The Accidental Governor vetos the GOP Legislative budget

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Well that didn't take long. The Accidental Governor, Jan Brewer, has issued a strongly worded press release announcing her veto of the GOP legislative budget and calling for a Special Session (beginning Monday):

Arizona Legislature Fails to Provide Timely, Responsible Budget

I am deeply disappointed to report to the people of Arizona that the Legislature has been unable to send me a responsible budget plan. While Senate President Bob Burns and House Speaker Kirk Adams have worked with tremendous effort and diligence to reach a reasonable compromise with my proposal, regrettably, those efforts have fallen short.

As a result, I received early this morning a fatally flawed legislative budget. The legislative budget ignores my consistently expressed goals and instead incorporates devastating cuts to education, public safety, and our state's most vital health services for the frail. In particular, this package of bills is shortsighted, in that it sets up an enormous revenue shortfall that will severely harm our State's future.

Therefore, I have carefully and selectively chosen to line-item veto portions of the legislation which allows me to add back funds for vital services and public safety so those critical programs are unaffected. Additionally, due to my actions today, state government services will continue to function. Imrpovements in education funding, however, will require significantly more legislative work.

As Governor, I intend to see this through until we achieve together what I have long advocated – a prudent budget that neither over-spends nor under-funds. To ensure that happens, I am calling a Special Session of the Legislature and I ask that legislators re-dedicate themselves in a bi-partisan fashion to crafting a budget that reflects favorably o the futue of Arizona.

Kendra Leiby of the Arizona Coalition Against Domestic Violence wrote in an e-mail that:

Governor Brewer line-item vetoed SB1188, the general appropriations feed bill, calling it "fatally flawed." Among those line-item vetoes were lump sum reductions to DES, DHS, DEQ, and Universities. She also vetoed the appropriation to K-12 funding because she perceives it as significantly underfunded, and the portions allocating federal stimulus dollars, as appropriating those funds is not within the authority of the Legislature

She also vetoed 8 trailer bills that were intended to be "fixes" to SB1188– bills related to criminal justice funding, higher education and K-12 funding, state assets, general government funding, state revenue, health and welfare funding, and environmental funding. Because she chose to line-item SB1188 and veto the trailer bills, government will continue to operate, but legislators must return to reconcile the FY10 budget in a Special Session called for Monday 1:00 p.m.

The East Valley Tribune's Le Templar blog adds a little more detail Brewer vetoes most of budget, calls lawmakers back (emphasis mine):

UPDATE: In reading through the governor’s official veto messages, it appears what Brewer really did was line-item veto much of the $630 million in budget cuts approved by Republicans in the Legislature. That’s puts the budget further out of balance, at least until she reaches some kind of deal with the Legislature.

This move is intended to pressure on conservatives who refused to vote for the proposed statewide sales tax election. The budget deficit will keep growing every day until those cuts are restored or new sources of revenue are found.

Looks like we are back to square one with no state budget. If the Grover Norquist "no new taxes" pledge Republicans continue to swear allegiance to their dark lord and master this may take some time, and a partial government shutdown remains possible as both sides jockey for political advantage. This GOP civil war may inflict collateral damage on all Arizonans.

When Republicans run for political office they like to say that government doesn't work, and "if you elect me to office I'll prove it." They most certainly have, in spades. You would never hire someone to work for your business if they told you that they will make your business fail, would you? That would be crazy. And yet, people continue to vote for and elect these incompetent, irresponsible ideologues to office.

Enough is enough. It is time for Arizonans to finally come to their senses and tell Republicans "You're fired!"