Threats against state, congressional lawmakers jumped in recent years
WASHINGTON - Threats against members of Congress rose from 3,939 in 2017 to 4,500 in just the first three months of 2021, and threats are up against Arizona state lawmakers, too, evidence of a U.S. political divide that one researcher calls "incredibly dangerous."
Border deployment the latest in National Guard’s ‘roller coaster’ year
WASHINGTON - Last week's decision to send the Arizona National Guard to the border was another deployment in a busy year that has seen Guard members go from stocking grocery shelves to fighting wildfires to setting up vaccination sites - and helping at the border.
Arizona near top of states for bills aimed at voting rights, limits
WASHINGTON - Arizona lawmakers began the year with the third-highest number of voting restriction bills in the nation, but it appears only a few will survive as the Legislature winds down. But voting rights activists say those few bills will still disenfranchise minority voters.
Corporation Commission votes to strengthen policies on power disconnection
PHOENIX – The Arizona Corporation Commission votes to amend power disconnection policies. If finalized, the rules would go into effect in summer 2022.
Critics blast bill that would purge names from list of mail-in voters
WASHINGTON — Voting rights advocates and Arizona Democrats on Wednesday denounced a bill that would remove voters from the Permanent Early Voting List, calling it an attempt to disenfranchise up to 150,000 voters, particularly those of color.
Relief, but a vow to fight on: Arizonans react to Chauvin convictions
PHOENIX – The excruciating video of George Floyd’s murder last year led to three guilty verdicts Tuesday against Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who knelt on Floyd’s neck for 9 minutes, 46 seconds, galvanizing a global battle against police violence toward Black people.
Analysts say ‘America First’ flap not likely to hurt Gosar in long run
WASHINGTON - Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar has tried to distance himself from reports he was backing a caucus that would defend “Anglo-Saxon political traditions,” but political analysts say the flap is unlikely to harm the conservative Republican’s re-election prospects.
Biden balks at first chance to raise refugee cap from Trump-era lows
WASHINGTON — Refugee advocates were "deeply disappointed and frustrated" by the Biden administration's failure Friday to reverse historically low Trump-era refugee limits this year, something then-candidate Joe Biden had promised to do.
Giffords, congressional Democrats call for action on gun reform bills
WASHINGTON - Backed by a field of flowers that represent the thousands killed by gun violence each year, former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords joined Democrats who said Congress can act on gun reform or "can let the shooting continue."
5 gun bills – 3 from Democrats – are on different paths in the Arizona Legislature
At least five gun bills introduced in the Legislature show the tension between Second Amendment supporters and gun safety advocates. In Arizona, Republican lawmakers narrowly carry the day.
Buttigieg: Indian Country investment a priority of infrastructure plan
WASHINGTON - Indian Country infrastructure needs, for everything from water to housing to broadband, are a high priority of the Biden administration's $2.2 trillion American Jobs Plan, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said this week.
Biden cites infrastructure needs in Arizona, other states, to push plan
WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure proposal spelled out constructions needs in all states, including Arizona.
