If lawmakers want quality audits of Arizona charter schools, they have to change the laws governing how charters operate, the state’s top auditor said.

Sen. Bob Worsley, a Republican from Mesa, is the Arizona Capitol Times’ Leaders of the Year winner in government. Other winners include Gregory Harris of Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie for law, Richard Stavneak, director of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, for unsung hero, and NAU President Rita Cheng.

While self-funders haven’t been very successful at the state and federal level in Arizona, the strategy has paid off for candidates aiming for lower-level offices, such as the Legislature or a city council.

Mesa Republican Tyler Pace knew that Sen. Bob Worsley, R-Mesa, was considering retirement before he filed to run against the incumbent for the state Senate.

Sen. Bob Worsley won’t seek re-election this fall, and the timing of his announcement has some East Valley Republicans furious that it’s now too late to enter the race.

Sen. Bob Worsley won’t seek re-election this fall, leaving the Arizona Senate short one of its more moderate Republican lawmakers.

Another session is in the books, but not without a fuss - or two.

Any attempt to undermine a November referendum on a controversial law to expand Arizona’s school voucher program is dead on arrival in the Senate.

Another year, another failed effort in the Legislature to ban red light and speed enforcement cameras statewide.

With all legal recourse exhausted, school choice advocates are weighing their legislative options to expand the state’s voucher program even as a referendum that could thwart their efforts looms.