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A majority under pressure reveals legislative fissures
Early the morning of May 7, a Thursday, a motley crew of senior Senate Republicans and their Democratic counterparts, disregarding a chorus of conflicting desires from the membership as a whole, pulled the plug on the 2020 legislative session.
Legislature on track to adjourn May 1
The Arizona Legislature will end its session next week, killing hundreds of outstanding bills and giving lawmakers several months to hunker down and prepare to come back in the summer -- by which time a clearer picture will emerge of the state’s financial and physical health.
Lawmakers grateful for rainy-day fund, some hold to principles against it
As some grocery store shelves lay as bare as Cactus League stadiums and restaurant dining rooms, lawmakers in the Arizona Legislature are scurrying to wrap up their business, begin their social isolation and hunker down for a storm. Their rainy day is here.
Old tactics, new territory as lawmakers embrace partisan COVID-19 framing
In any other week, Rep. Anthony Kern’s dinner choices wouldn’t have mattered to anyone but the most fervent crusader against lobbyist influence. This week, depending on who you ask, he’s either a hero fighting government overreach or the face of irresponsibility.
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.
Backward land legislation infringes on personal property rights, shortsighted
Rep. Mark Finchem and Sen. Sonny Borrelli have taken a backward and myopic view of our shared public lands, while at the same time directly infringing on the rights of private landowners. That’s no small accomplishment.
Bills would prohibit landowners from transferring private property to feds
Fearing an eroding tax base, two Republican legislators are leading efforts to block private individuals from transferring property to the federal government.
Republicans paint Democrat Hoffman as state’s political fiend
The 2018 election gave Arizona Democrats their biggest wins in a decade, with three statewide victories and narrower margins in the state House.
Hoffman, school choice group clash over voucher program
A school choice organization fired its third broadside in as many months against the Arizona Department of Education, accusing the Democratic administration of playing fast and loose with state laws to stifle the voucher program.
Senate approves horse racing bill despite sponsor’s objections
The Senate passed a bill Wednesday regulating horse racing simulcasts Wednesday over pleas from the original sponsor to kill it.
Lawmaker to take bid to ban politics in classroom to ballot
The initiative filed with the Secretary of State's Office would require the state Board of Education to adopt a "classroom code of conduct.''
House passes proposed repeal of ‘no promo homo’ law
The House voted today by a wide margin to strike down the state’s “no promo homo” law and render a lawsuit against the decades-old provision moot.
