Gov. Jan Brewer is asking the Federal Emergency Management Administration to reconsider its denial of disaster aid for the Yarnell Hill fire, saying new information proves that it’s needed and that the deadly-but-relatively-small blaze was destructive enough to warrant federal assistance.

The award for best legislative batting average for the session — the calculation of bills introduced versus bills signed into law — goes to Rep. David Livingston, a freshman Republican lawmaker from Peoria who has been vocally critical of the governor.

A new voting bloc is emerging in the state House consisting of seven conservative Republicans who have voted against more GOP-sponsored bills on the floor than some Democrats have, though for entirely different reasons.

Republicans and Democrats in the Arizona House of Representatives are forming a rare alliance aimed at protecting small newspapers and government transparency.

Saying it would help reduce the risk of wildfires, a state lawmaker is trying again to give cities and towns the authority to ban the sale of sparklers and other fireworks legalized by a 2010 state law.

The House of Representatives released its committee assignments yesterday, leaving Democrats, who control 40 percent of the seats in the chamber, with 35.8 percent of the committee assignments. But Minority Leader Chad Campbell said the margins are still better than in previous years.

The campaign to defeat a 1-cent sales tax initiative collected $550,000 from three sources with ties to Republican causes and candidates.

In what may have been Arizona’s most bizarre primary race, House Speaker Andy Tobin has defeated an opponent backed by out-of-state money and friends who include Herman Cain, Joe the Plumber and the creator of the notorious Willie Horton attack ads.

House Speaker Andy Tobin easily outraised his party-mates in the three-way House primary in Northern Arizona, the latest finance reports filed with the Secretary of State showed.

The well-funded political spending arm of the state’s leading business coalition bashed Sen. Lori Klein in a campaign ad today, calling her a “gun-toting, red-scaring, conspiracy-touting politician.”