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Tucson-based rocket maker Phantom Space wants a rezoning on city owned far on the south side. The zoning examiner is only willing to recommend part of it, setting up interesting questions for later.

I don't get to use the words "space rezoning" very much but thanks to the city of Tucson's Office of Economic Initiatives I get to tie two of my geekiest fascinations together: rocket ships and land use. God bless the U.S.A. Plus, more in local government meetings. Read more»

The Republican-led "skinny budget" passed its final hurdle Monday in the Arizona House of Representatives after a brief roadblock last week when a Republican unexpectedly stymied efforts by the GOP majority to pass a spending package that is doomed for Gov. Katie Hobbs' veto stamp. Read more»

Lawmakers and state officials will have to somehow bridge the gap between the priorities of the two parties and pass a budget by June 30 to avoid a government shutdown.

With a possible recession on the horizon and amid great economic uncertainty, the state of Arizona will have quite a bit of extra cash in its general fund this year — but that excess will quickly dwindle in the next few years with current spending. Read more»

Over the last eight months, the labor market has added more jobs than anticipated, which is one of the strongest streaks on record.

Economists weigh in as many Americans are wondering if a recession is looming, with the current U.S. inflation rate at 7.1%, interest rates rising and housing costs up. Read more»

Hamstrung by a shortage of workers, energy-producing states had the largest declines in GDP in the early months of this year.

Despite skyrocketing oil and gas prices and amid worries about a possible recession, energy-producing states had the biggest drops in gross domestic product as companies are still struggling to bring back workers and rigs that were idled early in the pandemic. Read more»

A soft landing may out of the Fed’s reach.

With inflation surging to a new 40-year high and continuing to accelerate, the Fed is expected to lift interest rates a planned seven times in 2022 to cool demand and slow rising prices - but there is a likelihood of a recession in the not too distant future. Read more»

Child care provider Missaaliyah Jackson uses flashcards with Remi Goff, 2, at Premier Children's Center in Phoenix on Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2021.

A $1.2 billion infusion of federal funding has kept an already fragile Arizona child care sector from failing, giving state leaders a shot at reforming a broken system of their own making, and perhaps bringing hope for the stability that parents and providers have craved for years. Read more»

Arizona's unemployed will get some emergency relief. What they need is a new system.

The goal should be to turn unemployment recipients into employed taxpayers. Yet Arizona's miserly system designed to help them get there hasn't changed from the late industrial age. Read more» 1

Arizona budget officials expect the state will face a deficit of $1.1 billion – possibly higher – over this fiscal year and next from the economic hit caused the COVID-19. One plus for the state is a “rainy day” fund that currently has almost $1 billion, but lawmakers say tough decisions still lie ahead.

As businesses shuttered by COVID-19 and resulting high unemployment have led to a collapse in sales and income tax revenues, state and local governments may be forced to slash budgets. That, in turn, could slow the overall recovery, economists say, with fewer workers and services pumping money back into the economy. Read more»

Gov. Doug Ducey gives an update on the COVID-19 pandemic response during an April 22, 2020, press conference.

President Donald Trump and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have questioned whether the federal government should provide aid to state and local governments that are facing massive fiscal problems as they grapple with the COVID-19 crisis, dimming the hopes of governors and mayors who have asked Congress and the White House for financial lifelines. Read more»

More than 418,000 Arizonans – and 26 million Americans – have filed for unemployment in the past five weeks, a record pace for jobless claims. The losses, traceable to the COVID-19 shutdown, amount to two-thirds of the jobs added to the Arizona economy in the past 10 years.

New jobless claims in Arizona over the past five weeks have wiped out two-thirds of the new jobs created in the state over 10 years, according to the latest numbers from the Arizona Department of Economic Security. Read more»

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell claims state and local bailouts are just for Democrats. Wait 'til he gets a load of Arizona.

Trump's presidency may depend on keeping the Grand Canyon State happy, unless you believe the current coronavirus-sparked recession somehow knows how to stop at Red state lines. Read more»

After approving a $2 trillion coronavirus relief package just weeks ago, Congress added another $484 billion for health care, but mostly to revive a $349 billion loan program for small businesses that run out of money shortly after it opened.

Money could start flowing to distressed small businesses as early as this week, after the House overwhelmingly approved a $484 billion measure that refills the exhausted Paycheck Protection Program and adds funds for hospitals and other services. Read more»

A screenshot of TurboTax’s stimulus registration product. Red arrows, added by ProPublica, point to buttons for tax prep products in which many users have to pay.

Congress gave the IRS the job of sending out coronavirus rescue checks. But the underfunded agency is struggling, while for-profit companies like Intuit have started circling, hoping to convert Americans in need into paying customers. Read more»

Service industries such as leisure and hospitality — the first to be hit by the shutdowns — have a large share of young service workers who could feel the impact for years.

As measures to slow the pandemic decimate jobs and threaten to plunge the economy into a deep recession, young adults are disproportionately affected. Read more»

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