Governor Janet Napolitano faces a new session of the Arizona legislature with a large budget surplus and a Rublican majority dominated by ‘small government’ poseurs determined to lay a major tax cut at the feet of their wealthiest constituents. She’s going to have to fight to keep every dollar of revenue flowing to badly underfunded and neglected public purposes, and probably throw a few tax breaks into the mix to sate the ravening dogs of the Right. Her proposed 2007 is a solid start.
I will probably comment further on the Governor’s budget later, but for now, I want to present the Governor’s own words on the budget, which I suspect far too few Democrats, let alone Republicans bother to read. After the jump I pass on her letter to the legislature laying out her budget proposal.
The Governor’s main thrust is to repay the fiscal juggling acts adopted in recent austere years and to enhance core state services: the three major areas of education, prisons and AHCCCS consume 80 percent of Napolitano’s proposed budget. There’s little or no wasteful spending in the Governor’s proposal (though her gesture to the Right of funding for border enforcement, which should be borne by the Feds, is arguably wasteful). It will be interesting to see if the Legislature comes up with a budget of which the same can be said.