An old joke at the Capitol was that Arizona's name should be changed to the state of Maricopa, because so many decisions were seemingly made to benefit cities in Maricopa County.

A new report published in the "American Political Science Review" has two scholars arguing after looking at decades of data across the country that state legislatures actually end up taking more action to benefit rural rather than more urban areas. The two professors say larger delegations are usually more divided, and demographics may cause some of that division.

State Rep. and minority leader of the Arizona House Chad Campbell of Phoenix and state Sen. Steve Pierce of Prescott weighed in.