Despite Arizona having some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country, abortion is still on the minds of lawmakers. The Arizona Senate on Thursday passed a bill, Senate Bill 1318, to prevent health insurance coverage of abortion if the coverage was purchased through the Affordable Care Act. Jodi…
Mark Brnovich wants to put the brakes on driver’s licenses for Arizona’s Dreamers. The newly elected Arizona attorney general launched an appeal today to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, hoping to overturn an order last month that forces compliance with President Obama’s executive action on immigration…
An effort is under way by Arizona lawmakers to ban the state’s implementation of the controversial Common Core curriculum in schools. Arizona’s House Education Committee voted Wednesday to approve such a ban, and, of course, such a ban was the cornerstone of the campaign run by newly elected Superintendent of…
Arizona lawmakers are currently considering a proposal that would significantly lower the price of a speeding ticket for some speeders. The proposal, House Bill 2662, would expand the use of one of Arizona’s odder laws, which is the ban on the “waste of finite resources,” which comes with a ticket…
Some Arizona lawmakers want to take a statewide inventory of untested sexual-assault kits collected by law enforcement agencies. In late 2012, an investigation by ABC 15 found that there were at least 3,000 such untested kits just in the Phoenix area, half of which were from the Phoenix Police Department…
A new tax break for some religious groups was passed yesterday by the Arizona House of Representatives. The bill, which is being pushed by the notorious Center for Arizona Policy, was vetoed by Governor Jan Brewer after it was passed by lawmakers last year…
A group of Republican Arizona lawmakers are proposing a law that would force police agencies to significantly delay the release the identity of officers involved in deadly shootings. Senate Bill 1445 would keep the officer’s identity under wraps for 90 days following any incident “that involves the use of deadly…
Arizona is one step closer to officially declaring nuclear power a renewable-energy source. (Yes, you read that correctly.) The Senate Committee on Water and Energy narrowly passed SB 1134, a bill that classifies “nuclear energy from sources fueled by uranium fuel rods that include 80 percent or more of recycled…
An Arizona lawmaker is again proposing a registry of convicted animal abusers. The bill proposed by Democratic Senator Steve Farley would lead to the creation of a website that would operate similarly to the state’s sex-offender registry, allowing the public to search for convicted animal abusers by name or location…
In the future, your Arizona driver’s license could be kept in an app on your smartphone. A bill proposed by Republican Senator Jeff Dial would allow the testing and implementation of an electronic driver’s license system, which is under development already in Iowa. “I think government shouldn’t be in the…
A few Republican lawmakers are trying to sneak past the Voter Protection Act with a draconian DUI bill that targets the state’s medical-marijuana users. State Representative Sonny Borrelli, R-Kingman, is the prime sponsor of HB 2273, a bill that could result in DUI convictions for medical-cannabis users who aren’t impaired…
Democrats in the Arizona House and Senate have unveiled a package of bills aimed at regulating so-called “dark money.” Arizona’s been a hot-spot for the “dark money” issue, which involves organizations being able to dump millions of dollars into elections without having to reveal their donors — so much so…
The national “do not call” registry can protect you from telemarketing calls, but one Arizona lawmaker wants you to have the option to avoid calls from pesky politicians, too. Republican Senator John Kavanagh is proposing a political “do not call” list in the state, which would allow citizens of the…
Sure, they can design computer hardware or launch a startup company, but do they know the number of U.S. Supreme Court justices? New Times put Arizona State University students to the test last week to find out if they’d have trouble passing a civics test that’s soon to be a…
A federal judge has sided with the challengers to Arizona’s denial of driver’s licenses to young immigrants shielded from deportation by Obama’s executive action. Last month, the DREAMers began obtaining their first Arizona licenses after the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the state to stop enforcing the ban put in place…
A Democratic state representative is proposing mandatory body cameras on every police officer in the state, plus external reviews of any police shootings. Representative Reginald Bolding, who represents parts of Phoenix, announced the legislation yesterday in response to constituent concerns about police shootings in Arizona and elsewhere. “After having conversations…
Some Democratic Arizona lawmakers have proposed a “yes means yes” policy at the state’s universities that would require clear consent for any sexual activity. A similar proposal was passed into law in California in an effort to combat what’s been called a growing problem of sexual assaults on college campuses…
A proposal that would require Arizona high school students to pass a civics test before graduating may soon become a reality. The test would require high school students to correctly answer 60 of the 100 questions asked of immigrants seeking to become U.S. citizens, which includes general knowledge questions about…
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this morning in the case of a small church blocked from putting up signs around Gilbert that advertise its Sunday Services. The case of Reed vs. Town of Gilbert is getting a lot of press today, being billed as a major free-speech or religious…
At least three Republican lawmakers are looking to prevent welfare benefits from being spent at fast-food restaurants in Arizona. The bill submitted by Republican Representative Kelly Townsend is one of a handful of bills submitted before this year’s legislative session has begun. The legislation would ban the use of electronic…
Some Arizona lawmakers are proposing that Arizona adopt daylight saving time. Arizona’s one of only two states where DST isn’t observed (Hawaii is the other), and one of the bill’s sponsors told us why he thinks it’s time for Arizona to join the rest. “My rationale is simply that it’s…
Doug Ducey took office today as Arizona’s 23rd governor, pledging in his inauguration speech to fix the state’s fiscal problems without raising taxes. Standing before a crowd of several thousand at the State Capitol in Phoenix, the former CEO of Cold Stone Creamery made financial and education issues a focus,…
