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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.
It’s ‘striker’ season at the Arizona Capitol
Watch out, it's striker season. No, that's not some obscure reference to spring training or a new term for haboobs, but a favorite subversive tactic of Arizona lawmakers at the Capitol this time of year.
Bill offers students a break on hunting licenses
Full-time, nonresident college students looking for something fun to do on spring break can get a financial break on a hunting license if a bill approved by the House gets signed into law.
Online Impersonation bill could silence satirical critics
In recent years, several state lawmakers have had fake, unflattering social media accounts spring up in their names.
Lawmakers plan to resurrect bills that didn’t pass in previous years
Neither the governor’s veto, nor a ballot measure’s resounding defeat at the polls will stop Sen. Al Melvin from reviving a plan to convert federal land to state land.
Election results official — let the bill introductions begin
Now that the election results have been officially canvassed and certified, returning legislators and their new colleagues can start introducing legislation for next year’s session.
Legislature passes job-creating reforms in taxes, regulations, civil justice and education
The two years of the 50th Arizona Legislature will go down in the history books as the years when the Legislature hit reboot on the Arizona economy and turned what was a basket case into a best case.
Bills caught in the logjam
Here’s a list of some of the most controversial, substantive or prominent measures that are awaiting a vote, struggling to get support or are simply caught in the moratorium and are ready to be sent to the governor’s desk.
Bills stacking up after Brewer threatens mass vetoes
The 2012 session appears to be in its final days, but some of the biggest pieces of legislation this year — including Gov. Jan Brewer’s proposal to make it easier to fire state employees — remain stuck at the state Capitol.
The glut of measures yet to be passed — or in some cases held by legislative leaders — is at least partially a result of an embargo on sending bills to the[...]
Religious Rights: Bills target broad range of perceived attacks on beliefs
Already steeped in the battle over abortion and contraception in health plans, social conservatives have also ramped up their efforts to advance religious expression in the public square, taking advantage of the dominance of policymakers at the state Capitol with similar impulses.
It’s crunch time for legislative committees
Arizona legislators are in a crunch time in their 2012 regular session. This is the last week for most House and Senate committees to consider bills, and many committee agendas for this week are packed with legislation recently approved by the other chamber.
Immigration measures stuck in committees
Two anti-illegal immigration bills that were among a slew of measures last session that divided the Senate Republican caucus are stuck in committee and the odds of their passage appear dim.
