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The Arizona Supreme Court has decided unanimously that state lawmakers overstepped their authority when they swept millions of dollars of interest held in the Arizona Early Childhood Development and Health Fund. The dispute came down to the fine print of ...

Sen. Linda Gray often cites "The New England Primer" while delivering speeches on the Senate floor. In a committee hearing June 10, the Glendale Republican read an excerpt: "I believe in God the Father, Almighty Maker of heaven and Earth, and in Jesus his only Son our Lord, which was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried." Gray was trying to make a point.

Gov. Jan Brewer signed a bill on July 13 that originally aimed specifically to penalize people caught driving while under the influence of methadone. But the legislation was watered down to a point where the final language differs only slightly from existing law. It actually morphed several times, as sometimes happens to measures as they work their way through the Legislature.

When Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed a large portion of the budget approved by lawmakers earlier this month, she sent the Legislature back to square one. Now Republican leaders are working with Democrats instead of the governor to craft a spending plan, and the state still faces a $2.5 billion deficit a month after the fiscal deadline.

Gov. Jan Brewer said she is disappointed in the pace of the Legislature’s special session and urged lawmakers to move swiftly in approving a full budget.

House Speaker Kirk Adams on July 20 said lawmakers will try to craft another budget by September, but he would not put a specific timeframe on it because lawmakers are, essentially, starting from scratch.

Fewer lawmakers are likely to be present for the special session July 20. About a third of senators and representatives planned to attend the National Conference of State Legislatures summit in Philadelphia City this week, according to the Senate and the House.

Gov. Jan Brewer has signed 191 bills this session, not counting four budget bills that were signed in special session. Here's a look at some of the more notable bills the governor signed:

Beginning in 2010, municipal elections in Tucson will be missing a bit of partisan flair, now that Gov. Jan Brewer has signed legislation that bans the use of party affiliation on ballots in local elections. S1123, authored by Tucson Republican Sen. Jonathan Paton, applies to cities across the state. But in reality the bill affects only Tucson, the sole municipality that identifies candidates for local office by their political parties and uses what is referred to as "ward" elections.

Negotiations on repairing a $2.5 billion hole in the state's budget continued, but Gov. Jan Brewer remains excluded from the talks as Republican and Democrat lawmakers attempt to forge an agreement. Legislative leaders of both parties met for the second time in as many weeks July 16 to discuss the scope of the state's budgetary woes. And, as was the case in the first meeting a week earlier, Brewer was not involved.