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Boston Marathon detours Lewis from transparency vote

Wednesday, April 18th, 2012

In fact, Lewis sponsored a bill to require more disclosure of any gifts lawmakers accept and lobbyists give. (Senate President Steve Pierce did not assign it to a committee and it died for lack of a hearing). 
Transparency was a big watchword for the new Republican senator from Mesa.
But Lewis was absent last week when Senate Democrats tried to tack various disclosure provisions onto an elections bill. Turns out, Lewis had left to catch a plane to ...

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Still percolating about Espresso Pundit

Monday, April 16th, 2012

Although the blogger/attorney/smartest guy in the room Greg Patterson was endorsed by the Senate Education Committee (after initially being pulled from consideration)  four Senate Ds wrote to a who’s who of Arizona business leaders asking them to  encourage Brewer to find another nominee.  
They noted Patterson’s 1991 vote against sending a Martin Luther King Jr.  holiday issue to the ballot and said Patterson represents divisiveness, not  unity. &...

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Dr. Frankenstein and the state budget

Wednesday, April 11th, 2012

And a refreshing change it is. He doesn't talk in numbers and acronyms, but instead relies on metaphors. To describe the tensions that have the budget taking one step forward, a few steps backwards, the Yuma Republican chalks it up to the new guard vs. the old guard.
Or, as he put it, a tension between "the 'tea party' types that want to stop the Frankenstein aspect of government " where different parts get patched on to a monster of a budget ...

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Pearce's call for boycott leads to attack

Wednesday, April 11th, 2012

Russell Pearce is being likened to one of Arizona’s most liberal congressmen by his opponent in the District 25 state Senate primary.
The former Senate president, who lost his seat in November when Mesa voters elected fellow Republican Jerry Lewis in a recall election, wants to return to the Senate. With Lewis in a new district, moderate Mesa Republicans recruited businessman Bob Worsley in an effort to keep Pearce on the sidelines.
Worsley launched a fierce attack on Pearce this week ove...

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Blast from the past

Tuesday, April 10th, 2012

House Bill 2199 would allow businesses to keep reports of environmental contamination secret if the levels of pollution aren’t covered in their permits. It's designed to encourage companies to clean up their properties without fear of fines or lawsuits. Its sponsor, Rep. Heather Carter, R-Cave Creek, wasn't present for the final vote on her bill.

As the House was delivering its 35-19 vote,  Rep. Ed Ableser, D-Tempe, yearned for the good old days.

“Where is Gov. Symington when...

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What's the rush on the new candidate bill?

Thursday, April 5th, 2012

Elections officials would have to decline the nomination paperwork of any would-be candidate for public office who has $1,000 or more in fines or other penalties stemming from campaign-finance violations.

Senate Bill 1137 passed the House of Representatives on a 58-1 vote. Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Phoenix, cast the only “no” vote, questioning why the bill needed an emergency clause.

But one only needs to look at the sponsor to understand the rush. what the rush is.

Sen. Linda Gray, ...

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Amazon tax passes in Virginia

Thursday, April 5th, 2012

The signing comes on the heels of the Republican governor reaching an agreement with Amazon in March to pay the state's 5 percent sales tax.
Backers of a proposed Arizona law that would do the same thing noted McDonnell's action in an e-mail Thursday. They are trying to sway state lawmakers to approve Senate  Bill 1170, which has been stalled in the House.
On Wednesday, the retailers made a plea to Brewer ...

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Foster care rates cut in half?

Thursday, April 5th, 2012


State officials say the rates paid to foster and adoptive parents, currently starting at about $22 a day, will be cut by 60 percent unless lawmakers find $17 million to fund the growing adoption program. Rates were reduced 20 percent in 2009.

Under federal law, a cut in the adoption subsidy would require an equivalent cut in the rates paid to foster families.
Kris Jacober of the Arizona Association for Foster and Adoptive Parents sent an e-mail blast Wednesday, ...

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Battle over lawmaker's future continues

Wednesday, April 4th, 2012

He requested permission to be absent. House Speaker Andy Tobin, R-Paulden, excused his absence. Patterson's only explanation of why he will miss votes came via Twitter. He said he was "working on constituents in Tucson today."
But Patterson's absence has not quieted the battle over his future. After rejecting the effort to expel him, the House gave him until April 10 to respond to the ethics investigation recommending expulsion.
House Minority Leader Chad Campbell, D-Phoenix, is conti...

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The last House expulsion? 1948.

Tuesday, April 3rd, 2012

Sixty-four years ago, two Democratic members of the House got into "an altercation and fist fight" with each other while meeting with steelworkers, according to the House Journal of the seventh special session of the 1948 Legislature. The fight occurred on Sept. 24, 1948.
Three days later, the House appointed an investigative committee, and four days later, on Oct. 1, the House convened to consider the committee's report and to contemplate expulsion.
After nine hours in executive comm...

