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Lawmaker: Virus makes need for change to sentencing laws greater than ever
This is all frustrating for Rep. Walt Blackman,R-Snowflake, one of many Arizona lawmakers who over the years have sought to amend the state’s sentencing laws -- some of the strictest in the country -- and improve prison conditions, mostly to no avail.
Second subpoena filed in Rep. Cook ethics probe
A second subpoena has been issued in the House Ethics probe into Rep. David Cook, an embattled Globe Republican who’s the subject of a pair of ethics complaints filed earlier in the year.
Ethics probe into Cook heats up
A fight over document discovery is brewing in a House ethics investigation into an embattled Republican lawmaker.
House GOP caucus cold to gas tax proposal
A proposal to double the state's gasoline tax is in trouble. On Thursday, several Republican lawmakers told Rep. Noel Campbell, R-Prescott, they would not support his proposal for a three-step increase in the levy that eventually would bring it to 36 cents a gallon.
Demise of sanctuary cities measure a mixed bag of politics, protests
The death of the referral marks the end of a two-month saga that began in Ducey’s January State of the State Address, in which it was unveiled as one of several policy proposals that the governor would push through the legislature. Shope received a glowing shoutout. Republicans rose to their feet.
Players in movement to remake Arizona’s criminal justice system
Since conservatives got on board with revamping Arizona’s sentencing laws, bills to do that no longer lay unheard, not considered. And as the movement has taken hold over the past few years, a host of groups and people have made their presence known at the Legislature. Following are some of them.
House committee passes earned release bill
Long-awaited legislation that would create an early release program for people convicted of non-violent crimes passed through the House Judiciary committee Wednesday, offering relief to lawmakers who have fought for broad changes to sentencing laws to no avail for the better part of two years.
Push to remake criminal justice laws hits snag in House
Several bills to revamp criminal justice in Arizona appear to be on life support after the Republican House Judiciary chair decided to hold a trio of bills in retaliation to his own bill being held.
Legislators aim to reassert authority with early budget
Republican leaders in the Arizona House and Senate are moving ahead with plans to draft their own budget proposal by the end of the year, reasserting legislative authority they say they lost during recent years.
Legislators order state audit into how efficiently Hoffman uses ESA oversight funding
Legislators yesterday ordered the state auditor to investigate how the Arizona Department of Education spends the roughly $1.3 million it receives to administer a state voucher program.
The Breakdown: Going courting
On this edition of The Breakdown, our reporters discuss Mark Brnovich, Criminal Justice Reform, and Gov. Doug Ducey's latest court appointment.
Montgomery to high court opens way for criminal justice changes
Lawmakers and advocates who’ve sought for years to overhaul Arizona’s criminal justice system are cautiously optimistic that longtime Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery’s ascension to the state Supreme Court will clear the way for substantive change next legislative session.
