Senate committee passes bill to add restrictions to recall elections
A Senate panel voted Thursday to erect some new hurdles in the path of those seeking to recall state and local elected officials.
Panel OKs bill to require warning about Voter Protection Act
As advocacy groups gather signatures for far-reaching ballot initiatives on everything from criminal justice to marijuana legalization to voting rights, Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 23 endorsed a bill that opponents warned could confuse voters instead of informing them.
Education groups consider measure to tax rich – and poor
The activists behind last year’s Invest in Education Act are considering a comeback – they’re eyeing a sales tax hike, an idea they have routinely rejected in the past as regressive and detrimental to the poor.
English immersion repeal priority of schools chief, Dems, GOP
Reyna Montoya was a math whiz, but she didn’t speak English when she was 13.
Court says 2016 school funding measure illegal
Gov. Doug Ducey acted illegally in pushing his 2016 plan to take money for K-12 education out of a trust account without first getting congressional approval, a federal judge has ruled.
Democrats reject opening up presidential primary to independents
A fiery debate at the party’s state committee meeting pitted party loyalists worried about legal expenses against younger activists, who argued that opening the primary election lives up to the party ideal of expanding voting rights.
Speaker says Planned Parenthood, SPI Hoffman trying to sexually radicalize children
The top Republican in the Arizona House of Representatives told a group of parents this weekend that attempts to revise the state’s sex education standards would create more customers for Planned Parenthood and help teachers seduce students.
Lawmakers: Ducey silent on pushing gun control measure
In the wake of yet another round of mass shooting, this time in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio, Gov. Doug Ducey is again touting a policy that would allow judges to force people determined to be a danger to themselves or others to surrender their weapons, at least temporarily.
Liberal groups, lawmakers call for police blacklist
More than a dozen liberal organizations and Democratic lawmakers are asking Bill Montgomery to establish an exclusion list of law enforcement officers with a history of dishonesty, bias, or violence.
Allen weathers criticism of racially-charged comments
The Democratic senator and liberal activists who delivered more than 1,000 petitions calling for Sen. Sylvia Allen to lose her position as leader of the Senate Education Committee Wednesday morning acknowledged that Allen isn’t likely to go anywhere.
The Breakdown: Between the lines
One Democratic lawmaker wants to spend 2020 tackling a unique form of gerrymandering, and argues that inmates in Arizona prisoners shouldn’t count towards the population of the legislative district that the prison is drawn in.
Lawmaker condemned for saying US might look like South America
A veteran Arizona legislator is apologizing while defending herself from criticism for comments she made on immigration and birth rates.