Sign In
Free Newsletter
House approves changes to ASRS system
The House approved a measure that would repeal automatic benefit increases for new state employees, and change benefits for surviving family members of deceased Arizona state employees.
AZ House OKs bill requiring workers to prove eligibility to get unemployment benefits
The Arizona House of Representatives has approved a bill that shifts to workers the burden of proving that they're eligible for unemployment insurance benefits.
Outbreak fears rise as childhood immunization exemptions increase
The percentage of Arizona parents citing personal beliefs in opting out of vaccines required for children has increased steadily since 2000 yet remains relatively low overall: 3.4 percent among kindergartners during the 2011-2012 school year, for example.
Republicans ignore foreclosure settlement agreement
Earlier this year, Joseph Smith, who monitors the $25 billion mortgage settlement fund for 49 states, declined to comment on the Arizona legislative Republicans’ decision to sweep $50 million from Arizona’s portion of this settlement.
Ethics Committee: Expel Patterson
After two hours of back-and-forth discussion, the House Ethics Committee today voted to recommend Rep. Daniel Patterson’s expulsion from the House of Representatives, and one committee member said to expect a full House vote on the recommendation later this afternoon.
Arizona legislators again say yes to free tickets
It's been a year since the Fiesta Bowl scandal embarrassed legislators, but at least some Arizona lawmakers still like their perks. The Arizona Diamondbacks have again offered free tickets to legislators for the baseball team's first game of the season, and a team executive said Tuesday that at least 40 of the 90 senators and representatives have accepted so far.
Capitol Quotes: March 16, 2012
This week’s most outstanding quips, jibes and utterances.
McCune Davis says Legislature is more ‘locked in philosophy’ this time around
As Rep. Debbie McCune Davis enters her 26th year of service as a lawmaker, she reveals how losing a Corporation Commission race helped her career and the issues that keep her coming back to the Legislature, even when she’s at odds with how it’s functioning.
Resolution would lower minimum wage for some Arizona workers
A state lawmaker wants Arizona voters to decide in November whether to allow a lower minimum wage for tipped workers and younger part-time and temporary employees.
Democratic lawmakers offer bills addressing foreclosure crisis
Allowing owners of foreclosed homes to remain as renters for at least a year would stabilize neighborhoods and minimize the fallout for families, a state lawmaker contends.
Goldwater Institute ‘lobbies’ against registering more lobbyists
The Goldwater Institute is among the most powerful public-policy groups in Arizona.
The organization’s employees draft legislation, regularly meet with lawmakers and testify before committee hearings at the state Capitol. The group even advocated for the call of a 2010 special session in which lawmakers sought to give workers the right to a secret ballot in union elections.
[...]
Good news on Arizona unemployment equals bad news
Gov. Jan Brewer wants legislators to act in special session to prevent a cutoff of 20 weeks of extended unemployment benefits that are now at risk because Arizona's unemployment rate has dropped.
