The Citizens Clean Elections Commission will hold off for two months on approving a proposed anti-dark money rule so the public can consider changes that strips out what many opponents viewed as its most onerous provision.

Secretary of State Michele Reagan plans to bring her opposition to a new reporting rule for campaign spending directly to the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission.

As noted yesterday, education officials have selected American Institutes for Research to provide the achievement test that will be aligned with Common Core at a cost of $19 million. This means Arizona has now fully embraced the controversial education standards, and their chances of getting dismantled have now plummeted to near zero.

Senate President Andy Biggs and 26 other Republican lawmakers oppose passage of a $935 million bond to rebuild Maricopa Medical Center and improve the county’s public health system.

Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers told a Senate committee Wednesday that unless Congress acts to block a Tohono O’odham Nation casino in his city, residents should prepare for widespread Las Vegas-style gaming throughout the Valley.

Anyone who thought rushing SB1062 through the Legislature would leave opponents little time to organize was sorely mistaken. Less than 24 hours after the Arizona House of Representatives approved the bill, massive protests sprang up at the Capitol, business organizations lobbied Gov. Jan Brewer for a veto, and Arizona took center stage in a national media frenzy. By the time Brewer struck down SB1062, a veto was considered a near certainty.

Specter of anonymous campaign spending looms over 2014

Next year’s elections are shaping up like 2012 — organizations with generic names, big checkbooks and secret contributors spending millions to influence Arizona’s elections.

Max Ashton is a senior at Brophy College Preparatory with a 4.0 grade point average. He is also blind.

WASHINGTON – Arizona Republican Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake joined an overwhelming majority of senators Thursday to pass a bill banning workplace discrimination based on an employee’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

When asked how his vote for Medicaid expansion could threaten his chances at another term in the Arizona Legislature, Senate Majority Leader John McComish points to an Arizona Capitol Times newspaper hanging in a frame behind his desk “The risk of defiance,” the headline reads. “What will GOP senators’ ‘no’ votes on immigration bills cost them?”