Special Session No. 5 on Thursday

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Calling a special session and actually passing the measures that are the subject of the special session are two different things. I stand by my earlier prediction that the Accidental Governor will not be able to pull off her proposal for a temporary one-cent sales tax referral to the ballot. There are not the votes for it in the legislature.

The subjects to be considered at the special session shall include Read the proclamation:

1. Adjustments [a proposal to cut about $150 million from agency programs and sweep another $50-55 million from special funds] to address the fiscal year 2009-2010 state budget.

2. A referendum to voters to impose a temporary [one-cent sales tax increase] for the purpose of raising state revenue for primary and secondary education, health and human services and public safety expenditures [i.e., general fund revenue.]

3. A referendum to voters to temporarily suspend the provisions in Article IV, Part 1, Section 6 and 14 of the Arizona constitution [i.e., the Voter Protection Act – Prop. 105 (1998).]

Gov. Brewer said she has been told by House and Senate leadership that they have obtained the necessary support from Democrats to push through legislation putting a temporary sales tax hike on the ballot this spring. Brewer calls special budget session Thursday She is either delusional or lying (or both).

Only thing is, those votes are not there — at least not yet. In fact, Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Phoenix, the No. 2 Democrat in the House, said neither Brewer nor House Speaker Kirk Adams has agreed to sit down with party leadership to negotiate.

And Sinema said while party members agree with Brewer that more money is needed to balance the budget, they will not provide the votes unless the package addresses Democratic issues.

Ideally, she said, that means closing tax "loopholes,'' the Democrats' term for dealing with the fact that most services and many products are exempt from the state's existing 5.6 percent sales tax.

They also want to suspend the tax credit available for people and corporations who donate to organizations that provide scholarships so students can attend private and parochial schools. Last year that diverted about $65 million that otherwise would have gone into the state treasury.

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Sinema, acknowledging the need for quick action, said Democrats might be persuaded to support some kind of simple temporary tax hike. Brewer wants a one-cent increase for three years which could generate close to $1 billion a year.

But Sinema said that can't happen unless and until Republicans — including the governor — sit down to talk with the Democrats.

"If they're interested in negotiating, we are there, we are ready.'' And she said it would be helpful if the governor herself reached out to the Democrats.

Brewer, however, expressed little interest in doing that. Instead, she said that is the job of Republican leaders in both the House and Senate.

Democrats want a maintenance-of-effort clause in the bill, similar to what’s required by the federal stimulus program, to prevent those programs from being cut later to offset any gains from new tax revenues.

“We want a provision to make sure they don’t take current funding and spend it on tax cuts,” said assistant House minority leader Kyrsten Sinema. “Why would I help get a referral on the ballot that isn’t going to protect spending for areas I care about?” Governor gambles on one-day legislative session without a deal

There should be no Democratic votes for the Accidental Governor's temporary one-cent sales tax hike referendum unless the Democratic proposal to lower the sales tax rate but to eliminate exemptions and expand the tax base to services is also referred to the ballot to give voters a choice. Passage of the Democratic plan would supercede passage of the Accidental Governor's plan.

There should be no Democratic votes for the Accidental Governor's referendum to suspend the Voter Protection Act – Prop. 105, unless the repeal of Prop. 108 (1992) – which requires a two-thirds vote by the State Legislature when passing any legislation increasing state revenues through a change in tax allocation, such as an increase in taxation levels or a reduction in credits and exemptions – is also referred to the ballot to give voters a choice. Prop. 108 is the single biggest obstacle to fiscally responsible government.

These two items should be linked or paired together with anything the GOP leadership wants to refer to the ballot. Since these two items are not part of the Governor's call for a special session (because she refused to negotiate in good faith with Democratic leadership), it is beyond the scope of this special session, so there should be no Democratic votes – period. Unless and until the Accidental Governor and the GOP insane clown posse leadership are willing to sit down with Democrats and negotiate these two items in good faith, there should be no Democratic votes.

The Arizona Guardian correctly noted that this is a game of political brinkmanship by the Accidental Governor. Governor gambles on one-day legislative session without a deal (subscription required):

In what appears to be a curious case of political brinkmanship, Gov. Jan Brewer has called a special legislative session without enough votes to get her agenda approved and with only one day to get the job done.

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“At this point we do not have the necessary 31 votes,” Adams said. “We were very, very up front with the governor about this yesterday. That we do not have, at this point, the votes.”

Adams said he’s working on it, but will almost surely need Democrats to get the sales-tax referral passed. He said he’s been in contact with Democratic leaders for the past few weeks, but the chamber's top two Democrats said this week they had not been asked to negotiate.

The Senate arithmetic doesn’t look much more promising. At least three of the chamber’s 18 Democrats are no votes on a sales-tax referral, making Democrats the clutch votes. They’ve not been part of the negotiations, though Senate GOP leaders have been working behind the scenes to woo individual Democratic votes for the past two weeks.

The Arizona Daily Star today in an editorial correctly noted that the GOP leadership's plan to put a temporary one-cent sales tax increase to the voters is, in fact, an effort to create political cover in the next election. GOP has shown clear ineptitude on state budget

"We tried," they could say. "The voters rejected it. All we can do now is cut, cut, cut to close the gap."

"There's clearly a political agenda," Rep. Steve Farley, D-Tucson, told us Tuesday. "If there were any sincerity in their call for our votes, they would have contacted us and said, 'We need your votes. What can we do to get them?' That has not happened."

If the Republican majority is unwilling to sell a sales-tax increase to voters, it is not acting in Arizona's best interest. Further, if the GOP won't work with Democrats to find creative solutions to the budget crisis, they'll be leaving voters with a legislative track record that shows them to be, at best, incompetent.

Democrats in both chambers would need to agree to waive the rules to allow a one-day session Thursday. Members in both parties and both chambers start losing people Friday to holiday trips and other obligations.

It’s still unclear whether the Legislature could act in time to put the sales tax referral and Proposition 105 suspension on the March 9 ballot. Secretary of State Ken Bennett has said he needs at least 90 days to prepare for an election.