Rep. Nancy Young Wright (D-LD26) on the state budget

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Arizona Daily Star's series continues today with Rep. Nancy Young Wright (D-LD26). Formatted for transcript format. Rep. Nancy Young Wright, D, District 26

Rep. Nancy Young Wright, D-LD26

Committees: Ranking Democrat, Water and Energy, Education

The Arizona Daily Star asked the following questions of each lawmaker:

1) Lawmakers have discretion over only 37 percent of K-12 education. School districts and universities have already taken millions in budget cuts, which affects everything from the economy to demands on government programs.

Should lawmakers continue to cut money to education? What, specifically, would you do?

A: The path out of economic crisis is a stronger commitment to Arizona's public education system, not more cuts. In the past year, the majority in the state Legislature has cut education (K-12 and higher education) by nearly $1 billion and Gov. Jan Brewer's current budget proposes another $750 million cut.

Unfortunately, the financial investment in Arizona's public school system has traditionally been very low, and currently, we rank last in the nation in education funding, which is part of the reason why our state struggles in tough economic times.

To attract industries that offer high wages and economic stability to our state, we must have an education system that gives those businesses skilled workers and the families of their employees confidence that their children will receive a top-notch education.

2) The governor's budget includes $37 million in cuts to services for the seriously mentally ill and the elimination of KidsCare, for a savings of $23 million. It also seeks to ask voters to drop 310,500 people from Medicaid by narrowing the eligibility rules.

That savings would be $382 million. Do you support these cuts? If not, how would you cover that $442 million budget gap?

A: There are many options that the [Republican] majority has, to date, refused to consider when crafting their budgets. Some of those options could eliminate the need for such drastic cuts to health care for middle-class families.

For example, closing one loophole that allows big corporations to receive a tax credit for collecting and handing over the sales tax to the state would generate nearly enough revenue to keep the KidsCare program in place.

There are many other examples like that and, especially while middle-class families are trying to make it through tough economic times, we need to do everything we can to protect funding for education and health care.

3) What is your priority for budget cuts? What, specifically, would you cut first, and why?

A: The right way to address our state's budget deficit is a comprehensive approach that makes cuts to nonessential or wasteful spending, stabilizes our state's revenue situation to make sure we have the funding needed for schools and vital services, fully utilizes federal stimulus dollars and implements tough immigration reform.

In the last year, nearly $2 billion has been cut from the state budget – primarily through cuts to education, services for vulnerable populations and lay-offs of state workers. It is time for the other parts of this comprehensive budget-solving equation to be discussed, hopefully in a bipartisan way. Cuts and revenue solutions must go hand-in-hand.

4) What kind of revenue increases do you support?

A: It is time to close the loopholes and ensure everyone is paying their fair share. Corporate lobbyists have been down at the Legislature for years carving out special tax exemptions that add up to billions of dollars in lost revenue that could be helping us solve this budget crisis right now.

Big corporations and the rich also enjoy a few income tax breaks that need to be repealed.

Specifically, I support eliminating the $100 million private school tuition (STO) tax credit which funds a program that the media recently exposed is rife with fraud and abuse.

Lastly, I believe we need to fully fund the state Department of Revenue so it can collect the taxes already owed and go after tax cheats.

It makes no sense that the majority and the governor chose to cut the staffing at the Department of Revenue by more than 25 percent, causing a loss of more than $200 million from the state budget, and a projected loss of $300 million more.