Archive for the 'state budget' 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 »
October 20th, 2009, 11:33 am by Le Templar
 Kevin Tyne, right, the governor's chief of staff will leave the office in three weeks after intense, behind-the-scenes criticism of his management style/Capitol Media Serices file photo. Gov. Jan Brewer has finally given in to the growing political pressure to replace her closest adviser. Chief of staff Kevin Tyne will leave the state Capitol in three weeks to take a post with the Republican Governors Administration, Brewer announced on her Facebook page this morning. (Various media outlets starting blogging and tweeting about Tyne’s pending departure an hour earlier.) His replacement will be deputy chief of staff Eileen Klein. Brewer’s announcement came a few hours before Brewer is scheduled to meet with House Speaker Kirk Adams, R-Mesa, and Senate President Bob Burns, R-Peoria, to plan a possible November special session to address a $1.5 billion budget deficit.
Tyne has been at Brewer’s side for years, going back to her days as a Maricopa County supervisor. He was quite as effective as her deputy when Brewer was secretary of state. So he was the natural choice to take on the day-to-day chores of managing Brewer’s administration when she became governor in January.
But Tyne has been a focus of lots of criticism behind-the-scenes this year. As the Arizona Guardian recently reported (story is subscription-only), Tyne has received much of the blame for Brewer’s challenges in dealing with a Legislature controlled by her own party. Lawmakers claimed they were frequently blindsided by Brewer’s positions and maneuvering on budget issues.
As I read the complaints (and I have heard my share from Capitol sources), Tyne became a target partly because Brewer was once an accomplished state senator. Many political insiders can’t imagine she has forgotten that much since her time in the legislative halls. So if Brewer’s administration can’t get things done, it must be Tyne’s fault as her right hand, so the thinking seems to go. That’s point of view gets a boost with Klein moving up. She is a former chief of staff for the state House who has her own reputation for being tough but is among the most knowledgeable anywhere about the details of the state budget.
But Brewer is loyal to her friends and allies. Until today, she gave every indication she was going to keep Tyne despite the private efforts to push him out. It’s possible that Tyne is being a good soldier and he volunteered to step aside to help Brewer repair her relations with Republican lawmakers.
There’s also been some speculation this is a sign that Brewer will run for election next year. I wouldn’t go that far. Brewer has done almost nothing to prepare for a tough statewide primary, and she’s quickly running out of time to get a campaign organization off the ground.
UPDATE: Jan Brewer’s longtime public relations firm and campaign managers at HighGround of Phoenix have issued a statement coming to Kevin Tyne’s defense. Key quote: “It shouldn’t be a surprise today that politicos will attempt to assign blame to Kevin Tyne, but the reality is that Kevin was an equal to any Chief of Staff who has served any previous Arizona Governor.”
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Arizona government • Election issues • Governor • Eileen Klein • Jan Brewer • Kevin Tyne • Republican Governors Association • state budget | 1 Comment »
October 19th, 2009, 11:09 am by Le Templar
Cox Communications will offer a different take on state politics Tuesday by combining the immediacy and authority of the Internet with the personal connection of television. Cox is inviting Arizonans to watch two prominent political bloggers debate the state budget, and to offer their own thoughts at the same time.
The blogger forum/public chat is an outgrowth of InnovateAZ, a year-old page on Facebook that’s intended to let anyone discuss the future of government policies affecting the Internet and related technologies in Arizona, in Washington, and around the world. Of course, Cox has a strong interest in the topic as a leading provider of Internet access here in the Valley. (Full disclosure: I use Cox as my home Internet-cable provider).
Greg Ensell, Cox’s manager of government relations and public affairs, said his company wanted to harness some of the energy that emerges during discussions at InnovateAZ and invest it in other community issues.
So Cox will experiment with livestreaming a blogger forum on the Web.
The forum itself should be lively, as it will feature two of the Valley’s most active political bloggers: liberal Donna Gratehouse from The Democratic Diva and Shane Wikfors of the Sonoran Alliance (a conservative/Republican site).
Today, Cox is inviting people to record on video a question for Gratehouse and Wikfors (and post it at the Facebook page), or to submit a written question. The 30-minute forum will be taped during the day Tuesday.
Then, at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Cox will replay the forum here. Next to the replay screen will be a chat board where viewers can react to what they are watching. Ensell said Cox also was seeking to arrange for Gratehouse and/or Wikfors to join the chat live. Maybe they will toss in some of the arguments they didn’t get to make earlier in the day.
