Republicans who pushed for Senate Bill 1152 intending to spark a lawsuit over consolidated elections will likely get their wish.

The League of Arizona Cities and Towns and the Arizona Association of Counties fended off a bonding plan that would have allowed the state’s three public universities to keep the sales taxes they ordinarily would have paid to the state, cities and counties.

For the past 11 years, Ken Strobeck has fought for cities’ rights at the Legislature as the director of the League of Arizona Cities and Towns. Strobeck spoke to the Arizona Capitol Times about the tension between states and cities, his time in the Oregon Legislature and motorcycles.

DOR last week decided to put part of Brewer’s 2013 TPT reform package on hold for a year. In an Oct. 7 letter to League of Arizona Cities and Towns Executive Director Ken Strobeck, DOR Director David Raber said the agency is delaying the implementation of the single point of administration provision for one year

Dissident Republicans met off and on all day behind closed doors in their bid to have the nearly $9.2 billion spending plan approved last week by the Senate expanded to deal with their own priorities. At least part of that includes additional spending for the new Division of Child Welfare, created by Gov. Jan Brewer to replace the troubled Child Protective Services.

Mayors of Arizona cities offered an alternative plan to simplify the state’s sales tax code today, hours before a Senate panel began tackling key provisions of Gov. Jan Brewer’s proposal.

The outlines of a potential compromise between municipalities and supporters of a bill that seeks to simplify the state’s sales tax system emerged this month, a few days after the governor’s office pitched the idea to mayors.

Gov. Jan Brewer’s plan to simplify Arizona’s sales tax system could undercut revenues for growing communities through changes in how construction materials are taxed, according to a report by the nonprofit Grand Canyon Institute.

Gov. Jan Brewer today announced her plans for simplifying Arizona’s complicated sales tax system, which followed recommendations from a task force on eliminating the multiple jurisdictions and layers of bureaucracy that businesses face in paying transaction privilege taxes.

Personal problems, problems from constituents and even problems that admittedly don’t exist are sometimes the basis for bills Arizona lawmakers introduce.