Gov. needs to be more specific on budget fix

Gov. Jan Brewer wants to spread the pain across as many places as possible to erase a potential $3 billion budget deficit, telling Arizona’s lawmakers Wednesday she believes it will take an equal combination of spending cuts, temporary tax increases and federal stimulus money to complete the task.

Brewer proposes temporary tax increase

What Gov. Brewer should address today

Brewer’s speech to the entire Legislature had been described as her own State of the State address, as she wasn’t yet in office for the traditional ceremony in January. And the governor certainly struck a tone usually found in such speeches as she devoted nearly half of her time to calls for spending and tax reforms to prevent future fiscal crises.

Brewer asked for a bigger “rainy day” fund but with stricter limits on when the emergency savings could be used. She urged lawmakers to restrict their own ability to raid fee-based specialty funds, a constant habit during revenue downturns to avoid the choice between budget cuts and higher taxes. And Brewer called for wholesale transformation of an “antiquated, backward-looking” tax code to encourage more job creation that would include some kind of business tax cut by 2012.

As for Brewer’s plans to navigate the present calamity, the traditionally staunch conservative governor is seeking a path toward the political center. Brewer said she will oppose any budget proposals that rely too heavily on budget cuts or too much on debt and accounting gimmicks. Instead, Brewer said the Legislature should take a three-pronged approach that counts on a $1 billion each in federal stimulus funds, program rollbacks or spending reductions, and temporary tax increases.

However, lawmakers had to be at least somewhat disappointed as the governor gave far more attention to what she won’t accept and provided almost no explanation as to what she would like the Legislature to do. She didn’t suggest a single program that she personally believes the state can do without in these difficult times. And she offered no insight into what taxes should be hiked, or even how long “temporary” should be.

Now, we recognize there are severe limits to just how much substance any leader can offer in a 31-minute speech. But the only specific request that Brewer had for the Legislature was for new legislation by March 14 that would allow Arizona to accept $20 million in federal funding for child-care subsidies to replace what was already cut from the state budget in January.

Brewer had better fill in some other details quickly, or she will cede to the Legislature much of her role in crafting a budget that she would have to implement.