Articles Tagged "lawmakers"
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Mon, 21 Jun 2010 23:27:35 -0700
Filling vacancies at the Legislature became almost routine this year as lawmakers bolted to run for Congress. But the latest vacancy is a reluctant one, created by Rep. Doug Quelland's violations of campaign-finance laws. Quelland continues to dispute those offenses, both in court and to anyone who asks him about it. No matter. Following the laws that govern Arizona's public-campaign-finance system, elections officials declared his District 10 seat vacant. On Monday night, the precinct committeemen in the northwest Valley district chose three Republicans as a potential replacements for Quelland. They are Kimberly Yee, who is running for the House seat this fall; Harry GrosJean and Francine ...read the rest of this post
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Tuesday, May 25, 10 at 07:00 AM
PRESS RELEASE -- District 29 Democratic lawmakers to hold town hall in Tucson
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Mon, 17 May 2010 14:17:46 -0700
At a rally to urge support for her long-sought sales-tax increase, Gov. Jan Brewer again said she won't call the Legislature back into special session to consider tax cuts. "I am not looking forward to calling the Legislature to address the 'jobs bill,' " the governor said. But while ruling out broad-based tax cuts, she said she remains interested in tax incentives to spur economic recovery. Those incentives would be structured to pay for themselves -- in other words, the tax break would happen only after a certain number of jobs or revenue is created. When lawmakers might convene to consider incentives, ...read the rest of this post
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Tue, 11 May 2010 07:33:39 -0700
The Sierra Club finally wins one at the Legislature. The environmental group usually measures legislative success by how quickly the session ends, lest lawmakers do more damage to their pet causes of clean air, clean water, forests and wildlife. And it got that, sort of, when the Legislature wrapped up work after 109 days, one of the shortest sessions in the last 15 years. But the club really cashed in when its lobbyist, Sandy Bahr, won the sine-die pool. That's the pool in which staffers, lobbyists and hangers-on chip in a buck for each guess ...read the rest of this post
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Fri, 07 May 2010 11:39:28 -0700
Two of Arizona’s more vocal female lawmakers got into a battle of e-mails over Arizona’s tough new immigration law this week. Each offered her own take on what Senate Bill 1070 really does. Sen. Sylvia Allen, R-Snowflake, sent out an e-mail Monday with the subject line “I want to explain SB1070.” She supported the bill. Here’s her explanation, pasted directly from her e-mail: “The leftist media has distorted what SB 1070 will do. It is not going to set up a Nazi Germany. Are you kidding. The ACLU and the leftist courts will do everything to protect those who are here illegally, but ...read the rest of this post
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Monday, May 03, 10 at 07:00 AM
PRESS RELEASE -- Tempe lawmakers' hard work lands bills on governor's desk
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Thu, 29 Apr 2010 15:39:49 -0700
First lawmakers kill funding for the state Tourism Office. Now they're discouraging tourists from visiting the state. That was the message state Sen. Sylvia Allen, R-Snowflake, sent to Chad Allen, (no relation). Mr. Allen, an Idaho resident, wrote to all Arizona lawmakers informing them of his intent to drop his plans to vacation in Arizona. Sen. Allen's response: "That's ok. Stay home." Apparently, Mr. Allen doesn't intend to stay home. But his travels will take him elsewhere. Their email exchange is below, in reverse chronological order: v:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}o:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}w:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}.shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);} I won’t stay home. I’m going to California or maybe Copper Canyon (It’s bigger). ...read the rest of this post
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Wed, 31 Mar 2010 23:50:36 -0700
Geez, Attorney General Terry Goddard got off easy when he refused to file a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the federal healthcare-reform law. He could be the Georgia AG. Down in the Peach State, AG Thurbert Baker is the subject of a recall effort for taking the same position as Goddard: A lawsuit would be frivolous and a waste of money. Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue wanted to hire his own AG to press Georgia's case. But before that effort got very far, lawmakers started a petition to recall Baker, who has been Georgia's AG for 13 years. As of mid-week, the petition had 30 ...read the rest of this post
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Thu, 04 Mar 2010 23:44:01 -0700
Rallies are a regular event at the state Capitol, as groups come to the statehouse to plead their case to lawmakers. But on Thursday, the microphone was on the other side of the podium, as Senate Democrats held a rally to cheer up state workers and urge their support for a bill that would cut legislative salaries if state employees' salaries are reduced. Leading the charge was Sen. Ken Cheuvront, D-Phoenix and sponsor of SCR1038. The pay-cut bill, which would ask voters to OK a policy that would trim legislative salaries in the same proportion as state-worker pay, passed the Senate Government Committtee, ...read the rest of this post
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Wed, 03 Mar 2010 09:25:46 -0700
