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A poll showing majority support for Medicaid expansion among GOP primary voters may be a ray of hope for Republican lawmakers who voted for the proposal at the request of Gov. Jan Brewer.

In a live-caller poll of 500 likely GOP primary voters conducted in late May by Public Opinion Strategies, a Virginia-based Republican polling firm, 53 percent of respondents said they supported Gov. Jan Brewer’s plan to expand Medicaid coverage in Arizona. Only 40 percent of respondents said they opposed the plan. The poll had a +/- 4.38 percent margin of error.

The state Senate approved Gov. Jan Brewer's Medicaid expansion plan on an 18-11 vote this afternoon, sending it to the governor for her signature.

The Senate's approval of Medicaid and a state budget occurred after the House of Representatives worked into the early morning hours to approve the budget and Medicaid plan, with supporters giving opponents the silent treatment through the entire discussion of the $8.8 billion budget.

Lawmakers are prepared to sine die Thursday afternoon and leave what’s become an increasingly toxic atmosphere at the Capitol as bipartisan coalitions in each chamber have seized control and began systematically approving Gov. Jan Brewer’s budget proposal in special session.

The Arizona House has revived a bill vetoed by Gov. Jan Brewer allowing Arizona's 51 crematories and 163 funeral homes to hire intern trainees.

The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee has left the state on a personal matter, making it unlikely that 21 of the governor’s court-related nominations will be filled this year.

A pro-life bill scheduled for a hearing in the House Appropriations Committee includes language that is nearly identical to a proposal from a leading evangelical Christian group that sought to limit abortion providers’ ability to participate in Gov. Jan Brewer’s Medicaid expansion plan.

House Speaker Andy Tobin is hopeful he can get at least 31 Republicans to support the House version. But he still thinks spending is too high.

In case you forgot, Gov. Jan Brewer has other priorities this year besides getting the Legislature to approve Medicaid expansion. The Republican governor also wants to completely overhaul the state's sales tax collection system.

What a difference four years makes. In 2009, Gov. Jan Brewer sued the Legislature over its refusal to send her a package of budget bills that she was certain to veto, leading the Arizona Supreme Court to rule that lawmakers couldn’t hold back measures that were ready for the governor.

House Speaker Andy Tobin is dropping his proposed resolution to send Medicaid expansion to the voters, and will deal with the issue in the Legislature, one way or another.