For the political junkies among us who make “Horizon” and “Sunday Square off” two of the better watched local news shows, this is a chance to join directly in the debate instead of just screaming at your television screen.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post incorrectly said the blogger forum would be broadcast on cable television. The forum will be webcast only.
Posted in: Arizona government • Cox Communications • Democratic Diva • Donna Gratehouse • Shane Wilkfors • Sonoran Alliance • state budget | Post a Comment »
October 9th, 2009, 2:32 pm by Le Templar
 John Munger of Tucson (right), a Republican candidate for governor, speaks with reporters Thursday night about his endorsement from former Gov. Fife Symington (left)/Photo by Capitol Media Services. A common trait in people who run for public office is a high level of self-confidence. Those who pull it off well act as leaders; those who don’t just act with arrogance. I’m still trying to figure out which camp John Munger belongs to a few hours after he told me this:
“If I had been governor last year, we would not have a budget deficit today.”
Munger, a Tucson lawyer and co-founder of the Commerce Bank of Arizona, was wrapping up a weeklong tour of the state after formally entering the Republican primary for governor in 2010. He was kind enough to stop by the Tribune office for about 45 minutes this morning to speak face-to-face about his candidacy. Clearly energized by the endorsement Thursday night from former Gov. Fife Symington, Munger said he could quickly resolve the state’s spending problems without the sales tax proposal from the current governor, Jan Brewer, and without “below the bone” budget cuts that would seem to be required if taxes aren’t raised.
In short, Munger is convinced the governor and state Legislature could kick-start the economy and thus rebuild the state treasury. He wants to pursue initiatives that conservatives and libertarians should love, including:
- Tear down the regulatory burdens that prevent businesses from expanding or relocating here. Munger’s promise: Most projects would receive state approval within 30 days. “I have clients in my little law firm that could create 500 to 1,000 jobs overnight if they just could get their projects approved.”
- Lower the corporate income tax and wipe out the property tax on business personal property. “Those aren’t a big part of the budget, but they are important to businesses who are making decisions about the future.”
- Get new highway construction underway with privately funded but state-owned toll roads. “We could get a $20 billion investment just for (an expanded) freeway from Phoenix to Flagstaff.”
Those are all fine ideas, great even. But they couldn’t possibly overcome a $3 billion to $4 billion budget deficit in the near future, could they? Munger insists they would, but most people at the state Capitol can’t imagine that because they are career politicians with too little experience in the business world. “It’s doable if we harness the power of the free enterprise system.”
Munger has a wealth of concrete ideas about what Arizona should be doing to address immediate problems and long-term challenges. I was impressed with his recent suggestions for state-based health care reform. He wants to convince investors to build a desalinization plant off of the Sea of Cortez to pipe water into the state. He wants to decentralize the state K-12 education by empowering school principals to make most budget decisions, getting rid of school district administrators, and using the savings to dramatically raise salaries for quality teachers.
Munger is probably right that current political trends in the state Legislature means he would have a Republican majority eager to embrace his agenda. But he has to get elected first.
On that subject, Munger says he’s clearly the best candidate for Republicans to send against Terry Goddard or any other Democratic candidate. Munger boldly predicted his four decades in Tucson would translate into more votes than Goddard in Pima County (usually viewed as tilting Democrat), and he would easily rally Republican voters in Maricopa County (where 58 percent of Arizona’s electorate live). “It’s my race to lose.”
Like I said, Munger is either a real leader, or is really arrogant. I can’t wait to find out which is true.
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Arizona government • Election issues • Governor • 2010 elections • Jan Brewer • John Munger • Sea of Cortez • state budget | 3 Comments »
October 6th, 2009, 4:28 pm by Le Templar
 Kris Mayes, Arizona Corporation Commission chairwoman, finds herself trying to manage a budget meltdown while lawmakers feud with the governor (Tribune file photo). I’ve been watching from afar the pending crash of the Arizona Corporation Commission because it doesn’t have the necessary funds to keep operating as intended. It’s baffles me, because Republican state lawmakers have been chanting loudly that the best economic stimulus would be to create a climate that attracts new businesses and creates more jobs. But without budget fix soon for the corporation commission, requests to do business in the state will be delayed for months. That’s a jobs killer, not a jobs creator.
