Senate President Karen Fann vowed to pass an $11.8 billion spending plan Friday night, or at least Saturday morning, despite missing support from at least two Republican senators whose votes are needed to approve the budget on party lines.

Over the objections of one member, the state Board of Education voted Monday to scrap a rule that requires sex education classes in Arizona to "promote honor and respect for monogamous heterosexual marriage.''

House and Senate Republicans plan to introduce their budget bills Monday, Senate President Karen Fann and House Speaker Rusty Bowers said.

Senate Republicans confirmed five nominees to the state Commission on Appellate Court Appointments Tuesday over Democratic objections that Gov. Doug Ducey and the Senate failed to meet a constitutional requirement that the commission reflects Arizona’s population.

The minority party was desperate to pass a law mandating HIV and AIDS education in Arizona schools. Officials feared that federal funding for sexual education would dry up if state officials couldn’t show that state law required those courses.

It's billed by proponents as a way moms can defend themselves from attackers while dropping their children off at school. But legislation that cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday on a 4-3 party-line vote also would permit high schoolers who are at least 18 to bring and keep loaded weapons in their vehicles.

Republican senators voted Wednesday to impose new requirements on initiative circulators in a way one Democrat said is designed to make it easier for special interests to quash future ballot measures.

Arizona’s prolonged vote count has borne a batch of proposed law changes designed to speed up the process and instill more confidence in the system. It took a week in Arizona for a victor to be declared in the U.S. ...

The day after the November 6 election will be followed by another kind of vote, as elected Arizona senators and representatives will meet with their fellow Republicans and Democrats to choose leaders for their respective parties.

A Republican-dominated legislative committee decided Wednesday that voters don't need to be told that if they approve a business-backed tax-limiting measure the state could be foregoing more than $5.2 billion a year in revenues.