Arizona: Legislature

Posted by azBlueMeanie:

It appears the Accidental Governor and the GOP insane clown posse leadership have come to a tentative agreement on a Special Session, but leadership hasn't polled their membership on the specifics of any proposed spending cuts to know whether the bill has the votes necessary to pass. The Accidental Governor does not want to call a Special Session unless she is assured of the vote in advance - unlike the open-ended fiasco this past summer. So the agreement in actuality remains in doubt.

The Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) reports:

Legislative leaders and the governor have reached an agreement on the framework of a special session later this month.

by David Safier

From an article in the Arizona Guardian:

State education officials say the worst is yet to come as stimulus funds are depleted and the state struggles to fill a $1.5 billion gap in the 2010 budget.

Last month, Gov. Jan Brewer asked agency directors for proposed 15 percent cuts to their budgets.

The Department of Education identified more than $11 million in cuts to five different programs, from school safety and chemical abuse prevention to family literacy programs, which among other things, helps parents obtain their GEDs.

Tom Horne, Superintendent of Public Instruction, said he picked the five programs that don’t have federal matching funds tied to them.

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Here is an abbreviated version of Rep. Steve Farley's latest Farley Report (edited for state legislative issues):

Here we are in October, and our deficit is now $1.5 billion and growing.

Constitutionally, the Legislature is supposed to have delivered a balanced budget on June 30, but no one seems to want to enforce that clause.

* * *

There is some talk of the Governor calling us into special session again next week (that's Special Session Number 4 for those of you keeping score at home), and perhaps another after that one's done. But the call has not yet gone out.

[Related story:

The Arizona Corporation Commission is prepared to close down its corporations division in Tucson by mid-month if the Legislature doesn't act to restore a critical funding source.
That means business owners, as well as directors of non-profits and other groups that want to set up business in the state, won't be able to do so in person in Arizona's second-largest city.
The commission's 3-2 vote Monday comes as the commission's cries that legislative inaction is hampering its operations have gone unheeded. Lawmakers are talking about returning to the Capitol in a special session, but probably not until November.
At issue is a ...

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