Homeless in Arizona

I have absolutely ZERO faith in our corrupt government, but in this case it looks like supporters of legalize marijuana played the game an won.

Nice work guys!!!!

Legislative losers and winners: Transparency and marijuana

Alia Beard Rau, Mary Jo Pitzl, Ricardo Cano and Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, The Republic | azcentral.com 2:29 p.m. MST January 27, 2016

The legislative session is in full swing. Bills are still being introduced, and House and Senate committees have begun holding long hearings full of potential new laws.

Here are some of the winners and losers from the past week:

Winners

Medical marijuana advocates: After learning of Rep. Jay Lawrence's bill to restrict medical marijuana, grassroots advocates crushed the lawmaker's office with emails and phone calls. He withdrew the bill in response. The bill would have banned naturopaths and homeopaths from writing prescriptions for the drug, required patients to renew cards every six months and punished cardholders who sell or give the drug to kids.

High school tech students: State lawmakers are uniting behind legislation that would repeal the $30 million cuts career and technical education program providers are set to lose next school year. Senate Bill 1258, introduced late last week, is sponsored by 72 lawmakers – enough to override a veto if approved. Gov. Doug Ducey’s budget proposal included some help for the Joint Technical Education Districts in the form of a three-year, $30 million competitive grant program. Many program advocates said that proposal doesn’t do enough.

Voter-fraud fighters. And Republicans: House Bill 2023 makes it a felony to return a person’s mail-in ballot to elections offices, a move that sponsor Rep. Michelle Ugenti-Rita, R-Scottsdale, said is needed to protect the sanctity of the vote. The bill got party-line approval from Republicans on the House Elections Committee, but only after 2 1/2 hours of heated debate.

Losers

Voter-suppression fighters. And Democrats: They see HB 2023 from another angle: It would inhibit first-time voters and others uncertain about the voting process from having their voices heard if they couldn’t entrust their ballot to a friend, or a member of a community group, to return their ballot.

The public: Gov. Doug Ducey and Republican lawmakers were criticized last session for rushing the budget through in a matter of days with few public hearings and little time for public input. This year, they scheduled eight public hearings to address budget concerns for key state departments. But upon questioning, House officials said they would not be allowing public comment during the House hearings.