A spokesman for Gov. Jan Brewer said the governor has concerns with changes the Senate is making to the House-approved budget that could lead her to veto the spending package.

Children’s welfare advocates blasted the budget proposal moving through the Arizona Legislature, saying it commits the same errors lawmakers have routinely made in the past.

A new department of child protection may grant police powers to staff investigating child fatalities and create a wide-ranging, easily accessible database of information relating to children’s safety and welfare.

The bulk of the funding, $6.86 million, would be used to hire caseworkers and other child welfare aids in an effort to resolve the backlog of 6,554 cases that went uninvestigated by Child Protective Service, a gross oversight that caused Gov. Jan Brewer to abolish the agency at the outset of the 2014 Legislative Session in favor of a new department that reports directly to the Ninth Floor.

Having been rolled by Gov. Jan Brewer and a coalition of Democrats and Republicans who voted for Medicaid expansion in 2013, Senate President Andy Biggs looks ahead for a hopefully calmer legislative session in 2014, one that will allow the president to take a larger role in budget negotiations and the course of the Senate than during his first year as the head of the chamber.

The Arizona Legislature's child protective services oversight committee on Monday is set to hear an update on efforts to investigate more than 6,500 ignored abuse and neglect reports.

Some Child Protective Services workers believed to have been involved in preventing thousands of abuse reports from being investigated also took part in a new quality assurance review of the cases in recent weeks.

Authorities search for new ideas in the face of an ongoing crisis

Some lawmakers say Child Protective Services needs more money. Others say it should become its own agency, separate from the Department of Economic Security. Another cautions against “reactionary legislation” that won’t really solve anything.

Ten years ago this week, Arizona lawmakers were on the verge of approving a law to strengthen Child Protective Services and ensure the agency investigates all cases of neglect and abuse.

Gov. Jan Brewer voiced her confidence in DES Director Clarence Carter today as she announced a special team to oversee the investigation of thousands of child abuse cases CPS disregarded under his watch.