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Ariz. Senate panel votes to kill Medicaid program
A divided Arizona Senate committee voted Wednesday to eliminate the cash-short state's Medicaid program and replace it with a much smaller system that would cover only a fraction of low-income people now served.
Bill to kill Ariz. Medicaid system to get hearing
The chairman of an Arizona Senate committee has scheduled a hearing on his bill to repeal the state's Medicaid program, the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System.
GOP argument: Lawmakers’ duty is to expand economy, not protect state revenues
While business groups cheer the massive tax cuts passed in the loftily titled Arizona Competitiveness Package — known to most as the jobs bill — some people who rely on that disappearing revenue are wringing their hands over what the future may hold.
Despite strong criticism, jobs bill passes
The jobs bill, announced on Monday and debated fiercely since, has passed the Arizona House and the Senate, even as many legislators acknowledged its flaws.
Casino survives, but opposition group’s clout undiminished
On the surface, the outcome of the Legislature’s voting looked like a defeat for the Center for Arizona Policy, a faith-based advocacy lobby that has been winning at the state Capitol for most of the last decade.
Recall drive against Brewer a grass-roots effort
An Arizona woman who filed an application to launch a recall campaign against Gov. Jan Brewer says it's a grass-roots effort but one that may require use of paid circulators to force a recall election.
Birthright proposal not on the majority agenda
For the most powerful man in the Senate, denying American citizenship to children born to undocumented aliens is the next step in the Arizona-led crusade to confront illegal immigration in the country. But a majority of Senate President Russell Pearce’s colleagues don’t see it as a priority, and they may not go along if the so-called birthright citizenship bill is voted on before the Legislatu[...]
Economist: Ariz. spending cuts bad budget choice
An Arizona State University economist says spending cuts proposed by Gov. Jan Brewer to help balance the state budget would subtract more jobs from the state's economy than the alternative of raising taxes.
Filing of birthright citizenship bills set for Thursday
Sponsors of legislation targeting automatic citizenship granted to U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants say they plan to formally introduce their bills in the Arizona House and Senate on Thursday.
Budget Plan B may not exist, or it may mean ‘K-12, beware’
Last year, Brewer and the Republican-led Legislature adopted a budget plan that relied on revenues that never materialized. This year, the governor is proposing Medicaid cuts that the federal government may disapprove or worse, state courts may strike down as illegal.
Bill would legalize gaming at dog and horse tracks
A proposal to legalize gambling at Arizona dog and horse tracks has once again surfaced at the Legislature.
Democrats protest, but House, Senate panels pass waiver request to drop 280,000 from Medicaid
Despite vigorous objections from Democrats, Republican-controlled House and Senate panels gave Jan Brewer the authority to ask for the feds' permission to drastically scale back subsidized medical coverage for Arizonans.
