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Dems ready to work with Brewer on Medicaid expansion, but express caution
Gov. Jan Brewer’s bombshell on Medicaid expansion in her State of the State speech Jan. 14 led many Democratic lawmakers to give her proposal a standing ovation for the first time in her four years at the dais.
Lawmakers crafting responses to election concerns
The large number of provisional ballots cast in November has two lawmakers so far proposing ways to address the issue. Rep. Chad Campbell, D-Phoenix, the House minority leader, said he is drafting legislation to form a committee to study election problems and recommend legislation.
Crandall offers new school security proposal
Sen. Rich Crandall, a Mesa Republican, jumped into the school security fray today by announcing a proposal to raid extra Clean Elections funds to pay for more cops in schools and provide training for armed teachers and training school counselors to identify mentally unstable students.
Fiscal crisis past, Legislature still to be frugal in 2013
With a fiscal crisis that forced billions of dollars in state government cuts mainly over, the Arizona Legislature enters its 2013 session Monday with a budget surplus but little appetite among majority Republicans to loosen the purse strings. The state has socked away about $450 million in a rainy day fund and has more than $1 billion in total surplus going into the budget year that begins Jul[...]
Campbell offers comprehensive plan to reduce gun violence
House Minority Leader Chad Campbell’s ideas for preventing a mass school shooting in Arizona include more cops in schools, more money pumped into the public-health system and stricter gun laws.
With a school resource officer and an award winning school counselor to help him make his case at a Jan. 9 press conference, Campbell said the cost of his 12-point plan would be $261 million. T[...]
Lawmaker proposing more money for School Resource Officers to help prevent shootings
Arizona’s answer to the Newtown, Conn., massacre could be an infusion of guns next year on school campuses, either in the form of more cops, heat-packing principals or patrols of retired police officers and military veterans carrying concealed weapons.
Wild West moments of 2012
While the mood at the state Capitol this past year might be best described as riotous, 2012 — the Chinese Year of the Dragon — was marked with fewer gaffes, catfights and over-the-top name calling among Arizona’s political elite.
AG’s Office, sheriffs to provide firearms training to school personnel
In the wake of the massacre that left 20 children dead at a Connecticut elementary school, the Arizona Attorney General’s Office wants to provide firearms training to one employee at every school.
Under the plan, which Attorney General Tom Horne announced today, every K-12 school in the state can designate its principal or another employee to receive extensive training to in firearms[...]
Brewer visits U.S. troops in Afghanistan
Gov. Jan Brewer slipped out of the country and into war-torn Afghanistan for a few days, visiting U.S. troops, including National Guard members from Arizona.
Dems hoping Brewer will reach out on health care issues
If Gov. Jan Brewer pushes for a state-run health insurance exchange or Medicaid expansion next session, there is little doubt that she’ll need more than just Republican votes.
House sets committee rosters, Dems stronger on Appropriations
The House of Representatives released its committee assignments yesterday, leaving Democrats, who control 40 percent of the seats in the chamber, with 35.8 percent of the committee assignments. But Minority Leader Chad Campbell said the margins are still better than in previous years.
