How does a bill become a law? It’s not the way you learned it in school. The 44th session of the Arizona Legislature won’t officially convene until next week, but the lawmakers are already huddling at the Capitol, planning their agenda, writing bills, lining up sponsors, strategizing votes. No, we’re…
Candidate Race Amount Jane Hull (R) Governor $2,101,935 Paul Johnson (D) Governor $1,418,140 Tom McGovern (R) Attorney General $836,132 Janet Napolitano (D) Attorney General $729,681 John Kaites (R) Attorney General $382,089 Betsey Bayless (R) Secretary of State $274,516 D.L. Culiver (R) Treasurer $271,531 James Howl (R) Governor $242,407 Tony West…
Gasp! The state budget for fiscal 2000, which begins July 1, 1999, is projected to be $282 million in the red. That is the dire warning sent to the Legislature in November by numbers crunchers at the Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC). This would appear to be stunning news. After…
Governor Jane Hull (R) AZ Republican Party $79,929 Republican National State Committee $70,000 Del Webb Employees PAC $10,000 Western Growers PAC $10,000 Bank One Arizona PAC $9,310 Edward Robson and family $5,320 Phil and Patricia Dion $5,250 Bank of America PAC $5,000 Campaign America $5,000 Phelps Dodge PAC $4,440 Attorney…
Water, water, everywhere, Nor any drop to drink. –“The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” Arizona’s got water. It’s tucked away beneath the ground, in reserves called aquifers. But when we need it, will it be fit to drink? In large part, that’s up to the Arizona Legislature. Environmentalists, government bureaucrats,…
A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking about real money. –Senator Everett Dirksen For $14 million, you could immunize every 2-year-old in Maricopa County against disease. Or you could give the money to companies like Circle K, McDonald’s and Fry’s. Last year, the Arizona Legislature did…
Power Players Arizona’s two big electric companies are also big political players. Executives, employees and political committees affiliated with Salt River Project and Arizona Public Service Company contribute significant dollars not only to state candidates but to national political figures as well. The utilities’ interests go beyond deregulation and power…
The Barf Bowl You haven’t lived until you’ve been puked on by a Volunteer. The Flash knew the weekend would be an eventful one when, while picking up a visitor at Sky Harbor Airport on Friday, two large contingents from Florida and Tennessee arrived on charter flights. At the baggage…
“Woo-hoo, the Cards are in the playoffs, Jack,” yelped the red-nosed gent whose thick, round head sported a white hardhat with a snake glued to its top. He wore an Arizona Cardinals jersey with the number 16 pulled tightly over a belly that looked like it was stuffed with a…
Earp Guns Fascinating story about the fight in Earp history-writing (“How the West Was Spun,” Tony Ortega, December 24), but we have to settle this. As I read I also concluded that Glenn Boyer was not to be taken seriously. But the day after, I began to judge all the…
Amount of cash raised by candidates for state offices in 1998: $11.5 million Amount of cash contributed to candidates by retirees: $713,000 Amount of cash to candidates from out-of-state contributors: $850,000 Amount of cash from California contributed to Arizona candidates: $240,000 Amount of cash collected by Senate President Brenda Burns:…
Top Political Action Committees (PACs) Del Webb Employees’ Fund for Better Government $43,540 AZ PAC (Arizona Education Association) $39,730 Ophthalmologists PAC $37,725 Bank One Arizona Political Action Committee $36,850 Realtors of AZ PAC (RAPAC) $34,200 Salt River Valley Water Users Association Political Involvement Committee (SRP) $31,180 AZ Medical PAC (ARPA)…
Their PACS: Salt River Valley Water Users Association Political Involvement Committee: — Raised $115,417 through biweekly payroll deductions, ranging from $1 to $60 per employee per pay period, from 325 employees. — Spent $111,329 including contributions to dozens of local, state and federal candidates including: $3,790 to Governor Jane Hull…
PAC contributions, by sector Republican Committees $190,370 Democratic Committees $18,786 Health $145,405 Utilities $95,735 Business $90,410 Building/development $84,405 Fire $75,900 Mining $74,585 Banking $64,590 Lobbying firms $60,075 Alcohol $58,011 Education $53,325 Agriculture $52,035 Police $49,890 Labor: $41,950 Real estate $40,110 HiTech/Defense $35,830 Housing $30,390 Social issues $30,225 Transportation $29,335 Financial…
Every year for the past five years, Tucson Democrat Herschella Horton has introduced legislation that would require insurance companies to cover mental-health care at the level they cover treatment of physical maladies. Every year that the legislation has gotten a hearing, Sue Davis has appeared at the Legislature to testify…
Myra Goldstein’s house is falling down, falling down, falling down. The windows leak. Electrical outlets don’t work. Outside, stucco is cracking. Inside, drywall is flaking. Upstairs, the balcony is rotting and sagging. Downstairs, a crack in the foundation runs the length of the house, moving the house and, among other…
In the classic film It’s a Wonderful Life, Jimmy Stewart’s character is given the opportunity to see what would have happened to his community if he had never been born. Without him, the quiet tree-lined downtown of family-oriented Bedford Falls becomes the garish, loud and decadent main street of Pottersville,…
It’s time once again for the Flash to peer into his crystal ball and share deep prophecies for the new year ahead. Actually, the crystal ball is the plastic bubble top from an old popcorn popper, but there’s no doubting its veracity. To wit: January 1–During the encore at Black…
Ben Wallis manned the wheel of the old Camero, a car in need of repair but still a loud, monstrous, muscular machine that can go at a great clip if need be. We rounded the corner onto Adams Street, and Wallis gave her some gas, offering a glimpse of what…
On the morning of July 1, Al and Letha Lindsey settled into what they thought would be an uneventful, routine day at their small house in Youngtown. Al, 79, a retired insurance claims adjuster who suffers from emphysema and congestive heart failure, took a hit of oxygen from the machine…
Mark Fleisher is an eternal optimist, which is amazing since the guy is also the chairman of the Arizona Democratic Party. He’ll look you in the eye and with all sincerity tell you that 1998 was a good year for Democrats. Uh-huh. The Democrats’ only statewide victory went to attorney…
You Can’t Fight the INS Thanks for publishing the column on Oscar Fuchslocher (“Red Hot Chile Paperwork,” Amy Silverman, December 17), which was no doubt an eye-opener for many of your readers. Few native-born Americans have any idea of the monster lurking at the heart of the federal government–an unaccountable…
