The man who has had no details on what he intends to do about a $1.5 billion dollar budget deficit, Dicey Doug Ducey, released his budget today and it is the standard GOP operating procedure: slash and burn. So much for those “new ideas” he talked about in his State of The State.
Howard Fischer has a quick take on the details; more analysis to come later. Ducey’s budget plan cuts university funding by 10 percent:
Gov. Doug Ducey proposes to balance the state budget by cutting aid to universities by more than 10 percent, taking a cut of revenue sharing dollars for cities and counties, and imposing what amounts to a new tax on motorists.
Wait, what? Mr. “not on my watch” is proposing a tax increase? Doesn’t that violate his “no new tax” pledge?
Ducey’s nearly $9.1 billion spending plan also cuts funding to promote tourism and dips into other state funds to the tune of $304 million.
The governor said, though, his budget increases classroom funding by $134 million. But there is really less there than meets the eye.
Most of that is in voter-mandated inflation funding. But even there the governor proposes only a fraction of the $330 million in additional dollars a court already has said schools are due.
But even that $134 million increase is not really there in the bottom line for schools.
Ducey proposes to force schools to spend 5 percent less on things outside the classroom, ranging from administration to transportation and utilities. That and other changes total $123.7 million.
The bottom line is that the actual year-over-year increase in state funding for public schools is a mere $11 million out of close to $3.8 billion.
There’s that GOP “fuzzy math” again. Is he going to use “dynamic scoring” too?
For those of you ready to take a deep dive into Ducey’s budget, here is what is posted at the governor’s web site:
The complete Executive Budget can be viewed via the links below.
executive_budget_summary.pdf (1.77 MB)
state_agency_budgets.pdf (5.64 MB)
state_funds_book.pdf (5.35 MB)
The native Americans and the latinos have been mortal enemies since the dawn of time
If the GOP continues on this path, by 2025-2030, the only educated people under the age of 30 will be Native Americans and hispanics. They will be in a position to take back their state.
Doug Brewer. As Treasurer he said “he” balanced the budget with no gimmicks. Raiding universities, raiding cities and counties, raiding stand on their own funds, smoke and mirrors on K-12. Help non-accountable charters. Didn’t see any cuts to prisons. Same old, same old. Might as well just declare the truth, the Goldwater Institute IS the Arizona State government.
And elective surgery that I can’t get done in my other dual citizenship country because they won’t allow elective surgery there but Arizona does and you people pay for it.LOL
Damm, you mean I don’t get my new mansion or do botox thru the state medicare thru fraudulent means and claims and on my dual citizenship. What is the world coming too? McCain is going to hear about this. It’s us snowbirds that keep him in power even if we have to vote thru absentee ballot or get in Arizona just in time to register to vote.