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

Lawmakers and legislative staff members say there are two distinct sides to Bob Burns: The ideological Burns shows up in January, and the pragmatist Burns usually winds down the session.

Lawmakers saw little success in 2009 when it came to getting legislation approved. Much like the mighty Casey of baseball lore, representatives and senators were sent back to the dugout with little to show for their turn at bat.

(Note: This is the second part of a series on a new law signed by Gov. Jan Brewer that will change how Arizona schools address daily conflicts between freedom of religious expression and the U.S. Constitution’s non-establishment clause.)

The Senate met for a few minutes today (July 31), but only to adjourn the special session until Aug. 4. Even then, though, it’s not clear whether leaders in the Senate will be able to gather enough votes to pass the budget legislation that has tied them up for the past several days.

The budget package passed by the House includes the repeal of a bill that was originally intended to help lenders recoup losses from foreclosed homes.

In the early days of the session, several key House Republicans assembled to announce their intention to take on what they lambasted as a tool of Big Brother and a monument to shady and secretive government action – photo traffic ...

With the changes being proposed to her renewable energy tax credits bill, Rep. Lucy Mason believes the legislation can now pass muster with Gov. Jan Brewer. But whether the governor is willing to amend the special session so the bill ...

Despite intense lobbying, Republican leaders failed to persuade Sen. Pamela Gorman to vote for a referral for a sales tax increase. Brewer talked with Gorman, the majority whip, for more than an hour at Gorman's Senate office, but the governor was apparently unable to persuade the senator to change her mind.

The House of Representatives has given its approval to a budget deal that was hammered out with the governor earlier this week, but it is unknown when the Senate will take up the matter as it isn’t clear if they have the votes needed to pass it.

The Senate Appropriations Committee has approved the budget agreement that Republican leaders reached with Gov. Jan Brewer, but it remains to be seen if there is enough support to bring the spending plan to the floor for a vote by the whole body.