State budget countdown: Rewind to 2007
June 23rd, 2008, 9:47 pm · 2 Comments · posted by Le Templar
(Note correction at bottom of post)
With seven days left until the July 1 deadline, the state Legislature finally seems to be interested in getting a state budget done. My earlier post today was about a House Republican leadership plan for the 2008-09 budget that’s headed to an appropriations committee meeting Wednesday.
Well, Capitol Media Services is reporting tonight that Senate leaders are planning to unveil their own proposal Tuesday. This is supposed to be a bi-partisan plan with fewer true budget cuts and an approach Gov. Janet Napolitano is more likely to approve.
Assuming the Senate does have a deal, this could be a repeat of June 2007. Last year, a breakdown between Senate and House Republicans (which hold a majority of legislative seats) prompted then-Senate President Ken Bennett* to cut a deal with the minority Democrats, in turn who were working in tandem with Napolitano.
House Speaker Jim Weiers, R-Phoenix, tried to hold his party together. But a handful of House Republicans linked up their Democratic colleagues to pass out the Senate plan. In fact, a majority of House Republican lawmakers voted against the budget that went into law. Weiers took a lot of grief and there was some grumbling about electing a new speaker for 2008.
In the end, Weiers pledged it would be different this year. But is Weiers trapped in a bad political version of “Groundhog Day”?
*Correction: As a commenter noted, Tim Bee also was president of the state Senate in 2007, not Ken Bennett. I haven’t changed the original post so that the commenter’s post still makes sense.
June 23rd, 2008 at 11:15 pm
Ken Bennett was not in office in 2007. It was Bee who worked with Napolitano in 2007 just as he is doing now.
June 27th, 2008 at 9:00 am
Dear editor,
After reading your view on “PAYDAY” loans makes me believe you own them. Who, in their right mind would advocate people who come from the most vulnerable part of society, to be “Raped” at 400% interest? They are the ones who can least afford to be legally robbed by this outfit! Where I come from this is called “USURY” and is illegal!