Arizona's decision to withhold welfare checks because of the federal government shutdown appears to make it the only state to cut off funding for the very poor because of the budget crisis, according to policy experts.

If Gov. Jan Brewer gets her way, state employees can look forward to a pay raise — but only if they gave up their civil service protections under her personnel reform plan.

There was talk years ago that Arizona should build a new State Capitol to keynote its 2012 centennial celebration.

Local government leaders say counties and municipalities are willing to work with the state on its budget crisis but shouldn't be victimized by the state's own budget-balancing efforts.

From the passage of SB1070 to the unexpected rise of Ben Quayle and the GOP's overwhelming November victories, here's a rundown of the most dominant stories from 2010.

The Arizona State Parks Board voted Wednesday to keep open five more parks slated for closure next month, leaving only four on the chopping block just months after the board voted to close nearly all state parks.

The mayors of Tempe, Mesa, Gilbert and Chandler say years of bad planning by Arizona's government threatens the financial future of their cities and others around the state.

Arizona faces another budgetary cliff early next year, when the State Treasurer's Office might have to issue IOUs to pay bills if $735 million expected from the sale-leaseback of state assets does not materialize. Treasurer Dean Martin told a panel of lawmakers that the state needs to have the money by the end of January to be able to make payment to schools by Feb. 1.

The State Loan Commission has approved a $700 million line of credit from Bank of America, marking the first external borrowing the state has done since the Great Depression. State Treasurer Dean Martin said his office will finalize the agreement with Bank of America next week and will begin issuing treasurer's warrants by the end of November.

Two of the states hit hardest by the Great Recession-California and Michigan-are bracing for an even tougher time making ends meet next year, putting big spending cuts or outright elimination of some services on the table, top budget officials from both states said Nov. 13.