Arizona State Legislature

Senator Files Ethics Complaint Over Gay Marriage Vote

Worst Fest

Trivial and meretricious bills crowd the Legislature's final days

Heel Thyself

Trivial and meretricious bills crowd the Legislature's final days

Flashes

Trivial and meretricious bills crowd the Legislature's final days

Letters

Trivial and meretricious bills crowd the Legislature's final days

Burns and ALEC

Trivial and meretricious bills crowd the Legislature's final days

Flashes

Trivial and meretricious bills crowd the Legislature's final days

The Law of the Land

Lobbyists ride roughshod over the legislative process, going so far as to write the bills that lawmkers pass

Industry Goes to the Well . . . to dilute clean-water regulations

Lobbyists ride roughshod over the legislative process, going so far as to write the bills that lawmkers pass

Fab Five Fib

Arizona doesn't put all of its women on pedestals

Shafted Again

Mining industry strikes another rich vein in the Legislature

Best Waste of Breath

Teen Abstinence Ads
Arizona Department of Health Services

BEST POLITICIAN WE HATE TO SEE LEAVE OFFICE

State Representative Deb Gullett

Speed Camera Pickax Attacker Gets Probation and Fine

A man who attacked a freeway speed camera with a pickax back in December won't go to jail, but must pay a fine of more than $3,500. He also has to serve a term of probation.Travis Munroe Townsend (pictured) was seen by a Department of Public Safety motorcycle officer on the side of the Loop 101 nea ... More >>

Hollywood needs to unlearn what it's learned about Latinos

A man who attacked a freeway speed camera with a pickax back in December won't go to jail, but must pay a fine of more than $3,500. He also has to serve a term of probation.Travis Munroe Townsend (pictured) was seen by a Department of Public Safety motorcycle officer on the side of the Loop 101 nea ... More >>

Dead End

By this fall, the alternative fuels program will be a full-blown bust

Tearing Down the House

Arizona legislators want to slash state spending. Well, how about some real House cleaning?

Shades of Green

The new governor appears to have double-crossed environmental supporters in choosing some new agency heads.

Primary Post-Mortem

You know it was a weird election if The Spike is actually missing John McCain

SECOND HELPINGS

You know it was a weird election if The Spike is actually missing John McCain

June 23 In Blogs: Handguns, Queen YoNasDa, Christopher Gross, and the Arizona Republic

In the 24-hour news cycle it can be difficult to keep up. We have the solution. Check back on Valley Fever every evening for highlights from each of New Times' blogs. Today's entries: Feathered Bastard: Mad Max Rules: The Arizona Legislature's Mandatory Handgun Ownership Laws Up on the Sun: Queen ... More >>

Sick and Tired of Republicans and Democrats? New Parties Say They Offer Alternatives

  www.laughingsquid.com​As both Republicans and Democrats in the Arizona Legislature are failing miserably at agreeing on a state budget, three new political parties are emerging on our state's political landscape. The American Independent Party, the Constitution Party, and the ... More >>

Insane Clown Posse

  www.laughingsquid.com​As both Republicans and Democrats in the Arizona Legislature are failing miserably at agreeing on a state budget, three new political parties are emerging on our state's political landscape. The American Independent Party, the Constitution Party, and the ... More >>

Legislators Want to Start Taking Donations from Taxpayers to Help Bridge Budget Gap. Good Luck

Representative Judy Burges​Members of the Arizona Legislature are working on a, umm, great idea to help bridge the state's now $1.5 budget gap -- they want to start taking donations from you. As if the taxpayers are the ones who got us into this mess. Legislators are drumming up support for ... More >>

Legislature Enters Special Session Today; Maybe the Fourth Time's a Charm

​The Arizona State Legislature enters its fourth special session of the year today, with the hopes of ironing out a plan to put some sort of dent in the current $2 billion budget gap. Good luck. One thing will be absent from this round of bickering, however: The standard squabble over a propo ... More >>

Ten Random Thoughts as the Oughts (2000-2009) Fade Away

The following are 10 random things that, at the start of this weird decade, we never would have believed: ​1. That the historically pathetic Arizona Cardinals would move out to bumfuck Egypt (a.k.a. Glendale, a.k.a. sweet deal), and then would (at the end of the decade) find themselves e ... More >>

