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Senate OKs bill to allow employers to deny contraception coverage; but deal in works
Persuaded by a promise to substantially narrow the legislation, the Senate today passed a measure to allow employers with religious objections to not pay for their workers’ contraception coverage.
Secretary of State: Independent to replace Patterson
Southern Arizona Democrats’ hopes to have former Rep. Daniel Patterson replaced by one of their own were dashed today when the Secretary of State said the legislative seat will be filled by an independent.
Patterson re-registered as a Democrat before resigning
Last week, Daniel Patterson ditched his Democratic Party affiliation and registered as an independent, decrying partisan politics at the Capitol.
But at some point yesterday, Patterson re-registered as a Democrat, the Pima County Recorders Office confirmed. The Pima County Democratic chairman said Patterson told him he did it before he resigned, a move that thrusts the appointment proc[...]
Ethics Committee: Expel Patterson
After two hours of back-and-forth discussion, the House Ethics Committee today voted to recommend Rep. Daniel Patterson’s expulsion from the House of Representatives, and one committee member said to expect a full House vote on the recommendation later this afternoon.
GOP lawmakers raise voting rights concerns with DOJ
In a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice, two Republican lawmakers said the congressional and legislative maps approved by the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission fall short in protecting minority voting strength.
Sponsor promises to narrow contraception bill
A conservative bill that aimed to limit birth control coverage and generated a heated political fight is being revived in the Arizona Legislature.
Arizona House rejects immediate ouster of Patterson
The Arizona House has refused to immediately expel Rep. Daniel Patterson over allegations of inappropriate behavior toward other lawmakers but agreed to speed up the pending ethics case against the newly turned independent from Tucson.
Dem leader: Fear among lawmakers could lead to Patterson expulsion Tuesday
House Minority Leader Chad Campbell says he may seek for the expulsion of Rep. Daniel Patterson as soon as Tuesday because some members of his caucus believe their lives are in danger as long as Patterson remains an elected official.
Compromise could scrap ballot measure on Clean Elections
A proposed ballot measure to effectively dismantle Arizona's system that provides public money for state election candidates' campaigns would itself be scrapped under a compromise between the program's supporters and opponents.
FBI investigating Tom Horne for campaign violations
Federal authorities are investigating Attorney General Tom Horne over allegations that he illegally collaborated with an independent expenditure committee that spent more than a half-million dollars on negative ads against his Democratic opponent in 2010, the Arizona Capitol Times has learned.
A complaint filed in February by a prosecutor in Horne’s own office - and a onetime[...]
Patterson calls ethics investigation ‘fishing expedition,’ then leaves town
Rep. Daniel Patterson on Wednesday afternoon filed his formal response to the ethics investigation into allegations that he beat his ex-girlfriend, maintaining that the probe is warrantless and calling for the charges to be dropped.
Around the same time Patterson’s assistant turned the formal response over to the House Chief Clerk’s office, he had state police drive him to the airpor[...]
Brewer vetoes electronic billboard law
Saying she doesn’t want to put the state’s astronomy industry in jeopardy, Gov. Jan Brewer today vetoed a bill to legalize electronic billboards along highways.
