Tag Archives: State: Arizona

NCPA reports: Arizona’s fiscal crisis is due chiefly to the state’s expansion of its Medicaid programs, says the AEI. Unsurprisingly, Medicaid expenditures constitute an ever-growing share of state expenditures: In 1987, that share amounted to slightly more than 10 percent. …

The Bay Area Reporter reports: The focus by HRC on California is drawing a mixed reaction from gay advocates in the other two states. In May, HRC also pledged an initial $500,000 from the HRC California Marriage political action committee …

The AZ Republic carries this report on the Arizona Marriage Amendment.  The latter part of the report consists of interviews with Sen. Paula Aboud, a lesbian who opposes the amendment, and Sen. Linda Gray, a proponent of the amendment.

“. . . Suppose . . . these polygamists are your neighbors . . . Do we require the husband to divorce . . . ? Is it possible for this husband to continue providing for 22 children and 3 women outside of their current context?”

Though Napolitano said she believes in the definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman, she doesn’t think that there is any reason to amend the Constitution at this point.

http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/news/story.aspx?cid=4587 ALLIANCE DEFENSE FUND STATEMENT June 30, 2008 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT ADF MEDIA RELATIONS: (480) 444-0020 or www.telladf.org/pressroom ADF will defend Ariz. marriage amendment against any legal attacks Constitutional amendment approved by Ariz. Senate for November ballot PHOENIX …

Reprting on passage of the marriage amendment in the Arizona Senate, the Arizona Catholic Conference’s email update also reports: Unfortunately, the Governor apparently used this opportunity to once again veto the new partial birth abortion bill despite the fact that …

The AP reports on KTAR.com that an Arizona bill to ban nurses from performing surgical abortions has been defeated in the Arizona Senate.  “The Senate vote Thursday was 14-12, short of 16 votes required for passage by the 30-member senate.”

The Center for Arizona Policy reports that the Amendment passed the Senate and will appear on the November 2008 election ballot. After failing on Wednesday, the Senate passed the Amendment in a second vote by a margin of 16-4.

The Center for Arizona Policy provides this update on the status of the Arizona Marriage Amendment after yesterday’s failed vote in the Senate.

The Arizona Republic is reporting that the Marriage Amendment has failed to pass in the Senate on a 14-11 vote, but another vote may be forthcoming.

The Arizona Republic reports: The closing of one Tempe adult-oriented shop and the opening of another both happened quietly in recent weeks . . . McCormick said Tempe’s zoning restrictions for his kind of business were less strict than those …

Arizona Daily Star reports: State senators voted Wednesday to protect the religious liberties of students, a measure foes said will let them harass others who don’t share their beliefs — especially gays. House Bill 2713 would prohibit public schools from …

The bill will now go to the Governor’s desk for a signature.

The President of the State Bar of Arizona, Dan McAuliffe, has posted an article titled, Thomas Investigation No ‘Witch Hunt’ in the Arizona Republic and on the website of the State Bar of Arizona. . . . The State Bar’s …

LifeSiteNews.com reports: On Monday, the Arizona Senate approved a revised partial-birth abortion ban that takes into consideration the problems pro-abortion Gov. Janet Napolitano had with an earlier version she vetoed. The bill needs a final approval from the Arizona House …

“We do know that polygamy is practiced in Nevada. Whether or not it’s criminal is a different story,” she said . . .

Top state and federal law enforcement officials from Utah, Arizona and Nevada met Wednesday in Las Vegas to discuss cooperating in the investigation of polygamy-related crimes.

The Arizona Republic reports: A Mohave County lawyer and minister has become part of a national movement to expand free-speech rights for judicial candidates by targeting rules that he says prevent candidates from announcing their views. Randolph Wolfson says in …

The AP reports: The reality is that same-sex couples know that the California change has no legal effect in Arizona, said Equality Arizona spokesman Sam Holdren. “They may go for the emotion effect, the spiritual effect of it.” . . …

ADF Attorney Byron Babione appears on Reality Check with Mike Monokian to discuss Yuma’s zoning discrimination against a church. The mp3 is here. It runs just over 18 minutes. ADF’s related press release: ADF & Center for AZ Policy sue …

Citizen Link reports: “Arizona officials are so opposed to ‘Choose Life’ license plates that they are appealing all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.” ADF is opposing Arizona’s request for review.

Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund and the Center for Arizona Policy asked a federal court Wednesday to require the City of Yuma to stop discriminating against a Yuma church. In July 2007, the city rejected the church’s application for a permit to use its property in the Old Town District for church services; however, the city has approved such permits for nonreligious groups that assemble in the district.

The Goldwater Institute has this report indicating that the Institute for Justice will appeal the recent Arizona Court of Appeals ruling hodling that Arizona Vouchers are unconstitutional.

Some Republicans criticize that provision because they say it could undermine a court order requiring the state to allow a new “choose life” license plate.

The real battle here is about the definition of marriage or its redefinition. Unfortunately, most media outlets seem to have a policy of deliberately manipulating stories and/or headlines to ensure that it is always about “gay marriage,” a phrase that favors those who would redefine marriage and that is less accurate in conveying what this battle is truly about

The California court invalidated a state law that defined marriage as a heterosexual union. That could reignite the somewhat-dormant gay marriage debate, including in Arizona and the presidential race.

“A state appeals court has overturned two Arizona school voucher programs as unconstitutional.”

The House’s 33-25 vote Monday sends the resolution to the Senate for a vote that would complete legislative action on the proposal. . .

A federal judge Friday ordered Deer Valley Unified School District officials to end its prohibition on a Christian student club’s PA announcements.

CNA reports: In a Pastoral Statement released yesterday, the bishops of the Arizona Catholic Conference encouraged a deeper respect for people’s freedom of conscience, especially in regards to health care and human life. The bishops requested that state and national …

The AZ Republic reports: Many students in Gilbert and nationwide will stay silent at school Friday to raise awareness of bullying against gays. But some parents who disagree with the annual observance are keeping their kids at home – a …

Supporters of a proposed state constitutional amendment to prohibit same-sex marriages have revived the proposal.

In first-ever research, a new report quantifies a minimum of $654 Million in Arizona and $112 Billion Nationwide annual taxpayer cost from high rates of divorce and unmarried childbearing.

ADF attorneys are asking the court to put a hold on district and school policies used to unconstitutionally restrict the First Amendment rights of Christian students while a student’s lawsuit against the district moves forward.

The marriage amendment referendum got back on track in the House Judiciary Committee today by a vote of 6-4.

. . . The latest effort by a conservative coalition, Mission: America, is pushing schools to take a stand, asking them to remove their names from a list of high schools participating in the Day of Silence.

Authorities previously burst into the rural Utah-Arizona border home of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in 1935, 1944 and 1953 . . . “It ended up strengthening them in the long run,” said Ken Driggs, an Atlanta attorney and polygamy historian.

Against the wishes of several area parents, the local Bisbee School Board voted this week to include condoms in the “prom bags” it gives away to teenagers at the annual dance.

Today, the House Natural Resources and Public Safety Committee approved SB 1048 by a vote of 6-3, which presents another opportunity to ban partial-birth abortion in Arizona. This new bill addresses the two concerns the Governor identified in her veto letter . . .

“A state legislator started a petition drive Friday to forbid all employers from discriminating against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender individuals.”

The bills vetoed Friday include one to prohibit partial birth abortions. The other vetoed bill spelled out criteria judges should consider when juveniles seek bypass of parental consent.

Cathi Herrod of the Center for Arizona Policy Family says not so fast. She reports on insider state house maneuvering to derail Arizona’s Marriage Amendment and concludes: “Stay tuned!

The domestic partners of state employees, “gay” or straight, will be eligible for health coverage and other benefits under a plan approved Tuesday by a state oversight panel.

“A state oversight panel is expected to decide Tuesday morning whether to green-light a proposal that would expand state benefits to the domestic partners of state employees, gay or straight.”

The Tucson Citizen newspaper has gone further than just reporting on the issue of abortion and is asking Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano to veto three pro-life bills.

The Arizona state legislature has given final approval to a bill banning partial-birth abortions and now the measure heads to Governor Janet Napolitano.

The Supreme Court has turned down an appeal from a county sheriff who objects to transporting jail inmates for elective abortions.

