(Photo by Jerod MacDonald-Evoy/Arizona Mirror)
AZ Legislature ends 2026 session after late-night GOP push to send conservative agenda to voters
The Arizona Legislature adjourned for the year early Saturday morning, after four days of rapid-fire votes on hundreds of pieces of legislation and a marathon last day that saw Republicans send a series of measures to the November ballot in the hopes that voters let them enact policies Gov. Katie Hobbs won’t.
Legislators started the day around 10:30 a.m. and voted on many of the proposals late into the night, when...
(Photo by Getty Images)
After compromise dies, Arizona GOP rushes through ballot referral to block voucher reforms
In the final hours of the annual legislative session, Republican lawmakers pushed through a ballot referral that, if approved by voters, would nullify two citizen-led initiatives aimed at regulating the state’s billion-dollar school voucher program.
The move came after a failed last-ditch effort to avoid a public vote on the voucher program led by the Arizona Education Association...
Gov. Katie Hobbs signs the fiscal year 2027 budget on June 13, 2026. (Screenshot via Arizona Governor’s Office)
Hobbs signs $18.3B Arizona budget, calling Trump-conforming tax cuts a ‘historic’ win
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs signed an $18.3 billion state budget into law on Saturday, about two weeks ahead of the deadline to avoid a state government shutdown.
The package of budget bills that garnered wide bipartisan support was the result of...
President Donald Trump gives a speech at the World Economic Forum on Jan. 21, 2026 in Davos, Switzerland. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Judge blocks Trump’s ‘anti-weaponization’ slush fund until government agrees it’s been dissolved
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A federal judge in the Eastern District of Virginia issued a preliminary injunction Friday halting the Trump administration’s nearly $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund for one week, giving the government time to sign a “clear, unambiguous” agreement that the fund is dead.
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema said from the bench the agreement must be signed by...
(Illustration via Getty Images)
Congress let a key spying law expire amid distrust of Trump moves on national security
WASHINGTON — For the first time in nearly two decades, Congress missed a deadline for reauthorization of a key surveillance authority, raising questions about whether the U.S. government can continue to monitor certain communications.
Lawmakers have regularly approved short- and long-term extensions for Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act since...
Students work in a classroom in Salt Lake City in 2024. As AI use in schools grows, more lawmakers and districts aim to put guidelines in place. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)
As AI use in schools grows, lawmakers and districts scramble to set up guardrails
With many students and educators already using widely available artificial intelligence tools, state lawmakers and school districts are playing catch-up on AI policies.
In Maryland, for example, AI usage policies for K-12 schools are “all over the map...
ICYMI
Thanks for reading AZ Report. Did you know our weekend digest is also free? Sign up here. And if you enjoyed today’s edition, please forward to a friend. Increasing our readership helps us cover more news.