Two days after having emergency surgery, Governor Napolitano met with the news media Nov. 18 for a briefing on how she was feeling.

“Are you having any pain≠” a television reporter asked. “You all,” she joked.

Although the following quotes probably won’t be carved in stone, they highlight some of the humor and seriousness of politics at the Capitol in 2004.

The Legislature began with the divisive issue of extending Maricopa County’s 1/2-cent transportation tax to pay for roadways, buses and light-rail. Opposed to $2.3 billion in light-rail spending, Sen. Jim Weiers likened voting for the package to “swallowing a cold, refreshing glass of milk — with a hair in it.”

Rep. Russell Pearce responded to an auditor general’s report that noted shortfalls in projected income tax revenues from the Arizona Cardinals, which meant the state would have to make up for the shortage and pay it to the Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority. The authority is in charge of the construction of the new NFL stadium in Glendale. “The last thing we need to do is put money into a stadium — it’s a billion dollar industry, where we pay players millions and millions of dollars to play a sport that all of us love to play for free,” Mr. Pearce said.

When bills designed to reduce fire danger in Arizona forests rolled around late in the session, Sen. Robert Blendu took issue with the legislation. He said one forest bill infringed on the rights of private property owners, and was less than complimentary about those who would enforce such a bill, if it became law.

“If I’m a private property owner, some bonehead with a clipboard shows up and says, ‘You’ve got to trim all these trees here on your nickel,’ ” he said.

Speaker Jake Flake said in January that the Capitol is outdated and shoddy, and he would like to see a new one built by Arizona’s centennial in 2012.

“But there could be a time between now and then when we could scrape together enough money . . .”

On the heels of Mr. Flake’s comment, Rep. John Huppenthal told ASU architectural students touring the House that the image of the Legislature is driven by the building’s design. “The dysfunctionality of this building is at the core of why people are dissatisfied with their government,” he said.

It was a matter of partisan principle in the House when members were debating an amendment to a bill to create a police canine memorial on Wesley Bolin Plaza. Minority Leader John Loredo spoke in favor of the amendment, saying the mall is in a Democratic district (16), and the amendment would give Democrats a voice on a proposed Legislative Memorial Placement Commission.

Majority Leader Eddie Farnsworth rose in opposition, he said, “for the sole reason that Mr. Loredo supports it.”

When Sen. Jack Harper offered an amendment to expand a bill prohibiting cross burning to include burning the American flag as a means to intimidate, Sen. Slade Mead scolded him for calling for a roll-call vote on the amendment, saying Mr. Harper was trying to play “games” with a vote on flag burning.

“This is worse than an 8th-grade debate club,” Mr. Mead said.

There’s no debating the fact that Prop. 200, which requires proof of U.S. citizenship to receive state assistance that is not federally mandated, passed and so far has been upheld in federal district court. The initiative was brought to the ballot by a group called Protect Arizona Now (PAN), led by Kathy McKee.

With the controversy over the proposition and internal struggles within PAN, Ms. McKee said on July 1 that to finally deliver the petitions to the secretary of state to qualify for the ballot felt like “giving birth to triplets.”

“I’m a free woman now,” said Sen. Carolyn Allen after resigning her president pro tem position near the end of the session and expressing relief that she would no longer have to attend numerous leadership meetings. “I’m tired of sitting across the table from some very strange people,” she said. Asked later whom she was talking about, Ms. Allen said, “They know who they are.”

And finally, Mr. Flake and Senator Jack Brown, both lifetime ranchers, often bring livestock or wildlife into their political analogies. Asked in October how his general election campaign for the House against Sylvia Allen was going, Mr. Brown cooked some bird.

“She’s meaner than a boiled owl,” he said. —