Officials at a Surprise charter school say they were shocked to learn that a fifth-grade teacher who also taught an after-school program had been distributing and receiving child pornography on the Internet for years.

The Senate voted 16-14 against the bill after the sponsor switched her vote to position herself to ask for a future re-vote.

“Police are investigating a triple shooting that took place outside the Diamond Jack strip club at 39th Street and University, according to reports . . . a fight that began inside the club spilled outside . . . ”

“An Arizona House committee has approved legislation that would have the western state joining most others in the nation by banning nurses and other non-physicians from doing abortions.”

Kerry Fehr-Snyder reports in the Arizona Republic (3.4.2008): "Gay and lesbian couples in Arizona generally make less money, are less likely to own a home and have fewer resources to raise children than their married counterparts, according to a new …

. . . A final vote in both houses could happen as early as next week. Once approved, a final version of the ban would go to Gov. Janet Napolitano . . .

. . . the updated complaint adds the school district’s literature distribution policy to the unconstitutional restrictions on student free speech named in the original complaint . . .

“State lawmakers took the first steps Monday to permitting the government to lock up pregnant women who are addicted to methamphetamine to force them to get treatment . . . ”

AZ proposed marriage amendment makes progress in the legislature.

Cathi Herrod is the President of the Center for Arizona Policy. The Arizona Daily Star carries her latest commentary arguing in favor of letting the people decide on a state marriage amendment. The Daily Star may require you to register …

“A renewed effort to strengthen the existing state ban on gay marriage is pressuring Arizona politicians to take an election-year stand on a subject some might rather avoid.”

The Arizona Republic reports on former Arizona lawmaker Steve May’s intentions, but neglects to mention that May is not merely a proponent of homosexual demands.  He is a self-professed homosexual, a fact that 365gay.com doesn’t omit.

On Wednesday, the Arizona House Health Committee voted 5-4 on a party-line vote to approve the bill and now it heads to the full state House for its consideration.

Chaplain who recited the first Hindu prayers in Colorado and New Mexico Senates last week, will be reading the similar first Hindu opening prayers in three more Western states . . .

SB 1371 would allow “domestic partners” to receive all the benefits of marriage irrespective of sexual orientation.

Shadegg, who has served in Congress for 1994, said Monday it is time for him to “seek a new challenge in a different venue.

Republican legislators are moving to have Arizona voters decide whether to amend the state Constitution to define marriage as a union of one man and one woman.

Deer Valley Unified School District officials said students are not allowed to pray over schools’ public-announcement systems, but are allowed to use the words “pray” and “prayer” in their announcements.

A former Chandler, Ariz., police officer’s First Amendment rights were not violated when he was fired for running a sexually explicit Web site with his wife, a federal appeals court panel ruled in Dible v. City of Chandler in an …

The Alliance Defense Fund is suing the Deer Valley Unified School District for not allowing a Christian student group to use the school’s PA system.

School officials refused to allow club to promote campus prayer event   PHOENIX — Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against the Deer Valley Unified School District after school officials prevented a Christian student club …

Court of Appeals, State of Arizona, Division One – In an opinion filed on January 15th, Judge Kessler upheld the conviction of Michael Jensen on one count of sexual conduct with a minor, one count of sexual indecency to a …

SAN FRANCISCO — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled Monday that Arizona officials violated the First Amendment rights of an Arizona pro-life group when they denied the group’s application for a specialty license plate featuring the …

Today’s FRC Washington Weekly Update reports on the status of the marriage battle in several states.  In addition to the states mentioned by FRC, battles over marriage or domestic partnerships are also brewing in California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New Mexico, …

ADF’s latest press release (12.14.2007) is available here. It reports:   Queen Creek officials recently decided to rename their community’s Christmas tree, which was donated by a local family, a “holiday tree.” The tree, which stands outside city hall, is …

The Sonoran Alliance provides this post, dated December 5th, discussing the new policies adopted by Scottsdale, Arizona: Last night, the Scottsdale City Council caved in to the demands of advocates of homosexual behavior and voted 4-3 to add “gender identity” …

The Arizona Republic reports on the recent ruling in State v. Stummer: The state’s high court is likely going to have to wade into the debate after a recent ruling by one division of the Arizona Court of Appeals upholding …