Officials in Phoenix and Tucson say it’s no longer viable to organize gun buyback programs now that a state law will require the guns to be sold back into circulation, not destroyed.

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.

The months since the deadly Connecticut school shooting have seen dozens of gun buyback events across the country, with officials getting thousands of unwanted firearms off the street and sending them off to their destruction.

A bill headed to Gov. Jan Brewer’s desk would close a loophole used by some Arizona cities to destroy firearms turned over to police and other state agencies. The Arizona Senate approved HB2455, sponsored by Rep. Brenda Barton, R-Payson, by an 18-12 vote Tuesday afternoon, giving its final approval to a measure that also requires agencies to sell all unclaimed firearms in their possession.

Some teachers or administrators in rural schools and retired police officers working in any Arizona school would be allowed to carry a gun under a proposal approved by a Senate committee Tuesday.

Public employee unions in Arizona could take a hit to their pocketbooks and their picket lines if three bills approved late Monday by a state Senate committee become law.

Republican senators who prevailed in yesterday’s elections caucus will meet this afternoon in Phoenix to elect their next set of leaders.

In its fight to curb the influence of public unions, the Goldwater Institute has persuaded a judge to temporarily block Phoenix’s practice of paying police officers to perform union work.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Katherine Cooper ruled today that the practice known as “release time” likely violates the Arizona Constitution’s “gift clause,” which prohibits government from donating to private entities.

Backers of anti-union bills are planning to parcel out the provisions of a measure that is advancing in the Senate, an apparent move to give each idea the best chance of passing. The Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday approved an amendment to prohibit pay to public employees who do union activities, a practice called “release time.”

A panel of senators today approved legislation to bar the Arizona Corporation Commission from adopting renewable energy standards that are more stringent than what is currently in place. Many consider the bill an attempt by lawmakers to assert control over the state’s energy policy, but critics said it infringes on the commission’s constitutional authority to set rates for public utility companies.