Countdown to Government Shutdown: Inside 10 days

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Arizona is now inside 10 days until a partial shutdown of government services because our Accidental Governor and the GOP insane clown possee leadership cannot agree on a state budget. Last year the Legislature delayed enacting a state budget until three days to go before a government shutdown.

So where do things stand as of today?

Legal counsel for the Legislature filed its 89-page brief (are they paying by the pound?) in response to the Accidental Governor's special action lawsuit on Friday arguing, as I have written in this space, that this is a "politcial question" that is inherently beyond the court's jurisdiction. Legislators: Budget fight beyond court's purview:

Central to the case is constitutional language that states that lawmakers "shall" transmit bills to the governor once they've been passed but doesn't define how quickly the exchange must occur.

"When to pass a budget or to deliver a budget bill to the governor is purely a legislative prerogative"…

Legislation generally is sent to the governor upon passage but not always. Legislative attorneys note that it took seven days to transmit budget bills to the governor in 2005, and six days in 2001. Other legislation has taken as long as 49 days to be sent to the governor, and on a few occasions have never been sent at all.

The Legislature hired attorney David Cantelme who is billing the state at $325 an hour, so the House estimates that the total cost for his services should come in under $23,000. GOP hires lawyer for Brewer suit Nice work if you can get it.

Oral arguments are set for Tuesday, first to decide the question whether the high court will accept jurisdiction. I predict the court will decline jurisdiction.

Negotiations between the Governor and Legislature have been suspended until Monday, according to news alerts from The Associated Press and Capitol Media Services. State budget countdown: The trailer bill

Just like last year, both the Governor's office and the Legislature are making contingency plans for a partial government shutdown on July 1. State budget countdown: Ideas to avoid a shutdown:

Then-Gov. Janet Napolitano claimed to have a plan to keep most agencies functioning, but never publicly disclosed it. Sen. Bob Burns, R-Peoria, then-chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said he said a draft bill that would offer “bare-bones” funding for one month only for the most critical areas. But the public never saw that plan either. In the end, it didn’t matter, as the Legislature and Napolitano finally agreed to a $11 billion budget three days before the fiscal year ran out.

* * *

This time, Burns as Senate president is looking at a temporary proposal to fund all of state government at current levels, similar to the continuing spending resolutions adopted every year by Congress because it never adopts a complete budget before a new fiscal year starts. In his role as Senate Appropriations chairman, Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, still wants to go with the “bare bones” approach with funding only for public safety and education.

And current Gov. Jan Brewer is rapidly putting together her own plans, in case the Legislature fails to send her any acceptable spending proposal by July 1. Unlike Napolitano, Brewer’s administration is releasing at least a few details about what would happen with a government shutdown.

Sen. Russell Pearce has advanced two pieces of the Accidental Governor's budget plan that will have no immediate consequences for producing a balanced budget before July 1. State budget countdown: 13 days until ’stark’ shutdown The "son of Frankenstein" –

SCR1006 has been referred to as “TABOR-lite” [the Taxpayer Bill of Rights initiative that failed to qualify for the ballot in 2008]. It would lower the maximum limit on spending in the state General Fund to 6.4 percent of the total personal income of all Arizonans. (The current budget is pegged at 6.1 percent, Capitol Media Services reported).

Colorado enacted TABOR several years ago and it resulted in a fiscal train wreck. Colorado voters later repealed TABOR after suffering the consequences of this right-wing fiscal fantasy.

The other bill, SCR1009, would allow the Legislature to temporarily suspend voter-mandated spending during times of deficits to shift funds to more critical government functions. This bill would allow lawmakers to stop funding for, say, early childhood education and daycare, in order to avoid budget cuts to the agency that investigates child abuse cases. This is the “Prop. 105″ problem, the 1998 [Voter Protection Act] initiative that essentially blocked the Legislature from making any changes to spending for programs approved in statewide elections.

As I have written in this space before, Governor, if you want the repeal of the Voter Protection Act (Prop. 105) on the ballot, then Democrats must demand that the repeal of Prop. 108 — the two-thirds super-majority vote requirement to increase taxes or to reduce tax credits or exemptions – also appear on the ballot. Prop. 108 has been by far the single most destructive and fiscally irresponsible measure ever enacted by the voters of Arizona. It's a package deal: no 105 if no 108 on the ballot. Democrats must draw a line in the sand on this fundamental issue.

"Both measures are proposed constitutional amendments, which means they would have to be approved by voters in November 2010 and wouldn’t really matter until the budget that starts July 1, 2011." In other words, these are ideas that could wait until next year for the Legislature to deal with.

So here we stand inside 10 days until a partial state government shutdown, there is no state budget, there are no budget negotiations, a special action lawsuit is pending that will accomplish nothing but to piss away taxpayer dollars on attorneys, and the Accidental Governor and Sen. Russell Pearce are plotting to make matters worse for future legislatures without addressing the immediate constitutional requirement to produce a balanced budget before June 30.

Ideology and incompetence have given birth to insanity. None of these Republicans should ever be allowed to hold elective (or appointed) office, ever again. Let's throw these bums out!