It’s time for Arizona to get smart on crime and join other conservative states by adopting the reforms in SB1064.

Since conservatives got on board with revamping Arizona’s sentencing laws, bills to do that no longer lay unheard, not considered. And as the movement has taken hold over the past few years, a host of groups and people have made their presence known at the Legislature. Following are some of them.

Ultimately, we will never achieve meaningful sentencing reform in Arizona with both sides bashing the other and making “straw dog” arguments based on false mischaracterization of the other’s positions. Instead, we must take baby steps and then measure results as they inform public safety, in much the same way that the recently released APAAC report undertook its detailed and valuable account of recidivism in all categories of offenses. Knowing which categories of offenders recidivate least often can suggest sentencing reductions that are plausible and realistic.

The president and Secretary Zinke are wrong to direct our government to reduce community input in mining decisions. Our communities need up-to-date mining laws that protect our families, our water and our future.

Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery is asking Gov. Doug Ducey to veto legislation to make it more difficult for him and other prosecutors to seize property unless changes are made in the measure.

On ethics, ACC Chairman Tom Forese talked big, then stumbled. The job at re-establishing Arizonans’ trust in the Arizona Corporation Commission will require concrete action.

A panel Gov. Doug Ducey charged with examining ways to improve and simplify public education financing issued a report Wednesday that recommends a complete overhaul of K-12 school funding in Arizona while issuing pointed remarks that current state funding is inadequate.

On Election Day two people close to me were disenfranchised even though they were registered to vote. Why? One is on probation and the other had moved and her voter registration hadn’t kept up with her address.

A self-proclaimed property tax reformer is making yet another attempt to convince voters to impose new caps on the annual levy. Lynne Weaver has taken the first steps to putting a measure on the 2016 ballot that would essentially freeze property valuations at where they are now and allow in most cases for only inflationary increases.

Faced with the prospect of an insolvent retirement system, the Arizona firefighters union has largely embraced a pension reform proposal offered by the Legislature four years ago and have hunkered down to put their own version of that plan into motion.