Biggs, Crane join conservatives who block Defense bill, as shutdown looms
Two Arizona lawmakers were among five GOP House members who broke ranks recently and voted to block the Defense authorization bill, the latest twist in a budget fight that could cause a government shutdown on Oct. 1.
First generation of solar panels will wear out, recycling industry taking shape
In Yuma, a desert city where Arizona, California, Sonora and Baja California meet, North America's first utility-scale solar panel recycling plant has opened to address what founders of We Recycle Solar call a "tsunami" of solar waste. Plans to address climate change rely on massively scaling up clean, solar electricity.
First legislative sessions after Roe produce patchwork of abortion laws
A year after the U.S. Supreme Court returned regulation of abortion to the states, the first full legislative sessions post-Roe v. Wade produced a lot of confusion and little agreement, with more extreme measures going so far as to propose criminalizing pregnant people – once unthinkable on all sides of the debate.
Supreme Court nixes Biden plan for $430 billion in student-loan relief
The Supreme Court on Friday struck down a Biden administration student-debt relief plan that would have aided more than 40 million people, 916,000 of whom live in Arizona and currently hold a total of $32.6 billion in loans.
Sinema cites bill targeting leaders of failed banks after criticism of her Wall Street ties
Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, the Democratic defector turned independent who's been criticized as too closely aligned with Wall Street interests, took credit Thursday for helping broker legislation that would target executives of failed banks.
Supreme Court tossed out heart of Voting Rights Act, next ruling could go further
Within hours of a U.S. Supreme Court decision dismantling a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, Texas lawmakers announced plans to implement a strict voter ID law that had been blocked by a federal court. Lawmakers in Alabama said they would press forward with a similar law that had been on hold, while the Supreme Court weakened another section of the Voting Rights Act with a ruling from Arizo[...]
GOP states targeting diversity, equity efforts in higher ed
Republican lawmakers in at least a dozen states have proposed more than 30 bills this year targeting diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in higher education, an Associated Press analysis found using the bill-tracking software Plural.
Children cannot be required to recite the Pledge of Allegiance
Neither the Pledge of Allegiance nor the saying “under God” had any connection with the founding of the nation. Trying to force students to say it is a violation of our founding principles.
Supreme Court rules for Arizona inmate in death penalty case
The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a man on Arizona's death row should be resentenced because jurors in his case were wrongly told that the only way to ensure he would never walk free was to sentence him to death.
Pandemic, culture wars revive ‘school choice’ policy push
With memories fresh from pandemic-era school closures and curriculum battles — particularly over how matters of gender and race are taught — legions of parents are trekking to the marble floors of their state Capitols to fight to create education savings accounts, also known as ESAs. Such accounts exist in Arizona and West Virginia, though Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs argues the dollars would be b[...]
States move to keep court from lifting Trump asylum policy
A coalition of conservative-leaning states is making a last-ditch effort to keep in place a Trump-era public health rule that allows many asylum seekers to be turned away at the southern U.S. border.
Licensing boards should stop playing word games with occupations
Occupational definitions should not hinge on such an arbitrary detail. Licensing boards should stop playing word games and let people work.