Archive for the 'Bob Burns' Tag
November 3rd, 2009, 3:14 pm by Le Templar
 Sen. Pamela Gorman Gov. Jan Brewer is trying to reach a deal with the top two legislative leaders to call budget special session this month and reduce at least some of the projected $2 billion deficit. While everyone else waits, some key players are positioning themselves for what comes next.
Sen. Pamela Gorman, R-Anthem, has decided to publicly defend her colleagues from accusations that the Legislature refuses to address the budget crisis. Gorman took offense at a recent media column that suggested lawmakers have been sitting on their hands while the deficit climbs.
She fired both barrels at the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson (a popular target among Republicans). But the Daily Star apparently just linked to a column from Mark Evans at the Tucson Citizen web site, who referred to a “chicken Legislature.” However, Gorman’s underlying point still applies: Just because a journalist doesn’t like the strategies used by the GOP majority shouldn’t be a license to claim the Legislature has done nothing.
The Legislature adopted a budget twice that its analysts said were balanced (with revenue estimates that turned out to be too optimistic), but Brewer’s various vetoes kept adding more spending to the bottom line.
Of course, Gorman was blamed in various corners for those vetoes, as she was one of two Republicans who refused to join their colleagues in supporting Brewer’s call for an election on a temporary sales tax increase. That opposition was just enough to block the election proposal, which could have balanced out many of the proposed budget cuts the governor later vetoed.
Meanwhile, Senate President Bob Burns, R-Peoria, has re-emphasized his willingness to champion a sales tax election again. Burns was careful not to say he supports a sales tax increase. But reading between the lines, he seems to believe an election is the only route to closing the huge political divide in the Legislature that has made budget solutions so difficult to obtain. Whether a sales tax passes or fails, the voters would give some clear guidance to lawmakers about what they want to happen.
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Arizona government • Governor • Bob Burns • Jan Brewer • Pamela Gorman • state budget | 1 Comment »
September 4th, 2009, 6:17 pm by Le Templar
Gov. Jan Brewer blamed “extremists” from both political parties to justify her budget actions today which included vetoing a bill that would have permanently repealed the state property tax and also included line-item vetoes of budget cuts to K-12 education and the Department of Economic Security.
On the Republican side, Brewer’s insult was primarily aimed at Sens. Pamela Gorman of Anthem, Ron Gould of Lake Havasu City, and Carolyn Allen of Scottsdale, lawmakers who refused to support the governor’s proposed sales tax election even when it was linked to bigger cuts in personal and corporate income taxes a few years later.
But on the Democratic side, Brewer was referring to … well, all of them. Not a single Democratic lawmaker ever broke ranks over the past nine months to vote for the temporary sales tax proposal. That’s 12 Senate Democrats and 25 House Democrats that the governor has labeled as so far out of the mainstream that they don’t reflect any significant collection of interests in Arizona.
In blaming the Democrats, the governor was trying to provide herself some cover in rejecting the property tax repeal, which had been the highest priority of most Republican lawmakers. But Republicans aren’t going to buy her excuses for a minute when Democrats can make statements like this:
“We are adamant in our resistance to giving massive tax cuts to special interests and big business at the expense of public education, and the actions taken by the governor indicate that she feels the same way. So why are we sitting here today with the governor trying to blame us is lost on me,” said Rep. Chad Campbell, D-Phoenix.
“What we are proposing is consistent with what she wants. Where she is receiving resistance is from Republicans in Legislature,” said House Democratic Floor Leader David Lujan.
House Speaker Kirk Adams and Senate President Bob Burns sought to remain diplomatic and measured in their disappointment to vetoes that not only wiped out the property tax repeal, but created a state budget that’s at least $350 million in the red. But House Appropriations Committee chairman John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, said the anger among Republicans would be swift and deep once they understood the full consequences of Brewer’s vetoes.
Kavanagh predicted there’s little chance the Republican majority will support yet another special session before Sept. 30, as Brewer has requested. The bill with the property tax repeal also included other changes to fees and policies for 12 smaller state agencies to help balance the budget. Brewer’s veto will leave the 12 agencies desperately short on cash in the coming months unless the Legislature acts again.