As closed-door talks continue on the state budget, it appears lawmakers are angling for a smaller debt load than what Gov. Jan Brewer is proposing. A draft version of a budget proposal making the rounds at the Capitol also shows that legislators hope to ask voters to repeal an early-childhood program and direct its $325 million treasury into the state's general fund. Brewer has proposed borrowing $300 million from that fund, taking up a proposal from the directors of the First Things First program. A repeal would have to go on the November ballot and win voter OK before the state could tap the First ...read the rest of this post
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Wed, 03 Mar 2010 09:25:46 -0700
As closed-door talks continue on the state budget, it appears lawmakers are angling for a smaller debt load than what Gov. Jan Brewer is proposing. A draft version of a budget proposal making the rounds at the Capitol also shows that legislators hope to ask voters to repeal an early-childhood program and direct its $325 million treasury into the state's general fund. Brewer has proposed borrowing $300 million from that fund, taking up a proposal from the directors of the First Things First program. A repeal would have to go on the November ballot and win voter OK before the state could tap the First ...read the rest of this post
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Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:37:49 -0700
Two female Arizona Senators, one Democrat and one Republican, blew their tops at their fellow lawmakers during a Committee of the Whole hearing on Tuesday. Lawmakers have dubbed this "Budget Week" and cancelled most committee hearings to focus on the budget. But Tuesday's Committee of the Whole agendas included 28 bills and lasted for hours. One of those bills dealt with human eggs and another with human embryos. "The calendar today appears to me to be almost anti-female," Sen. Carolyn Allen, R-?? said. "This is not the year we should be loading up on all of these kinds of bills. We should focus on ...read the rest of this post
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Thu, 25 Feb 2010 13:37:32 -0700
State lawmakers voted Wednesday to force public schools to count how many students are in the United States illegally, the first step toward challenging federal law that requires schools to educate all, legal and otherwise.
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Wed, 24 Feb 2010 20:22:04 -0700
State lawmakers voted Wednesday to force public schools to count how many students are in this country illegally, the first step toward challenging federal law that requires schools to educate all, legal and otherwise.
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Thu, 18 Feb 2010 07:53:42 -0700
Diamondbacks' first swing for a countywide sales tax increase to support spring training is a strike. At least at the state Capitol. The chairmen of the tax-writing committees gave the idea a thumbs down, and House Speaker Kirk Adams calls the idea "a non-starter." DBacks officials had floated the idea of a tax hike across all of Maricopa County to bolster spring training. They didn't get as far as mentioning how much of an increase, but not to worry. It probably won't get entertained in the current climate. Lawmakers have already referred a statewide increase in the sales tax to the May 18 ballot, and ...read the rest of this post
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Tue, 16 Feb 2010 16:13:37 -0700
Retiring lawmakers could quickly morph into lobbyists under a bill advancing in the state Senate. The measure, Senate Bill 1262, would repeal the one-year buffer that current law creates between a legislator leaving his or her post and joining the lobbying ranks. The bill's sponsor, Sen. Jack Harper, R-Surprise, said that's unfair to legislators. Senior legislative staffers, for example, can leave the statehouse one day and return the next as a lobbyist without any restriction, he said. "I feel the current ban steals the economic liberty of members when they leave the Legislature," Harper told the Senate Republican caucus. Harper said he got the idea ...read the rest of this post
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Fri, 12 Feb 2010 08:33:41 -0700
If it weren't for the crushing budget deficit, this could be the Year of the Boy Scout at the Arizona Legislature. Lawmakers hurried through a bill to designate Feb. 8 as the Boy Scout Holiday. On Thursday, there was lively debate over a bill to grant free fishing licenses to Eagle Scouts. But why stop at Eagle Scouts? Rep. Steve Farley, D-Tucson, proposed an amendment that would extend the privilege to Girl Scouts. “Maybe there are a ton of girls who want to go fishing,” said Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Phoenix. “We'll never know without the Farley amendment.” Indeed. Farley's idea died along party lines, not gender ...read the rest of this post
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Thu, 04 Feb 2010 07:29:46 -0700
Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform wasted little time in sounding the alarm on Arizona senators who broke their no-tax-increase pledge by voting to refer a temporary sales tax to the May 18 ballot. Within hours of the Senate's bipartisan, 16-12 vote, ATR was naming names on its website. “It's always unfortunate when lawmakers prove that they made a central campaign promise for reasons of political expediency, only later to demonstrate, much like Obama’s pledge not to raise taxes on those making less than $250,000 a year, that the commitment was hollow,” Norquist said in a statement posted on the site. Listed were Senate ...read the rest of this post
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Wed, 03 Feb 2010 12:34:51 -0700
State lawmakers want to make it easier for you to get a buzz on Sunday morning — or at least have an early champagne brunch — even if you didn’t plan ahead and buy your liquor the night before.
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Wed, 03 Feb 2010 12:34:51 -0700
State lawmakers want to make it easier for you to get a buzz on Sunday morning — or at least have an early champagne brunch — even if you didn’t plan ahead and buy your liquor the night before.