Thousands of people rallied at the Arizona Capitol last month to protest the signing of S1070, Arizona’s new immigration law. Despite the public outcry, though, the law is supported by an overwhelming percentage of Arizonans, and President Obama’s opposition to the law may hurt his image in the state.

The Arizona Legislature adjourned sine die on April 29, and the policy achievements of the 49th Legislature get a mixed review from a taxpayer’s perspective.

Half of the Senate won’t be coming back to the 30-person chamber in 2011. A majority of them face term limits and therefore cannot seek re-election. But some have decided to retire, for now at least.

Martin had some choice words for just about everyone who stands between him and the Ninth Floor. Speaking with YS yesterday, he lashed out at Brewer, Mills, Coughlin, Goddard and the state Republican Party. Martin is the last Clean Elections candidate in the governor's race who hasn't collected all his $5 contributions, and he attributed that to his inability to scare the lobbying community with the power of his office. "I'm not the governor, so I can't extort people into giving money to the Yes on 100 campaign to get their bills signed so that they can do campaign ads featuring her," said Martin, who further alleged that Coughlin played a bad-cop role in corralling support for Brewer from lobbyists.

While Melvin has remained solid on the core GOP agenda, he was rated lower on the conservative scale by the Pachyderm Coalition mostly because he sponsored bills that would have banned texting while driving, smoking in cars while children are inside and riding in the back of a pickup.

Of the 352 bills approved by lawmakers in the 2010 regular session, nearly 40 percent of them got their final thumbs-up during the two-day sprint toward sine die that saw lawmakers work late into the night in order to wrap up the year’s work.

Revelations that Mills had defrauded business partner in Florida and conflicting messages from his campaign that muddied his position on Arizona’s employer sanctions law have set the stage for attacks against him in the Republican gubernatorial primary.

Sen. Russell Pearce was the driving force behind the immigration reform package that has once again put Arizona in the national spotlight. But he wouldn't have been able to get it passed without the help of several people who either supported S1070 or moved out of its way.

“If he doesn’t have the courage to vote his conscience, that’s Konopnicki’s problem, not mine.” — Sen. Russell Pearce, on Rep. Bill Konopnicki’s comments that he had problems with S1070, but felt obligated to vote for it nonetheless.

The Senate has rejected a proposal to help avert the closure of state parks by allowing people to make voluntary contributions for their operation and maintenance.