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House Minority Leader David Lujan officially announced his candidacy for Arizona attorney general on Jan. 14.

A state lawmaker has introduced a bill that would allow payday lenders to continue operating indefinitely in Arizona.

Republicans held their first caucus meeting in a newly-renovated room on the first floor of the Senate building on Jan. 12.

A room that for the past 30 years has hummed with the staccato typing on keyboards as reporters scurried to meet deadlines has been refurbished and hollowed out to accommodate rows of chairs and a large conference table. And the room is no longer a media headquarters; instead it be used by Senate Republicans to hold caucus meetings.

Senate President Bob Burns has reduced the size of the Senate Appropriations Committee to 9 from 11 members, removing Sen. John Huppenthal and Sen. Albert Hale. Huppenthal, a Chandler Republican, was appointed temporarily to the committee last year to replace Sen. Pamela Gorman. He requested to be removed for the 2010 session.

Senate President Bob Burns wants Republicans and Democrats to simultaneously craft budget plans with the idea of combining them at a later date.

Democrats blasted Gov. Jan Brewer’s State of the State speech as campaign posturing, while Republicans said there is no choice but to follow up on some of the ideas she outlined.

In her first State of the State address, Gov. Jan Brewer lamented the problems facing Arizona, expressed hope for the future it may realize, chided those who have stood in her way and took swipes at those who may do so in the future, both in the Legislature and on the campaign trail.

Today is the start of the 2010 regular legislative session and Gov. Jan Brewer's state of the state speech. We'll provide real-time updates from the floor.

A pair of bills designed to upend the Arizona Corporation Commission's requirement on renewable energy could force a court battle over whether the Legislature has the power to tinker with the commission's decisions.