The Arizona House has been moving slowly this session. The Republican leadership has been cautious and strategic regarding when the House votes. With the 29D-31R split in the chamber, Speaker Rusty Bowers needs all 31 of his members sitting in their chairs during the final “Third Read” votes on ideological bills such as lowering the … Read more
March is women’s history month, and March 8 was International Women’s Day. To honor one of Arizona’s sheros, Senator Victoria Steele and I decided to jointly pay tribute in the Arizona Senate and House to Sister Clare Dunn, a Democratic representative from Tucson and a teacher at Salpointe Catholic High School. Why focus on Sister … Read more
The Arizona House Ways and Means Committee is like an extended game of tax giveaway wack-a-mole. I have lost count how many tax giveaway bills Republicans have passed since January. This week, we heard SB1027, which dramatically increases a tax credit that currently benefits only poor children with chronic diseases or physical disabilities. Tax credits … Read more
The Arizona House has begun debating HB2657, a high-tech workforce development bill which would funnel money through the Arizona Commerce Authority to community colleges to train workers in “high-demand” fields. The CEO of the Commerce Authority would manage the fund created by this bill, and they would determine what to fund. As it is currently … Read more
Republican Legislators love specialty license plates. The House has bills for six new license plates in the queue. My big question is: Why are we doing this? Specialty license plates are a way to funnel taxpayer dollars into designated charities or pet projects with seemingly innocuous bills for a license plate with a great-sounding name … Read more