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Recent series of political plights plague governor
The bad news started when a pedestrian was struck and killed by a self-driving Uber SUV in Tempe. Some blame was directed at Gov. Doug Ducey for welcoming the technology company to test autonomous vehicles in Arizona with little-to-no oversight.
Turf wars plentiful in health care practice expansion process
The sunrise review process is one of the more obscure proceedings at the Arizona Legislature, but it’s also the battleground for recurring turf wars.
Chiropractors use opioid crisis to bolster request for Medicaid coverage
Arizona chiropractors will push for the state’s Medicaid program to cover chiropractic care in the next legislative session, the industry’s lobbyist said. And the extension of Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System coverage to chiropractors ties into efforts to combat the opioid crisis, the Arizona Association for Chiropractic claims.
Democrats almost had a voice in budget process, but Republicans didn’t hear them
Republicans say Democrats overplayed their hand. Gov. Doug Ducey and GOP leaders were willing to talk, but Democrats asked for too much and were too firmly entrenched in their request to make negotiating a reality.
Partisan politics not in play with most legislation
Most legislation comes from citizens, businesses, organizations and associations who are confronted by a specific problem that needs redress. They look at their options at the state and political subdivision level. They look at their legal opportunities and whether court action might address the issue. And frequently they decide that fixing a perceived statutory deficiency is their best option.
Legislature is more bipartisan than most people realize
If you are ever asked what you do for a living and you reply, “I am a lobbyist” what usually follows is a rant about how the Legislature can never get anything done, that everything is so partisan and that there is incredible gridlock.
Experts: Arizona tourism hasn’t fully recovered, but has seen ‘moderate’ improvement
Arizona’s Office of Tourism escaped initial plans to cut $4.5 million from next year’s budget, a move industry lobbyist Barry Aarons called a “big victory for the industry.”
Quaker group hopes to boost state budget by reducing mandatory sentences
A Quaker group is testing the waters for reducing Arizona’s mandatory minimum sentences as a way to save money.
Brewer modest but successful in last session
Gov. Jan Brewer’s agenda in her final regular legislative session lacked the blockbuster policies, drag-out fights and frayed nerves of 2013. Instead, the governor proposed a far more modest agenda in 2014. Relatively small spending increases in a few key areas, two low-profile economic development bills and legislation strengthening the state’s human trafficking laws were among the biggest po[...]
Experts: Brewer has as much power as ever during final year as governor
This may be Gov. Jan Brewer’s last legislative session on the Ninth Floor, but denizens of the Capitol expect it to be a year like any other for her.
Bills trickle in as lawmakers assess effects of last year’s bitter session
If the number of bills that have been pre-filed in advance of Arizona’s 2014 legislative session are any indication, lawmakers won’t have much to do at the Copper Dome this year.
Wounds from Medicaid battle to haunt 2014 session
A simmering ideological divide among Republicans surged to the surface this year, when Gov. Jan Brewer pushed unexpectedly for the expansion of Medicaid against the wishes of her party.
