ARIZONA SENATE PRESIDENT TIM BEE (left) AND SEN. MARSHA ARZBERGER (Photo by Capitol Media Services)
As promised, Senate President Tim Bee, R-Tucson, and Democratic floor leader Marsha Arzberger, D-Willcox, have unveiled what’s supposed to be a bipartisan budget plan with tentative support from Gov. Janet Napolitano to erase a $2 billion shortfall.
According to the Associated Press, the Senate proposal includes only $361 million in actual cuts, compared to $501 million offered by a House Republican proposal released Monday. A large portion of the difference here comes from the fact that the Senate plan includes a $380 million education “rollover.” This is a frequently used borrowing trick to make it look like the state has more money than it really does. The “rollover” delays payments to school districts normally made in May or June until July, after the start of the next fiscal year.
Since the House proposal doesn’t have the “rollover,” that’s another $380 million that has to be squeezed out somewhere else. The House also would sweep in $50 million more from special funds than the Senate plan. Such sweeps are often treated as budget cuts by the agencies they affect.
But the most interesting move in the Senate plan is to boost the Arizona Lottery to fund $1 billion in debt for university building repairs and new construction. Capitol Media Services is reporting that lottery director Art Macias Jr. believes the state can get people to spend more on gambling by increasing the amount of prize money, adding more games and dropping any restrictions on advertising.
A couple of concerns come to mind. First, does Arizona really want to commit any direct funding of a core function of state government to the vagaries of scratch-off cards, the Pick and the Powerball? Would it make more sense to shift other functions not required by the constitution – state parks, housing subsidies, airport subsidies and the entire Department of Commerce are just four examples — to gambling proceeds and use the tax funds of those programs for constitutional functions such as universities?
Second, the state can’t sell bonds based just on lottery proceeds; it will still have to pledge tax revenues in case people suddenly find other means of gambling more appealing. Arizona taxpayers still would be responsible for this unless our fellow citizens throw away more of their dollars on this “entertainment.” (Full disclosure: I usually spend a few dollars every month on the Powerball).
Finally, is anyone in the Senate worried that expecting to make more money from state gambling during tougher economic times makes it appear that lawmakers are taking advantage of the poor and those in desperate straits?
Six days left until the constitutional deadline to have a budget in place. Senate and House hearings on the competing plans will be Wednesday morning. No word on what happens afterward.
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