“I can’t conceive of a way that a “clean-up” bill is approved unless it has an amendment to repeal the (property) tax,” Kavanagh said.
Brewer clearly believes she did the right thing for the people of Arizona. But the budget crisis is far from over, and she might find herself running out of allies whenever the Legislature does take the issue up again.
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Arizona government • Governor • Bob Burns • burning bridges • Chad Campbell • David Lujan • Jan Brewer • John Kavangh • Kirk Adams • state budget | 6 Comments »
August 7th, 2009, 5:31 pm by Le Templar
 Grover Norquist/AP photo It’s been 10 days since I left town to attend my brother’s wedding. At the time, Gov. Jan Brewer and legislative Republicans were supposed to be on the verge of finally adopting a balanced budget that included a November election to hike the statewide salex tax. In my last blog post, I predicted Brewer, Senate President Bob Burns and House Speaker Kirk Adams would do huge political damage to themselves and the Republican Party if they couldn’t finally get their act together.
Well, Adams, R-Mesa, and fellow House GOP leaders did their part while I was gone and won approval of a new budget that links Brewer’s sales tax election to an immediate repeal of state property taxes and future reductions in corporate and personal income taxes.
However, the dysfunctional meltdown in the Senate continued unabated. Burns, R-Peoria, managed to switch one vote of Sen. Jack Harper, R-Surprise, with legislative language to arbitrarily shrink the state workforce by 5 percent or 1,700 jobs. But Sen. Chuck Gray, R-Mesa, (the Republican floor leader) went on a weeklong vacation cruise and Sen. Pamela Gorman, R-Anthem, resigned her post as Republican whip to fend off expectations that she deliver the magical 16th vote to send the budget proposal to Brewer.
Still unwilling to negotiate with Democrats, Brewer suggested Wednesday that the sales tax election and the future tax cuts be put in separate bills, so that Sen. Carolyn Allen, R-Scottsdale can provide the required 16th vote for the first portion while Gorman provides the 16th vote for the second half. But tying the two issues firmly together into a single bill is what got the budget proposal through the House last week in the first place.
So Burns didn’t even bother trying to make a final push on the budget today, and less than a quorum of senators were present to pray and pledge before going home for the weekend.
Now, Capitol Media Services is reporting that Grover Norquist and his Americans for Tax Reform might be riding to Brewer’s rescue. Norquist has become something of a shadow lawmaker on the budget debate this year with his threats to politically punish any Republican who signed the ATR oath to never raise taxes but votes to send a possible sales tax hike to a statewide election. Apparently, Norquist has sent a new letter to those Republicans saying it’s now OK to vote for the sales tax election in a stand-alone bill, just as along as they make darn sure they vote for the proposed tax cuts in a second bill in the same budget package.
That might be enough to keep the support of at least 31 House Republicans. Then again, something else could just as easily go wrong, considering the recent luck of Brewer and Co.
By the way, the Legislature has to approve a budget when it returns Monday, or sales tax election on Nov. 3 will be out of the question because of technical reasons related to federal and state election laws. There’s nothing like deadline pressure to inspire Arizona politicians. That’s why our Legislature finished its previous attempt at a budget in the early hours of the current fiscal year.
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Arizona government • Governor • Bob Burns • Carolyn Allen • Chuck Gray • Jack Harper • Jan Brewer • Kirk Adams • Pamela Gorman • state budget | 2 Comments »
July 28th, 2009, 4:28 pm by Le Templar
I’m about to leave town for a few days to take part in my brother’s wedding, so I’m going to miss Wednesday’s effort by Republican lawmakers to adopt an update to the state budget that Gov. Jan Brewer would approve. For a few days during this lengthy special session, it appeared Republican and Democratic leaders would strike some kind of bi-partisan deal to finally get a budget finished and catch up with California.
However, Rep. David Lujan, the House Democratic floor leader, told his Twitter followers Monday that Brewer was again trying to negotiate privately with rank-and-file Democrats, bypassing their own leaders. Then today, Brewer abandoned that effort and went back to a Republican-only plan.
