Gov. Jan Brewer
Gov. Jan Brewer just made it official. She has line-item vetoed most the state budget adopted by Republican lawmakers early this morning, leaving just enough funding in place to keep government functions operating. And she has summoned the Legislature back into special session on Monday. She included in her call a special request for a temporary tax increase to fund education, public safety and health care programs.
“… I received this morning a fatally flawed legislative budget,” Brewer said in a news release. “The legislative budget ignores my consistently expressed goals and instead incorporates devastating cuts education, public safety, and our state’s most vital health services for the frail. In particular, this package of bills is shortsighted in that it sets up an enormous revenue shortfall that will severely harm our state’s future.”
UPDATE: In reading through the governor’s official veto messages, it appears what Brewer really did was line-item veto much of the $630 million in budget cuts approved by Republicans in the Legislature. That’s puts the budget further out of balance, at least until she reaches some kind of deal with the Legislature.
This move is intended to pressure on conservatives who refused to vote for the proposed statewide sales tax election. The budget deficit will keep growing every day until those cuts are restored or new sources of revenue are found.
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