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Lawmakers cast wary eyes on rosy surplus projections
While they’re uncomfortable with Gov. Jan Brewer’s higher revenue forecast in two years, Republican lawmakers aren’t rejecting her spending plan outright.
In fact, many are agreeable to some of the expenditures Brewer is seeking.
Arizona redistricting commission OKs legislative, congressional maps
Arizona's redistricting commission members divided along party lines Tuesday as they approved maps of new congressional and legislative districts by identical 3-2 votes.
Cortes case, somehow, grows cold
The investigation into the Olivia Cortes candidacy quietly evaporated last week when Gila County Attorney Daisy Flores informed Bennett that she was unable to determine who pulled the strings to collect Cortes’ nominating petition signatures so she could qualify for the recall ballot.
Q&A with Gov. Jan Brewer
Gov. Jan Brewer has never had a legislative session like this.
After three years of fiscal crises and emergency budget fixes, Brewer went into the 2012 legislative session with a projected surplus. The biggest budget problem Brewer faces now is what to do with as much as $1.5 billion in extra revenue.
Q&A with Senate President Steve Pierce
Senate President Steve Pierce has a reputation for being a straight-shooter, and in this interview, it shows.
He’ll tell you what he knows, and if he doesn’t know something, well, he’ll say he doesn’t know it.
Q&A with Senate Minority Leader David Schapira
A year ago, first-term Sen. David Schapira surprisingly cinched the position of Democratic leader.
Now in his second year as minority leader, Schapira is considering another challenge — running for Congress. In this interview, Schapira reiterated he won’t resign from the Legislature should he join that race and assured his constituents he can ably multitask.
Q&A with House Speaker Andy Tobin
The timing for Andy Tobin’s ascension to speaker of the House was pretty favorable. The state is beginning to see an uptick in revenues due to a recovering economy, so the battle over the budget is likely to be less adversarial this session than it was in previous years.
But Tobin cautions against anyone getting the impression that the state has money to burn. As long as the state has[...]
Q&A with House Minority Leader Chad Campbell
It hasn’t been a banner past couple years for the Democrats. Faced with a Republican supermajority, their power at the Legislature has been limited.
Assessing this year’s session, House Minority Leader Chad Campbell has a similarly dim outlook. Democrats are still outnumbered two-to-one, and a looming election may mean lawmakers focus on more ideological issues. But there are some p[...]
Brewer budget plans for slow growth, cautious spending
Gov. Jan Brewer is treading carefully and offering a multiyear budget that plans that includes hundreds of millions in one-time expenditures, but gives the state a financial cushion for the coming fiscal cliff in 2014.
The Governor’s Office today unveiled budget plan for fiscal year 2013 and the remainder of 2012 that is projected to leave the state in the black by about $329 million [...]
Lujan sworn in as newest state Senator
Former state lawmaker David Lujan has returned to the state Capitol to fill the seat left vacant by Kyrsten Sinema.
Lujan was sworn in as the Senate’s newest member in a brief ceremony today, one day after the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors appointed the former House minority leader to the position.
Konopnicki feeling the temptation
With Gosar now officially out of CD1, Konopnicki told our reporter today that he is hoping to make a decision about the race soon.
Democrats plan to seek repeal of immigration law
Democratic lawmakers in Arizona plan to propose a repeal of the state's 2010 immigration enforcement law but concede that the bill won't go far at the Legislature.
