Epic Fail: First Arizona Governor and Legislature to Fail to Produce a Budget Before July 1; Partial Government Shutdown Remains a Possibility

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Legislative leaders had to turn off the clocks in the legislative chambers last night to maintain the fiction that they had completed a budget before midnight on June 30. Just how stupid are these guys? They do not have a budget until the governor agrees to sign it, and the budget bills were not transmitted by both chambers to the governor until early this morning. The buzzer sounds, game over — you guys blew the deadline. It's July 1 and Arizona still has no budget.

The legislature blew up the compromise budget deal agreed to by the GOP insane clown posse leadership and the Accidental Governor last week. The Republicans managed to pass nine spending bills that modified the June 4 GOP budget to give the governor some of what she wanted on mostly party-line votes. But the lynchpin of the compromise budget deal — the 1% sales tax increase to be referred to the voters in a special election — failed. The eleventh-hour and ill-conceived "flat tax" income tax proposal also failed. Brewer, lawmakers bust budget deadline

This was an epic failure of GOP leadership. "The fact that their leaders accepted the package held no water for many lawmakers." Time to get yourself some new leaders.

"I didn't agree to a deal,'' said Rep. Frank Antenori, R-Tucson.

As of late Tuesday, a consensus was building among GOP lawmakers to send the governor the spending bills ‑ but not the referral of the tax hike to the ballot. The House took the first steps, giving those bills preliminary approval.

Brewer refused to say what she would do if only the spending bills reached her desk, saying only she remained confident there would be a meeting of the minds.

She also would not answer questions about whether she believes the legislative leaders who negotiated the deal with her acted in bad faith by failing to produce the necessary votes.

The ball is now in your court, Governor. Legislature approves budget plan; Brewer's stance unclear:

The Legislature's passage of a budget presents several likely outcomes:

• Brewer could veto the budget bills and leave the government without spending authority as the new fiscal year begins today. That could cause at least a partial shutdown and force lawmakers to come back to the Capitol to negotiate once more, perhaps as early as today.

• Brewer could sign the budget but issue line-item vetoes on specific provisions to which she objects.

• The governor could allow the budget to become law without her signature. That would keep government operating, but with a budget Brewer has said would decimate education and human services.

• Brewer could veto the budget but then work with lawmakers to push through an emergency-funding resolution, allowing limited government services to continue temporarily while debate goes on.

The Arizona Guardian (subscription required) reported this morning that Gov. Jan Brewer was expected to swiftly scrap the legislation by vetoing all but one of the bills, sources familiar with the governor's thinking told the Guardian. Brewer is expected leave enough of the plan intact to keep essential services running.

The governor is likely to order the Legislature into a special session to take another stab at the budget.

BREAKING: It appears the Accidental Governor is going to stick to her guns and fight for her 1% sales tax increase to be referred to the voters in a special election. Both the Arizona Guardian and the Political Insider blog are reporting that the Accidental Governor may have used her veto stamp:

One of the strangest legislative sessions in recent memory was capped Wednesday morning as Senate security, at the order of Republican staff, locked down the Senate building – apparently in an attempt to prevent the Governor's Office from delivering a series of budget vetoes.

"We prefer not to get veto letters this morning," Senate Republican counsel Greg Jernigan told reporters when asked about the locked doors.

He offered no further explanation, though it would seem that lawmakers were hoping to adjourn the session and leave the Capitol before Gov. Jan Brewer was able to veto their state-budget plan and call them into special session.

The plan to bar gubernatorial staff looked to be foiled, however, as Brewer's deputy chief of staff, Richard Bark, was spotted strolling the Senate hallways even as the building's front doors were locked.

Soon after reporters began asking questions about the locked doors, security had them unlocked once more.

Looks like we may be teeing it up and going into overtime, boys and girls. This Republican governor and Republican-dominated legislature will now forever hold the title of being the first in Arizona history to fail to produce a budget before July 1. And they still have the chance to lay claim to the title of being the first in Arizona history to be responsible for a partial government shutdown.