Arizona House Approves Bill Allowing Residents to Own Guns Without Registration With Feds

www.motivatedphotos.com​ So far this session, the Arizona Legislature has considered or partially approved legislation that would allow people to build their own guns and ammo, allow university faculty to bring guns into the classroom, and allow anyone with a gun to conceal his or her ... More >>

Hot Links: Abortion Bill, Oil Refineries, and Car Surfing

​The Arizona Legislature advanced an abortion bill yesterday, while delaying a concealed weapons bill. The abortion measure, which requires final passage before moving to the Senate, would require health care personnel who treat women with complications from abortions to submit a report to the sta ... More >>

"I Didn't Pay Enough Fund" Passed by Arizona Senate; Guess How Much Moolah a Similar Program Generated in Arkansas -- You'll Laugh

www.knuckletattoos.com​ Feel like voluntarily ponyin' up some of your hard-earned cash to help legislators dig themselves out of the budget crisis they created? Of course you don't, but that didn't stop legislators from taking time out of their day to pass a bill that asks taxpayers to do ex ... More >>

Arizona Legislature Explained by New Study of Neanderthals?

We have fretted for some time about the Neanderthals in control of the Arizona Legislature, a powerful political body that enacts laws by which we are supposed to live our lives. ​Could it really be true, we have pondered deep into the night, that the likes of this bunch--the Russell (10 ... More >>

Morning Poll -- Human Animal Hybrids (aka ManBearPigs): Problem or Paranoia?

www.hipsuburbanwhiteguy.com​One of Arizona's more-laughable pieces of legislation coming out of this year's embarrassing legislative session is a bill that makes it a class-six felony to knowingly create a human/ animal hybrid and a class-one misdemeanor to buy or sell a human-animal embryo.I ... More >>

Conor Oberst Pens Totally Reasonable (Yet Dead Wrong) Open Letter About SB 1070 Boycott

​Remember local promoter Charlie Levy's open letter urging bands not to participate in the Sound Strike boycott of Arizona because of SB 1070?It was, as Chris Farley might say, awesome.Levy has received a response from Conor Oberst (a.k.a. That Guy Who Should Re-Assemble Bright Eyes).Link here.Obe ... More >>

Russell Pearce Fundraiser To Be Protested Friday

Pearce builds his own trough and goes hog-wild FridayAnti-Russell Pearce activists are set to protest both a Friday, January 7 fundraiser for the state Senate President-elect, and the opening day of business for the Arizona Legislature on Monday, January 10, when Pearce will take his seat as the Dar ... More >>

Birther Bill Back in Arizona Legislature. See the Long List of Sponsors Right Here...Then Laugh...Then Cry

www.frankowenspaintbrush.comThey're baaack....​As if there's nothing more important on which to focus, and to drag Arizona's reputation further into the deep chasm of humiliation, 41 members of the Arizona State Legislature have signed on to re-introduce the "Birther Bill," which would require any ... More >>

Morality Patrol: State Senator Linda Gray Wants to Make You Wait Longer to Get Divorced

www.photobucket.com​Has your spouse made your life a living hell? Want out of the marriage as quickly as possible? There's an alternative to homicide called divorce, and the morality cops over at the Arizona State Legislature want to make it is hard, drawn-out, and as painful as humanly possible.F ... More >>

Arizona Republican's Abortion Bill is "Assault [on] Woman's Dignity," Pro-Choice Group Says

www.demotivateus.com​There are several abortion bills making their way through the Arizona Legislature at the moment. None of them seem to make a whole lot of sense, considering the other, more-pressing issues the state currently faces (namely a pesky $2 billion budget shortfall), but o ... More >>

Race-Based Abortion Bill Gets Initial OK in Arizona House

In Arizona, Leprechaun attacks are about as significant a problem as race-based abortions. ​The Arizona Legislature is one step closer to tackling a serious problem that doesn't actually exist.Today, the House reportedly gave initial approval to a bill that would require women getting an abortion ... More >>

Arizona's Batty Abortion Bills to be Heard in House

www.strickergiant.com​Two bizarre/completely unnecessary bills regarding abortion go before the full House in the Arizona Legislature today.Last week, the House gave initial approval to a bill that would require women getting an abortion to sign a document promising they aren't aborting the pregna ... More >>

