While House Republican leaders are optimistic that a major tax overhaul that would shift Arizona to a flat income tax will get 31 votes in that chamber, it may need changes before it becomes something that can pass the Senate.

After more than two hours of impassioned and at times acrimonious debate, the House voted 31-29 along party lines Thursday to advance a bill that would put several new restrictions on abortion in Arizona.

A new voter-approved tax on high-earning Arizonans that will boost education spending is firmly in Gov. Doug Ducey's crosshairs, with the Republican vowing Friday to see Proposition 208's new tax cancelled either through the courts or the GOP-controlled Legislature.

Usually, legislative Democrats are lucky if it takes two hands to count the number of bills they get signed into law.

With most headline-grabbing election measures dead, numerous others that pit arguments of voter integrity against voter suppression are working their way through the Legislature.

It's promoted as a measure to ensure that no future governor shuts down religious services during an emergency, but some legislators worry that the actual wording of the legislation would potentially immunize churches from lawsuits over child abuse.

House Majority Leader Ben Toma, R-Peoria, said that while the details are still in flux, he believes support exists for the idea of phasing in a flat income tax over three or four years. He said he would like to see the rate around 2.5%.

The House Military and Public Safety committee is scheduled to take up two controversial bills Monday that were introduced in reaction to the protests and calls for police defunding last spring and summer.

About a third of state Republican lawmakers are calling on newly re-elected state GOP Chair Kelli Ward to either agree to a recount of that vote or back off of her challenges to the presidential race.

State lawmakers took the first steps February 3 to reversing decades of tough-on-crime policies.