Legislature cuts $300 million

During a special session initiated by Gov. Jan Brewer, the state Legislature cut $300 million from Arizona’s budget, taking $144 million from the K-12 education budget and $150 million from the Department of Economic Services, which provides a variety of social-support services across the state.

The vote occurred on Nov. 23 and the cuts received only Republican votes despite efforts to get Democratic support. However, the Republicans have been calling for a much more significant cut in order to make up for the approximately $2 billion budget deficit in the state. Republicans also said Democrats have not been active enough in finding a solution to the economic crisis.

Democrats said Republicans have not been giving them a fair say in the negotiations over the cuts. They also said any plan they would play a key part in would have to include considerations for tax cuts.

California students protest increase

Hundreds of students at multiple schools in the University of California (UC) system staged protests in response to a decision made on Dec. 18 to increase tuition by 32 percent. This would be the equivalent to an approximately $2,000 tuition hike in addition to more than $17,000 in additional fees.

The protests were held at UC Santa Cruz, UC Berkeley, UCLA and UC Davis. Demonstrations included sit-ins in administration buildings, where students would sit in front of exits and refuse to leave. Some students broke into restricted areas. 41 protestors at Berkeley and 52 students from Davis were arrested for the protests.

The demonstration at Santa Cruz ended after five days.

New judge in boy’s homicide case

A new judge will hear a case about a 9-year-old Arizona boy who killed two men at his home in St. John, Ariz. in 2008.

Greenlee County Superior Court Judge Monica Stauffer will replace Apache County Superior Court Judge Michael Roca after Roca was considered too biased to proceed with the case. Roca had previously had conversations with juvenile probation officers about the case, which were deemed inappropriate.

In 2008, the boy was found with a gun; there were two bodies lying near him. In a controversial video, two police officers interrogated the boy by himself and the boy confessed to killing his father and his father’s roommate.

The boy pleaded guilty to negligent homicide for the roommate in a deal where the charge of homicide against his father was dropped. Stauffer will proceed with the sentencing.

Senate to debate healthcare bill

Over the weekend, Democrats in the U.S. Senate were able to receive enough votes to avoid a filibuster and move on to debate the comprehensive healthcare reform bill.

The bill would not be able to be debated without 60 votes, and Democrats were able to gain just enough. No Republicans voted to move forward with debate.

Actual voting on the bill could take weeks and almost all senators expect changes to be made to the bill before the vote.

A healthcare bill recently passed the House of Representatives. Should the Senate pass a bill, it would have to be combined with the House bill before being sent to Barack Obama.

Kirkpatrick supports guns in national parks

Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-Flagstaff) came out in support of a movement to allow guns to be brought into national parks. She said she opposes all limits rumored to be on the horizon with regards to firearms in those parks.