Looking for a scapegoat a year ago, Gov. Doug Ducey accused school officials for the woes of the Arizona teacher, whose average salary is among the lowest in the nation. Nearly a year later, the governor sounds like a changed man.

This time around, Arizona Democratic lawmakers aren’t falling for Gov. Doug Ducey’s centrist approach designed to add more money to schools and attack the opioid crisis.

On the inaugural episode of The Breakdown, our reporters lay out what they're expecting to see this legislative session.

Gov. Doug Ducey kicks off the legislative session Monday with a call for more education funding -- but not with the tax hikes that some say are necessary to provide truly adequate funding for schools.

Moderate. Centrist. Pragmatic. Even Democratic. The words being used by some observers to describe Doug Ducey’s third State of the State address.

In his third State of the State address, Gov. Doug Ducey laid out an ambitious and potentially pricey agenda that left lawmakers on both sides of the aisle nodding in approval and asking the same question: How is the state going to pay for all this?

When House Speaker David Gowan first came to the Legislature in 2009, the state budget was more than $3 billion in the hole. Seven years later, as Gowan prepares to enter his final year at the Capitol, the budget is nearly balanced and the state has a surplus and money in the rainy day fund.

Gov. Doug Ducey captured the attention of prisoner advocates when he revealed in the days before his Jan. 11 State of the State address that prison reform would be one of his legislative priorities in 2016.

The state’s water department will get to hire more workers to help with the myriad water issues facing the state.

After a year, even the best of couples tend to settle into a routine once the honeymoon period comes to an end. Few at the Capitol, however, are expecting Gov. Doug Ducey and the Republican-controlled Legislature to lose the magic they had last year.