Arizona: Special Session

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Special Session will begin Tuesday afternoon. My sources say that the Republicans are still short a vote and will have to play "Let's Make a Deal." Howard Fischer, however, says the GOP has the votes and maybe some Democrats to spare. Budget, Rio Nuevo on agenda (Republican legislative leaders said they have the necessary votes lined up, with even some Democrats agreeing to go along.)

The Special Session is expected to last three days, concluding Thursday at the earliest.

The primary goal of the Special Session is to correct some agency funding issues. The plan on the table is to reduce "soft capitol aid" to public schools by $144 million (e.

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...

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The only real surprise from the first day of the Special Session was how quickly the rank hypocrisy of the GOP Caucus was exposed. The all-in gamble by the Accidental Governor aka "Big Casino" by vetoing the entire K-12 budget and thus jeopardizing a July 15 payment to charter schools, a GOP sacred cow, and federal stimulus funds paid off. Everyone at the table folded their hands and she took the pot. Keep in mind, however, that this was only the first hand. This game is far from over.

The Legislature voted unanimously in a rare bipartisan fashion to:

- restore the $220 million in education cuts and sweeten the pot by another 2-percent or $100 million; there is also an October 1 "trigger" which will restore all cuts to education if a budget is not adopted by that date (that would mean school districts would be free to spend up to $175 million in “soft capital” costs, such as equipment);

- restore funding to the state Medicaid insurance program;

- all for the purpose of preserving $2.