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New CPS job pays twice supervisor salary

Tuesday, April 3rd, 2012

On Monday, the Arizona Department of Economic Security put the new position on the state's online job listing, www.azstatejobs.gov, with a salary range of $50,890 to $87,133.
The senior advisor for investigations will oversee a separate unit of investigators and supervisors housed outside of Child Protective Services. The unit will be charged with investigating child abuse and neglect reports where criminal conduct has been alleged.
In addition, the advisor will collaborate with law enforcement...

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Expulsion rare in the Legislature

Tuesday, April 3rd, 2012

Walker was caught up in the AzScam/bribery-for-votes scandal and was the only implicated lawmaker to not resign. It was a unanimous vote.
House staffers were researching records Tuesday morning, but said they could not recall any expulsion in the last 30 years.
That would make Rep. Daniel Patterson of Tucson the first House member in recent history to be expelled, if the House votes to do so.  They would need a two-thirds vote of the 60-member House.
 
  ...

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Crandall to run for Senate after all…but not against Pearce

Monday, April 2nd, 2012


However, he did admit to some heartburn about leaving the Legislature.

And now he's apparently found the remedy: Move a tad east and run in the new LD 16. Crandall on Monday said after lots of cajoling, as well as some prayer, he decided LD 16 (east Mesa, Apache Jucntion. Gold Canyon) would be a good fit. It includes ...

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Double-booked at MAG

Friday, March 30th, 2012

This week, there were two county representatives.
When Maricopa County Supervisor Max Wilson became county board chairman in January, he decided to appoint himself back onto the Regional Council. The change was effective this month.
On Wednesday, MAG welcomed Wilson back with applause, a name card and a seat right next to Regional Council Chairman and Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman. Wilson had been Wilcox’s predecessor on the council as the county’s representative.
The meeting ...

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Rep. Daniel Patterson defends himself

Thursday, March 29th, 2012

The independent attorneys appointed to investigate the ethics complaint filed by Rep. Katie Hobbs, D-Phoenix, will submit their report to the bipartisan committee Friday. House Republican spokesman Rey Torres said the report would not be released to the public until Monday.
Patterson, who also faces misdemeanor domestic-violence charges stemming from a conflict with his ex-girlfriend, said in the letter that Hobbs' complaint is ...

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Consolidation, contraceptives and sex

Monday, March 26th, 2012

But last week's marathon hearing by the Senate Appropriations Committee turned into a laugh fest when Rep. John Fillmore was explaining his bill to consolidate school districts, House Bill 2075.
Sen. David Lujan, D-Phoenix, asked Fillmore, R-Apache Junction, if he had consulted with the county school superintendents, since the bill takes a county-by-county approach.
And Fillmore said, yes, well, kinda ...
"We had Sen. Covey from Maricopa County," Fllmore said, a reference to county sc...

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Taking a bite out of movie tax credits

Friday, March 23rd, 2012

Could it be a reference to the Lake Havasu Republican's unrelenting stance on...almost everything?
Could it be a statement about his approach to the state budget?
Turns out, it was a coy reference to Gould's staunch opposition to a bill that would provide tax credits for motion-picture productions.
The 2010 movie Piranha was filmed in Gould's home town of Lake Havasu City, using some of the tax credits that Gould despises.
And a fine movie it was. Here's how IMDB describes it:
After a sudden un...

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Disclosure: Now you see it, now you don't

Thursday, March 22nd, 2012

The Legislature's been silent on the issue, even though after last year's Fiesta Bowl scandal there was a lot of talk about making the dealings of public officials, especially lawmakers, more transparent.
No sooner had Democrats got wind of a bill proposing various election-law changes than they churned out six amendments that would, among other things, ban all entertainment gifts to elected officials. Or ban bundling of campaign donations. Or requiring disclosure of all campaign donations, no ...

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Lawmakers bicker over contraception bill

Wednesday, March 21st, 2012

Democrat lawmakers from both the House and Senate organized the news conference to talk about House Bill 2625. 
Sen. Linda Lopez, D-Tucson, called the bill "asinine" and described Republican lawmakers supporting the bill as "Rush Limbaugh Republicans" with "fundamentalist, Taliban-like religious beliefs." 
"Tea party Republicans are launching an all-out attack on women's health and women's rights," Lopez said. "We need to quit wasting time ...

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Arizona lawmaker wants to go further on abortion laws

Tuesday, March 20th, 2012

Conservative Arizona lawmakers hope Arizona will join a handful of other states in banning most abortions after 20 weeks of gestation, as proposed in House Bill  2036. 
House Bill 2800, which would strip Planned Parenthood of public funds for health-care services, is still alive. 
And then there's House Bill 2625, which would allow companies to opt out of covering contraception in their health-care plans for religious reasons. 
But with all this, at least one lawmaker doesn'...

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