Legislature ends session; Brewer buys time

Unable to reach a budget deal with the governor, Republican lawmakers called it quits on Tuesday - at least for the time being - in a move that actually gives them more time to negotiate.

Over the objections of some Democrats and a lone Republican, legislative leaders adjourned the special session that Gov. Jan Brewer called last month to get them to adopt a spending plan she found acceptable. Instead, they voted last week to send her pretty much the same thing she rejected seven weeks ago.

But the decision to end the session does accomplish one thing: It buys more time to try to hammer out a deal that has so far eluded the governor and lawmakers.

That's because the Arizona Constitution gives Brewer five days, not counting Sundays, to sign or veto any measure she gets while lawmakers are in session. That deadline is the end of the day Wednesday.

But the moment lawmakers adjourn their session, the clock gets reset and Brewer gets an additional 10 days to review anything already on her desk.

It buys some breathing room, Brewer told Capitol Media Services.

Brewer noted she finally began "five-way" talks late last week, calling in the leaders of both the House and Senate Republican and Democratic parties at the same time in hopes of corralling support for the one thing she wants out of the deal: a public vote on a temporary hike in the state sales tax.

"We have made some headway," she said. The governor said she now has "some solid information from the Democrat caucuses, and we discussed that at length."

The heart of that proposal involves restoring some of the $630 million in spending cuts the Republican budget plan includes. House Minority Leader David Lujan, D-Phoenix, said Democratic lawmakers are particularly focused on putting more money into education, health care and mental health.

The problem for Republicans is how Democrats plan to finance that: They want the state to once again levy its property tax.

Suspended in 2006 during a budget surplus, it comes back automatically, absent legislative action. Its repeal is part of one of the budget bills approved by GOP lawmakers and sitting on Brewer's desk.

Lujan said everything the Democrats want could be financed through the $250 million the restored property tax would generate.

House Speaker Kirk Adams, R-Mesa, rejected the entire plan. "It's not a serious proposal," he said.

Senate President Bob Burns, R-Peoria, was a bit more optimistic that the proposal could serve at least as a starting point.

"We're looking at it," he said.

"I think it needs to be adjusted," Burns added, refusing to provide specifics. "That's part of the negotiations."

The Democrats' best ally in this fight could be the Republican governor herself.

Brewer originally proposed to reinstate the property tax to generate revenue for her priorities, then phasing it out over three years. The governor said the only reason she agreed to the GOP lawmakers' demand to repeal the property tax was because they promised to put a measure on the ballot to impose a 1-cent surcharge on the state's 5.6 percent sales tax in 2010 and 2011 and a half-cent in 2012.

A full penny generates close to $1 billion a year.

While that proposal got the required votes in the House, it came up two votes short in the Senate.