PHOENIX, Arizona, June 9 -- The Arizona House Democrats issued the following news release: * * * Democrats Secure Historic 3-Year Freeze on Data Center Tax Giveaways, Save Healthcare for 40,000 Arizonans, and Cut Taxes for Working Families In a first-in-the-nation move, Arizona House Democrats fought for and won a three-year suspension on new data center tax giveaways, the strongest such freeze in the country as part of a negotiated bipartisan budget plan announced today and that could be app  more

PHOENIX, Arizona, June 14 (TNSLrpt) -- The Arizona Auditor General issued the following performance audit report (No. 26-203) entitled "Apache Elementary School District." Here are excerpts: * * * Performance Audit District improperly received State funding for out-of-State students and should evaluate operational changes for educating the few Arizona students it serves; it also provided unauthorized fringe benefits to 2 employees, did not comply with some cash-handling requirements, and lac  more

PHOENIX, Arizona, June 14 (TNSLrpt) -- The Arizona Auditor General issued the following performance audit report (No. 26-204) entitled "Central Arizona Valley Institute of Technology." Here are excerpts: * * * Performance Audit District improperly received State funding for out-of-State students and should evaluate operational changes for educating the few Arizona students it serves; it also provided unauthorized fringe benefits to 2 employees, did not comply with some cash-handling requirem  more

PHOENIX, Arizona, June 14 (TNSLrpt) -- The Arizona Auditor General issued the following performance audit report (No. 26-202) entitled "Pima County Joint Technical Education District." Here are excerpts: * * * Performance Audit District paid 2 employees more than $104,000 for overtime work without ensuring the charges were reasonable and potentially wasted other monies on food and beverages, excess vehicles, and car wash passes. It also lacked processes to consistently collect and validate k  more

PHOENIX, Arizona, June 14 (TNSLrpt) -- The Arizona Auditor General issued the following performance audit report (No. 26-201) entitled "San Simon Unified School District." Here are excerpts: * * * Performance Audit District lacked effective controls to limit access to its campus; did not ensure its employees and Governing Board members complied with certain conflict-of-interest requirements; did not follow cash, credit cards, and school bus pretrip requirements; and did not limit access to I  more

WASHINGTON, June 14 -- The Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association, Phoenix, Arizona, has submitted a public comment letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) addressing key elements of the Fiscal Year 2027 inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) proposed rule. AzHHA's comments focus on hospital reimbursement issues particularly related to the proposed payment update and the implementation approach of the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement Expanded (CJR-X) model.  more

WASHINGTON, June 14 -- Arizona Public Service Company, Phoenix, Arizona, provided extensive public comment to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regarding proposed amendments to the Hazardous and Solid Waste Management System rules governing the disposal of coal combustion residuals (CCR) from electric utilities. APS emphasized the importance of granting permitting authorities maximum flexibility to apply risk-based decision-making in managing CCR units to balance environmen  more

PHOENIX, Arizona, June 13 -- Gov. Katie Hobbs, D-Arizona, issued the following news release: * * * POOL FOOTAGE: Governor Katie Hobbs Signs Arizona First Budget * Today, Governor Katie Hobbs signed her Arizona First budget that includes a $1.4 billion tax cut for working families, a three year data center tax credit moratorium and investments in border security, healthcare, public safety and education. POOL FOOTAGE HERE "I'm thrilled to sign the bipartisan Arizona First budget into law,"  more