Lawmakers attempted to push through a set of bogged-down election bills in a comprehensive 43-page amendment in conference committee Wednesday afternoon, but the committee was called off minutes after the amendment began circulating at the Capitol.

A provision in the 1998 ballot measure that created Arizona’s Clean Elections system may hold the key to whether the state’s new campaign contribution limits will go into effect for 2014.

Campaign cash may come pouring into some of Arizona’s top races next year thanks to a new law allowing candidates to raise far more money.

Critics say the bill will flood campaigns with more money and influence-buying, and that it may be the final nail in the coffin of Arizona’s voter-approved Clean Elections system.

Figuring out how to avoid Gov. Jan Brewer’s veto pen is a guessing game that leaves even some of the most seasoned veterans at the Capitol perplexed.

Many lawmakers and lobbyists say there are no hard and fast guidelines for avoiding a veto from a governor who vetoed 91 bills in her first four legislative sessions.

Advocates of a financing mechanism that would allow cities to bond against future tax revenues to fund special projects are hoping 2013 will be a year of success after running into roadblocks in the past several legislative sessions. But the foe who blocked a similar proposal two years ago appears poised to strike it down once again.

Gov. Jan Brewer forcefully declared that her proposal to expand the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System to hundreds of thousands of new patients is a pro-life plan. As a pro-life governor, she said, she will not sit idly by while people suffer. Since then, opponents of her plan have taken up the pro-life mantle in the Legislature.

A bill to scrap the requirement that high school students pass the AIMS test is heading to the governor’s desk after being approved by the House on Tuesday during a heated debate.

The debate over whether to raise Arizona’s traditional campaign contribution limits may ultimately end up in court, but enough state senators ere convinced Tuesday that adjusting contribution limits for individuals and political action committees does not require a three-quarter vote.

Saying the American Dream is on life support and in need of help, Republican Rep. Tom Forese of Chandler beat back bipartisan opposition to his bill allowing a new type of corporation — a benefit corporation.

As fewer candidates choose to run for office using Arizona’s Clean Elections system, lawmakers are sensing the system’s vulnerability and are preparing to deal a death blow.