The Farley Report for October 6, 2009

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Here is an abbreviated version of Rep. Steve Farley's latest Farley Report (edited for state legislative issues):

Here we are in October, and our deficit is now $1.5 billion and growing.

Constitutionally, the Legislature is supposed to have delivered a balanced budget on June 30, but no one seems to want to enforce that clause.

* * *

There is some talk of the Governor calling us into special session again next week (that's Special Session Number 4 for those of you keeping score at home), and perhaps another after that one's done. But the call has not yet gone out.

[Related story: Budget deficit jumps to $1.5 billion]

The first one needs to happen soon to keep some departments afloat. The AZ Corporation Commission (ACC) in particular is in a pickle. The Governor signed a bill that cuts off funding from the ACC, but vetoed the part that allows them to fund themselves. For that reason, they are nearing the flat-broke stage.

To solve that, the Phoenix Republican majority on the Commission voted 3-2 to close the ACC office in Tucson, over the objections of the two Democrats who were worried the office may never again open. Not only does this hurt Tucson, it will force all new business applicants to go to Phoenix to get their paperwork and double the time it takes to get that paperwork processed.

[Related Story: ACC closes incorporating office in Tucson]

A fix would be easy to do in a special session, and wouldn't cost any money, but the Governor is afraid (with some reason) that legislative Republicans would turn that session into a public flogging of the Governor, and the Speaker and President are not convinced that the problem needs to be fixed before January.

We'll see if common sense prevails over Republican infighting and we get that special session soon.

The stickier problem is the growing deficit. The legislative majority is still jonesing for that education equalization property tax cut — the one that is effectively a huge bailout to the state's largest corporate landowners (including large California investors). This would of course make the financial picture $250 million worse.

And the Governor seems to be giving in to the majority's desire to see more cuts. Today she was quoted as saying: "There will be probably a lot of programs that will have to be done away with."

[Related story: Brewer: Some programs will be eliminated]

Senate Appropriations Chair Russell Pearce is happy to lead the bandwagon to dismantle state services. He publicly stated that his first priority is to slash education, specifically to get rid of full-day Kindergarten and shrink the schoolyear by five days. What good is education in a 21st-century economy anyway?

We Democrats are continuing to push for fair revenue sources that stabilize our economy in the long term and don't hurt middle class people or small businesses. There is hope once again that the Governor may be open to talking with us about revenue sources other than her ill-advised sales tax increase. If that happens, and we reach agreement, I do believe we can solve our problem and gain support from the few moderates remaining in the majority caucus.

[Related story: Dems want GOP, Brewer to help state]

On the budget topic, here's a little feature I call:

–> Fun Facts About The Most Recent Budget <–

Did you know that the part of the budget Governor Brewer signed included:

–> The elimination of domestic partner benefits for all state (and university) employees? Yes, that will be another 800 people knocked off their health insurance, although that may be delayed until next September due to legal requirements that you cannot be removed until the next Open Enrollment period.

–> The elimination of KidsCare Parents, which tossed 10,000 middle-income parents off their health insurance as of October 1, even though they were paying premiums.

–> The elimination of funding for childcare for 7,000 low-income families.

–> The privatization of all state prisons and death rows (except Yuma) and Kartchner Caverns.

–> The mortgaging of the State Capitol, our state prisons, and most other major state buildings.

–> A freeze on new city and county building codes and impact fees for two years — a pure political giveaway to the Central Arizona Homebuilders Association.

Are you getting ready to vote for a new Legislature and Governor in 2010?