A former competitive speed skater from New York became an unlikely player in the crucial last few weeks of this year’s Arizona legislative session.

But even with the 17-13 split in the Senate, the 31-29 split in the House, the Democrat who accomplished the most during the First Regular Session of the 54th Legislature is the one who was criticized for her lack of political experience during the campaign – and she wasn’t even a lawmaker.

The legislative session wasn’t even done before lawmakers started announcing bills they planned to introduce next session.

Throughout the 135 days of the 2019 legislative session, only eight lawmakers made it to every required work day and cast a vote for everything that made it to the floor, down from 19 lawmakers last session.

The first major hurdle every piece of legislation faces in the House or Senate is a committee leader with the ability to unilaterally kill bills, and some chairs are more willing to do it than others.

David Bradley, D-Tucson, started his first year as minority leader determined to be the last Democrat to hold that post. By the end of what Bradley described as an “intriguing” session, Senate Democrats came closer to negotiating the state budget than they have in years.

Arizona’s current school’s chief has many differences compared to her two predecessors.

The partnership that defined the end of the 2019 legislative session began May 7.

Sine die watch is finally over after the Senate approved an $11.8 billion budget on Memorial Day

Calling it a "significant and critical first step,'' Gov Doug Ducey has signed into law a measure that will give those who were sexually assaulted or abused as children more time to sue, no matter how long ago the event occurred.