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State lawmakers penning postcards to Congress, others
Rep. Ed Ableser, a Tempe Democrat, wants Congress to urge the NCAA to adopt a college football playoff system. Sen. Jack W. Harper, a Surprise Republican, wants to proclaim that Arizona has no intention of providing assistance to the controversial community-organizing group ACORN. Rep. Chad Campbell, a Phoenix Democrat, wants federal laws aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Cheuvront wants lawmakers’ pay cut if state employees take hit
After shooting down five straight ballot propositions to give state lawmakers a raise, Arizona voters may get a chance to give them pay cut instead.
‘I hate this bill and I vote aye’
Last year, Sen. Jack Harper gave his word that he would vote for a bill to restrict notary publics from notarizing documents that would present a conflict of interest. He made good on his promise by voting for it in committee. But when the bill failed there, Harper said he was relieved that it didn't pass. The situation illustrates the fact that lawmakers sometimes vote for measures they don’t n[...]
Election-year conundrum: Cooperate or not?
A whispered riddle is sweeping the halls of the Capitol: In an election year, Democrats and Republicans like to emphasize their differences, but this year, they'll probably have to cooperate to solve Arizona's massive budget problems.
Brewer’s office: No word on regulatory reform
Eleven months after vowing to slash regulations on Arizona businesses, Gov. Jan Brewer still isn’t saying what existing regulations she will strike down.
Burns Strikes Back
Senate President Bob Burns has sent a message to Senate Republicans: Fall in line or get out of the way.
Burns dissolves Gould’s committee
Senate President Bob Burns terminated a committee chaired by Sen. Ron Gould, a Republican from Lake Havasu City, on Dec. 10. Gould later told the Arizona Capitol Times he has been stripped of his committee chairmanship. Gould has been chairman of the Senate Retirement and Rural Development Committee.
Capitol Quotes 12/4
"My big fear is that the governor is going to play a Grinch for Christmas and put coal in the taxpayers' stockings by hiking taxes." - Sen. Ron Gould, a Republican from Lake Havasu City, saying he would show up if the Legislature convenes for a special session in December.
Burns says strategy worked, but he won’t block non-budget bills in 2010
Senate President Bob Burns has decided to avoid the failed budget-first strategy that locked up his chamber last session and led to an unhinged, last-minute push to pass hundreds of non-budget bills. What he has in mind for the 2010 session is, in some ways, back to the basics. Most committees, for instance, will be free to debate and vote on legislation unrelated to the budget.
Will legislative PACs be used to corral votes?
A pair of political committees created by top legislative Republicans will raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to spend in next year's elections, which is causing some to wonder if it's appropriate for them to wield that kind of power.
Capitol Quotes 11/20
"This state is in crisis and it is very disappointing and frankly embarrassing that one member of our caucus did not have the decency to show up. I left the floor open to give him every opportunity to do the right thing." - Senate President Bob Burns, noting in a media release that he is disappointed that Sen. Thayer Verschoor was absent from the floor during the final Senate vote on budget bills.
Conservative Goldwater Institute rates GOP lawmakers over Democrats in votes upholding liberty
A conservative advocacy group's report card on how Arizona lawmakers uphold its definition of liberty rates every Republican ahead of every Democrat in both houses of the Legislature.
