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Arizona Senate votes down 4 conservative bills
The Arizona Senate on Monday voted against four conservative Republican bills targeting employee unions and a set of educational standards known nationally as Common Core.
Anti-Common Core bills defeated in state Senate
Five Senate Republicans again helped Democrats kill two bills that would have undermined Common Core.
Senate panel kills bill requiring local permission for federal law efforts
Arizona Senate bills requiring federal agents to register with a local sheriff and barring federal officials from making arrests without the sheriff's permission have essentially been killed over constitutional concerns.
Arizona GOP lawmakers take aim at feds once again
Three proposals show the Republican-controlled Arizona Legislature's penchant for wagging its finger at the federal government is far from satisfied despite rebukes from federal courts on the state's efforts to control immigration reform and push the limits of abortion restrictions.
Chicken bill advances: Panel approves ‘Homegrown Freedom Act’
An Arizona Senate panel advanced a bill that will allow a chicken in every backyard, despite the objections of Chandler city officials concerned with how modern neighborhoods will adjust to farm animals.
Fine-tuning last year’s oversights and unintended consequences
When it comes to cleaning up legislation, there’s always an opportunity next year, which is the case with these bills that were heavily vetted and debated in 2013, but still require some fine-tuning in the 2014 legislative session.
Extracting funds for K-12
Crandell’s overhaul of school finance plan attracts skepticism and support
It’s a puzzle that has vexed policymakers, education leaders and business groups for decades, but it’s one that Sen. Chester Crandell hopes to solve: How can the state revamp education funding to be both fair and simple?
Capitol Quotes: Nov. 29, 2014
This week's most outstanding political quips, gibes and utterances.
Costs soar for new Common Core achievement test
The cost per student for the new test to measure progress under Common Core is nearly 50 per cent more than the AIMS test, causing sticker shock among some lawmakers and advocates for the learning standards.
Livingston scores a perfect legislative batting average
The award for best legislative batting average for the session — the calculation of bills introduced versus bills signed into law — goes to Rep. David Livingston, a freshman Republican lawmaker from Peoria who has been vocally critical of the governor.
Moratorium leads to near-record number of Brewer vetoes
The bill moratorium that rankled lawmakers as Gov. Jan Brewer started applying pressure to pass her Medicaid expansion plan helped push her to a near-record number of vetoes in 2013.
Brewer vetoed 26 bills this year, the second highest total of her career, behind the 29 she rejected in 2011.
After losing control of Senate, Biggs looks on as new majority emerges
The Arizona Senate’s passage of a budget plan that includes Medicaid expansion on May 16 was a tremendous victory for Gov. Jan Brewer, as well as the lawmakers who stuck their necks out for the governor — most notably Senate Majority Leader John McComish, who sponsored the amendment that added expansion to the budget plan.
