House Minority Leader Lujan says Governor is planning state government shutdown

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

In yesterday's Arizona Republic there was this interesting factoid buried in this report Tax hike could go to voters, say lawmakers:

House Democratic leader David Lujan said Brewer told him she is prepared to shut down state government if she can't reach an accord with the GOP-controlled Legislature by the end of the month. In the event of a shutdown, Brewer's priority would be to maintain court services, corrections, public safety and health programs, her spokesman Paul Senseman said. The state must have a budget for fiscal 2010 in place by July 1.

The Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) also reported that "Lujan says Brewer is planning state government shutdown":

House Minority Leader David Lujan said on June 11 that Brewer had made the remarks to him during a meeting the day before.

"She said Republicans have been stubborn and she can be just as stubborn, and she will shut down state government if she has to," Lujan said.

Brewer and Republican lawmakers are wrangling over a budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins July 1. If a budget isn't in place by then, state government may have to suspend operations.

As reported in the Arizona Republic Tax hike could go to voters, say lawmakers:

Brewer met separately Wednesday with Lujan, the House minority leader, and Jorge Garcia, the Senate minority leader. Both men said she acknowledged that she will need Democrats' votes to get her budget passed, but she has resisted their calls to invite them to the negotiating table.

Lujan said Democrats were willing to vote with Brewer, but they want a voice in shaping the final budget. For example: The Democrats don't like the idea of increasing the sales tax. Instead, they support broadening the state's sales-tax base by taxing services currently exempt, such as accounting, while lowering the overall rate.

The Arizona Capitol Times similarly reported:

Lujan and other Democratic leaders have been calling on Brewer to summon representatives from all four legislative caucuses to negotiate the budget, but she has not done so.

Lujan said Brewer acknowledged in the June 10 that she would need Democratic support on the budget, but was unwilling to negotiate with them.

"She says she needs our votes, she says she wants to shut government down, but she's not willing to include us in negotiations," he said. "It's puzzling."

Despite the threats that government may shut down temporarily, Lujan said he and other Democrats are standing firm in their demand to be included in talks before supporting any budget.

"If she wants our votes, she's going to have to include us," he said. "We won't vote for a budget it we're not part of the process."

Damn straight! We have two Republican factions in an internal civil war with one another and Democrats, who represent just under half of all the residents of this state, are told that they and their constituents do not matter nor do they have a dog in this fight? "We'll call you when we need you"? Oh, I don't think so!

Brewer naively expects Democrats to just go along with her plan to give her political cover for her budget because the GOP leadership budget is a total disaster. Democrats owe a duty to their constituents. You gotta give us something to get something, Gov. This is what the art of compromise and negotiation is all about. You are not a Queen.

At a minimum, Democratic lawmakers should have a seat at the table just to bring in a responsible adult to referee this childish food fight between two Republican ideological factions.

18 days and counting down… tick, tock, tick, tock.