The result is a proposal that looks similar to the agreement she struck with Senate President Bob Burns and House Speaker Kirk Adams back in late June. Capitol Media Services reports the new deal seeks to entice other Republicans who previously refused to endorse an election for a temporary sales tax hike by raising the immediate spending cuts from $650 million in the previous plan to $1 billion. The new deal also would add $400 million in reductions to corporate and personal income taxes starting in 2012 (on top of an immediate and permanent elimination of $250 million in state property taxes). Finally, along with a November election on the proposed sales tax increase, voters would be asked to amend the state constitution so lawmakers wouldn’t have to fund education, health care and other programs at the levels required by formulas established in previous elections.
Given the howling from Democrats, Brewer, Burns and Adams had better make darn sure they have votes in their own party this time. The damage to their public image is going to be extensive if they fail yet again to get a budget done after raising expectations.
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Arizona government • Governor • Bob Burns • Jan Brewer • Kirk Adams • state budget | Post a Comment »
July 10th, 2009, 2:24 pm by Le Templar
My thoughts on some recent political news:
Leadership shake-up — Arizona Senate President Bob Burns, R-Peoria, revealed the depth of his frustration with his leadership team Wednesday when he removed Sen. Thayer Verschoor, R-Gilbert, as the Senate president pro tempore and replaced Republican whip Pamela Gorman, R-Anthem, on the Rules Committee. Verschoor’s ouster was more symbolic than substantive, however. In theory, the Senate president pro tem is part of that chamber’s leadership because he or she runs floor action when the president is absent. But as president pro temp is appointed, rather than elected by the party caucus, that position carries far less influence. And the Senate president usually is just around the corner and can take charge in an instant if the pro tem somehow gets off track.
The same used to be true for the House. But Bob Robson, a former (and possibly future) representative from Chandler, turned House speaker pro temp into a post with real power, especially after he was appointed to chair the House Rules Committee at the same time. My understanding is the current House speaker pro tem — Rep. Steve Yarbrough, R-Chandler (different district than Robson) — has held onto quite a bit of influence as well.
Bills become law — Gov. Jan Brewer signed Thursday the first set of nearly 200 bills sent to her on the final day of the regular session but unrelated to the state budget. Expect additional signings today and through the weekend. But probably 100 bills or so won’t be addressed until Monday, the 10-day deadline set by the state constitution. With the state Senate postponing nearly all bills until after a budget was adopted, Brewer received all of the Legislature’s “accomplishments” at once. So she needs every possible moment to read the paperwork, and to hear from various groups lobbying for or against the veto stamp on individual bills. As for controversial measures that Brewer is ready to act on, waiting until Monday as well to sign them could dilute any negative reaction as media and commentators will have to wade through dozens of bills at once.
Earmark of the week — Every Friday, Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., sends out a short news release highlighting a costly federal pork barrel project or local earmark as part of his campaign to put a stop to such things. Flake tries to make us laugh by including a brief quote with a pun or funny twist of phrase about the project’s name or location. This week, Flake calls attention to $475,000 for creation of business incubators in Casper, Wyo.
“Looks like earmark reform doesn’t have a ghost of a chance this year,” Flake said.
Ha, ha. Wyoming happens to be my native state. So I know the city of Casper has nothing to do with that friendly spirit, but in fact is named for a military fort, which in turn was named for Lt. Caspar Collins, who was killed in 1865 in a battle with Sioux and Cheyenne warriors. Wyoming residents apparently didn’t spell very well in those days, and someone switched “Caspar” to “Casper” when the city was named.
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Arizona government • Governor • Bob Burns • Bob Robson • Casper • Jan Brewer • Jeff Flake • Pamela Gorman • Thayer Verschoor • Wyoming | Post a Comment »
July 6th, 2009, 10:46 am by Le Templar
 Senate President Bob Burns (left, sitting down) and Gov. Jan Brewer might need some mediation after his harsh words last week about Brewer's budget vetoes and a special session today (Photos by Capitol Media Services). When state lawmakers gather at 1 p.m. today to again deal with budget woes, a new set of clouds will darken the proceedings after the top two legislative leaders lashed out at Gov. Jan Brewer for her vetoes last week, which included striking down all funding for public education just to make sure Brewer has the Legislature’s attention.
