Franks Anti-casino Bill Passes Through House
Two years ago during a press conference held Sept. 16, 2011, Congressman Trent Franks, former Glendale Mayor Elaine Scruggs, President of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community Diane Enos, and other state and local representatives announced the introduction of a bill aimed at stopping the construction of a casino on the border of Glendale.

Just like Franks’ 2011 bill, House Bill 2938, his latest bill, The Keep the Promise Act, H.R. 1410, would alter the settlement reached in 1986 between Congress and the Tohono O’odham Nation – the Gila Bend Indian Reservation Lands Replacement Act (Public Law 99-503). Read More

U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva has co-sponsored more bills than any other House member in this session of Congress,  according to a story in the National Journal.

The Tucson Democrat has signed on as a co-sponsor of 435 bills in the first seven months of this year, says the story by reporter Billy House.  Read More

Former Arizona Attorney General and Phoenix Mayor Terry Goddard is pondering a run for statewide office next year.

Goddard said he is looking at running in the Democratic primary for secretary of state or attorney general.

“A lot of folks have contacted me about running for SOS or AG,” Goddard said in an email to me. “(I) have not ruled out either, but legal work and raising an active teenager come first.”

Goddard served two terms as state attorney general from 2003 to 2011.  READ MORE

Conservative National PAC Uses Ads to Slam Flake Over Tweet, Stance on Health Law
A dismissive quip on Twitter by U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake has escalated tensions between the GOP freshman from Arizona and an influential national conservative political action committee.

The Senate Conservatives Fund, a “tea party”-style group that backed Flake in Arizona’s 2012 Republican Senate primary and helped raise money for his campaign, last week began airing a radio ad accusing Flake of turning his back on the fight to defund President Barack Obama’s signature health-care-reform law.  Read More

Sen. Flake To Give Way on Budget
Arizona’s junior U.S. senator doesn’t like Obamacare. But he’s not willing to risk shutting down the government just to defund it.

“I agree with the goal, but not the tactic,” said U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., referring to a refusal by some senators to pass a continuing budget resolution that they contend would defund Obamacare but also the entire federal government.  Read More

Sen. Jeff Flake Attends Oro Valley Breakfast
Ariz. Sen. Jeff Flake was the guest speaker during the annual awards banquet hosted by the Oro Valley Chamber of Commerce on Aug. 15.

Flake, who is back in Arizona while Congress is in recess, said he expects more bills to start passing through the legislature in the coming session.  Read More

Gosar’s Work With Dem Irks GOP Foes
Lawmaker defends Kirkpatrick union
U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar doesn’t care what GOP critics say: He’ll partner with a Democrat if he wants to.

It’s for the good of Arizona, he says. But others claim that he’s hurting his party.

Gosar, a Prescott Republican, is pushing back against criticism from fellow members of the GOP for cooperating in the past few months with Arizona Democratic Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick. They’ve co-sponsored legislation, spoken together in support of issues like a massive copper mine in Kirkpatrick’s district, and on Tuesday, they held a joint town hall.  Read More

As expected, President Barack Obama said this week that he would wind down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and replace them with a privatized system in a speech that also voiced support for the Corker-Warner Senate bill that would do the same.

Speaking Tuesday at a construction company in Phoenix, Obama laid out his four core principles for housing finance system reform, with his first objective being to limit the government’s role and allow private capital to take a bigger role in the market.  READ MORE

Senator Mark Udall Says a Plan To Replace One Dollar Bills With Coins Will Save Billions of Dollars
U.S. Senator Mark Udall, a Democrat from Colorado, is backing a proposal to replace dollar bills with coins.

Under the legislation, approximately 600,000 million coins would be placed into circulation. A transition to the coins would take about four years.  Read More

Arizona State Senator Begins Campaign to Counter Election Referendum
Calling a referendum drive misleading, a state senator has launched a campaign to keep voters from overturning extensive changes to voting laws made by the Republican-controlled Legislature.

Sen. Michele Reagan, R-Scottsdale, wants to collect funds to counter the petition drive that would force a public vote on the provisions of HB 2305. The provisions range from allowing election officials to stop sending early ballots to some voters, to putting potential new legal hurdles in the path of people who want to propose their own state laws and constitutional amendments. Read More

Wyoming Senate Race Between Cheney, Enzi is New Battle in GOP’s War
Liz Cheney has opened a new front in the battle for the soul of the Republican Party with her decision to challenge Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.). The fight pits conservatives willing to work across the aisle with a newer breed that views compromise as defeat.

The conflict, which has raged over the past two election cycles, is often marked by differences of tone and style more than ideology.  Read More

McCain, Flake Join Senate Republicans in Blocking Student Loan Interest Rate Reduction Bill
Arizona Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake joined other Republicans in blocking a bill today that would have reduced college student loan interest rates. The vote is the last obstacle in Washington for the heated student loan issue.

Senate Republicans — including the two Arizonans — blocked progress on a Democratic bill that would have temporarily brought student loan interest rates back down to 3.4 percent.  Read More

New Arizona Class Standards Called Symbolic
In the fall, a new state law will require schools to teach personal finance. In 2015, schools will be asked to train students in CPR.

However, many schools already include a personal- finance curriculum in economics classes. And while a new law details how CPR must be taught, it does not require it. Read More

Phoenix-area Foreclosures Return to Normal Levels
Foreclosures in the Phoenix metropolitan area housing market have returned to normal levels while the median price for single-family homes continues to increase.

That’s according to a new report from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.  Read More