House Speaker J.D. Mesnard, R-Chandler, said an all-or-nothing approach to the future of a sales tax benefitting public schools would present “a high-risk scenario that just is unwise.”

A plan by business leaders to ask voters for a 1.5-cent sales tax hike for education at the 2020 ballot could set the stage for a possibly expensive battle with Gov. Doug Ducey and his Koch brothers allies -- assuming Ducey is still in office at that point.

The debate over whether a hospital assessment that funds Arizona’s 2013 Medicaid expansion program should have needed a two-thirds vote in the Legislature hinged on not only whether it’s a tax or an assessment, but whether that even matters in determining if a legislative supermajority was required.

Pima County sued the state of Arizona Monday to block a new budget provision the county says shifts tax burdens away from the state and on to county taxpayers.

Gov. Jan Brewer fought President Barack Obama on immigration and border security for most of her tenure, earning national prominence by enacting tough laws that were mainly struck down by the courts and famously wagging her finger in the president's face during a meeting on an airport tarmac.

Despite the boost that Democrats received in the November election, their list of goals for upcoming budget negotiations are relatively short and mostly focused on money for education and health care.

Is deciding how to fund education in Arizona best done by lawmakers or voters? That’s a key point of debate with Arizonans ready to decide whether to adopt a permanent 1-cent per dollar sales tax that would be earmarked primarily for education but also for human services and transportation.

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer says she opposes a proposed state sales tax increase. Initiative petitions filed last month would have Arizona voters decide in November on a permanent increase of a penny on the dollar.

Legislation to levy a temporary tax increase on Arizona employers to repay borrowing for unemployment benefits is moving again at the Legislature after being stalled for nearly two months.

Attorney General Terry Goddard weighed in on Proposition 100 for the first time, saying he cannot support the temporary sales tax increase without an assurance from Gov. Jan Brewer that she will veto a tax cuts package being considered in the Legislature.