The Official Website of the Arizona State Senate Republican Caucus

PHOENIX (CBS5) – “Drivers in Arizona see it almost daily – drivers texting behind the wheel. The potentially deadly behavior is not against the law.

“The majority of people know that it’s wrong, but they admitted to doing it anyway,” said Stephanie Dembowski of AAA Arizona.

That’s what one AAA survey showed when randomly polling their members.

Dembowski pointed to another annual AAA survey which measures members’ opinions about public affairs issues.

“What we found is that 92 percent of them said that they support a statewide ban on texting while driving.”

Those big numbers in favor of a ban aren’t just with AAA members.

“Most parents I talk to say, ‘Yes! This is what I want. I want a no texting while driving bill. It’s the right thing to do,’” said Sen. Al Melvin, R-District 11.

For five years now, Melvin has been trying to pass bills that outlaw texting while driving. The latest, Senate Bill 1241, banned wireless devices for teens during their first six months of having a license. It never received a hearing on the Senate floor.

Other state lawmakers have authored bills as well, but none of them have passed.”

To read the full article and to watch the interview, click here:

http://www.kpho.com/story/21813596/arizona-remains-1-of-5-states-without-statewide-texting-ban

Senate President Andy Biggs and House Speaker Andy Tobin appear on Arizona Horizon to discuss the latest news from the state capitol, including whether progress is being made on the state budget and the latest with the push to expand Medicaid.

To watch the discussion, click here

http://www.azpbs.org/arizonahorizon/play.php?vidId=5753

PRESCOTT – Yavapai County elections officials say they support several bills seeking to change election laws that are sponsored by Arizona Sen. Michele Reagan, R-Scottsdale.

Reagan is traveling to county seats across the state to update elections officials about the bills, and she stopped by the Yavapai County Recorder’s Office on Friday first.

“She reached out from the very beginning,” Yavapai County Recorder Leslie Hoffman said.

“They gave me a lot of suggestions, and we made a lot of them into bills,” Reagan said.

To read the rest of the article, click here

http://www.prescottaz.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1086&ArticleID=117723

“If you live in Arizona, State Sen. Gail Griffin wants you to be a cowboy on the fourth Saturday in July.

Break out your 10-gallon hat and check the spurs on your boots because thanks to our local State Senator, Arizona will once again recognize cowboys on July 27, 2013.

“National Day of the Cowboy encourages people to observe and celebrate the contributions the men and women known as cowboys have made to American history and culture and the economic impact cowboys contribute via ranching and rodeos,” states SB 1139.

As chairman of the Senate Government and Environment Committee, Griffin used the “striker” maneuver to move the bill onto a vote by the full Senate, which passed the measure. Similar legislation is moving through the House, and with its expected approval, the bill will land on the governor’s desk in the near future, awaiting her signature to complete the process.”

To continue reading this article click here:

http://www.svherald.com/content/opinion/2013/03/25/349892

An Arizona lawmaker wants to create state-level penalties for schools that violate a federal law prohibiting them from releasing students’ private information to non-educational entities.

“When we’re going outside the scope of education and giving this type of private information to anybody, it’s really a problem,” said Sen. Kimberly Yee, R-Phoenix.

The federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act already prohibits schools from disclosing student records without consent. Exceptions to that rule include schools releasing “directory information” such as students’ names, phone numbers and addresses unless a parent or student signs a non-disclosure form.

Penalties for violating the law can include a school, district or charter losing all of its federal funding.

Under SB 1450, knowingly committing a FERPA violation would cost up to 10 percent of an entity’s monthly state funding disbursement. The cuts would remain in place until the violation is corrected.

The bill won unanimous approval from the Senate. The House Education Committee endorsed it Monday, March 18, on a 6-3 party-line vote.

Yee said the bill followed two years of research into FERPA violations at Arizona schools. She told the committee she heard of a few violations, including one instance of school officials giving a mobile dentistry provider students’ medical insurance information. The company used the information to contact parents and get approval to complete dental work on children, she said.

“These are personalized sheets of information with your home information and your student identifier numbers and they should not be leaving the school campus – but they are,” she said.

Follow the link to read the full article: http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/032313_leg_ferpa/lawmaker-establish-state-penalties-schools-privacy-violations/

“Recently, Maricopa County contracted to purchase 450 bulletproof vests to protect our law-enforcement officers.

The purchase will be made over a three-year period and will cost an estimated $360,000. County officials believe this is a good price for the equipment, and we agree. But you don’t have to take our word. Our transparency website lists such transactions and other financial information about how your government spends your money.

All citizens have a right to detailed financial information about how your government spends your money. And now, with both the state and county OpenBooks websites, that information is easily obtained on the Internet. Just log on to maricopa.gov/openbooks or visit the state’s website at openbooks.az.gov.

At OpenBooks, you will find up-to-date financial data including revenue sources, departmental budgets, expenditures, bids, contracts, tax bills, audits, financial reports and bond ratings. You can research property tax rates for cities, school districts, community colleges and special districts.

We call this “transparency,” a fancy way of saying we’re trying to be open and aboveboard about what government is doing and how much it is spending.”

To continue reading this article click here: http://www.azcentral.com/opinions/articles/20130307state-county-transparent-finance-websites.html