Howard Fischer is a veteran journalist who has reported on state government and legal affairs in
Arizona since 1982, the last 25 for Capitol Media Services which he founded in 1991. Fischer's news reports appear in daily and weekly newspapers around the state, and are heard on Arizona Public Radio.
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Recent Stories
House Speaker forges ahead with drought contingency plan
HB 2476, set for a hearing Tuesday before the House Committee on Natural Resources, Energy and Water, would eliminate that automatic forfeiture.
Kingmanites may lose right to raise taxes for a band
The statute says if 10 percent of voters in any city or town sign a petition, the council has to put a measure on the ballot asking to create a band fund. And the levy, if approved, could be as high as one mill a year.
Lawmakers, business leaders aiming to add requirements to initiative process
SB 1451, approved Thursday by the Senate Judiciary Committee, would impose new requirements on paid circulators and the organizations that hire them to collect signatures.
End around voter-rejected school vouchers in Senate committee
Rejecting claims they are ignoring the will of voters, a Senate panel voted Wednesday to alter the rules governing the use of vouchers of state dollars by parents to send their children to private and parochial schools.
Lawmaker wants to know what cellphones are collecting and when
Rep. Kelly Townsend says she knows her phone is watching and listening to her, even when she is not talking on it.
Allowing John Q. Public to file suit against public dollars used to influence elections passes House committee
Saying state and county prosecutors may balk, a House panel voted Tuesday to let anyone file suit to claim that public dollars are being used to influence elections.
City magistrates may face voters after initial hiring
Saying magistrates can be squeezed politically, a House panel voted Wednesday to all but strip city councils of their ability to fire them.
House panel votes to redefine ‘employee’
Insisting it will be good for young people, a House panel voted Monday to let employers pay students who are part-time workers just two-thirds as much as they do anyone else.
Appeals court rejects Arizona law limiting minimum wage, benefits
The state Court of Appeals has slapped down efforts by Republican lawmakers to block local governments from mandating that private employers provide workers with even more fringe benefits than required by state law.
State senate votes to repeal $32 registration fee
State lawmakers are picking another fight with Gov. Doug Ducey over taxes and fees.
