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State Lawmakers Adjourn After Passing Driver’s License and Bag-Ban Bills

KUT

The Arizona legislature has wrapped up its 2015 session, making it the shortest in nearly 50 years. As Arizona Public Radio’s Ryan Heinsius reports, lawmakers passed several bills in the final hours that will head to Governor Doug Ducey’s desk.

Lawmakers approved a bill that would give Arizona residents the option to apply for federally compliant state licenses. Without the move, next year residents could be barred from entering federal buildings and boarding domestic flights without a passport or federal ID.

The legislature also approved a bill that would prevent cities and towns from banning plastic shopping bags. Currently, Bisbee has the only bag ban in the state, and the Flagstaff City Council has recently been considering methods of curtailing bag use.

Two bills not passed include a measure tightening rules about early ballot collection, along with a proposal that would ask voters to dismantle Arizona’s Citizens Clean Elections Commission. 

Ryan Heinsius joined the KNAU newsroom as executive producer in 2013 and was named news director and managing editor in 2024. As a reporter, he has covered a broad range of stories from local, state and tribal politics to education, economy, energy and public lands issues, and frequently interviews internationally known and regional musicians. Ryan is an Edward R. Murrow Award winner and a Public Media Journalists Association Award winner, and a frequent contributor to NPR's Morning Edition, All Things Considered and national newscast.
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