ACTION ALERT: Make your views on the budget known to the Governor today

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The GOP insane clown possee leadership refused to transmit its budget to the Governor on Monday, so our Accidental Governor has scheduled a day long hearing today at her office to give the citizens of Arizona an opportunity to vent their opposition to the the GOP insane clown possee budget. Gov. calls for daylong budget hearing

The governor then decided to conduct her own review of the $8.2 billion, convening a daylong hearing that begins at 9:15 a.m. Tuesday at the state Capitol.

She's inviting people to testify about the effects of the GOP budget plan on such areas as education, health and human services, local governments, transportation and public safety.

The meeting will be held in the second floor conference room of the Executive Tower, 1700 W. Washington. It will run until 2:30 p.m.

Don't let this opportunity to make your voices heard go to waste. Pack your friends and family members into the car and head on over to the Gov's office right now. Tell the Gov to veto this turkey of a GOP budget.

UPDATE: House Democrats Press Release 6/9/09

Three weeks remain to solve the largest budget crisis Arizona has ever seen and House Democrats are calling on Gov. Jan Brewer today to negotiate a realistic budget.

Today, Brewer is spending a full day to gather opinions from stakeholders instead of spending the limited time the state has to negotiate and solve the budget deficit.

“The public clearly has spoken about what their budget priorities are again and again — protect education and jobs and middle-class families from high taxes,” said House Democratic Leader David Lujan. “If Gov. Brewer wanted more input on the budget, she could have done so months ago by asking for public comment just like Democrats did in public budget hearings around the state. In these critical three weeks, she needs to come to the table and do the hard work to negotiate a budget.”

House Democrats have asked Brewer twice in formal letters to meet with all four leadership teams — House and Senate Democrats and Republicans — and also asked her verbally to hold these meetings several times.

“So far, she hasn’t taken action with any leadership team to make that happen and it’s very disappointing,” said Assistant House Democratic Leader Kyrsten Sinema. “We know what Arizonans want, and for months, we’ve been ready to step up and negotiate a bipartisan budget to make Arizona stronger. The clock is ticking.”

House Democrats said stakeholders in today’s meeting should know that Brewer’s budget may appear to solve the budget deficit in the short term, but it decimates the state in years to come:

  • Brewer’s one-cent temporary sales tax hike creates a high tax burden for the majority of Arizonans, costing them $438 a year. There are other revenue generating options that raise more money, provide a more stable revenue base for the state budget and cost the average taxpayers less.
  • Her plan proposes several measures to temporarily aid in funding education and vital human services, but in the long term, her plan does not protect education. After 2010, schools will be left hanging from a funding cliff. Brewer's plan spends all the education stimulus dollars in 2010. Once the stimulus funds are gone, the temporary sales tax increase ends (or fails to be approved by the voters) and the corporate tax cuts in her plan are implemented, the revenue shortfall will be bigger and K-12 and university funding will be in an even deeper budget hole.

    • “There are some major concerns about the budget that Democrats and Republicans need to address,” said House Democratic Whip Chad Campbell. “Now more than ever, it’s time to get down to business.”

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