Arizona voters refused Tuesday to ratify a bid by Gov. Doug Ducey and Republican lawmakers to allow any of the state's 1.1 million students in public schools to get vouchers of state tax dollars to attend private and parochial schools.

Republican lawmakers looking to increase Arizona's say in national elections have passed a measure to create a national popular vote.

If a group of Republican lawmakers succeed in overturning a hospital assessment that funds the state’s 2013 Medicaid expansion, the victory could come at a tremendous cost.

Saying the tactic is ripe for ballot fraud, Republican lawmakers are determined to criminalize a get-out-the-vote technique that Democrats, teachers’ unions and Latino organizations have used to increase voter turnout in mostly minority, Democratic neighborhoods.

When it comes to public records and government transparency, the Legislature this year has been a hotbed of activity. Republican lawmakers have introduced a host of proposals that would increase government secrecy by restricting access to public records and allowing more political discussions to happen behind closed doors.

In their attempt to balance Arizona’s budget, Gov. Doug Ducey and Republican lawmakers have proposed some difficult and controversial decisions.

An independent expenditure committee backed by Gov. Jan Brewer and expected to benefit the Republican legislators who sided with her in last year’s Medicaid expansion fight has raised more than $600,000 so far.

Universities’ request for research money could split GOP lawmakers

The state universities’ $1 billion request to upgrade research labs promises to bring fireworks to the Legislature and possibly a split among GOP lawmakers while wounds from last session’s Medicaid expansion are still fresh.

The marijuana dispensary industry has new and unlikely allies in a dozen Republican lawmakers, some of whom only months ago supported bills seen as hostile to the industry.

The lawmakers’ message to law enforcement officials: Focus on illegal “clubs,’’ but let legal dispensaries operate within the law and without obstruction.

The rage and indignation that many GOP lawmakers directed at Gov. Jan Brewer at the end of the legislative session may be nothing but a bad memory when the Legislature reconvenes next year.