Republican Gov. Jan Brewer

Arizona Legislature Again Cuts Essential Programs and Services

 

PHOENIX (AP) December 19, 2009 ― Legislators have taken another whack at Arizona's big budget deficit, approving $193 million of funding cuts and other changes that set the stage for agencies to reduce services and cut employees' pay.

Lawmakers adjourned a three-day special session immediately after the House on Saturday approved the budget-reduction bill crafted by majority Republicans. The 32-22 vote fell along party lines, as did the Senate's on Thursday.

Spokesman Paul Senseman said Republican Gov. Jan Brewer will likely sign the bill after reviewing its provisions over the weekend.

The bill includes midyear 7.5 percent lump-sum cuts for most agencies. It also sweeps dollars from more than 100 special-purpose funds to prop up general fund spending.

If signed by Brewer, the package will reduce the state's revenue shortfall to approximately $1.4 billion from the current $1.6 billion. The current fiscal year is nearly half over.

To implement the cuts, the bill allows state agencies to cut employee compensation by up to 5 percent.

Other predicted or expected impacts include reducing or eliminating some social programs run by the Department of Economic Security, closing many or even all state parks, and crimping the state's tax collections efforts.

Programs entirely or largely exempted from the lump-sum cuts are universities, K-12 public schools and the state prison system. The education programs were shielded because previous cuts reduced their funding to the minimums required under the federal stimulus program's eligibility mandates.

The December special session came a month after lawmakers reduced the deficit by $452 million during a November special session. The biggest cuts approved then were money for social programs and school equipment purchases.

With the latest action, the rest of the shortfall would be left for lawmakers to tackle when they return in January for their 2010 regular session. They also will face a projected deficit of roughly $3 billion in the next budget.

"Its irresponsible that we're making only these cuts today," said Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills.

The House was forced to meet Friday and Saturday because its Democratic minority, unlike the Senate's, blocked rule suspensions to permit action in just one day. Democrats said they and the public needed time to review the legislation unveiled Thursday.

The House's floor session Saturday lasted nearly two hours as more than a third of the 60 members explained their votes, with some calling out others by name for their stances on the politically sensitive issue.

Democrats said many of the cuts went too far and that Republicans were ignoring a need to increase state revenue as well as cut spending.

"We've gone beyond lean and we're well into mean at this point," said Rep. Steve Farley, D-Tucson.

Republicans accused Democrats of ducking difficult but necessary decisions.

"It's not courageous to vote 'no' for everything," said Rep. Andy Tobin, R-Paulden. "Put some cuts on the table. Let's see what the cuts are you'd vote for."

Freshman Rep. Cecil Ash, R-Mesa, said all lawmakers will have to make concessions and compromise to get more done after returning in January. "A few cuts are a start," he said.

Brewer's call for the special session included the spending reductions but also two measures that could have been placed on a March 9 special election ballot.

Those proposals, if approved by voters, would temporarily raise the state sales tax by a penny for three years and temporarily loosen constitutional protections for voter-approved spending mandates.

Republican leaders said Wednesday they set aside the ballot measures because of misunderstanding on time needed to schedule a special election, and because there wasn't enough support in the House to approve the sales tax referral.

The ballot proposals will be considered again in January, leaders said.

This month's special session was the fourth this year devoted to the state's budget crisis.

 

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