Senate President Bob Burns, R-Peoria, was particularly caustic. As Capitol Media Services reported, Burns essentially called Brewer incompetent and accused her of a “strong-arm tactic to take control of the legislative process.”
Several Capitol insiders noted Burns was angry, in part, because he had to cancel a long-anticipated trip to Europe that was supposed to start over the July 4th holiday. His language was so strong that it prompted a direct, public response from Brewer, in which she said she won’t take his comments personally. Nice words, but it’s going to be a while before these two become political friends once more.
House Speaker Kirk Adams, R-Mesa, didn’t go quite as far as Burns. But he did call the vetoes “irresponsible and reckless.” That’s not something a leader says in public and then expects to quickly resolve the source of the conflict.
What has to be galling for Burns and Adams is they find themselves trapped in the same position as their predecessors while Janet Napolitano was governor. Not that Brewer is much closer to Napolitano’s political ideology than previously suspected. But Brewer is demonstrating that many of the budget conflicts between Napolitano and lawmakers arose from the tension between the executive and legislative branches instead of naked partisanship.
In the end, Burns and Adams counted on Brewer’s loyalty to her fellow Republicans to accept she had received all they were willing to approve. But Adams and Burns ignored the long independence streak of Arizona governors who consistently have been willing to stand up to their own party, when they believed it would in the best interest of the state (and their own political careers).
Now, unless some Republican lawmakers changed their minds over the weekend about a temporary sales tax increase, Brewer is going to look for help from Democrats to get a final budget done. The governor’s challenge is putting together a strong enough coalition that can move a new budget package through the legislative process that Burns and Adams still firmly control.
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Arizona government • Congress • Election issues • Governor • Presidential campaign • Bob Burns • Jan Brewer • Janet Napolitano • Kirk Adams • State budget countdown | 1 Comment »
June 30th, 2009, 5:57 pm by Le Templar
 Senate President Bob Burns (left) confers Tuesday with Sen. John Huppenthal, R-Chandler, on the final day of the state fiscal year. (Capitol Media Services photo by Howard Fischer). There’s just six hours left in Arizona’s fiscal year, and there’s plenty of rumors flying around the Valley and across the state about what the Legislature and the governor are doing behind closed doors to finish a budget before a government shutdown (although that already has started). But the calculus comes down to Gov. Jan Brewer wants a sales tax election to offset the deepest budget cuts to education and health care. Democrats and Republicans alike won’t give that election to her (for different political reasons). That leaves lawmakers with two choices:
1. Adopt a short-term budget that covers a few days or weeks, giving all sides more time to negotiate over spending details or,
2. Send Brewer the budget already adopted June 4, with or without the revisions that have moved somewhat through the legislative process in the past few days. Then, start pointing fingers if Brewer vetoes that budget and prompts a partial government shutdown.
I know Republican leadership has draft legislation for a short-term budget. But Senate President Bob Burns and House Speaker Kirk Adams have spent so much time today trying to salvage the budget deal struck with Brewer that they are physically running out of time to get these new bills introduced and approved by midnight. It’s doable now. In three or four hours, it’s far less likely.
By the way, the House and Senate have been doing the special committee dances and bill exchanges that typically signal the last day of the regular session is here. But my guess is if Brewer does drop the veto stamp on the budget, she also calls a special session immediately so lawmakers can’t disappear into the night and leave the governor facing angry Arizonans by herself.
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Arizona government • Governor • Bob Burns • Jan Brewer • Kirk Adams • State budget countdown | Post a Comment »
June 30th, 2009, 7:20 am by Le Templar
This is it; the last day of fiscal year 2008-2009 for Arizona state government. State lawmakers now have until midnight, or about 17 hours from now as I write, to adopt some kind of budget plan that Gov. Jan Brewer will sign — or risk a government shutdown once Brewer’s administration and independent state agencies lose their spending authority. A shutdown would affect everything from the Department of Public Safety to the prison system to the state’s three public universities to local school districts that depend on state funds to pay their bills. Health care for the poor and disabled, child abuse investigations, state parks and services for veterans all could be stopped immediately.
