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Vetting panel chooses 5 finalists for IRC chair
The most powerful, unpaid political figure in Arizona for the next decade will either be a teacher, a businessman, an attorney for a public utility, a gun store owner or a psychologist-turned-life coach.
IRC chair – the state’s most important political figure
An aide to Gov. Doug Ducey, a former top attorney for the state’s largest utility company and a former attorney at the Goldwater Institute are among 39 applicants for the chair of the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission.
Critics warn of legal obstacles to deregulation
Arizona’s energy regulators dug deep into the legal complications surrounding a proposal to open up the state’s electric market to competition.
Sailing away? Arizona facing decision to save or do away with Clean Elections
As fewer candidates choose to run for office using Arizona’s Clean Elections system, lawmakers are sensing the system’s vulnerability and are preparing to deal a death blow.
New Year’s resolution: Constitutional convention
Goldwater Institute attorney Nick Dranias is adding another line on his résumé – director of Compact for America, a Texas-based nonprofit group whose goal is to convene a constitutional convention for a balanced budget amendment.
Facts don’t add up in study of government worker pay
A few months ago, the city of Phoenix rolled out a $450,000 taxpayer-funded report showing that local governmental workers were paid 6 percent more in aggregate wages and benefits than private sector workers on average.
GOLDWATER-ed down: Think tank’s issues generate big splash, few ripples
The Goldwater Institute, a think tank known for its dogged pursuit of conservative ideals, laid down an ambitious — and combative — agenda at the state Capitol this year.
Time to give our first freedom as much respect as the second
A handful of elected officials in the Arizona Legislature have repeatedly tried to intimidate and silence Goldwater Institute analysts out of giving testimony in support of or in opposition to legislation this year. In one case, an elected official forced a Goldwater Institute attorney, who asked to speak on behalf of the Institute, to refrain from speaking because she was not a registered lobbyis[...]
One more reason to reform all government unions
Responding to a piece containing blatant falsehoods is often difficult – if you rebut each falsehood, you risk legitimizing nonsense. That’s the challenge posed by the opinion piece in the March 16 edition of the Arizona Capitol Times, “Law enforcement not the place for political ideology,” written by Jim Clure, a representative of the government union known as PLEA (Phoenix Law Enforce[...]
Union members rally, warn of dire consequences for workers, lawmakers
A coalition of unions rallied at the Capitol to oppose a slate of anti-union legislation, warning that the passage of the bills would carry dire consequences for both workers who would lose their rights and lawmakers who would lose their elections.
Goldwater Institute branded as ‘lobbyist’ for anti-union bills
Behind an array of proposals to weaken unions is a small but influential conservative group that is partly responsible for moving Arizona’s needle to the right of the political spectrum.
The Goldwater Institute developed and drafted legislation that is now the focal point of what could be the biggest political fight at the state Capitol this year.
But now the group itself, [...]
Political firestorm looms as lawmakers advance strict anti-labor measures
In what is shaping up as one of the biggest political fights this year, conservative lawmakers are pushing a slew of measures that would fundamentally weaken public-sector unions in Arizona.
Taken together, the anti-union bills that were approved this week by a legislative committee are more restrictive than what was enacted in Wisconsin, where political turmoil erupted after its govern[...]
