As a new legislature and a new governor prepare to settle into Phoenix, a projected budget shortfall is not far from anyone’s minds. Just a year ago, the outgoing governor boasted about Arizona’s “comeback” and now the state faces a grim budget situation as it heads into the next year. Revised projections show Gov.-elect Doug…
For many Americans, the word Navajo conjures up images of the World War II code talkers who used their unique language to encrypt secret radio messages sent to the front lines. Here’s what many don’t know. It’s the most populous Native American tribe in the United States. Its reservation encompasses 27,000 square miles in three…
The Arizona Restaurant Association is aiming to take some of the guesswork out of who’s coming to dinner.
While it hasn’t quite been “lions, tigers and bears,” it has been “parrots, ferrets and squirrels,” according to restaurant owners, who say Arizona’s loose definition of service animal is resulting in service animal shams all over the state.
So the restaurant association is backing HB 2401, which passed out of the Senate 26-2 on Tuesday and now awaits the governor’s signature. The bill would align the definition more closely with the federal definition, which was narrowed in 2011.
The designation of service animal would go to the dogs—and a few miniature horses—that can perform a task to help someone with a disability. This would exclude comfort animals, which aren’t allowed at the federal level either, though people are allowed to have an animal that helps with psychiatric conditions, if the animal is trained to perform a task.
Listen up Mitt, Newt, Rick and Ron. There are some tricks to get Arizona voters to like you.
That’s the opinion of Arizona political operatives who offer advice to Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul heading into Tuesday’s Republican presidential primary.
“Border issues are very important. Particularly with the Tea Party, right-wing of the party that tends to vote in primaries, they continue to be pretty tough on illegal immigration,” said Bruce Merrill, the senior research fellow for the Morrison Institute for Public Policy at Arizona State University who has a Ph.D. in political behavior.
Merrill said Santorum and Romney have an advantage because of this. Gingrich has been more tolerant of not displacing families and has supported the “Dream Act.”
Carolyn Cox, chair of the Pima County Republican Party, said Arizona Republicans are different than other Republicans for one primary reason.
“I think the main difference between Arizona and other states is that we have a border,” Cox said. She believes candidates need to address border issues in order to appeal to Arizona Republicans. She also encourages addressing government spending and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, dubbed Obama Care by Republicans.
“I think they need to be absolutely honest in explaining how you are going to reduce the deficit, how you going to cut back government and how you are going to replace Obama Care with a free-market type system,” Cox said.
Arizona’s legislators want Bibles in the classroom, but state teachers could find themselves punished if they bring other texts into public and charter schools.
Teachers could have their licenses revoked if they bring any supplemental books into the classroom that aren’t pre-approved by the district and posted on a website for parental view.
Many teachers say these bills are an intrusion into the classroom where local principals and school boards should keep control.
But many legislators ended up arguing the Bible elective was necessary to address lower standards and morals in the public school system.
