With marriage licenses just starting to be issued to gay couples across the state, lawmakers are already talking about ways to protect religious organizations and businesses from being forced to participate in gay marriages, and SB1062 is back on the forefront of many minds.

Democratic Rep. Eric Meyer is the Republican Party’s great white whale in the Arizona House of Representatives. For six years, he has eluded a string of Republican candidates and fended off their attacks, beating the odds in three straight elections to win a House seat in the Republican-leaning but defiantly moderate Legislative District 28.

The new Department of Child Services is asking for an additional $27.6 million for fiscal year 2016 to keep up with growth and replace an antiquated database that keeps track of the state’s abused and neglected kids.

As expected, Rep. Kate Brophy McGee is pulling out to an early, strong lead in the Legislative District 28 House GOP primary, and will likely win the nomination for a third term in the House.

The chorus of Tea Party anger that drove conservative candidates to challenge their party’s elected officials is faltering to take down Republican legislators who supported Medicaid expansion.

Primary predictions submissions have closed.

While Gov. Jan Brewer follows through on her pledge to help Republican lawmakers who backed her in her battle for Medicaid expansion, the governor is also lending a hand to legislative hopefuls who could fight for her vision after she leaves office.

A group of lawmakers and Capitol staffers racing to create a new child safety and welfare agency in a matter of weeks must still iron out a few details, including how to handle criminal conduct investigations and provide oversight of the department, according to documents obtained by the Arizona Capitol Times.

Child welfare investigators specializing in cases of sexual and physical abuse are relinquishing thousands of cases to ordinary caseworkers, who are already overburdened, a practice that is possibly in violation of the law.

Lawmakers anxious about the prospect of spending tens of millions of dollars or more on child safety in an upcoming special session have their doubts — for a reason.