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Free NewsletterLegislature 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.
Mandate for printed public notices debated
A bill awaiting action in the Arizona House would allow local governments, businesses and other entities to post required public notices on the Internet instead of printing them in newspapers in towns and cities around the state.
GOP leader: More illegal immigration bills coming next session
Senate President Russell Pearce has been ousted, but his allies in the Legislature aren’t about to let his defeat deter them from pushing anti-illegal immigration measures that the outgoing senator would undoubtedly like to see become law.
Bills on guns, money and power take effect
The Legislature passed dozens of laws this year that will affect the daily lives of Arizonans, but many of them have been eclipsed by the attention given to the state's new immigration law.
Sine Die Watch Day 1: A packed agenda and a late night
UPDATE: After voting on about two dozen measures, the Senate has taken a recess to allow lawmakers to have dinner.
House bill deadline passes; 1,230 bills this year
The deadline for new legislation has come and gone, as the bill hopper in the House of Representatives closed at 5 p.m. Feb. 8, a week after senators had last call for new bills.
‘I hate this bill and I vote aye’
Last year, Sen. Jack Harper gave his word that he would vote for a bill to restrict notary publics from notarizing documents that would present a conflict of interest. He made good on his promise by voting for it in committee. But when the bill failed there, Harper said he was relieved that it didn't pass. The situation illustrates the fact that lawmakers sometimes vote for measures they don’t n[...]
