Lawmakers and staff are preparing for multiple special legislative sessions to address COVID-19 and economic recovery now that the regular session has officially ended.

When they returned to work in January, Arizona lawmakers faced a financial situation colleagues everywhere would envy: an extra, unbudgeted $1 billion.

A Gila County lawmaker at the center of a House Ethics investigation wrote a letter to his colleagues Tuesday excoriating the practices of the committee leading the probe into his alleged misconduct.

As some grocery store shelves lay as bare as Cactus League stadiums and restaurant dining rooms, lawmakers in the Arizona Legislature are scurrying to wrap up their business, begin their social isolation and hunker down for a storm. Their rainy day is here.

Gov. Doug Ducey’s proposal to give money to low-income schools through a pilot project dubbed “Project Rocket” is taking shape and moving through the House of Representatives, but not everyone is pleased.

The Super Bowl. The Final Four. A new corporate headquarters. These are all huge economic wins that are touted by leaders across the state when secured. But, there’s an industry in Arizona that contributes at a greater scale, and continues to grow and thrive even during economic downturns. This is Arizona’s health care industry.

The Legislature has another bill that would appear to expand the state’s Empowerment Scholarship Account program to a small group of students living near the Arizona-Utah border.

The House Ethics Committee will investigate a pair of ethics complaints filed against Rep. David Cook, a Republican from Globe who is alleged to have had a romantic affair with a lobbyist who supported legislation he sponsored on behalf of her clients.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman faced tough questions from Republicans on the House Education Committee Monday over her department’s mishandling of private Empowerment Scholarship Account data that was improperly redacted and given to the press and an advocacy group opposed to voucher expansion.

Cage fighting has begun at the state Capitol.