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Lawsuit targets at-large districts for community college board
A group of officeholders, education officials and activists are hoping to overturn a 2010 law adding two at-large seats to the Maricopa County Community College District governing board before elections for the new seats are held in November.
Senate Democrats regroup in brutal aftermath of leadership change
On the surface, all appeared well among Democrats in the Senate. The 13-member minority caucus had a common cause to unite around in Medicaid expansion during the 2013 legislative session and was able to form a new majority in the Senate chamber by joining forces with a few breakaway Republican lawmakers.
Democrats oust Landrum Taylor as Senate Minority Leader in favor of Tovar
In a dramatic turn of events, Senate Minority Leader Landrum Taylor was ousted as minority leader by her party-mates following a closed-door meeting in the Senate today.
Manuel ‘Lito’ Peña remembered as ‘godfather of the Senate Dems’
Former lawmaker Manuel “Lito” Peña, who served as an Arizona legislator for 30 years, died on Oct. 12. Peña had been ill for several years, according to Sen. Steve Gallardo, D-Phoenix, and died suddenly Saturday morning. He was 88.
Legal action likely over opinion creating two classes of voters
Arizona’s new policy of having separate voter rolls for people who didn’t provide proof of citizenship when registering is likely to stir up a lawsuit before the 2014 elections.
$11 million in the bank
Gallardo: HB2305 unnecessary, election problems could be solved with leftover HAVA money
Several provisions of HB2305 were drafted in direct response to problems in the 2012 election, when it took 11 days to call a close congressional race and an all-time high number of voters were forced to cast provisional ballots.
AZ senators reluctant to put Shooter on trial
Democratic Arizona senators, even those once interested in pushing for an ethics hearing into the actions of Sen. Don Shooter at a Yuma charter school earlier this year, now say it’d be a waste of time holding hearings on an issue that police and prosecutors have already dealt with in full.
Obama housing plan: from dismantling Fannie Mae to immigration reform
Speaking to more than 2,000 at Desert Vista High School in Phoenix, Obama laid out a six-point plan that he said will help first-time homebuyers and people who lost out when the bubble burst get home loans, make rental homes more affordable for people who don’t own houses, and ultimately wean American off the government-backed mortgage system that the president faulted with causing the housing c[...]
Arizona bail-in: Democrats want DOJ to keep eye on Arizona elections
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder’s quest to reassert federal scrutiny in states formerly covered by the Voting Rights Act’s preclearance requirement is giving some Arizona lawmakers hope that the state may again find itself in the Department of Justice’s sights.
Livingston scores a perfect legislative batting average
The award for best legislative batting average for the session — the calculation of bills introduced versus bills signed into law — goes to Rep. David Livingston, a freshman Republican lawmaker from Peoria who has been vocally critical of the governor.
Deal with the devil? Democrats question tactic colleague used to get her bills passed
The Arizona Senate is no easy place to be in the minority. Few bills sponsored by Democrats are ever heard in committees, let alone the Senate floor, so it’s rare for a Democratic senator to have a bill approved by the bulk of the chamber. It’s even rarer for a Democratic measure also to be approved by the House and reach the governor’s desk.
Election bill foes join forces, eye referendum
There’s plenty for a broad array of opponents to hate in an omnibus election bill passed at the end of the session, and a diverse coalition is now banding together for a probable citizen referendum drive against HB2305.
