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Our View: State budget needs real solutions
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Arizona Senate President Tim Bee, R-Tucson, and House Speaker Jim Weiers, R-Phoenix, are failing the people of Arizona.
Bee and Weiers sent a letter Friday that urges Gov. Janet Napolitano to not call the state Legislature into special session this week, Capitol Media Services reported Saturday in the Tribune. The two top legislators said "time simply has run out" on negotiations to start fixing the state's rapidly growing budget deficit. The tax revenue shortfall already had reached $442 million by the end of October, and is predicted to climb to $1.2 billion by June 30 without action from the Legislature and governor.
The letter represents a complete abdication by two veteran leaders to fulfill their fundamental responsibility of keeping the state budget balanced. Every 24 hours that roll by mean another day that the state has spent more than it took in. The passage of a few weeks will force the state into even more borrowing to finance operations and deeper budget cuts to match expenses with the remaining tax dollars.
Even a partial answer now would be far wiser than dumping the entire problem onto a new set of lawmakers in January and Secretary of State Jan Brewer, who will be elevated to governor once Napolitano resigns to join a new administration in Washington. Brewer acknowledged Friday the scope of the problem is so huge that she couldn't promise to avoid tax increases, and the potential of that previously unthinkable scenario rises with the deficit.
Normally, we don't support lawmakers gathering simply to waste their, and the public's, time. But in this case, Napolitano should ignore Bee and Weiers and call the Legislature into special session immediately. If lawmakers truly won't work toward reducing the deficit now, let them explain from their Capitol desks why they are refusing to do their jobs.
Otherwise, Napolitano will fail the people of Arizona, as well.
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