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Arizona students will learn about the Holocaust, other genocides, under new law
Arizona schools will be required to teach students about the Holocaust and other genocides twice in a six-year span under a new law.
Education groups heading to the ballot to block new tax cuts
A coalition of public education advocates are mounting a campaign to ask voters to overturn the tax cuts that were the centerpiece of the budget that Republican lawmakers and Gov. Ducey just approved.
Legislature wraps up 171-day session, the 3rd-longest on record
Arizona lawmakers on Wednesday ended the third-longest legislative session in state history after approving the final components of a state spending plan for the fiscal year that begins Thursday and taking final votes on several other outstanding measures.
Ducey signs budget with hours to go before fiscal year ends
With the start of the new fiscal year less than eight hours away, Gov. Doug Ducey signed the $12.8 billion budget shortly after lawmakers sent him the final two budget bills to his desk.
Sentencing reform dies for third straight year after Fann blocks Senate vote
Arizona will continue to have some of the strictest criminal sentencing laws in the country after Senate President Karen Fann refused to let the Senate vote on a bill that would allow some nonviolent inmates to earn early releases.
House again passes sentencing reform bill, which faces unknown fate in Senate
For the second time this year, the House of Representatives passed legislation to allow some prison inmates to earn earlier releases, but it remains to be seen whether it will get a vote in the Senate, where the bill already died once this legislative session.
Budget bill provision allows DPS to block release of all video records
Tucked into a budget bill on criminal justice is a provision that would allow the Arizona Department of Public Safety to outright deny releasing any video records the agency possesses and to heavily edit any videos it chooses to make public.
Public education groups ready referendum, lawsuits on tax cuts and other budget items
A coalition of public education advocacy groups that banded together last year to pass higher taxes on the wealthy to increase teacher pay and boost school funding are now looking at ways to stop Republican legislators and Gov. Doug Ducey from undermining that tax increase in a state budget that includes massive tax cuts for […]
Ducey vetoes 22 bills, says nothing will be signed until budget is approved
Gov. Doug Ducey is ratcheting up the pressure on GOP lawmakers to reach an agreement on the budget, vowing not to sign any other legislation that reaches his desk until he gets a budget, and backing up his threat by vetoing 22 bills.
Editor’s Thought Bubble: GOP leadership is powerless, and their members know it
Late yesterday evening, Republican leaders saw their plans to speed a state budget through the legislative process fall apart. The deal with Ducey was announced last week, the bills were introduced Monday, rushed through committee Tuesday and the whole package — including a flat income tax proposal that would slash state revenues by $1.9 billion […]
Controversial definition of anti-Semitism set for full Senate vote
A bill requiring a controversial definition of anti-Semitism when teaching about the Holocaust in Arizona schools passed Tuesday as lawmakers consider a flurry of budget bills.
Ducey signs law permitting four-year degrees at community colleges
A new law will give Arizona students opportunities to get four-year degrees from community colleges and steer clear of increasingly expensive tuition rates at the state’s universities, a change that Gov. Doug Ducey’s administration said will reshape higher education in Arizona.