Cage fighting has begun at the state Capitol.

Victoria Steele walked into the Arizona Senate before the sun rose Friday, wearing a purple, white and green suffragette sash over her dark pantsuit and holding the most important piece of legislation she plans to run next year.

Even after settling on a multi-billion spending plan for the next year, there was plenty left unsettled when lawmakers went home for the summer.

Senate President Karen Fann’s first session in leadership featured months of collegiality capped by a bruising final two weeks from which she’s still recovering.

How exactly do you work with someone you believe has betrayed you? That’s a question some lawmakers are asking themselves about the state’s county prosecutors after what some saw as an 11th hour reversal on criminal justice reform measures.

Sine die watch is finally over after the Senate approved an $11.8 billion budget on Memorial Day

Instead, Fann, R-Prescott, emerged from her office shortly before 6 p.m. Saturday to end the day and apologize to a group of red-shirted teachers, many of whom had spent their first day of summer vacation watching a mostly-empty Senate floor.

Just a few hours after saying she was “bound and determined” to pass a budget Friday night, Senate President Karen Fann sent senators home for the night without voting on an $11.8 billion spending plan.

Today’s the day lawmakers in both the House and the Senate hope to introduce budget proposals, but don’t hold your breath for sine die just yet.

Republican leaders who control the majority in the Arizona Legislature said Sunday they've reached a deal with GOP Gov. Doug Ducey on a spending plan for the budget year that begins July 1.