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Spending 2020: From $1B windfall to survival
When they returned to work in January, Arizona lawmakers faced a financial situation colleagues everywhere would envy: an extra, unbudgeted $1 billion.
House and Senate Republicans introduce school closure plans
Republicans in the House and Senate have filed legislation to allow teachers to educate their students in “alternative” formats as schools grapple with statewide closures in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Arizona lawmakers mull shutting down session to prevent coronavirus spread
A House Democrat has announced he’ll be stepping back from most lawmaking duties for the remainder of the session amid calls from some legislators to temporarily suspend the session to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus, known as COVID-19.
Republican senators paying this year for 2019 budget holdout
Cancer-stricken firefighters, low-income pregnant women who need dental care and students pursuing careers as teachers or nurses stand to pay the political costs for two state senators who bucked their party leadership nearly a year ago.
It should never be too late to earn high school diploma
Thousands of Arizonans need a second chance to complete a high school education. For their sake and our own, it’s time we gave it to them.
Panel OKs Ducey project to lift low-performing schools
Gov. Doug Ducey’s proposal to give money to low-income schools through a pilot project dubbed “Project Rocket” is taking shape and moving through the House of Representatives, but not everyone is pleased.
Big fights loom over few differences in GOP spending proposals
Cage fighting has begun at the state Capitol.
Rep. Udall to ask for $43 million to launch school achievement plan
Gov. Doug Ducey plans to expand on a successful pilot program to help close the achievement gap in schools across Arizona, targeting low-income areas with lower-performing students.
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.
Expect revival of pet bills that failed to survive
Even after settling on a multi-billion spending plan for the next year, there was plenty left unsettled when lawmakers went home for the summer.
Committee chairs seek balance between gatekeeper and ‘God’
The first major hurdle every piece of legislation faces in the House or Senate is a committee leader with the ability to unilaterally kill bills, and some chairs are more willing to do it than others.
