UPDATE: Arizona Senate passes budget, House to act today

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

According to The Arizona Guardian (subscription required) the Arizona Senate passed a budget during the night, and the House is scheduled to take up the budget today.

Despite the threat of a veto from Gov. Jan Brewer, Senate Republicans labored through the night to pass an $8.2 billion budget they expect will have to be revised later this month and later this year.

A quick review of the package of bills (SB1027, SB1028, SB1029, SB1031, SB1035, SB1036, SB1145, SB1187, SB1188, SB1258) that comprised the budget indicate it passed with 16 votes in favor, and the Democratic caucus not voting with the exception of Meg Burton Cahill who was designated to cast the lone dissenting vote. A review of the vote on these bills shows that each bill passed by this vote:

UPDATE II: The AP update in the Arizona Daily Star Ariz. Senate approves Republican budget proposal:

The Senate’s approval of the nine-bill package sent it to the House, which was scheduled to consider it Thursday afternoon. Passage by both chambers would send it to Brewer.

With all but one Democrat absent, the Senate approved the package’s main spending bill on 16-1 party-line votes. The 16 “yes” votes were the bare majority needed for passage by the 30-member Senate.

* * *

Brewer spokesman Paul Senseman said early Thursday that Brewer wasn’t ready to state a firm position on what she would do if the legislative proposal reaches her desk.

* * *

Brewer contends the Legislature’s shortfall estimate is too low by about $1 billion and that the proposal wouldn’t actually balance the budget.

It doesn’t include her proposal for a temporary sales tax increase that Brewer says is needed to limit some service cuts, and she said Monday she would not accept an unbalanced budget that “incorporates unrealistic spending cuts, excessive gimmicks or phony revenue projections.”

This will give you some idea of what it is like to serve in the insane asylum that is the Arizona legislature:

The Senate had been expected to start consideration of the budget proposal Wednesday evening, but the floor session didn’t begin until shortly before 3 a.m. Thursday. It ended shortly after 4 a.m.

Senate Republican leaders couldn’t postpone action on the budget proposal until daylight hours Thursday as they had no votes to spare, and one GOP supporter planned to leave Thursday morning for San Diego for a cruise. Budget vote won't delay Sen. Verschoor's trip

A big reason why the session didn’t start on time Wednesday evening was that one supporter balked at being asked to vote on bills without adequate time to consider last-minute changes that leaders made as they negotiated revisions to garner votes.

However, Republican Sen. John Nelson of Litchfield Park acquiesced after an hourlong closed-door meeting with House and Senate leaders.

Nelson later said he was persuaded that lawmakers needed to act now to put the state on a path toward having a budget approved before the next fiscal year starts.

“There is a responsibility to the state that does rise above my personal feelings,” Nelson after GOP senators finished a two-hour briefing on the latest changes at 2:08 a.m.

Tired of waiting, nearly all Democratic senators left at midnight, a deadline they had set for Republicans.

“We have been here since 10:30 (a.m.),” said Sen. Rebecca Rios, D-Apache Junction. “The fact of the matter is they can’t get it together.”

The sole remaining Democrat, Sen. Meg Burton Cahill of Tempe, unsuccessfully offered amendments to drop some spending cuts from the proposal.