Howard Fischer

A Sierra Vista lawmaker wants to block construction of a highway he says could lead to the loss of national sovereignty. 

The issue arose during a debate over laws governing how Arizona can enter into partnerships with private companies to build toll roads. Rep. David Stevens said he's all for the concept. But he told colleagues during floor debate his concern is any effort to build Interstate 11, a highway that would run all the way from Nogales to Canada. Most of the roads already are in place. The missing link is a segment from Phoenix to Las Vegas.

It does not look like employers in this state are going to be able to use their religious beliefs to deny contraceptive coverage to their workers. 

Legislation designed to update laws on using a telephone to harass people is causing some concern about free speech rights. 

Existing law makes it a crime to use a telephone with the intent to terrify, intimidate, threaten, harass, annoy or offend, combined with use of obscene language or suggestions, or threat to harm. The legislation would apply that same standard to any electronic or digital communication. David Horowitz, director of the New York based Media Coalition, said that language is overbroad.

Retailers are demanding that Governor Jan Brewer negotiate a deal with the nation's largest online retailer to get it to start collecting state sales taxes. 

The complaint by the retailers is that they have to collect state and local sales taxes while online operations like Amazon.com do not. Gayle Shanks, one of the owners of Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe said that's not fair.

The move came a day after an independent investigative team concluded Daniel Patterson has a pattern of misconduct, including harassing and threatening colleagues, staff and lobbyists and given his history, should be removed from office. House Minority Leader Chad Campbell said, given Patterson's conduct, he did not want to wait for the Ethics Committee to review the report and make its recommendation to the full House.

The state House could vote as early as today whether to evict one of their own. 

In a report Monday, investigators said Tucson Democrat Daniel Patterson has sought personal favors in exchange for votes on legislation, admitted to staff he frequently uses marijuana, and routinely verbally abuses, assaults and harasses his colleagues, staff and lobbyists, especially those who disagree with him. 

The report goes on to say the situation got so bad that Yuma Representative Lynne Pancrazi started sleeping with a gun and others sought additional security at the Capitol.

A deal reached Monday will short-circuit an attempt to get voters to scrap public financing of elections. 

The 1998 law allows but does not require candidates to get public funds if they agree not to take outside cash. Foes, including business interests, have been unhappy with the plan for years. And they had the votes lined up at the Legislature to ask voters to effectively repeal the law. Sen. John McComish said the deal allows the system to remain in place, but with some new restrictions on how it spends money on public relations.

The official report from the Bureau of Economic Analysis puts per capita  personal income in Arizona last year at $35,875. That's a 3.9 percent increase over the prior year. But that was not enough to keep pace with the rest of the nation were income went up 4.3 percent. The result is that Arizona remains in 40th place. Economist Tom Rex of Arizona State University said the numbers were to be expected.

"We're very, very cyclical in Arizona," said Rex. "I'm not surprised that we'd have another pretty mediocre year. Things will turn here over the next couple of years."

Governor Jan Brewer vetoed legislation Wednesday that would have legalized illuminated electronic billboards with changing messages along state highways. 

The measure would make it a crime to terminate a pregnancy once a fetus reached 20 weeks. Foes have said such decisions are best left to a woman and her doctor. But Republican Senator Steve Yarbrough said it's not that simple.

"There's a third person in that room," he argued. "There is the baby. Who speaks for her, the totally innocent one with no voice? Who has the duty and the right to speak for her? We do."