Enlarge image Playoffs Lure Coyotes Buyer as Losses Force City to Fire Workers Shane Doan #19 of the Phoenix Coyotes scores a power play goal in the first period past goaltender Jonathan Quick #32 of the Los Angeles Kings in Game Four of the Western Conference Final during the 2012 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Staples Center in Los Angeles on May 20, 2012. Shane Doan #19 of the Phoenix Coyotes scores a power play goal in the first period past goaltender Jonathan Quick #32 of the Los Angeles Kings in Game Four of the Western Conference Final during the 2012 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Staples Center in Los Angeles on May 20, 2012. Photographer: Jeff Gross/Getty Images Enlarge image Playoffs Lure Coyotes Buyer ... Continue reading →

Immigration Doesn’t Hurt City Economies or Ratings, S&P Says By Amanda J. Crawford - 2012-05-17T20:34:37Z Most U.S. cities with “significant immigration” over the past decade saw their credit ratings improve, according to Standard & Poor’s. Even amid concerns about the pressures of new, lower-income or less-educated residents, cities with high numbers of the foreign born saw tax bases grow and per-capita income increase, the report released today by the ratings company said. “To make a case that immigration causes governments to go broke or jurisdictions to have budget overruns is a simplistic argument,” said Horacio Aldrete-Sanchez, a senior director in state and local government ratings for S&P and an author of the report. “There are undoubtedly costs to these governments, but there is also an ... Continue reading →

Arizona Sheriff Facing Civil Rights Suit Says Obama Is Using Him By Amanda J. Crawford - Fri May 11 17:39:12 GMT 2012 Enlarge image Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio speaks with a reporter outside city jail in this May 3, 2010, file photo. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio speaks with a reporter outside city jail in this May 3, 2010, file photo. Photographer: Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images Joe Arpaio says he’s angry. Standing at the podium before a roomful of reporters in his Phoenix office yesterday, the 79-year-old sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, called a federal lawsuit alleging discrimination by his agency an election-year ploy by President Barack Obama to win Latino votes. “They are using ... Continue reading →

Enlarge image Maricopa County Sheriff Joseph Arpaio Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images Maricopa County Sheriff Joseph Arpaio speaks with a reporter outside city jail in this May 3, 2010, file photo. Maricopa County Sheriff Joseph Arpaio speaks with a reporter outside city jail in this May 3, 2010, file photo.Photographer: Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images Arizona’s Maricopa County and its sheriff were accused by the U.S. Justice Department of discriminating against Latinos in a lawsuit that prompted Sheriff Joseph Arpaio to accuse the Obama administration of targeting him in an election-year maneuver. The sheriff’s office, according to the complaint filed yesterday in federal court in Phoenix, denies constitutional protections to Latino prisoners who have limited English language skills. The U.S. also alleges in the complaint that the ... Continue reading →

Enlarge image Arizona's Border Disputes Show Why High Court Won't Calm U.S. Army National Guardsman Spc. Bernard Mendoza watches for illegal immigrants and drug smugglers crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in Nogales, Arizona. U.S. Army National Guardsman Spc. Bernard Mendoza watches for illegal immigrants and drug smugglers crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in Nogales, Arizona. Photographer: John Moore/Getty Images April 24 (Bloomberg) -- Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, a Republican, Todd Landfried, executive director of Arizona Employers for Immigration Reform, Todd Sanders, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, and Lisa Urias, co-founder of the Real Arizona Coalition, talk with Bloomberg's Amanda J. Crawford about Arizona's 2010 immigration law. The U.S. Supreme Court tomorrow will hear arguments on whether the measure, known as ... Continue reading →

Enlarge image Housing Crisis Curbs Use of Mortgage Break as States Reap Reward A bank owned sign hangs outside a foreclosed home in Maricopa, Arizona. Photo: Joshua Lott/Getty Images A bank owned sign hangs outside a foreclosed home in Maricopa, Arizona. Photo: Joshua Lott/Getty Images The cost of one of the country’s most expensive individual tax breaks is shrinking as the number of Americans who own homes declines and mortgage rates hover near historic lows. Federal tax filers claimed almost $71 billion less in mortgage interest deductions for 2009 than for 2007, a 14 percent drop, according to the Internal Revenue Service. That trend continued in 2010, the IRS said in a report last month, as preliminary data showed that lower interest rates, home ownership ... Continue reading →

The cost of one of the country’s most expensive individual tax breaks is shrinking as the number of Americans who own homes declines and mortgage rates hover near historic lows. Federal tax filers claimed almost $71 billion less in mortgage interest deductions for 2009 than for 2007, a 14 percent drop, according to the Internal Revenue Service. That trend continued in 2010, the IRS said in a report last month, as preliminary data showed that lower interest rates, home ownership and home prices curbed use of the tax deduction by 7.2 percent. “People are walking away and losing their homes and they no longer have the mortgage interest deductions,” said Andrew Hanson, an assistant professor of economics at Georgia State University who has researched the ... Continue reading →

Arizona’s Brewer Vetoes Bill Opening Buildings to Guns By Amanda J. Crawford - Wed Apr 18 04:01:00 GMT 2012 Governor Jan Brewer vetoed a bill that would have allowed guns in libraries, city halls and other public buildings in Arizona. Brewer said she was concerned about the costs for local governments, which would have been required to equip libraries, city halls and other buildings with metal detectors security officers and gun lockers in order to prohibit firearms. “They would face this choice: Either spend untold dollars in order to provide their officials and employees the same level of protection that we have at the Arizona state Capitol complex, or accept weapons on the premises,” Brewer said yesterday in a veto letter. “The result would be ... Continue reading →

Arizona’s Brewer Vetoes Bill Opening Buildings to Guns By Amanda J. Crawford - Wed Apr 18 04:01:00 GMT 2012 Governor Jan Brewer vetoed a bill that would have allowed guns in libraries, city halls and other public buildings in Arizona. Brewer said she was concerned about the costs for local governments, which would have been required to equip libraries, city halls and other buildings with metal detectors security officers and gun lockers in order to prohibit firearms. “They would face this choice: Either spend untold dollars in order to provide their officials and employees the same level of protection that we have at the Arizona state Capitol complex, or accept weapons on the premises,” Brewer said yesterday in a veto letter. “The result would be ... Continue reading →

Brewer May Allow Guns in Arizona’s Government Buildings By Amanda J. Crawford - Fri Apr 13 21:38:08 GMT 2012 Jan Brewer, governor of Arizona. Photographer: Ron Sachs/Pool via Bloomberg Governor Jan Brewer will decide within days whether to sign a bill allowing guns in libraries, city halls and other public buildings in Arizona (BEESAZ), where a U.S. lawmaker was shot in the head last year. The bill, which passed the state Senate yesterday, would allow armed people on public property unless the space is protected by metal detectors, security personnel and firearm lockers. Governments say that providing such measures to keep guns out would cost millions of dollars. The goal of the bill is “to prevent murder,” said Charles Heller, a co-founder of the Arizona ... Continue reading →