Senate President Steve Pierce. (Photo by Evan Wyloge/Arizona Capitol Times)

Extraordinary events put Steve Pierce at the helm of the Arizona Senate — and those same events made the job of leading the chamber, which is already difficult by itself, even more challenging.

The Prescott rancher was elected as Senate president following the ouster of Russell Pearce, who lost a November recall election to a rival Republican. While some of Pearce’s colleagues had no love lost for the former senator, others remained loyal to him.

Pierce had to manage a caucus that not only fractured on these emotional grounds, but one that was also sometimes split on philosophical issues.

For the complete Arizona Capitol Times  interview, go here:

http://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2012/05/25/steve-pierce-keeping-gop-out-of-the-news-was-biggest-challenge-in-2012-legislative-session/

Last night Channel 5 in Phoenix updated viewers on buildtheborderfence.com

The report featured an interview with Senator Steve Smith

Channel 5 report on the border fence

Also sponsors state legislation to improve response to fires

Senator Griffin

Thousands of acres of Arizona land are burning today, and it’s already looking like another long and dangerous wildfire season.Today State Senator Gail Griffin expressed her strong support for a bill just introduced in the U.S. House to help avoid these wildfires.

 The National Catastrophic Wildfire Prevention Act of 2012 is sponsored by Congressman Paul Gosar.  It makes a number of changes to federal public lands policies in an effort to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires. These changes include:

              Expediting forest restoration projects on federal lands to reduce fuel loads and minimize the risk of fire

              Streamlining process-related delays for projects on national forest system lands

             Authorizing wildfire prevention projects focused on fuel reduction and protection of endangered species habitat

 Supporters of the Act realize we can no longer stand by and watch as our valuable lands burn, destroying land, endangering lives and damaging our fragile economy.

 “Last year’s record fire season dramatically illustrated that our forests are overgrown and that federal policies must be reformed to enable the Forest Service to do its job,” Senator Griffin declared. “The Wildfire Prevention Act accomplishes this by allowing the Forest Service to expedite forest restoration projects to protect at-risk communities.”

 “Without these thinning projects, we are going to keep seeing these monster fires like the Wallow, the Horseshoe II and the Monument last year,” says Senator Griffin. “Eight of the nine largest fires in Arizona history happened in the past ten years. Our forests haven’t been thinned properly, and we are paying a heavy price.”

 Senator Griffin’s concern for the conditions of Arizona’s forests and the safety of forested communities led her to sponsor a number of pieces of legislation in the recently-completed legislative session, including SCM1001, which urged Congress to support an innovative plan to reform the Forest Service and SCM1008, which called on Congress to adequately fund the Forest Service.

 Senator Griffin also co-sponsored legislation requiring the state forester to develop and implement a comprehensive wildfire deployment plan of statewide resources for wildfire suppression activities and to ensure training and certification for wild land firefighters.

Prepared by Senate Majority Staff  

The Majority in the Arizona State Senate gathered in January with a goal of building upon the successes of the First Regular Session, enacting another truly balanced budget and creating an economic environment that will continue to grow us out of this sluggish economy. The Republican caucus delivered with a responsible budget that is balanced through 2014 and sets aside reserves to improve Arizona’s credit rating and plan for future needs. Legislators also made reforms to improve Arizona’s business climate and expand our nationally-recognized lead in school choice. Some of the key proposals are outlined as follows:

 Budget

As a direct result of the responsible fiscal management of the state’s finances in FY 2012, the Legislature was not only able to avoid making cuts to the state budget in FY 2013, but it also balanced the FY 2014 budget, even with the temporary 1% sales tax increase expiring. The state economy is showing slow but consistent growth, and jobs are continuing to be created.  In February and March, 47,000 jobs were created in Arizona. With the knowledge that the economy could slow at any time, the Legislature insisted on continuing a cautious fiscal policy.  In addition to a balanced budget, Senate Republicans insisted on no fund sweeps, no gimmicks, no cuts to Education, Public Safety, Transportation, or Health Care, and a “rainy day fund” for unplanned contingencies.

To read the rest of the pdf document, click here:

2012 Accomplishments of the Majority Caucus 5-17-12

Glenn Hamer, President & CEO, Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry (File photo)

If Yogi Berra were a political analyst, he might describe the May 3 passage of HB2815 as the second consecutive year that the Legislature passed a once-in-a-generation competitiveness package.

The work put in on this year’s package is a testament to the commitment of Gov. Jan Brewer, House Speaker Andy Tobin and Senate President Steve Pierce to make Arizona the absolute best place to grow a thriving business.

The centerpiece of the bill was a landmark cut in the capital gains tax. Before passage of HB 2815, Arizona taxed capital gains like regular income. But thanks to the Legislature, we will phase in reductions of 10 percent, then 20 percent and finally 25 percent in the tax on capital gains, resulting in a 3.4 percent effective tax rate on capital gains.

To read more, click here

http://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2012/05/11/governor-legislature-score-big-wins-for-business-2nd-year-in-a-row/

Senate President Steve Pierce sat down with House Speaker Andy Tobin and Arizona Horizon host Ted Simons to talk about the just-completed legislative session.