PHOENIX -- Republican lawmakers trotted out their zero-growth plan for the state budget on Monday, setting the stage for a fight with Gov. Jan Brewer.
The $8.65 billion spending plan for the new fiscal year is about $200 million less than the governor wants. And the biggest loser at this point appears to be K-12 education.
Gubernatorial press aide Matthew Benson called the plan "short-sighted and reckless.''
But the GOP plan also does not include additional money the governor wants for mental health or to provide more cash for doctors and others that care for patients in the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System. And the state's three universities would have to live on what they are getting now.
"Our revenue estimates aren't as optimistic as the governor's,'' explained Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee.
On the other side of the equation, Sen. Don Shooter, R-Yuma, said Republicans are less optimistic about the future than is Brewer.
Shooter, who is Kavanagh's Senate counterpart, acknowledged that revenues for both the current budget year and the one that starts July 1 are anticipated to be greater than expenses. But he said it would be wrong to look at the state's financial situation as healthy.
He pointed out that Arizona borrowed more than $3 billion to balance prior budgets, money that has to be paid back eventually.
The bigger problem, said Shooter, are "three other large cliffs'' the state will face.
"The first is that the one-cent sales tax goes away,'' he said. That increase approved in 2010 self-destructs on May 31, 2013 -- along with the nearly $1 billion a year it generates that has been used to balance the budget.
An initiative plan to replace that with a new tax is speculative at best, as it would require voter approval in November.
Second, he said, is "Obamacare,'' with no one able to say what will be the state's additional obligations on Jan. 1, 2014 when the federal law requires states to provide broader health care coverage for the poor. And finally there is the possibility of a double-dip recession that could again cut state revenues.
To prepare for some of that, the legislative plan sets aside $250 million into the "rainy-day fund,'' leaving it untouched until needed; the governor's budget has no such savings plan.
"All of us understand that it's a very austere budget, with not many bells and whistles,'' Shooter said. "We're asking people if you've made it last year (at current funding), try to make it one more year and let's see what the good Lord brings.''
The plan drew an angry reaction from the governor's office.
"The legislative budget proposal neglects our state's most critical needs in public safety, education and health care,'' said press aide Matthew Benson.
"The governor understands the need to budget conservatively, and she has,'' he continued. "But refusing to fund critical education needs during a time of budget surplus isn't conservative, it's short-sighted.''
That $250 million in the bank aside, one of the big differences in available cash is the assumption of how good -- or bad -- the economy will be.
Brewer's budget assumes that ongoing state revenues -- collections without any changes -- will be $8.53 billion for the coming year. The Republican budget is premised on $8.49 billion.
"It's been my experience when you're estimating those kinds of things, it's always better to be more conservative,'' Shooter said. "It's better to be a hero than a goat.''
Shooter acknowledged that Brewer's revenue forecasts a year ago proved more accurate than those of legislative budget analysts. "But all that's happened as a result of that is we have a little bit more money to work with.''
Benson said there are some critical things missing from the legislative plan, especially in education.
For example, Brewer wants to restore $100 million for "soft capital'' spending, everything from computers to books, money that schools were denied for the past few years. And her budget has another $100 million for repairs, an item also neglected for several years.
Also not in the legislative plan is $15 million Brewer wants for growth at the universities and another $2.2 million to account for a higher number of students in community colleges.
Shooter said there is some room to negotiate with the governor over her spending priorities. And he said that, being married to a teacher, he is particularly sensitive to the needs of public schools.
But he said Brewer should not count on massive funding increases she wants.
"If we restore, it will be with a thimble, not a bucket,'' he said.
Benson, for his part, wants the public to focus on what lawmakers will not fund.
For example, he said that without additional funding for the Department of Public Safety it will be forced to cut 73 officers.
Benson said that's because the agency's budget is being increasingly eaten up with fixed pension costs. Her budget includes $9.2 million during the next two years to compensate for that; the legislative plan does not, which Benson said means there won't be enough to meet payroll costs, forcing the staffing cuts.
He also said that the legislative funding for prisons would mean having to house maximum security inmates in facilities designed for medium security.
"It isn't conservative,'' Benson said. "It's reckless.''
Benson also complained that the legislative budget plan not only ignores Brewer's request to increase state funding for tourism promotion but actually abolishes the Arizona Office of Tourism entirely.
JGBHimself posted at 9:42 pm on Mon, Feb 20, 2012.
Do you, too, see "The Danger" of the Leg not funding "mental health services"?
What if all of them loose their jobs?
Since the EVTrib kingdom kept on their own Resident Fool, an ex-politician, they have no need for any more of Those Kinda People.
Other than the EVTrib, who else would be willing to employ the "certifiably politically insane"?
No, this is a very dangerous move on their part - that will return to haunt them - in their dreams, on The Day of the Dead, and every time anyone looks at them - in bed, outed in public, shopping for machine guns to try to protect themselves (probably from themselves).
As David Letterman said about them, on nation television:
"Now, we can see your (politically correct sp) nuts."
rouse2 posted at 10:02 pm on Mon, Feb 20, 2012.
what has become of the house and senate. their answer to balance the budget is kill people waiting for already approved transplants, throwing poor people off access, force poor people out of a college education by making them find $2000 somewhere (might as well be a million). give business' a tax break they did not ask for, and take away the protections of arizonas anti deficiency laws to allow banks to continue to rape people after a disingenuous 'modification' scam put them in foreclosure. i am a conservative republican, so is the governor. i don't know what the house and senate are, but they are too extremely and unnecessarily cruel for me. i don't belong to the 'monster' party, and will not vote for them. if the gop has a brain it will challenge these a holes in the primaries. i will not vote for them (although i can not bring myself to vote for the democrats either). this is becoming a slave state of owners and the owned, MY republican party is out to lift ALL people into success and independence, not force them onto the streets, into despondent hopelessness. we need primary challengers, we need representatives that are not owned by bank of america and wells fargo. we need to do some weeding.
Guilden_NL posted at 10:05 pm on Mon, Feb 20, 2012.
Jan Brewer was never my choice for governor - she fancies herself as a big spending Liberal. Many people do not know that she did not support SB1070 and only caved in when masses of the public pushed for her to sign it.
I don't understand why people cannot understand simple finance - we don't have the money now, we owe $3B+ and with the pensions, it's only going to get worse. Spend spend spend is Owebama's choice to ruin America along the same path as Greece.
We don't need Janny doing the same thing with Arizona! For all of you who want more spending, please volunteer to pay an extra $1,000 in state income taxes this year!!!!
Bob G posted at 10:31 pm on Mon, Feb 20, 2012.
Guilden -- I volunteer. How about you? Let's get the debt paid off the old fashioned way, by paying it down in advance and saving the interest .... AND at the same time using those savings to better fund education, our real key to prosperous future.
bblade50 posted at 8:41 am on Tue, Feb 21, 2012.
Shooter and Kavanagh need to be not voted back in. The way to get people back to work is to fund education K-12. This does not happenover night like I think most of this gop whats, it take years. The kids need new books every few years just to make sure they can comptent in this world. This is why Janpan,Chana andall of the other countries are getting the better edge on us. Almost every year since the mid to late 60's we have cut some sort of funding to education. This numnuts can give themselfs raises that they don't deserve but they can't seem to find the money for our most important resource. Chrildren.!
quietgardens posted at 6:24 am on Wed, Feb 22, 2012.
While I may have made some a few changes to how they handled it, it is nice to see that someone is trying to balance the budget. The fact that they have estimated conservatively AND set money aside for a rainy day, is a VERY refreshing thing to see. We need more of this in our state government. We can gain even more if the federal government would do the same.