Arizona senators approved a bill to give the state’s voters a chance to shake up the line of succession for the governor’s office.

Remarkably, I learned at last week’s Senate Finance Committee hearing that there are some people who still don’t know Save Our Schools Arizona’s stance on the Empowerment Scholarship Account voucher program. As an educator, I’m accustomed to repeating myself over and over again day after day for years on end, so I’m more than happy to apply that skill here.

Families participating in Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program received a warm and welcome reassurance at the Senate Finance Committee hearing on SB 1395, a bill that would alleviate many of the administrative struggles ESA parents have faced in navigating the program’s rules.

So, the fight continues because those in power do not care. So we watch. We attend hearings. We fill committee rooms. We report. We post. We tweet. We expose. We write these letters. We keep pushing the truth against those that want to twist, ignore or deny the facts.

Sen. J.D. Mesnard told the Arizona Capitol Times that Ducey is in for a long and bumpy ride this legislative session after the governor vetoed a bill, backed by all but one Republican lawmaker, to offset estimates of higher tax collections this year by roughly $150 million or more.

Republican senators advanced a bill that would expand eligibility for Arizona’s school voucher program and strip oversight of those vouchers from the newly elected Democratic head of the Department of Education.

Without dissent members of the Senate Committee on Higher Education and Workforce Development approved legislation to put an extra $102.7 million into universities for the upcoming school year above and beyond what is now allocated.

A proposal from Sen. J.D. Mesnard would extend the deadline to file taxes with the Arizona Department of Revenue by two months, from April 15 to June 15.

The state Court of Appeals has slapped down efforts by Republican lawmakers to block local governments from mandating that private employers provide workers with even more fringe benefits than required by state law.

Republican lawmakers squared off against GOP Gov. Doug Ducey on Thursday by passing legislation to grant Arizonans a reprieve on their state income taxes.