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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.

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

During her first campaign for office last year, Democratic Rep. Pamela Powers Hannley spurned her party’s usual talking points to hammer on more overlooked issues like equal rights, public banking and getting money out of politics.

Republican Rep. Mark Finchem filed a complaint with the House Ethics Committee demanding Democratic Rep. Mark Cardenas be investigated and possibly punished for writing a Facebook post that criticized Republicans for supporting the budget.

House Speaker J.D. Mesnard said negotiators are close to finalizing a spending plan for Fiscal Year 2018, and while a deal isn’t set yet, there is a 50-50 chance that budget bills will be introduced by the end of the day today.

Freshman Republican Rep. Paul Mosley of Lake Havasu City has a big family. Besides his wife and large crop of children, he says he is related to everyone in the Legislature.