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The cornerstone bill in Gov. Jan Brewer’s 2012 agenda was supposed to be debated on the House floor today, but it was left off today’s House floor calendar, pushing off debate of the sweeping personnel reform legislation until later in the week.

The House Ethics Committee will meet March 13 to consider an ethics complaint against Tucson Democrat Daniel Patterson after an ex-girlfriend claimed he physically assaulted her.

A Tucson legislator is facing four counts of misdemeanor domestic violence stemming from a Feb. 24 physical altercation with an ex-girlfriend, even though his attorney says the Arizona Constitution prevents the lawmaker from being charged.

However, a Phoenix attorney says Rep. Daniel Patterson has no such protections under the Constitution.

Federal law prohibits weapons within 1,000 feet of a school, but a proposal that won approval in the House of Representatives today would allow most Arizonans to carry a gun right up to a school’s property line.

A majority of House Republicans today mistakenly voted to pass a bill that would outlaw texting while driving – and less than an hour later changed their votes to kill the legislation.

Legislative leaders and Gov. Jan Brewer are hoping to jumpstart budget negotiations and thaw the relationship between them that saw the governor last month direct her staff not to meet with House and Senate staff.

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu today emphatically denied allegations that he or his attorney threatened to deport a jilted ex-lover after their relationship soured, as a Phoenix newspaper reported on Friday, and said he plans to remain sheriff and continue his campaign for higher office.

One of two men suspected in the fatal shooting of a Senate page in 2010 has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder to avoid the death penalty.

Tucson state Rep. Matt Heinz is the first Democrat to formally enter the special election race to replace U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who resigned Jan. 25 to focus on her recovery from an assassination attempt more than a year ago.

Russell Pearce made his return to Arizona politics today, nearly three months after being the first legislator recalled in the state’s 100-year history, when Arizona Republican Party activists overwhelmingly elected him to the No. 2 post in the party.