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Hobbs orders hiring freeze, wants agencies to propose spending cuts
Gov. Katie Hobbs has ordered what is essentially a hiring freeze for new state employees and instructed her department heads to send her a plan this week to cut $1.2 billion in spending out of their current and coming year budgets.
Cano resigns for graduate school at Harvard, creating fifth legislative vacancy this session
The former state House minority leader has officially resigned, creating the fifth legislative vacancy this session. Rep. Andrés Cano, D-Tucson, sent his resignation letter Tuesday to state officials including Gov. Katie Hobbs, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes and Speaker of the House Ben Toma, R-Peoria.
Education alliance sues to end mask mandate prohibition, other new laws
A coalition of school board members, educators, child welfare advocates and others is asking a judge to void a host of changes in state law approved in the waning days of the legislative session.
The cost of cuts: Arizona tax carve-outs last year hit $13.7B
In fiscal year 2016, state law allowed $13.7 billion in taxes to go uncollected through a litany of exemptions, deductions, allowances, exclusions or credits. And that number is likely to grow by another $1-to-2 billion once individual income tax deductions are tallied.
Lawmakers, governor move closer to a budget deal, including university bonding
Lawmakers strove to set a budget in motion on Monday night, but fell short of introducing bills as staff worked feverishly to put in writing a $9.8 billion spending plan... […]
Douglas wants more than Ducey’s funding assurances for unfinished IT work
Ducey’s assurance isn’t enough, said Douglas’s spokesman, Stefan Swiat. The department wants the governor’s office and the Arizona Legislature to publicly spell out how much exactly they will set aside for the IT needs, he said.
Counties, cities hope HURF restoration will become permanent
For cities and counties, 2016 represented at least a temporary reprieve in the long-running sweep of road maintenance funds they’ve spent years trying to reverse.
The state budget: potential winners, losers and question marks
Lawmakers are debating a proposed $9.58 billion budget, which for the first time in years, makes significant increases in a handful of key areas.
It’s time to lift the freeze on KidsCare
Arizona has a real problem with uninsured kids. But we also have a time-tested solution that now has no cost to the state budget: KidsCare.
7 percent increase needed for developmentally disabled program
Through a privatized system of contractors, Arizona cares for about 35,000 individuals with severe developmental disabilities deemed by the state to be “at risk of institutionalization.” Instead, these individuals can receive services provided by direct service professionals employed by community providers, in their homes, other residential settings, day programs and work programs. These careg[...]
After nation’s deepest higher ed cuts, advocates see glimmer of hope
Arizona cut higher education funding deeper than any other state last year, capping a five-year period in which the state led the nation with a 27.3 percent cut from its support for colleges, a new report says.
Arizona should improve education rather than making it worse by legalizing marijuana
With considerable discussion about Arizona’s education funding, along with high school and college graduation rates, shouldn’t we do all we can to improve our state of education instead of making it much worse by legalizing marijuana?
