–quarters vote in each house. But Rep. Chester Crandell has proposed that any voter-approved measure using public funds later face reauthorization votes by the public.
The Washington Connection: Four Arizonans figure big on Capitol Hill
Since statehood, the Arizona-Washington D.C. political connection has been unbelievably strong and uncharacteristically influential, especially for a state with a relatively small, though growing population.
Bivens reports $390K haul for fourth quarter
Don Bivens reported bringing in $390,000 for his U.S. Senate campaign in the fourth quarter of 2011, including $160,000 of his own money.
Special election on redistricting would cost $8M
If Republicans go along with House Speaker Andy Tobin’s plan to force a special election that would seek to change the state’s legislative and congressional maps, it will cost Arizona more than $8 million.
ASU president to lawmakers: Don’t micro-manage universities
Arizona State University President Michael Crow warned a legislative committee today that the Legislature’s micromanagement of the state’s universities is affecting their bottom line, stifling innovation and is unsustainable.
Dems call for bipartisan cooperation, funding restoration, business tax reform
Democratic lawmakers today outlined their goals for the 2012 legislative session, stressing a need for bipartisan cooperation, while also ripping Republican-led legislation of recent years.
Lawmakers, Brewer looking past rocky 2011
The road from the end of the last legislative session to the beginning of the new one was full of potholes for Gov. Jan Brewer and the Legislature.
Both sides say there’s nothing unusual about the two branches butting heads, and say they’ve moved past the disagreements of 2011. But there was no shortage of feuds between Brewer and the Legislature.
Panel: Toss one-year wait for lawmakers to become Capitol lobbyists
A state House committee Tuesday narrowly endorsed scrapping a state law the prevents legislators from serving as paid lobbyists at the Capitol for a year after leaving office.
Its author, Rep. Jack W. Harper, R-Surprise, said the moratorium is intended to keep lawmakers from influencing legislation but fails to recognize that staff members are even better positioned to become lobbyist[...]