Arizona Capitol Times Your Inside Source for Arizona Government, Politics and Business

Freshman Democratic Rep. Alma Hernandez of Tucson credits – or blames – her brother, Democratic Rep. Daniel Hernandez of Tucson, with “dragging” her into politics.

Just a few hours after saying she was “bound and determined” to pass a budget Friday night, Senate President Karen Fann sent senators home for the night without voting on an $11.8 billion spending plan.

The Republican-controlled Arizona House approved some of the fiscal-year 2020 budget over night.

Saying the budget agreement crafted by GOP legislative leaders and Gov. Doug Ducey is “not a conservative budget,” Rep. Tony Rivero, R-Peoria, vowed to vote against it Thursday unless his colleagues agreed to several significant changes.

The former leader of Arizona’s Libertarian Party filed a lawsuit against Gov. Doug Ducey Wednesday, arguing he must immediately hold a special election to fill the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by John McCain.

In her first year as House Democratic leader, Rebecca Rios, D-Phoenix, a longtime lawmaker, was hopeful that her caucus could take a rare vote in favor of a GOP-backed budget. But when the budget didn’t go far enough toward investing in Arizona’s teachers, House Democrats held true to their beliefs and their prom-ises, and voted against the budget package.

In his first year as speaker of the House, J.D. Mesnard, R-Chandler, managed to get all 35 of his chamber’s Republicans to agree to support the state budget, though two from his caucus still balked at Gov. Doug Ducey’s university bonding proposal.

Activists are attempting to repeal a trio of laws approved by the Legislature and signed by the governor this year. But pulling off a referendum, known colloquially as a “citizens’ veto,” isn’t easy.

Throughout the 2017 legislative session, the House floor was a hotbed of animosity, as Democratic lawmakers repeatedly tested the boundaries of what they could say about their colleagues, and Republican lawmakers repeatedly tested the limits of how far the chamber’s rules could stretch to limit speech.

The Arizona Citizens Clean Election Commission approved the results of its comprehensive audit of Democratic Rep. Jesus Rubalcava, who stands accused of a series of campaign finance violations that could result in his eviction from office.