The budget deal reached last week between Brewer and the top two legislative leaders finally passed one test late Monday night, when it was narrowly approved by the Senate Committee on Education Accountability and Reform. The full Senate is scheduled to start debating the proposal shortly after 9:30 a.m. this morning. So far, Senate President Bob Burns doesn’t appear to have enough Republican votes for a statewide sales tax election, which Brewer says must be part of the package. And Democrats insist they are rejecting the entire plan. If the Senate somehow does approve, we don’t know what will happen in the House of Representatives.
Today we find out if the Arizona Legislature and governor are at least as competent as California and the federal government. Those two entities manage to adopt some kind of spending plan to keep government operating even when they can’t manage to agree on a formal budget, most of the time anyway.
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Arizona government • Governor • Bob Burns • Jan Brewer • State budget countdown | Post a Comment »
June 29th, 2009, 4:53 pm by Le Templar
As I write this, it’s 4:50 p.m. Monday. The Senate Appropriations Committee still hasn’t returned to try to take up the budget deal struck late last week between Gov. Jan Brewer, Senate President Bob Burns and House Speaker Kirk Adams. The House Appropriations Committee was scheduled to meet at 11 a.m. to take up the proposed sales tax election and flat rate for income taxes, but hasn’t. Both the full Senate and the House have taken up other matters this afternoon, and there’s no public sign of any movement on the budget at all. It seems likely legislative leaders will have to give up on the deal for now and seek to quickly pass a temporary spending plan to avoid a government shutdown when the fiscal year ends at midnight Tuesday.
Interestingly, Democrats appear to be leaning toward opposing any such move, under the assumption that Brewer and Republicans would receive most of the blame for a government shutdown. But that’s a dangerous political calculation to make, given the likely impact on tens of thousands of state employees and the average people who receive services from them.
UPDATE: I neglected to mention the other option, one that several legislative Republicans support, which is for Senate President Bob Burns to just send Gov. Jan Brewer the original budget that was adopted June 4 and dare her to veto the package. Sen. Jack Harper, R-Surprise, several times today has publicly encouraged that route, suggesting Brewer could veto two bills that include a lot of budget policies she doesn’t like, but still sign into law the basic spending framework for a $8.2 billion budget.
But that would require Brewer to accept defeat in her showdown with members of her own party. She might be willing to test her popularity versus the Legislature by vetoing the entire package and shutting down agencies that don’t have an immediate impact on public safety.
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Arizona government • Governor • Bob Burns • Jan Brewer • Kirk Adams • State budget countdown | Post a Comment »
June 29th, 2009, 11:22 am by Le Templar
 Sen. Sylvia Allen attempts to convince Sen. Jack Harper, kneeling on the floor, to vote for a $8.4 billion spending plan in the Senate Appropriatiions Committee on Monday. Harper and Sen. Ron Gould refused to go along, as did all the Democrats on the panel, leaving Sen. Russell Pearce, seated, chairman of the committee, without the votes for approval (Capitol Media Services photo by Howard Fischer). The Senate Appropriations Committee just failed to pass the main budget trailer bill, which would make changes to all of the spending appropriations adopted in the June 4 budget package. Three Republicans joined one Democrat in voting against the bill (a number of committee members seem to be absent), with Republican Sens. Ron Gould and Jack Harper saying the deal with Gov. Jan Brewer is “a step backwards” in solving the $3.3 billion deficit.
UPDATE: The Senate Appropriations Committee tried to reconsider the bill a few minutes later, but this time several absent Democrats showed up (they plan to vote against the budget deal) and Harper and Gould said they were still voting “no.” Committee chairman Russell Pearce figured out he still does not have the votes to pass the main budget bill and recessed the committee for a second time.
Perhaps it’s back to the drawing board for Brewer, Senate President Bob Burns and House Speaker Kirk Adams.
Posted in: Uncategorized • Bob Burns • Jack Harper • Jan Brewer • Kirk Adams • Ron Gould • State budget countdown | Post a Comment »
|
|
Twitter