Ethics Committee: Expel Patterson
After two hours of back-and-forth discussion, the House Ethics Committee today voted to recommend Rep. Daniel Patterson’s expulsion from the House of Representatives, and one committee member said to expect a full House vote on the recommendation later this afternoon.
Patterson demands ethics hearing to cross-examine accusers
Rep. Daniel Patterson today demanded that the House Ethics Committee give him an opportunity to testify before its members, cross-examine his accusers and address each incident of impropriety anonymously claimed against him.
Patterson said the ethics charges against him result from a group of lobbyists and lawmakers who sought a reason to have him kicked out of office, and one civil rig[...]
GOP lawmakers raise voting rights concerns with DOJ
In a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice, two Republican lawmakers said the congressional and legislative maps approved by the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission fall short in protecting minority voting strength.
Sponsor promises to narrow contraception bill
A conservative bill that aimed to limit birth control coverage and generated a heated political fight is being revived in the Arizona Legislature.
Horne uses accuser’s words against him
Using his accuser’s own words against him, Attorney General Tom Horne emphatically denied allegations that he illegally collaborated with an independent expenditure campaign in 2010 and labeled the prosecutor’s actions as a tactic aimed at preserving his job.
In a press conference today, Horne quoted several comments made by Don Dybus, originally reported in the Arizona Capitol Ti[...]
Arizona House rejects immediate ouster of Patterson
The Arizona House has refused to immediately expel Rep. Daniel Patterson over allegations of inappropriate behavior toward other lawmakers but agreed to speed up the pending ethics case against the newly turned independent from Tucson.
Texting while driving ban resurfaces, then fails
The attempt to stop Arizonans from sending LOLs and emoticons while operating a vehicle suffered a serious blow today, leaving a slim chance that the prohibition will become law this year.
Lawmakers spar over sweeping anti-abortion bill
Republicans and Democrats in the Senate sparred Thursday over sweeping anti-abortion legislation that generally bans abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy and institutes new disclosure requirements, including one that requires women to look at a state-run website with images of fetuses at two-week intervals.
Schapira: Leader of evangelical lobby quashed anti-bullying bill
A Democratic leader has accused the head of an influential evangelical Christian advocacy group of orchestrating the demise of his anti-bullying legislation.
Lawmakers pick fight with feds over public lands
Some Western lawmakers are pushing for a showdown with Washington over federally-controlled land, picking a fight on an issue that they say puts an economic stranglehold on their states.
Committee gives preliminary OK to bill toughening penalties for border tunnels
Citing the high number of cross–border tunnels that pop up in Arizona and California, a House committee Tuesday passed a bill toughening laws against the use of tunnels for smuggling underneath the U.S.-Mexico border.
Horne joins other GOP attorneys general blasting federal ‘overreach’
Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne joined other attorneys general Monday to criticize the Obama administration’s “unprecedented” overreach of federal authority that they said have led to a torrent of lawsuits over immigration, voting rights, health care and more.