Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
The Tucson Weekly's cover story today is a must read for anyone who genuinely cares about this state and the road to perdition that the Republicans are taking us down. "How Gov. Jan Brewer and Republican lawmakers are decimating the state — and why it's sure to get worse if they're reelected." Razing Arizona (excerpt):
[Amid all] these sideshows, there's been remarkably little discussion of how the state is going to survive the fiscal disaster that still looms on the horizon.
As state revenues have crashed from $9.1 billion in 2006 to $6.6 billion in 2009, Brewer and Republican lawmakers have spent two years slashing spending, but the state is still facing a shortfall of at least $356 million in the current fiscal year—and that could easily grow to $825 million if voters reject two propositions on the Nov. 2 ballot that would divert money from early-childhood programs and land-conservation funds.
More bad news lies ahead: The budget for the next fiscal year, which begins in July 2011, has a projected $1.4 billion deficit.
Republican lawmakers have already used pretty much every trick at their disposal to borrow dollars, put off payments to school districts and sweep out the various bank accounts where agencies had set aside any dollars for the future. And they're firmly opposed to any kind of tax reform that involves increased taxes.
That means lawmakers will be looking to cut even more when they get back to Phoenix.
State Sen. Al Melvin, who represents the Catalina Foothills and Oro Valley, has made no bones about cutting back the size of government, saying state government grew too much while Democrat Janet Napolitano was governor.
Melvin declined to discuss what he favors doing away with next.
"You'll just have to watch," he told the Weekly.
Judging from what Melvin and his GOP allies have done so far, the cuts to come are likely to devastate state government—and many Arizonans may not yet realize how much they're about to lose.
Continue reading Razing Arizona.