Howard Fischer

The legislation would require federal officers to notify the sheriff "before taking any official law enforcement action in a county in this state." Sierra Vista Republican Representative David Gowan said it's a simple matter of state sovereignty.

"If you look in your Constitution, you will not find that there are any police powers granted to the federal government," said Gowan. "And in such, the Tenth Amendment dictates that anything not granted to the federal government is reserved to the states respectively or the people."

The Independent Redistricting Commission is going to court this morning to force the state to pay the panel's bills. 

A state senator is blaming a Christian family values lobbying group for killing legislation designed to strengthen laws that require schools to crack down on bullying.

Governor Jan Brewer is championing the change. She said the current system, which gives state employees the right to appeal any move to discipline or fire them makes it too cumbersome to get rid of bad workers. But the governor also said scrapping the merit protections will allow supervisors to reward the best employees without having to worry about running afoul of rules which require everyone doing the same kind of job be similarly compensated. Democratic Representative Ruben Gallego of Phoenix said he saw the other side of such a system while growing up.

About half of all Arizona mortgages are under water, meaning owners owe more than the property is worth. This proposal was aimed at helping those who continue to make payments rather than simply walk away. It is a bit complex, involving the state using its power of eminent domain to acquire the property, paying the bank the current market value with money from investors who buy state bonds, and giving the lender a no-interest promissory note for the balance. That buys the homeowner some time for the market to recover.

Current law says companies with a retail presence in Arizona have to levy the tax. Efforts to expand that definition to include firms with only warehouses here were beaten back in the Senate by Amazon lobbyists -- twice. The proposal approved Wednesday by the House Commerce Committee seeks to sweeten the deal: The tax would be prospective only, meaning Amazon could escape having to fight a $53 million assessment from the state Department of Revenue for what it says are uncollected prior taxes. Mesa Republican J.D.

The House Ethics Committee took the first steps this afternoon in its investigation of Daniel Patterson. 

Verbally battered by local officials, a border area lawmaker said today she is abandoning her proposal to warn area residents and visitors about dangers from illegal immigrants. 

A Senate panel voted Monday to let employers with religious or moral objections refuse to include contraceptive coverage in their health insurance plans for their workers.

HB 2625 would repeal a decade-old mandate which says that companies that provide health insurance for workers must also cover contraceptives. Representative Debbie Lesko (R-Glendale) said the move is necessary to protect freedom.

The next time you go to the polls, you should be free to wear that T-shirt with a Democratic donkey or even those Republican elephant earrings.