Special Session Update: After six weeks, it’s back to the “fatally flawed” July 1 budget

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

It appears that the "Sham-Wow!" budget deal from last Friday is now officially dead, taking with it Sen. Jack Harper's four amendments (one of which would have screwed Tucson out of its Rio Nuevo funding). The Senate has killed the decoupled sales tax referral measure and the linked personal and corporate income tax cuts to lure votes for the sales tax referral in the Senate. The remainder of the budget as passed by the House last week was approved by the Senate on Wednesday.

An effort to finally enact a compromise plan to balance the state budget blew up Wednesday as Senate Republican leaders could not line up the votes for the key provision demanded by Gov. Jan Brewer: asking voters if they're willing to temporarily hike the state sales tax. Senate defeats bill with sales tax hike referral:

Despite the failure to give Brewer what she wants, the Senate went ahead and approved the rest of the bills in the budget plan which already have been approved by the House of Representatives. And House Speaker Kirk Adams, R-Mesa, citing a recent Arizona Supreme Court decision requiring legislative leaders to send already approved measures to the governor, told Capitol Media Services he has no real choice but to give those bills to Brewer. [The decision is on appeal for clarification]

That, in essence, would give the governor the same package she vetoed last month as "fatally flawed."

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The package Brewer will get also includes permanent repeal of the state property tax.

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The failure of the sales tax referral, in turn, killed any chances of passage of another bill which would cut corporate income taxes by 30 percent beginning in 2011, with a 6.6 percent cut in individual income tax rates. That measure was procedurally linked to the tax referral: It would take effect only if voters were first given the chance to boost sales taxes for three years.

The two Republicans who refused to go along with the majority on sending the tax hike to the ballot said they had their reasons.

Sen. Ron Gould, R-Lake Havasu City, pointed out the link in the package between asking voters to to hike sales taxes and the promise of future tax cuts, regardless of whether the ballot measure is approved. He was particularly critical of one element which would reduce corporate income taxes by 30 percent.

"To my voters, this is a tax increase," he said. "You're shifting corporate taxes onto the backs of the consumer."

Sen. Pamela Gorman, R-Anthem, called it "irresponsible" to even give voters the option to hike sales taxes, saying that would depress the economy and slow any recovery.

Pamela Gorman does not trust voters. The Accidental Governor took exception to her undemocratic attitude in her statement:

The governor would not say what she will do when the package, minus the tax referral she desperately sought, hits her desk. Instead, she issued a prepared statement criticizing legislative foes of the plan.

"They have so little trust in the voters that they would once again delay the passage of a sound state budget, and deny the people the opportunity to protect critical funding for education, public safety, and care for our most vulnerable citizens," her statement said. "Their actions are irresponsible, create an increasing cost to state taxpayers and, if not resolved quickly, will do irreparable harm to our families and our economic future."

Brewer will have five days from the time she gets the bills to decide what to do with them.

Sen. Rebecca Rios, D-Apache Junction, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, already started firing salvos in the Accidental Governor's direction to warn her against signing the same budget she rejected last month. Rios even read from the governor's veto message complaining about the "devastating cuts to education, public safety and our state's most vital health services for the frail."

"If the governor signs this budget, she's turning her back on the very people that she proclaimed to protect," Rios said.

"She will have done nothing for education or Arizona's most vulnerable populations," Rios continued. "Rather, when the governor signs this budget she will show that she is just another politician who cannot be trusted and who will lie to Arizona voters."

The Arizona Daily Star adds "Brewer did not say whether she would sign the budget bills, only that she intends to "continue to work with legislators from both sides of the aisle to construct a budget package that will honestly and objectively address our state's massive budget deficit." Senators vote to send budget back to Brewer The Arizona Guardian (subscription required) reported that "Brewer says she's negotiating tonight with legislators 'from both sides of the aisle' on a budget package," but later reported that "Democratic leaders say Brewer hasn't approached them to negotiate a budget deal."

Senate President Bob "Bluto" Burns, R-Peoria, said he doesn't know what else to do to please Brewer.

"Do we just continue to insist that we have a referral without being able to have the votes?" Burns said. "I don't know how you manufacture the votes. They're either here or they're not."

Burns stopped short of saying the budget would go to the governor without additional efforts to tack on the referral. But he did not sound confident that he'd find support. Bringing Democrats into the process, Burns said, would drag the process out even longer.

"I think we need to get this over and done with," he said.

The Senate and House will reconvene at 1:00 pm. on Thursday.

After six weeks of a Special Session it looks as though we are right back where we started, with the "fatally flawed" budget vetoed on July 1. And the GOP insane clown posse playing a game of brinkmanship with the Accidental Governor. It's déjà vu all over again.

Call the Governor's office and tell her to veto this budget package – again – and to immediately convene 5-way negotiations with the House and Senate Republican and Democratic leadership.

UPDATE: The Arizona Guardian (subscription required) reports that Sen. Jim Waring moved for reconsideration of the sales tax referral in the Senate, although he says he is still a no vote on the tax referral. The Senate and House are adjourned until Monday to give legislative leaders more time to round up votes. They are hoping to pick off a Democrat or two to get to 16 votes, and revive the "Sham-Wow!" budget deal they defeated on Wednesday. The insanity continues…