Thursday Newsmaker 2/29
Arizona GOP legislators pass immigration bills on border crossing and E-Verify
The Arizona Legislature gave final approval Wednesday to a bill that would make it a state crime to cross the border illegally, one of a package of bills that critics have called modern versions of SB 1070.
Other bills in the package – including a proposed ballot initiative that would expand the use of E-Verify to welfare recipients as well as workers – have been approved in the House with strong Republican support.
Opinion: A bill that would allow ranchers to kill trespassing migrants has passed the Arizona House. This, from the party that calls itself pro life.
RELATED:Biden may sign Trump-era immigration executive order. It won’t fix Arizona’s border issues
Opinion: President Joe Biden appears ready to take a page out of Trump’s immigration playbook, even if it’s unlikely to help conditions at the border.
GOP lawmakers move to keep Trump on Arizona ballot whatever the courts rule
SB 1158, approved this week by the GOP-led state Senate on a party-line vote, would spell out in Arizona law that a presidential nominee from any recognized political party cannot be excluded or removed from the general election ballot “on the basis of a claimed violation of the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution.’’ That’s the provision that bars federal office to anyone who has “engaged in insurrection’’ against the federal government or “given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.’’
Arizona Official Shuts Down Right-Winger Over Clueless Mail-In Voting Claim
Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer pushed back at a conservative Wednesday after she questioned mail-in voting in Arizona ahead of the state’s primaries next month.
Observers say decorum in the Arizona Legislature is getting worse
The Arizona Legislature has long been a place where fierce policy debates could be had, as well as the occasional personal insult.
Deficit ahead: Phoenix expects looming $103 million shortfall, can manage for now
Phoenix can balance its budget this year but it expects massive deficits in the two years after that will force the mayor and City Council to cut spending or find new money.
Arizona’s student-to-counselor ratio is the worst in the US. Here’s why
Experts say the profession’s continued growth hangs in the balance as districts consider how to sustainably fund positions that often rely on grants and other time-limited funding sources. Many existing counselor positions were paid for by short-term federal pandemic relief.
Are you middle class? In these 3 Arizona cities, it takes more than $100K
Many would think making six figures would place families in the upper middle class, especially since most Arizona households make less than $73,000 a year, according to 2023 data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Current and former Arizona members of Congress took state salaries in 2022.
A few current and former members of Congress appeared in The Arizona Republic’s 2022 salary database of public employees, with Rep. Juan Ciscomani coming out on top.
January is getting drier every year. And February may not be far behind.
