In response to education funding plans proposed by the governor and legislative Republicans, Democrats today released their own school funding plan, boasting that their proposal would raise nearly $4 billion dollars over 10 years without increasing taxes.

Gov. Doug Ducey noted with pride that less than two months after he took office, legislators approved a budget that he considers 99 percent of what he asked for, passing it out of both chambers in record time.

In light of devastating projections of a $1.5 billion budget shortfall in the current and next fiscal years, a Democratic lawmaker is proposing a tax on e-cigarettes, saying that the modest revenues the new tax could bring in would be a small start to bridging the deficit.

A spokesman for Gov. Jan Brewer said the governor has concerns with changes the Senate is making to the House-approved budget that could lead her to veto the spending package.

An Arizona Senate committee plans to review changes the House made in the budget package senators passed a week and a half ago.

The Arizona Senate Appropriations Committee advanced a $9.13 billion budget package fiscal 2014-2015 on Tuesday afternoon, with all votes breaking on party lines as the chamber’s Republican majority took charge.

The bulk of the funding, $6.86 million, would be used to hire caseworkers and other child welfare aids in an effort to resolve the backlog of 6,554 cases that went uninvestigated by Child Protective Service, a gross oversight that caused Gov. Jan Brewer to abolish the agency at the outset of the 2014 Legislative Session in favor of a new department that reports directly to the Ninth Floor.

For the fourth time in about two months, Gov. Jan Brewer rallied with supporters of her Medicaid expansion proposal at the Capitol, gathering hundreds of people for the largest such event she’s held since unveiling her health care plan.

Senators are prepped for a lengthy floor debate on the GOP-led budget plan and a wildly anticipated fight to add Gov. Jan Brewer’s Medicaid expansion proposal to the mix against the objection of most Senate Republicans.

Ten budget bills cleared the Senate Appropriations Committee, many by 6-3 party line votes, and the Rules Committee on Wednesday afternoon. That paves the way for lawmakers to take a final round of votes on the $8.89 billion spending plan Thursday.

Gov. Jan Brewer said the budget introduced today by Senate President Andy Biggs is fairly close to her own and that she has few problems with the proposal, except for one major exception – it doesn’t include the expansion of Arizona’s Medicaid program.