When the argument over Medicaid expansion turned into a debate over public funds going to abortion providers, Republican Rep. Paul Boyer, one of a handful of lawmakers who stood with the governor on the Capitol lawn when she announced her plan, took a trip to the Grand Canyon to clear his head.

The Committee of the Whole, the last chance to amend measures in either chamber before bills go to the floor for a third read, can represent a tremendous hurdle for lawmakers guiding their legislation through the process.

Arizona senators defeated a sweeping amendment Monday aimed at preventing the state from participating in the Common Core and placing responsibility for approving educational standards in the hands of lawmakers.

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 state lawmaker wants voters to decide whether to strip the Citizens Clean Elections Commission of its funding and give that money to the Arizona Department of Education.

A group of Arizona university students, including Rep. Paul Boyer, R-Phoenix, filed a motion in federal court this week asking to intervene in a lawsuit to reinstate a fee on students to support a non-profit group. The five intervening students are represented by the Goldwater Institute in Phoenix.

Gov. Jan Brewer unveiled the details of her Medicaid expansion plan this afternoon, beginning in earnest the effort to push the controversial proposal through the Legislature.

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.

Arguing that struggling schools and students need more class time and less summer vacation, state representatives approved a bill to allow such schools to increase their calendar year to 200 days, and pull in some extra state money in the process.

Rep. Jeff Dial met bipartisan opposition from the House Education Committee on Monday when he testified on behalf of his bill to increase the minimum school dropout age from 16 to 18.