So what’s up with GOP lawmakers refusing to come to the Capitol to again adopt a relatively simple solution that passed before, but was blocked by a budget veto from Gov. Jan Brewer that targeted another issue?
I keep circling back to a statement first made by House Speaker Kirk Adams, R-Mesa, on the day that Brewer issued this veto. Adams said the governor had the discretion to use federal stimulus money to cover funding shortfalls at the corporation commission and several other state agencies, rather than expecting lawmakers to come back in special session to address it.
Adams’ implied message: Brewer created the problem, so it’s up to her to fix it or to take the blame for any fiscal meltdowns.
The challenge for Brewer is if she acts as Adams’ suggests, she will look as if she cares more about business lobbyists, tax collectors and lottery players, than she does for education, health care and public safety (areas where the lion’s share of stimulus money is likely to be spent).
Just this week, lawmakers finally are talking about another budget special session because this year’s deficit now appears to be $1.5 billion. But any action could be a month or two away, and the corporation commission will slow down the wheels of business creation long before then.
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Arizona government • Economic development • Governor • Arizona Corportation Commission • Jan Brewer • Kirk Adams • Kris Mayes • state budget | Post a Comment »
September 29th, 2009, 10:10 am by Le Templar
Everyone in Arizona knows the state faces an immediate operating budget deficit of nearly $1 billion, and a long-range or “structural” deficit of $3 billion to $4 billion. The situation is so dire that Gov. Jan Brewer has asked state agencies to deliver proposals for scaling back by yet another 15 to 20 percent in mid-year spending cuts. So what should those state agencies be considering in proposals for the next budget year, which are due in the governor’s office by Thursday?
The Arizona Board of Regents has decided to demand more money, a lot more money, as in a 46 percent increase.
At the Board of Regents monthly meeting last week (held in Flagstaff), there was widespread frustration with the state budget situation and how it is affecting the state’s three public universities. The university presidents point out the state hasn’t raised funding to match the record growth in student enrollment, and hasn’t provided enough cash for building construction or major maintenance.
The Board of Regents’ staff had prepared an agenda item that offered to raise state university funding from $1.04 billion to $1.36 billion*, or a 15 percent increase. That alone seems rather lofty.
But a few regents asked the three presidents to hastily come up with a new proposal that reflects the “true cost” of public university education. Arizona State University President Michael Crow clearly was eager to do so. He boldly accused state lawmakers of violating the state constitution because they haven’t raised taxes to give his school more money, as you can see in the video below from the regents’ meeting:
The new budget proposal would raise state funding for universities to $1.459 billion or a $459.1 million increase. For about 30 minutes, the regents debated whether to send both budget choices to the governor’s office, or just the massively more expensive option, as board President Ernest Calderon explained:
The board deadlocked at 5-5 on the motion that would have sent both budget choices to Brewer and lawmakers. Then, the board voted 7-3 to submit the 46 percent increase.
If you watch the whole video, you will see that regent Fred Boice of Tucson is the only person who injects any sort of common sense:
“I think, consciously or subconsciously, we have taken a step into a different world. And that for us to go to (lawmakers) and hand them a bill for $(459) million, knowing full well they can’t balance their current budget, that is a bit inappropriate.”
It’s too bad Boice’s comments came after the last vote.
Most of the discussion on the video suggests the regents are taking a brave, new stance in defense of university education. But, in fact, the universities and board regents have a recent track record of being completely unrealistic in budget matters.
In the spring of 2008, the universities convinced then-Gov. Janet Napolitano to push for $1.4 billion in new building construction, even though the details of the state’s budget woes already were starting to emerge. The universities’ pitch was the construction would be a state economic stimulus, as if that somehow would be popular in this politically conservative state.
The Legislature reluctantly went along with last year’s request, and then delayed the funding because of the growing budget problems.* This year’s proposal will be laughed right out the door.
But this is no laughing matter. Pushing for a showdown with such absurd budget numbers will seriously damage the Board of Regents’ credibility with lawmakers, while creating false hope among the thousands of university employees who are far more likely to be laid off in the coming months.
*NOTE: This post has been updated to reflect the fact that the Legislature approved a version of last year’s university construction stimulus plan, formally known as SPEED. The original post incorrectly said the Legislature rejected it. As updated, the post explains the plan was later delayed because of budget issues. Also, a decimal error in one of the proposed budget numbers has been corrected.
