Gov. Jan Brewer and some Arizona lawmakers are determined to pass her plan to simplify the state’s tax code this year, but municipalities are just as determined to delay at least one portion of the governor’s proposal that they argue could do irreparable harm to their finances.

The director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Tuesday defended his agency’s decision to release more than 2,000 illegal immigrants last month, saying it was necessary to keep the agency within its budget.

Arizona’s economy might be recovering, but the job market didn’t quite keep pace — or at least not last month.

While Democrats gained seats following last year’s elections, Republicans are still likely to craft the state budget on their own rather than directly negotiate with the minority.

With a fiscal crisis that forced billions of dollars in state government cuts mainly over, the Arizona Legislature enters its 2013 session Monday with a budget surplus but little appetite among majority Republicans to loosen the purse strings. The state has socked away about $450 million in a rainy day fund and has more than $1 billion in total surplus going into the budget year that begins July 1.

Booming sales on Cyber Monday might have meant savings for consumers, but they could also have meant lost revenue for the state of Arizona, a new report said.

Total state revenues grew by a modest 2.6 percent in October when compared to the year before, but just as economists have cautioned, the road to full recovery is a long, steep climb.

After sliding slightly in August, state revenues picked up in September, the Legislature’s budget research arm reported this month.

The State Agency Fee Commission met Sept. 26 for its first review of how recent budget cuts and sweeps have affected state agencies.

Even in good economic times, school districts struggle to meet their financial obligations, leading a few to slip into receivership while others are victimized by various methods of fraud. But in an era of cutbacks in state spending and tight budgets, vigilance on where the dollars are going takes on even greater importance for schools, whose primary role is providing kids with a quality education.