Russell Pearce Linked To Japan Disaster By Patrons of Local Sports Bar

We settled in yesterday for an annual ritual--watching the NCAA March Madness Selection Show at a Scottsdale bar, Zipps Sports Grill up on East Greenway Parkway.​It's always a hoot to see guys armed with schooners of brewskies trying to keep up with the match-ups as they flash on the big TV screen ... More >>

Total Humiliation Delayed: Senate Vote on Birther Bill Postponed

www.icanhazcheezberger.com​The Arizona state Senate was scheduled to debate the humiliating "Birther" bill yesterday, but that didn't happen -- the Senate has postponed a preliminary vote on the bill.The bill already has failed in the Arizona Legislature twice -- once last year and ... More >>

State Senate Gives Preliminary Approval to "Birther" Bill. Welcome to Arizona, the "Meth Lab of Democracy"

​The Arizona state Senate gave preliminary approval to the "Birther" bill, which would require any presidential candidate to prove to state election officials that they are U.S. citizens, old enough to hold office, and meet residency requirements -- despite each of those things already being feder ... More >>

McDonald's Gets Some McLove as Arizona Legislators Put the Kibosh on Happy Meal Bans; Bill Awaits Governor Jan Brewer's Approval

foundshit.com Have a McCrappy plastic toy too. ​The Arizona Legislature's had a busy couple of weeks -- Governor Jan Brewer signed a bill banning imaginary abortions and the state Senate's trying to make sure Arizonans can't vote a Kenyan into the White House -- and on Wednesday, the Legi ... More >>

Arizona Legislature Passes Birther Bill on to Governor Jan Brewer, Stipulation for Penis Documentation Included

cafepress.comKenya tell us about your penis, too?​Pending a signature from Governor Jan Brewer, the Arizona Legislature has made it official -- show us the birth certificate. Or your circumcision certificate, early baptismal certificate, hospital birth record, postpartum medical record, or an ... More >>

Gov. Jan Brewer Rejects Tax Bill Benefiting State Sen. Steve Yarbrough, Says Special Session May Be Necessary

Arizona LegislatureSelf-promotion is the law in Steve Yarbrough's perfect world.​Jan Brewer again rejected a bill increasing the amount of money Arizona taxpayers can write off on their tax bill and give to private scholarship charities yesterday, denying Sen. Steve Yarbrough's second attempt ... More >>

Joe Arpaio Pal Thayer Verschoor to Take Over for Brett Mecum as AZ GOP's Executive Director, Sources Say

Thayer Verschoor​With the ouster of now-former Executive Director of the Arizona Republican Party Brett Mecum, Thayer Verschoor, a veteran of the Arizona Legislature and short-lived communications director for the AZ GOP, is getting a promotion.Sources tell New Times Verschoor has been slated to t ... More >>

Morning Poll -- Letting Kids Graduate From High School After Two Years: Yay or Nay?

www.borders.com​Several Arizona public high schools will participate in a program this year that allows students to graduate from high school after only two years.The program, the Move On When Ready initiative, was passed by the Arizona Legislature last year. It would allow students to essentially ... More >>

Russell Pearce: Will CapTimes Throw Him a Bone? (Update: No Bone for Russ, Lewis Leads)

Will the CapTimes lend Russ a hand ce soir? See update below. CT just bit its master's paw.The news that the Arizona Capitol Times, the semi-official mouthpiece of the Arizona Legislature, has a poll on the LD 18 recall race it's releasing tonight at 6 p.m. on ABC 15, should have the camps of both c ... More >>

Libertarian and Green Parties Sue Arizona Over Omission on Voter Registration Forms

Image: Arizona State LegislatureState Senator Frank Antenori, R-Tucson, sponsored the change to Arizona's voter registration form.​ Omitting the Libertarian and Green parties as options to check on Arizona's new voter registration forms is unfair and has already led to confusion, the parties s ... More >>

Is There a Chance in Hell the Arizona Legislature Will Repeal SB 1070?

​Democratic state Senator Steve Gallardo plans this week to introduce a bill into the Arizona Legislature that would repeal SB 1070, Arizona's controversial immigration law.To quote our colleague Stephen Lemons, the Arizona Legislature repealing SB 1070 is "about as likely as me running a 5K."The ... More >>