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Arizona State University • Arizona government • Governor • Arizona Board of Regents • Ernest Calderon • Jan Brewer • Michael Crow • state budget | 2 Comments »
September 16th, 2009, 1:20 pm by Le Templar
The Arizona critics seem to agree. Not even professional comedic writers/fake reporters such as The Daily Show’s Jason Jones can be funny when it comes to the enormous deficits plaguing the state budget. The Tucson Weekly, the Arizona Guardian, and everyday viewers all shared my view that last night’s segment about selling the legislative buildings to raise cash was not The Daily Show’s best work.
Jones’ tact was to act as an investor exploring the potential (and down sides) of being the Legislature’s new landlord. He was hampered by the fact that only legislative Democrats would agree to take part, when we all know it was the Republicans who were behind this plan. Sen. Linda Lopez, D-Tucson, filled in and tried defend the idea, but clearly she didn’t believe in what she was saying. I did like the scene where Jones scrolled “unannounced” into the House office of Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Phoenix, climbed on her desk and pushed up a ceiling tile to inspect the dark shadows above.
You can check out the segment for yourself below:
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Arizona government • Jason Jones • Kyrsten Sinema • Linda Lopez • state budget • The Daily Show | 1 Comment »
September 15th, 2009, 3:25 pm by Le Templar
 Jason Jones, correspondent for the Comedy Central's "The Daily Show," taped a piece Aug. 12 at the Arizona state Capitol (Capitol Media Services photo by Howard Fischer). “The Daily Show” will finally get around to airing tonight a “news story” about Arizona’s plans to balance its budget by selling off state-owned buildings such as the offices in the state Senate and House (and then leasing them back for state use). Daily Show correspondent Jason Jones sparked a buzz while he was here in mid-August to film his report. Steve Albani, a spokesman for The Daily Show, confirmed Jones’ piece will be featured at 11 p.m. on the show’s second episode after a three-week summer vacation.
If you can’t watch tonight, Albani said the episode will be repeated a couple of times tomorrow on Comedy Central, and individual segments will be available for online viewing as well.
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Arizona government • Comedy Central • Jason Jones • state budget • The Daily Show | Post a Comment »
September 8th, 2009, 5:53 pm by Le Templar
Arizona lawmakers and state officials often talk about a constitutional requirement to adopt a balanced budget. That simple statement can be somewhat misleading, because there’s no way to really know if a budget is balanced under the state’s accounting system until the fiscal year is over and there’s a final tally of revenues and expenses.
The state constitution even anticipates a situation in which unpredicted expenses push the state budget out of balance when those tallies come in. Article 9, Section 4 authorizes the Legislature to imposes taxes that cover such potential deficits and also will balance the budget for the next year as well.
A new report from staff for the Joint Legislative Budget Committee makes it clear that the state now is in violation of that provision, and likely a second mandate in Article 9, Section 5, which limits state debt.
The report was prepared in response to Gov. Jan Brewer’s final actions on the 2009-10 budget last week, which included vetoes that bring back a statewide property tax and that restore funding for K-12 education and the Department of Economic Security. In essence, the JBLC report says a 2009-10 budget that was balanced when adopted by the Legislature now is predicted to have $464 million in deficit spending because of Brewer’s vetoes. The Legislature still could act on that problem before June 30 and wipe out the pending deficit.
But the JLBC report also notes that the last fiscal year concluded with a $500 million deficit, despite earlier rounds of funding cuts and other maneuvers. The current budget has no provisions to address that deficit, which also qualifies as debt because the money has been committed and is owed to someone.
Brewer could fix last year’s deficit on her own by directing federal stimulus money to cover it. But that would reduce even further the amount of federal money available in case this year’s budget stays in the red. Don’t even ask about the potential deficits for the next budget on the horizon.
Arizona’s courts have basically ignored the state debt limit for years — allowing state and local governments to enter various borrowing schemes including the sale of bonds and lease-to-purchase of state buildings. My guess is the judges also would treat the ongoing budget deficit as a political problem that can’t be solved with a court ruling.
But it’s still interesting to note that Arizona lawmakers still haven’t accomplished their one official task under the constitution.
Posted in: Arizona Legislature • Arizona government • Congress • Election issues • Governor • Presidential campaign • Arizona Constitution • Jan Brewer • Joint Legislative Budget Committee • 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 »
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